August 16: Matthew 5 13-16
Key Verse: Matthew 5 14
You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.
Devotion:
Yesterday we heard how Jesus described Himself as being the light of the world; today we hear Him say that we are the salt and light of the world! Jesus knew just how important light was in the world – just think how dark it gets when away from home camping or elsewhere. The darker the place is, the more difference a single tiny light can make; a camping light is not really bright enough to use at home, but whatever the light it makes a big difference.
The problem with light is that it travels in straight lines and not around corners. But even though this is true, when a single light source comes into a dark room, the whole room is going to be made lighter because of the reflection of light off various surfaces. Think about that for a little bit. If Christ is saying we are lights, then even if we do not make a direct difference to someone’s life, the very fact they come close to us will mean they notice some sort of difference!
We may not be able to reach all people in our lives, but we can reach some people meaning we are making a bigger difference to many more people than we realise. There is no mistake in Jesus saying we are like salt before saying we are the light. Salt can make a very big difference in the taste of a meal even though only a little bit is used. When we come into contact with people we may not take over their lives and we may not spend all the time with them, but we do make a difference.
That small difference, though not a direct difference to all people, will make a difference to more people than we personally reach. Don’t give up just because you cannot personally reach someone because just being close to them can make a small difference, just enough for them to see something otherwise hidden from them because of the darkness surrounding them. You are someone who does make a difference and God knows that difference you are making!
Points to Ponder:
How many people know you?
How many people know those people?
August 15: John 8 12-20
Key Verse: John 8 12
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Devotion:
Nothing like a bit of controversy to start the day. Jesus was telling the people around Him that He is the light of the world. The first thing they grasp hold of is to say He is speaking of Himself so His own testimony is not a legal testimony – why then should they believe Him? But Jesus did something they were not expecting, He told them this was the testimony of not just Jesus, but His Father too. Jesus was giving testimony from His real seat as part of the Holy Trinity and not as Jesus the man.
Far too often we get tied up in the ways and limitations of the world as we see it rather than thinking like Jesus and taking the whole of existence into account. Jesus is not limited by our human limits nor by our physical limits. Jesus is part of the God Head and as such is not limited to our earthly domain. This is something we do get tied up with from time to time and we get bogged down because we try to impose our limits to have some sort of earthly understanding.
Sometimes we just have to believe in what Jesus is saying and try not to dissect everything into little bits we can comprehend easily. Jesus is part of God and that is something we have to get used to believing in order to trust Him and have absolute faith in Him. If He were just a man then we would only have faith in someone else albeit the most trustworthy person on the planet. But Jesus is so much more than just a man.
Don’ try to figure Him out; believe and allow your heart, soul and mind to work with the assumption He is Lord of all. When we start to get that into our heads we can then make sense of the things He is saying, the things He was and is able to do and even the promises He has made to us all. Live in the firm belief that Jesus Christ is God and we are destined to spend the rest of our lives with Him and then the rest of eternity with Him too! Jus trust and have faith…
Points to Ponder:
Do you struggle with believing what people say?
Are you trusting Jesus as God or as man?
August 14: 2 Chronicles 34 1-5
Key Verse: 2 Chronicles 34 3
In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David. In his twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of high places, Asherah poles and idols.
Devotion:
Even though Josiah was only 8 years old when he came to power, he made a decision very early on to follow God based on what he knew about David and what he had done for God. When he was 16 he went to start cleansing the land from all the idols and false gods by knocking down statues, idols and altars to other gods. He even took the bones of the priests and burned them on the altars… burning the bones of the priests who led these false practices was a deterrent but also something which had been prophesied too.
His heart was set of getting the people of Israel to go back to God and prosper under His name again. For far too long they had rebelled against the religion and against all the old ways. Now it was time to drop their religious practices and move back to having a relationship with God. If we read further on in the chapter we find how the Book of the Law of the LORD was found once again. Certain priests had been paid to keep it safe – which they did.
