January 13: Genesis 15 1
Key Verse: Genesis 15 1
After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”
Devotion:
Abraham had been through quite a bit before this; the battle of the kings, the captivity of Lot, the rescue of him and his goods, Sodom and Gomorrah and conversations between him and the kings of Sodom and Salem. I think if I had faced just a few of those things, I would be fearing for my life, finding it hard to sleep at night without waiting for someone to break down the door and do me harm! It is not nice to be in that sort of position; waiting for someone to come knocking at the door to take you away or to take away your possessions. At this time of year there are going to be quite a few people in distress, worrying about who is knocking at the door and asking for some of that money back that has been spent!
But Christ (The Word of the Lord: John 1 1) came to Abraham in a vision and spoke to him using his name. When someone friendly you do not know comes and speaks to you by name you are a bit more relaxed because they seem to know you. Christ encourages him by telling him not to give in to the fears which could quite easily overtake him based on all the enemies he now has. He further adds that He is Abraham's shield! God is all powerful. Having Him as a shield means nothing, but nothing, can get through! Now, Abraham had refused rewards for doing his work, so Christ added that He is his reward.
If we are willing to hold up God in faith as our shield, then we will be sure nothing can harm us. It does not mean we will not still face everything we have to face up to, but that we will be able to face it together! When we face things together, they are made easier. When we hold Christ up in faith, we know He will be giving us our reward – eternal life. Having Christ in front of us, we can know we have peace of mind and He will do what is righteous. I know I have Christ walking as my shield, do you?
Points to Ponder:
Do you get scared by others who say they will be horrible to you?
Do you hold up Christ as your shield?
January 12: Psalms 84 8-12
Key Verse: Psalms 84 11
For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favour and honour; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.
Devotion:
Do you like working for some people, or doing things for some people... but hate working or doing things for others? To some extent, we are all like that – we like to think we will be ok working for almost anyone, but when we get down to doing the work, we find some people are not nice to work or do things with. We then strive to find something to do with someone who is good to be around. We give up on the bad things and continue looking for our ideal position. Some of us are lucky enough to find work we enjoy and people who we can work with and be happy with.
But it's not just about our work lives that we have to care – it's about our spiritual lives where we find the biggest difference. If we are with people who continue to rub us up the wrong way, then we are going to become spiritually and emotionally drained. That will then in turn affect everything we do. Whereas, if we are with people who support us spiritually and emotionally, we find we can cope with many more things in our lives. This is one reason why we should seek out the best possible people to be around.
In our ideal world, we need to be with someone who can support us, guide us, encourage us, teach us, listen to us and even make us feel good... There is only one such... Christ. When we centre our lives around Christ, we suddenly become aware of all the things He does for us in our lives. We become aware of the support He gives us, the guidance, encouragement and spiritual well-being that we get from being with Him. When we are living with Him in our lives, we can put up with a whole lot more garbage the earth and others can throw at us because of the loving and caring support we get through Him. There is nothing our God cannot do. He is able to do anything. With Him by our side we will find all things become manageable!
Points to Ponder:
Do you find some people hard to get on with?
Do you have God in your life 24/7?
January 11: 2 Corinthians 9 6-8
Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 9 8
And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
Devotion:
Giving is not all about giving money to the charities so they can do their work to support the people who need it. Anyone can give money away so others can do things or maintain things or support others – we do it every day and we don't like it... Taxes are taken from us all the time. No, giving is about wanting to make sure that someone else will have a better life because of what you can do. That means giving must not be limited to money.
Giving to charities so those who are less fortunate than us can have a better life will always help. We like to think most charities will make sure as much of that money actually reaches the people in need. If you want to give to a charity, make sure you know how they work and know that your money will go to a good cause and not line the pockets of some boss somewhere – don't just do it because you see horrible pictures sent through the post to make you feel guilty! Giving must be done because you want it, not because you have to, nor because you feel guilty.
Giving your time instead of money will help to show others you do care. Whilst we all do need money to survive, money is not always what is required. When someone is feeling down, they need spiritual support from others – just being there with someone will allow them to see that all humans do have a strong connection which allows us to love one another. God put that in us because He made us like Him – loving and caring. It is only because of feelings of lust, greed and others placed in front of us by Satan that we will do otherwise.
But the most important giving should be that of giving God's Word to others. With our “Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth” (BIBLEs) we are able to show others just how much God has already given to us and share it openly. That way we will all be encouraged by His perfect Word.
Points to Ponder:
Do you like helping others?
How often do you show others God cares?
January 10: 2 Timothy 3 14-17
Key Verse: 2 Timothy 3 16
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness
Devotion:
It is said that you are able to absorb more knowledge when you are young. That is exactly what we should be doing when we become Christians. As young Christians we need to learn as much as possible to get a good foundation into our lives. For if we do not, we face an uphill struggle as we become set in our ways and then have to face reading God's Word. If we do not start out by reading His Word, we will face so much temptation when we do try to get down to reading it we may well fail in our attempts and become disheartened. The longer we put off reading God's Word, the harder we will find it to read it – that is just Satan's way of trying to stop you from following God...
It is by reading and thinking about what we read that we will learn the most. We may well be able to go to church once a week and listen to a preacher explain things; but it is the fact we have a bible and we can access that bible each and every day which gives us the opportunity to learn more. When we go to school we are given text books which we study from. If we had enough sense we would study from them as soon as we got them rather than having to try and read all of them a few weeks before the exams to try and get us through those exams. Our teachers may well not have the time to cover everything, but we have the time outside of school to read up on things – it just takes a bit of dedication.
Setting aside a time each day to read our bibles and learn what we can is going to be so much more profitable than just going to church once a week. All scripture is God-breathed. In other words, God is the one behind the scriptures. Without Him, man would not have been able to write such wisdom. God continues to make sure the bible is available to more and more people each year, and yet so few actually have the dedication to sit down and read it each day... That is a crying shame...
Points to Ponder:
Is it not better to learn a bit every day than cram the impossible into a few days?
God wants us to be comfortable about reading His Word always?
January 9: 2 Corinthians 8 16-21
Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 8 21
For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of man.
Devotion:
Nowadays we do not think too much about sending things through mail or courier services. We trust the companies that run these services with all manner of things because they have proven to be honest most of the time. There are a few cases where things have gone missing in the care of various companies, but these quite often get sorted out and explained. We, as Christians should be doing our best to continue in trust and being trusted.
God is the one who has given us all manner of things to look after in this world and it is our duty to be good stewards of those things. He allows us to have charge of things if He knows we can deal with them or if He wants to prove to us that we can deal with them. He is the one who knows the truth, we are the ones who need to show we try to keep with the truth constantly. Being a good steward does not just mean giving things to others to do, or passing the buck, we have to be willing to stand up and be counted as one who is trustworthy and willing to do the things that count.
It's not just about having physical things in our care, but also the Word of God. He has given us His Word so we can look after it, make sure others get to hear it and make sure it is passed on to further generations. Being a good steward means doing that which is right in the sight of God and also before men. Following the rules of those around us whilst we break God's rules is not going to make us honest – it will prove to a single person or group that we will break the same rules as they do, but it also shows everyone else we break God's rules. Standing up for God's rules will allow them to see we will not compromise God's rules and prove we are good stewards of His Word as well as someone that can be trusted!
Points to Ponder:
Do people trust you?
How much trust do you think God gives to you?