October 5: 2 Thessalonians 3 1-5
Key Verse: 2 Thessalonians 3 1
As for other matters, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honoured, just as it was with you.
Devotion:
The one thing we can guarantee in life (besides death) is that we will find support in God when we pray. No matter where we are in the world or who we are with, we can always lift up our voices to God so He will hear and answer us. One of our problems is we expect an immediate answer to every prayer and some of our prayers are a bit off the wall. We are not guaranteed to get the answer we like if we are going to pray for frivolous things, but when we pray that His Word will go with us so others may hear, we are guaranteed an answer.
Having to stand up in front of a bunch of people and give them God's Word may seem like a bit of a daunting task; I learned that from my school days. But being able to stand up there with someone by your side allows you to be more confident and to be able to get on with the job in hand. Praying for such help will guarantee you a companion by your side and allow you to say the right thing to the right person. It does not have to be standing up in front of the whole school, it may just be a private chat with a friend – ask God to be there with you so you can help them!
We also face so many temptations in life which we just cannot seem to avoid and too many of which we cannot withstand. Praying for help to stand up against those temptations will help you to do exactly that. Those temptations will probably lead you into doing things you should not. Things you know are wrong, but because of the heat of the moment, your judgement will be impaired and you will give in... Having a friend by your side will help you to avoid those moments. Being alone in a tempting situation means you do need a friend by your side. The best friend you can ask for in those circumstances is God, because He will be able to help you avoid getting into trouble.
Points to Ponder:
Do you know someone who needs to know Christ?
How about asking God to help you introduce Him to them?
October 4: Matthew 9 35-38
Key Verse: Matthew 9 38
Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.
Devotion:
Jesus was a “man on a mission” whilst He was down on earth. He continued to visit all manner of people, not just the rich or those who lived in big cities, but those who lived in small villages too. Everyone needs to be able to hear the gospel no matter what position they have in society. We sometimes think the lower people are, the more likely they are to look to Christ for help – the truth may well be far from that. The more we are caught up in life, the less we think about God. The less we think about Him, the less time we are going to set aside for Him.
We need to set aside time each and every day to make sure we do commune with Him. He wants us to learn from His word and to be able to depend on Him. The only way we are going to be able to do that is by spending more time with Him. To be able to spend more meaningful time with Him, we have to be able to have access to people who can help us to learn His Word. There are simply not enough people out there who have dedicated their lives to helping others into God's Word. This is what we have to pray for – more people who can spend time teaching others and exposing them to the truth.
Just like a farmer having many fields full of crops and no labourers to come and help harvest them, our world has so many people in it and not enough people who have the dedication to go out and tell someone about Jesus. Going out into a field to harvest the wheat with a single scythe when you have access to a combined harvester is not going to get you much of your crop in. People who have spent time in dedicated instruction so they can bring that instruction to others are few and far between. We may not be able to teach them anything, but we can sure pray we get access to them! Praying about it will show that you really do mean it!
Points to Ponder:
Who do you go to for instruction?
How many people can you really call on day or night to help with God's instruction?
October 3: Mark 10 46-52
Key Verse: Mark 10 52
“Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.
Devotion:
Do people say you as stubborn, or the opposite? Do people say you stick at things or give up after a short while? One thing we have to learn about being a Christian, is sticking around, doing the same thing over and over again until we have done enough! How do we know when we have done enough – take a leaf out of Bartimeus' book...
Bartimeus was sitting by the side of the highway begging, just like he had probably done for some time, day after day. When he heard that Jesus was coming by, he called out to Jesus to have mercy on him. But, when he started doing that, people all around him started telling him to shut up! They were probably thinking they would save Jesus the embarrassment of having to deal with a blind beggar! But after being told to keep quiet, he called out even more. He knew who Jesus was and begged that his eyes could be opened so he could see again.
God has given each of us the ability to be able to earn our keep with all he has given us including our sight. Bartimeus wanted to get back to doing something instead of being forced to sit around begging. He knew Christ could heal him and he had faith He would do exactly that. But he had the wherewithal to stick at his shouting even when everyone around him was against him! He even made a point at shouting even more!
Christ's words “your faith has healed you” showed all of us, as long as we are willing to continue with our faith, even in the sight of adversity, God is willing to continue doing extraordinary things for us. We have to be willing to continue in our faith, always!
Points to Ponder:
How long do you stick at something?
How long do you stick with your prayers?
October 2: Proverbs 25 26-28
Key Verse: Proverbs 25 26
Like a muddied spring or a polluted well are the righteous who give way to the wicked.
Devotion:
The wisdom behind each of these three verses speak volumes by themselves, but when linked together give us even more insight into how God would have us lead our lives. First the warning about a righteous person falling into sin... The more we walk with God, the more our lives become more acceptable to Him and the more each sin is going to look worse than it did before. A good person turning around and doing something bad looks so much worse than a bad person doing the same thing. One is accepted in our eyes and the other not. In God's eyes we may all look as bad as each other, but in everyone else's eyes, we do not. People will look up at a good person as a sound example in their community and if that person should be found out doing something bad, so many more people will be affected by that event.
Too much of a good thing can actually be the thing which lets us down! When we get involved with something good, there always seems to be something tempting in the wings, something to tempt us away from what we are doing and enjoy things just a little bit too much. When we get caught up in things like this, we are the ones who are seeking our own glory rather than aiming at doing things which will glorify God. We should be living for God and attributing everything we do to His power and glory. After all, He is the one who can do anything and we are the ones given power to do anything when we do it in His name.
When we are at the stage when we can no longer control our anger or keep in our outbursts when tempted, we are like a house without walls. Anything and everyone will come in and disturb you when you want to find a bit of peace. Everything will get to you; you then look for trouble because you expect it. Everything becomes a prompt for you to explode. What a long way down this is from a righteous man, but can you now see this path to destruction?
Points to Ponder:
What things get you down?
How often do you attribute things to God rather than yourself?
October 1: Leviticus 23 33-38
Key Verse: Leviticus 23 38
These offerings are in addition to those for the LORD’s Sabbaths and in addition to your gifts and whatever you have vowed and all the freewill offerings you give to the LORD.
Devotion:
Have you sat and thought about the things you are actually doing in Christ’s name? How many of them are for you and how many of them are for Christ? You cannot just say they are all for Christ because some of the stuff you do is for your own satisfaction! Back in the early days when God was speaking to Moses to try and get the people of Israel to focus on God, many laws were written down and this is just a small part of them.
The feast of Tabernacles was a time when people would remember the many who stayed in temporary shelters as they made their way through the desert following God. This was a celebration which would start with a ‘day of rest’ and end with another ‘day of rest’. But the people would still be allowed to prepare food and celebrate this time, but the time would be dedicated to God. As long as we are dedicating our time and work to God, then He is going to be glorified and pleased with us. But as soon as we do it for our own good or for our own glory, we have lost sight on our commitment to God.
Christ wants an everlasting relationship with us. He does not want us to work ourselves into an early grave, not to focus on work so much we lose sight of Him. He wants us to be in constant thought of Him and to dedicate as much as we can to Him – this way He will get the glory and others will notice! Christ also wants us to have fun and downtime. He wants us to be able to stop and stand back, to enjoy life and to have fun. Just keep in mind it is Him we are serving all of the time – but on our days off we can stop and enjoy life.
No matter how solemn we get in life, there is always time to stop and enjoy life a little. Praise God for giving us life and allowing us time to enjoy it!
Points to Ponder:
How much time do you devote to God?
Do you take time off to enjoy life?