September 25: Luke 10 30-37
Key Verse: Luke 10 37
The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.
Devotion:
How far are you willing to step out of line to help someone. Yesterday we heard how God wants us to be neighbourly to others and how Israel had been taught this from the beginning, yet we continue to turn our backs on people in need every day. Now we have a global society, we get to hear all about things happening all over the world and whilst some are willing to go places and help out it is not everyone who does. I'm not saying we should all jump on planes and arrive in Africa to help out with the people in need – besides a logistically impossible situation, the extra burden on all services and on Africa itself would probably cause even more chaos.
We, each of us, have needy people close at hand. This parable alludes to helping those who are close at hand, even if they are people you would not normally get involved with. God wants His light to shine through us when we step out of line and show people we do care. It is not just going to make us feel good, it is going to show others a small facet of God's love.
Many people are very religious but do not show God's true love. They will make sure they are always in church and everyone knows about them going to church, but they will not stop and help someone in need. They are more concerned about their image in and out of church than they are about the people around them. God's church is the people, not the buildings nor the splendour, nor the pomp and ceremonies. We are His church and we have to act like it because that is His will.
Being willing to go a bit further than most will allow others to see that you are genuine. Just doing it will not. Just paying someone else to do it will not. The willingness has to be there otherwise some will see right through you like God does!
Points to Ponder:
How much do you help around the house?
How much do you do for the church?
September 24: Proverbs 25 21-22
Key Verse: Proverbs 25 21
If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.
Devotion:
Have you ever said something like “give me one good reason why I should do anything for you”? Well, here is that reason! And don't use the words “heap coals of fire upon his head” as a reason to get back at them because that is not what this proverb is about! This proverb is about the exact opposite.
God wants each of us to give time for those in our lives who would work against us. He wants us to give time to those who are trying to show us up, trying to bring us down, trying to make themselves look better than us. Why? Well for a few reasons. Firstly, because we may well be just like them. We may be looking for attention and doing things that we can see are wrong in others, but not when we do them. We may be the ones going a step too far just so we can make ourselves look better. We may be the ones taking other people’s glory to feed our own appetite for the lime light! We need to know that God must get all the glory and not ourselves – we need to remember we are doing things for God because of all He has already done for us.
Secondly, because we need to show others we care about them enough for them to know they don't have to be like that. Most of the time people go about doing things because they need attention of some recognition that they think is lacking in their lives. If we are able to show them they do not have to go that far for attention, then we have shown them a very small aspect of God's love. Heaping coals upon someone's head does not mean heating their head until it explodes but rather giving them so much to think about they are willing to change their ways. Giving them enough to think their problem through and see that God is their helper and we are just an instrument is what this is all about!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you do things to gain attention?
How often do you do things to give God attention?
September 23: Exodus 23 1-9
Key Verse: Exodus 23 4
If you come across your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to return it.
Devotion:
After Moses had given the 10 commandments to the people of Israel, there followed a whole string on further laws which had to be learned and followed. Each one of these laws finds its way through to modern society because they are sound for both moral and political reasons. But in our modern society we find them breaking down because man no longer wants to adhere to them, much the same way as society broke down in ages past when they turned away from God. One of the biggest problems we face is that nobody wants to love their enemy.
This has led to so many things breaking down in society simply because we no longer want to love our enemies. We would rather find fault in them so we do not have to like them. We rather join up a few laws together to make our own. In verse 7 God talks about not killing the innocent and righteous; so, we join that together with love your enemy and we come up with love those that are innocent and righteous... We are the ones corrupting God's laws to suit our own lifestyles.
If we read the laws which Moses was given from God, we do find they are sound. If we were all to follow them, we would have a much better society. Whilst we no longer have any need whatsoever to offer sacrifices, we do still have a need to follow the rest of the laws. We need to make sure we do stay away from evil, but that we do still offer a helping hand to everyone who needs it. We cannot go ahead and invent our own laws just so we can live the life we want to live – that is not what God has said anywhere in the bible!
It is time that we went back to reading the laws which God has laid down and started following them instead of the corruptions in modern society, be them from the East or from the West... God's Laws still stands above all!
Points to Ponder:
Do you turn a blind eye to people you don't like?
What would you think if God turned His back on everyone who sinned?
September 22: Ecclesiastes 5 1-3
Key Verse: Ecclesiastes 5 1
Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.
Devotion:
What would you answer if someone asked you why you do go to church; not a simple answer of because it is Sunday and God wants me to be there... but why...
We should want to go to church to hear God's Word. We should want to go to make sure we learn more about His will. We should go to church to listen. If you are going to church to have a good time and enjoy the fellowship and singing, then are you going for the right reason? If you are going so others will see you go to church, are you going for the right reason? If you go to be with someone you think of as special, are you going for the right reason?
When we go, it must be because we want to go. If we don't want to go, then we are not setting up the right environment for us to listen. If we attend classes with a rebellious attitude, it will show and we may well interrupt others who go to learn. If we go to a quiet class to fall asleep, then we will not be hearing or learning anything. Being a loud-mouth in class is not going to gain you any friends, other than with those that don't care for class and don't want to learn.
If we want to be able to hear what God wants in our lives, then we should be willing to go to where His Word is and listen and learn. We should be willing to give over part of our life just so that we can listen. If we want to listen to a friend, we do be quiet and listen; we don't continue doing whatever we were doing and say yes every few minutes without listening to them. A friend needs us to listen.
We need to listen to God otherwise we will be the ones loosing out on learning how to live our lives for Him instead of against Him. Listening at church or at home in your bible is where we will learn God's will.
Points to Ponder:
Do you listen to friends in need?
How well do you listen to God?
September 21: Psalms 136 23-26
Key Verse: Psalms 136 26
Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever.
Devotion:
If you have doubts about whether God has done anything for you, then all you have to do is to think back over your life and see all the things He has done. They will start from before you were actually born because He made it possible for you to be born in the first place. He has given instruction to so many from the beginning of time and continued to encourage and show mercy throughout time.
He is the one who looks out for us when we are at our lowest ebb. He is the one waiting, patiently waiting, for us to call on Him because He is merciful. Each time we go back and see when we were at a low ebb in our lives, we will see that something happened to get us back on track; ever thought who made it happen? Each time we have been faced with people conspiring against us, He is the one waiting for us to call out for help so He can. We try to do our own battles for as long as we can instead of calling on His name before we get into a sticky mess!
He is the one who has created our wonderful planet which we live on giving us all manner of food to live with and making sure there is a cycle of life that runs from the very biggest mammal to the very smallest insect and even the bacteria. We all live together sustaining each other. He is the one who created all of this. The more we inject into the world, the more we seem to break things down – but God patiently waits for us to ask Him for help and guidance.
With all that knowledge of everything He has done, we need to get up and thank Him for everything – because He is the merciful God that continues to be by our sides. He is the only one that deserves our worship and praise!
Points to Ponder:
How many tight spots have you been through?
How often do you listen to God?