When God knows you are doing things the right way, He will open surprising doors and ways to you. When God sees your heart is in the right place, He does things which will make you realise just how much He loves you and cares for us all. Through this we can be encouraged and live a closer life with Him just as Josiah was trying to get Israel to do once again.
We have all this history written down so we can read it and understand how life can be very different when we live for God and not against Him. Which we rebel and do our own things, He will hide various things from us until we make our way back to Him; then He opens up door which may well have been closed for many years. I know as a young man I had many doors closed to me but saw them open once again when I turned back to God. God is faithful but He is also just and holy; be careful but be brave!
Points to Ponder:
Are you walking in the worlds ways?
Will you try walk in God’s ways?
August 13: Ruth 1 11-18
Key Verse: Ruth 1 16
But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.
Devotion:
Sometimes we listen to the preacher in church and then we go about our normal lives. Sometimes what they say seems important and we think about it for a while… then we go about our normal lives. Sometimes we go to a festival where we hear something profound and we say we will do it and follow… and then we get home and follow our own ways. But how many times have we actually made a difference to our lives based on what we hear, and then followed that new way for the rest of our lives?
Unfortunately we do get tied up in the world and we tend to fall back to our old ways. We know we are doing wrong now, because we have the head knowledge, but we continue to do it our old ways because it is just so much easier to do so. This is the trap the evil one has set up for us and it works so well we don’t even know it is him behind the scenes! Take a look at these first verse in the book of Ruth with me.
Ruth and Orpah were daughters-in-law to Naomi and all three of them had lost their husbands. They had no more income and little they could do in their communities. Naomi had made a difference to their lives because of the Godly upbringing in her and their lives. Orpah was ready to go back to her old ways and find another husband, but Ruth was going to step forward and change her life from that point on. Even after a bit of persuading she still stuck to her wishes and followed Naomi back to see what her God was all about.
Are we showing the people around us that our God is awesome, so awesome they should change their lives to follow Him? Are we making some difference others are looking up to? Naomi was, even though she was now distraught and just wanted to go back to her old town, God’s light was still shining somewhere. Ruth saw this and wanted that light in her own life even though she too had lost everything and could quite easily go back to her own ways, she wanted the light, God’s light!
Points to Ponder:
Are you ready to make a difference in someone’s life?
Will you follow through and allow that difference to grow into a change of life?
August 12: Luke 8 4-8
Key Verse: Luke 8 7
Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants.
Devotion:
Are you in a ‘good’ church? How successful is your church? A couple of baited questions, I know… We all have our way of measuring the success of a church or of the ministers who are teaching the people. What Jesus was trying to get across to the people was a message of sharing the Gospel with everyone and not just the people we want to see.
If we only targeted the people we though would be able to support us, or those we thought were going to listen, then we are not doing what Christ is teaching here. The farmer did not just target the good ground which he knew would produce the most crops – that is what farmers do nowadays with the machinery which does that for them. What the farmer was doing in this parable was scattering the seeds over the whole plot of land; some good, some pathways and some stony and rocky.
Was this out of choice or was he just being lazy? This was out of choice! Modern machinery will bury the seed in a bit of soil so the farmer knows it is safe and will germinate given the right water and care. The farmer here had many things to contend with: The ground was not nice and even, people still walked through the area on pathways, birds were probably hovering waiting to food to name but a few of the problems.
When we go out to spread the gospel we are not going to find a nicely watered and prepared field into which we can automatically plant seeds to the right depth. What we will find is ground which is still in use for other things, people who are not dedicated to just taking care of your seeds… We need to spread the Gospel round liberally because many things will stop it from germinating! We are fighting a fight here and not just living in a Christian factory churning out people. We need love and support just as Jesus and the disciples needed, and we need to reach out to many more people than just those who we think will turn to Christ.
Points to Ponder:
Is your local ‘farmer’ sowing the whole land with the Gospel?
Will you help out with the work?