February 2: Romans 8 35-39
Key Verse: Romans 8 37
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
Devotion:
Do you ever get a bit discouraged in your walk with Christ? Do you ever feel because so many bad things are happening God cannot be with you? Do you feel like you are doing what you can to stick with Christ, but you still feel dejected? Well, just maybe you are one of the lucky ones... Lucky!?! How can it be lucky to be suffer?
Throughout the old testament we were warned that people would suffer in the name of Christ. Many different passages declare how we would be at worst killed just for believing in Christ. We are told we will be persecuted. Whilst we will not look upon it as being lucky because of the physical and mental distress we face, people are actually lifting us up and showing that God is real because of our belief. Non-believers do not like to admit there could be a God otherwise it would make them look bad – but by distressing us in any way, they are proving we do believe in their eyes and any who see what is happening.
The one thing we have to remember, like Job did, is that we are more than just sheep being led to slaughter. We are like conquerors laying siege to evil because of our love for Christ and His love for us. No matter what will happen to us, we will be with Him. We may lose our physical bodies, our wealth, our freedom, but nothing will ever be able to make us lose our salvation. That is God given and is protected by His promise to us. Christ has shown His love for us through what He has done and that is sufficient!
When we are in heaven, we will not have to look back and worry about what we had to face because we will be at peace with our God where nothing will ever touch us again. We must stand firm in our belief and allow others to see just how much we will depend on Christ now so they can see He is the Rock on which we stand.
Points to Ponder:
Do you ever feel alone because nobody else wants to believe?
Do you really think God would break a promise?
February 1: Isaiah 26 1-4
Key Verse: Isaiah 26 3
You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.
Devotion:
During any stormy weather it is good to be able to be inside a nice cosy house, protected from the elements by your walls and roof. It is good to have the comfort of heaters or a fire whilst inside too. But when the weather gets really bad, there is always that chance the wind will blow a bit too hard and break something! No matter how safe we think we are, we are not as safe as we could be – but then would we want to be living underground in a concrete bunker with no windows? Imagine the safety you would feel by living in a huge castle – one which has spent the last few hundred years standing against the elements, rock solid.
There is one safety which we will never be able to reach the heights of in our worldly lives and that is the safety of salvation which Christ has promised us. Nothing in our physical world will ever be compared to that safety. The unchangeable promise made by God because of His love for us – that the walls of the church will be our fortress. That our salvation will be forever, and nothing will ever be able to change it! No matter what happens on the outside, nothing will ever be able to change it!
But the gates to that fortress need to be opened so we can encourage others to come in. Wait, isn't that a weakness – like leaving the castle gate wide open and the drawbridge down? No. We have Christ standing at the gate protecting us. All powerful, all seeing Christ; willing to stand there as our guard so nothing can break through. But anyone who is willing to believe in Him and ask for His forgiveness is able to come walking through those gates and will then know “the peace that passeth all understanding!” No imitator or pretender will ever make it past Christ! The safety that is Salvation!
Points to Ponder:
Do you long for a safe place to live?
Have you considered how safe Salvation is?
January 31: 2 Corinthians 11 1-4
Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 11 3
But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
Devotion:
How much do you care about the people close to you? Do you go out of your way to help them when they need it, or maybe you like giving them gifts, or just like being with them so you can talk... All of those feelings are to do with the here and now – how we live now, how we act, how we think we love. But what about their souls. When we think of love, we limit our thinking to this life where we have a physical presence which we can relate to – but never forget that our souls are going to live on forever. Where our souls live on is going to depend on what we accept as the truth while we are here in our physical bodies, whilst we have a finite lifespan.
Imagine how horrible it would be to spend much of your life with a person, only to see them die unexpectedly. Depending on how close they were to you, it may well tear your life apart. What could be worse is knowing your partner would not be spending eternity in heaven because they never got to hear about the One True God from you. We need to tell others we are Christians and that we do have a wonderful God who looks after us. Let them see how happy and content we are with our lives so they will want to find out more about Christ.
If they have been introduced to a false god or a false prophet, then challenging their views with God's Word will eventually allow them to see there is only One True God and they need to get to know Him before it is too late. Loving someone means you should care for them. If you want them to be happy in their lives too, then they need to be able to find the truth about God as well. They need to know and feel what you do. It will not be easy, but love will certainly help you to help them.
Points to Ponder:
Do you like caring for others?
How long do you think Christ has cared for us all?
January 30: James 4 13-15
Key Verse: James 4 15
Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”
Devotion:
How many people do you know that have tried to plan many years into the future only to have everything in their lives turned upside down so their plans were to no avail. No matter how hard or carefully we plan things out, there is no way we will be able to think of everything and to cover all eventualities – we will always miss something. Trying to plan further and further into the future is about as good as trying to forecast the weather further and further into the future. A small mistake or change at or near the beginning leads to a huge difference in a few days.
If we want to be able to plan into the future, then we have to plan for mistakes. The longer the plan, the more mistakes and the more complex the situation. We will end up having such a complex plan we will not enjoy our stay. Yet if we are willing to be more flexible and accept changes as they happen, then we will be able to enjoy our stay. We do not know what is going to happen tomorrow, nor the next hour... We have a pretty good idea based on what has happened in the past, but there is always a certain amount of uncertainty. Just take a look at the size of the computers they have to use to forecast the weather – they are some of the biggest and most powerful computers in the world!
To do our best, we need to depend on someone who does know what is going to happen. Someone who is not bound by the complexities of our time. Someone who is actually in charge whether we acknowledge Him or not! Our time is, therefore, not in our own hands, but in the hands of God. Because that is so, we need to make sure we do depend on Him to allow us to get the most benefit from His knowledge. Our own heads are filled with all sorts of expectations, desires, cares and worries – yet if we are willing to depend on God, none of those will be a big problem any more. They will still be there, but we will know God can and will guide us correctly to obtain the best benefit from everything He has provided around us!
Points to Ponder:
How much do you worry about things?
How much do you really follow God's Will?
January 29: Romans 16 17-20
Key Verse: Romans 16 18
For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.
Devotion:
Just when you thought you were good enough to avoid getting into those sticky situations when you have to decide between good and “not so good”, along comes a friend doing the “not do good” and you fall into line with them! We love to think that we would always be able to avoid falling into those traps, but when push comes to shove, we give in more times than we like to think we do.
Why should we have to continue putting up with that sort of nonsense when we can walk away from it and avoid it all together? We know they are not serving God when they do things for their own good and we know it is wrong. We know we should not be going there. We know they corrupt or tempt people who come close to them – so why do we go there? Sometimes we need a more simplistic view of the good and bad things in life – good is good and bad is bad; no in-betweens!
Serving worldly expectations, lusts and desires is only going to get people as far as the world. Serving God will allow us to be closer to Him. Worldly things will always persuade us away from spiritual things unless we are willing to ask Christ for help to strengthen us. We may know that things will get us into trouble, but there are times when we just can't seem to help it and we go with the flow. Those are the times when we are not depending on Christ in our lives – we are going it alone because it seems safe at the time.
If we are willing to stand firm in God's Word and follow His example, then we will be able to persuade others how His way is the right way. Through His Word, our bibles, we can see our own mistakes, faults and wrongs; we can then come to terms with the fact that we are living against God and do something about it! It is simple – we're either for God or against God.
Points to Ponder:
Do you ‘live to party’ or ‘live for Christ’?
Are you for God or against God?