September 20: Genesis 1 26-31
Key Verse: Genesis 1 27
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
Devotion:
Have you ever wondered why we look the way we do? Well, it's nothing to do with growing up from a monkey, which grew up from some other animal which grew up from some primordial soup which came from nothing to start with... God created us in His image – He wanted us to be in His image – not to be gods, but to be like Him. So, what went wrong? Did the mould break? Did the recipe get spoiled?
No, we just chose to be the way we are now. We chose to be the people we are. We chose to act the way we do. We chose to be the reckless individuals we are! Even though we started out as being perfect and not having bad thoughts or evil minds... we just had to come along and spoil things for ourselves! And we continue to do that day after day, choosing to spoil things in ways only we can do!
God created us to be like Him. He did not create us to be evil little wretches. He created us in a world which He had just created for us. He made a perfect civilisation based in a perfect world and because of us thinking the way that we do, we decided we wanted more! No longer were we pleased with everything that God had given us... we wanted more!
That is exactly what drives us today – we want more of everything! We want to be able to make things look better. We want to look better ourselves. We want to be better than the person next to us. We want more than them! Why can't we just be pleased with all that God has given us. An amazing planet with beauty beyond comparison suspended in a universe of nothingness that allows stars to shine is a silky black sky at night and warm glowing blue during the daytime. Yet we want to spoil that all by painting it up with anything we can lay our hands on – and yet we are still not satisfied with it... Because we have lost sight of the real beauty that God created!
Points to Ponder:
Who do you aspire to be like?
What could ever be better than being more like God?
September 19: Romans 5 1-5
Key Verse: Romans 5 1
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Devotion:
When people ask you “why are you a Christian”, how do you respond? Do you tell them of the wonderful peace you get through knowing God is real (that does get a few strange looks) or do you tell them you have always sought the truth and finding it was easy? Or do you tell them that you simply do not want to go to hell. Whatever you do say, try to think about the difference in your life from before you admitted there actually was a God and afterwards.
If you can remember the life you had before knowing Christ, you will remember so many things which did not go right and so many things which used to get you down. Looking in your life now, you may well find many of those things are still around – but they do not affect you in the same way as they used to. The peace of God is something which does fill our lives and allows us to get on with things in our lives. Just knowing you have someone there, caring, watching out for you, allows you to go forward and do things.
A child will probably not take their first steps until they know there is someone close by who can catch them if they fall. It is the same with our life in Christ. Once we acknowledge Him as our God, we can take those steps and learn to walk again. Yes, it does take faith. We cannot see God and most of us do not physically hear Him. But we know He is there. And with that knowledge we can do things in our life we used to put off because we did not feel secure enough to do them. We know we will still face problems, but with God with us, we no longer look at them as such awesome issues that we cannot face them!
Points to Ponder:
Who do you look to for help in your family?
How often do you realise that God is with you too?
September 18: Psalms 71 14-17
Key Verse: Psalms 71 14
As for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more.
Devotion:
No matter how we think about it, we will always come to the conclusion God has been there teaching us right from the beginning. We cannot escape from the truth that He has been faithful to us right from the start. We may only realise He is the one who has been protecting us when all else failed. How else can we explain how things have happened the way they have? So, what are we going to do about that? Are we going to praise Him one day of the week and leave Him to do the work the rest of the week; or are we going to praise Him more and more for all the things He continues to do for us?
We need to speak about the good things He does, so we will realise just how much He does do and others will then be encouraged. We need to continue doing that right up until we go to meet Him. We have no idea how long we are going to live, so we need to make sure we do recognise Him here and now. Saying we will do it tomorrow is not going to help if we will not be here tomorrow!
We need to make sure we do realise it is Him alone who is behind our success in life. We need to make sure we thank Him for that and make sure He knows it through us telling Him. Allowing others to hear of the success He has wrought in our lives will encourage us and them to know He is our God and we can trust Him with everything. Placing that trust in Him and depending on it is what He wants. We are not spooning off Him but rather following His will.
We need to know just how much He has done for us all and we need to show others how much He continues to do for us. Being happy and content with our lot and sharing our lives with those that we can allows us to share Him in truth and in faith. Let us go forward and declare His wondrous works!
Points to Ponder:
How much can your parents look after you when you are not with them?
Have you realised how much God does for you every day?
September 17: Proverbs 25 18-19
Key Verse: Proverbs 25 19
Like a broken tooth or a lame foot is reliance on the unfaithful in a time of trouble.
Devotion:
Just how much faith would you have in a compulsive liar? Not much I bet! But how much faith would you have in a person who lies once in a while to get themselves out of trouble? Not much either because you would not know when they are telling a lie and when they are not. There is no way any one of us can ever say we have not told a lie in our lives... it's something that we actually learn at a very early age and becomes part of our life. What we have to do when we start to realise this is more like damage limitation than anything else.
Telling a lie about someone is probably the quickest way possible to make an enemy of them. People will normally understand why they get hit or why physical things happen to them, but deceit is something which runs deeper than we like to think. If we twist our ankles or break a tooth, we have physical pain telling us of the problem we have. We then do something to help fight that pain knowing we should no longer favour that foot or tooth until something is done. But when someone attacks your very spirit through lies, the hurt runs deep and lasts a long time. We feel like that part of our spirit is broken and, just like a broken foot, we no longer want to put weight on it. But as a foot heals, we can see the affects and feel the difference. Our inner spiritual healing may well be much harder to detect.
If we can tell so much from something which happens to us, why should we then ever inflict that on anyone else? Why should we even consider doing anything like that to anyone else? The truth is we don't normally consider it, we just do it! Because we have grown up in a society where reacting to things is normal, we react... and then it is too late... Taking one second to think before we do things will help us to live a more Godly life – what is one second compared to a life of hurt?
Points to Ponder:
How long do you remember the lies told against you?
God is there, willing to help you take a one second break before you break someone!
September 16: Genesis 49 22-25
Key Verse: Genesis 49 24
But his bow remained steady, his strong arms stayed limber, because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob, because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
Devotion:
When we look back at men and women from the old testament, we often think there were great people who stood out, who stood over and above all others. But each one of them who are listed as being in authority or power without God behind them, fell from grace and did not have the life we may have expected. But those who trusted in God and continually obeyed Him shone like stars. It is that sort of belief and trust we need in our God today.
Far too many distractions take us away from God and from His Word. We are surrounded by fiery darts. Just as Joseph had to face them, so do we have to face the temptations and distractions. Just like archers using a tree for target practice will leave marks on the tree, so do those distractions and temptations leave marks in our lives. No matter how much we try to put them behind us, they will always be there. What we need is protection from them in the beginning so they will not strike us where it hurts to start with!
God can give us that strength and protection, but in order to gain from it, we have to wear that protection. What if we have a suit of armour but did not put it on? What if we went into battle but left our bulletproof jacket at home because we thought it was a bit cumbersome? Leaving the protection at home is as good as not having any. Wearing it once a week as just as bad, especially when we wear it on a day where we do not face so many of those temptations!
If we want to be able to stand out like great men or women of the bible, then we have to be willing to show our strength comes not from within us, but from God Himself. We have to be willing to take Him with us wherever we go. We have to be willing to allow His light to shine through us so others will see we do have His protection!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you wear clothes to protect you from the elements?
Why should we not be wearing God's Word all the time?