August 1: 2 Corinthians 8 16-24
Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 8 24
Therefore show these men the proof of your love and the reason for our pride in you, so that the churches can see it.
Devotion:
Don’t be in any illusion that a particular church has called you to go to another place and tell the gospel story! It is God alone who will place such desires in your heart and He will make sure you are backed up to carry out the task He is asking of you. Titus has heard the call for people to come out and help and he has responded accordingly – God changed his heart to want to come and help just when it was needed.
It is also right that people should not jump into situations like this alone; another helper is going to be coming along with Titus. Why? Because it is right both in God’s eyes and in man’s eyes. God wants us to have support wherever we go. He made sure Adam had support in the garden of Eden. He makes sure each of us has got the right person alongside us to make us an effective tool for his bidding. Titus is being accompanied by a person who other churches are praising. It is also right that these two have the support of a church or body of people who will be willing to pray for them behind the scenes.
Prayer is such an important part of any ministry and one which is far too often left behind in the cupboard or on the shelf so to speak. Prayer is not just a way we can get personal with God but also a very effective way of asking God for support in the things we do for Him. When we come forward to tell others about Christ, we are doing so in the name of Jesus Christ; we are honouring Him in what we are going to do. When we do so the people around us will, hopefully, see what we are doing and respond accordingly.
Whether they respond in a way which brings them closer to God or respond by telling others about the work we are doing will be how God wants to work in their lives. As long as we are willing and able, obeying God and following His will and His word, then we will see the fruits of our work in one way or another.
Points to Ponder:
How often do you wait and listen for God?
Are you willing to answer and say “Yes Lord”?
July 31: 1 Chronicles 28 8-9
Key Verse: 1 Chronicles 28 9
“And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.
Devotion:
During king David's last sickness, there were many priests and Levites gathered in Jerusalem. His instructions to them were to ensure they continued to follow God's commandments, but more importantly, to keep them in the forefront of their minds. If we are going to follow any rules in our lives, then we have to make sure we keep those rules in our minds so we continually think about them. That way, when faced with a situation which contradicts one of those rules, we will be more likely to do the right thing. But if we put those rules in the back of our minds, we may well only remember them after we have become involved with doing the wrong thing!
His reminder to Solomon was that God knows what is in our thoughts. He is a discerner of our souls and spirits rather than what we look like. He wants to see us thinking about the right things because He knows it is one of the things in our lives that we find hardest to control. God knows if we do get carried away in our thoughts, then we are more likely to forget about His rules and forget about holding Him first in our lives.
When we start to hold earthly things first in our lives, then we start to act more like the “earthly people”. We start to do more things that they do and live more like them, blocking God even more out of our lives. If we are Christians and we start to act like that, then imagine what other people are going to start thinking about us. Imagine what other people are going to start thinking about our relationship with Christ... If they see we are willing to treat God lightly, then they will know we are likely to treat them lightly as well – because that is the way we are living. This is what God has to face through our thoughts every day!
Points to Ponder:
Do you treat everyone differently in your life?
What do you think God thinks of your actions?
July 30: Proverbs 24 27
Key Verse: Proverbs 24 27
Put your outdoor work in order and get your fields ready; after that, build your house.
Devotion:
If you wanted to build a house on a plot of land, would you design your house and then start building, or would you make sure the land was actually suitable to build your house on before you started? I would like to think that I would study the land first to make sure that everything was OK before digging in... But, far too many times we plunge in before we think and end up with a sub-standard product at the end – rather like building a house which then begins to suffer from drastic subsidence!
Why then should we treat our family life or spiritual life any differently? Why should we not make sure all the ground work in done first so we know we will not falter later in life? Probably because it is far easier just to keep going and worry about the consequences later on! Far too often we find people starting a family before they have made sure they have enough money, time and commitment to carry that family through to the end. We find churches which build themselves up on enjoyment rather than on God's Word. People come along to enjoy the church activity more than to come and learn what God has to say in their lives. They put enjoyment ahead of God.
There are always going to be set-backs in life (we read about so many natural disasters in the news) which will make you think God has deserted you. But if you have made sure that your faith is built upon God's Word, upon Christ, upon faith, then you will find the inner strength to get through the most awful experiences and trials in your life... because you have a firm foundation upon which you can always rely!
Making sure we build up the firm foundation before dropping everything and plunging in will ensure that we never have to flounder when the going gets tough!
Points to Ponder:
Do you go through difficult patches in your life?
Do you call upon God's strength like He has told you to?
July 29: Luke 14 12-14
Key Verse: Luke 14 14
and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.
Devotion:
How many things do you do for others just because you know they will or can do something for you? How many things are we asked to do just so others will have us in their debt? This world seems to be built on the philosophy of “you scratch my back and I will scratch yours”! Businesses give each other concessions just so they can get a concession from another. Yet, nobody seems willing to make that first move where they do the work for free or they take the burden upon themselves – and that goes for businesses as well as people!
If you really wanted to convince someone you had the right product, you would probably be willing to offer it at a discount so others will see that you product is good... or you could think that your product is so much better than all the others so you price it double that of the others. Somehow, I don't think pricing it at double will make economic sense... Equally, you would not want to make a sub-standard product and flog it off cheaply because people would never come back to you, or they would return everything to you and demand their money back... And yet we get drawn into that type of decision every day and we choose the cheaper because we think we are getting a bargain.
In our lives, we choose the easy way because we think it will “do for now”. We expect to be able to brush things aside if they are not worthy. We think we can side-step the bad things and stick with the good... But what we are really doing is building our lives on deceit – our own deceit! But if we are willing to open up our lives and be honest and not expect things from others all the time, then just maybe, others will treat us in the same way... Someone has to start and it's not going to be anyone else if are expecting that!
Points to Ponder:
What sort of deals do you build your life on?
Do you expect to do a deal with God?
July 28: Act 2:42-47
Key Verse: Acts 2 47
praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Devotion:
After the apostles had been witnesses to Christ's life, death, resurrection and final ascension, they went out and preached with great confidence, belief and built up churches through their excellent witnessing. They were even given great powers by Christ to perform miracles like healing the sick so people would know Christ was behind these churches. Their zeal was beyond reproach as they did everything to make sure as many people as possible came to hear about Christ and get to know the truth through the gospel.
Each person who joined the church had one thing in common. A personal knowledge of Christ and what He could do in their lives. That personal knowledge may not have come through a face to face introduction to Christ Himself, but an introduction to Him through His Word and The Holy Spirit. The Apostles would have no worries about being able to convince people of His existence because it was only a short time before hand when Christ was with them and everything was fresh in their minds. Today we are not introduced to Christ face to face either, but as soon as we get to know Him through The Holy Spirit, we too can have that personal introduction and we too will know that He is real!
The early church had no problems getting up and getting to the temples on time. They had no issues with being their every week, making sure God came first in their lives. But as we go on further in time that desperation to be in church has all but gone. Gone with the fear of God. Because people cannot see what God can do until after they have got to know God, they lose interest before they get to know Him. We need to show people through our actions that we know Him and that it is absolutely worth while!
Points to Ponder:
How do you convince your friends to do something?
Have you tried convincing them in the same way that Christ is real?