July 17: Proverbs 24 19-22
Key Verse: Proverbs 24 21
Fear the LORD and the king, my son, and do not join with rebellious officials,
Devotion:
Many times in our lives we look up to people or are envious of people who are actually doing things wrong. We have complete films made about people who are bad and the way they are portrayed makes you want them to succeed in their quests. It seems that not too many films are now made where the good guy succeeds at the end of the day! It is little wonder therefore that we are conditioned to such an extent where we are open to evil people and don't shut them out immediately.
The big problem comes when we become envious of their positions or of the things they are doing – that is when we are tempted more than ever to follow in their footsteps! The one thing that should always discourage us is the truth will always come out at some stage... maybe not here on earth whilst it is so corrupt, but it will prevail. We are faced with so much corruption in society we may not see any end to the evil and violence, but we can be assured that God is watching and will judge according to people’s actions and especially their hearts.
We need to make sure we do realise three things: God is in control, He is our Judge and He is just – nothing will work against His justice because it is true justice. God will always stand by His justice and will never change His laws. We change our laws according to popular belief! We change the rules to suit ourselves. We change... The more we allow that sort of change, the more unpredictable we become and the more likely we are to slip into some evil ways – Little wonder we are warned so many times against such things then... But who is going to stand up and listen to those warnings? Who is going to obey the original rules and who is going to uphold them? We need to! We need to stand firm on God's Word and let nothing persuade us otherwise!
Points to Ponder:
Do you always change your mind?
What would you do if God always changed His mind?
July 16: Isaiah 41 10
Key Verse: Isaiah 41 10
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Devotion:
If we will depend on God, we will get more than just wisdom from Him, for He has promised us so much more. This verse being just one of the many which carries a clear promise of God. But note how it is more than a promise. It starts out with a command, “Fear thou not” and follows with another “be not dismayed” but confirms each of them with reason as well.
Don't worry, because I am with you! His name is not Emmanuel (God with us) for nothing. Do not be dismayed because I am your God. What glorious promises and what weight behind each of them. Not only is He promising to always be with us but He is our one and only true God. He is the Creator of everything and ‘Sustainer’ of all. We have nothing to fear because He is our body guard, constantly with us. We may dash into dark places every now and again but He is with us. We may put ourselves in danger, but He is there. There is no place that we can hide from Him because He made everything.
He continues to promise to strengthen us and help us. But we need to realise that in order for Him to be able to do this we need to be with Him as much as possible. Not just on Sundays but communing with Him each and every day. How else is He going to be able to teach us and give us the strength and wisdom we need to be able to face all the trials and tribulations we will face? Being with Him and listening to Him will give us the strength we need and the assistance we need.
His final promise in this verse is to uphold us with His right hand of righteousness! As long as we are going to do His will, nothing will ever be able to take us away from Him. His Word is all we need to learn from. His promises are all we need to stand on. He is with us for that ultimate and intimate protection throughout our lives!
Points to Ponder:
Do you sometimes wish you had a bodyguard?
How much do you rely on God for?
July 15: Proverbs 24 17-18
Key Verse: Proverbs 24 17
Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice,
Devotion:
How many times have you personally laughed when you have seen someone who has done wrong to you get into trouble? It is so easy to carry a chip on our shoulders and to remember all the things people have done wrong against us and then to rejoice when they get into trouble. But We are warned against doing such things because of the effect it will have in our lives towards others...
How are we supposed to love our neighbour when they are the ones who we are targeting in our thoughts? How can we cast aside ill feeling when we are harbouring bad wishes against them? The more we do that the more the wedge will be pushed deeper between them and us! The deeper any wedge is pushed, the less likely we will ever be able to be a good example to them. If we want to be able to expose them to God's Word, then we have to be a good example to them as well as others. We have to extend our friendship to them through what we can show them. They may well not be willing to be our friends, but if we at least show them we do not want harm to come to them, we can show them our God is a God of love.
What would you think if two of your best friends started to fight it out to try and prove who was correct? Would you feel any better when one of them won over the other? How would you deal with the one who lost? How would you deal with the one who won? Would you not rather see them work together to find the correct solution so that they could still be friends?
God is the one looking out over each one of us and when we start to fight things out to try and prove who is right, He is the one that is being left out and cast aside...
Points to Ponder:
Do you try and trip your brother or sister up all the time?
How would God look upon your actions to others?
July 14: 2 Corinthians 8 10-15
Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 8 14
At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality,
Devotion:
How many of us have a long list of things “to do” but never actually get around to doing those things on the list? Not really a good idea to keep that list unless you are actually going to do something about it! That should be the whole idea of a to-do list, to do the things on it! One of those things on the list must always be “to do things for God”. We will never run out of things we can do for Him and the more we are willing to do them, the more He will be willing to allow us to do things. And guess what, the more we do, the more we enjoy it and the more He will reward us!
Doing God's will should be like us doing a job we enjoy doing. When we do things for our friends, we enjoy (most of the time) doing them. We also like it when they enjoy doing things for us. It certainly shows a mutual respect and hence love for each other. The more we are willing to do for God, the more we show our respect and love for Him. He has, after all, show us His abundance of love through what He has already done. But it will not stop there, for His love knows no bounds!
God is not asking us to do things we cannot do, but rather to do the things we can and to do them for His sake. If we all would do that, then we all would be able to live together a whole lot easier. We would be able to share our loads and share in the work. We would be able to support each other and encourage and be encouraged in ways we just dream of! God knows exactly what we can do – that has already been shown by His supplying enough food through manna in the desert. Each person had the right amount no matter how much they gathered... God can and does supply our needs as long as we are willing to help Him out too!
Points to Ponder:
Do you willingly help out in your household?
Do you willingly help out in your church?
July 13: Ephesians 5 1-2
Key Verse: Ephesians 5 2
and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Devotion:
Are you one of those people who look at the 13th as being unlucky and walk around expecting things to go wrong? Well it is not Friday 13th so snap out of it and think about the bigger things we have in life; think about just how much Christ has done for us and He was not complaining about any days just because the date was wrong or the stars were not in the right place!
When you look up to someone, you try to imitate them in some way so you can be more like them. If we are going to look up to God, then we will want to imitate Him. We will want to be more like Him. Every Christians should be looking up to Christ and aspiring to be more like Him each and every hour. But just what does that entail? What do you look up to in Christ? What do you think is His most amazing feature? How often do you think about how wonderful He is?
I challenge you to think more about God and what He stands for. To think more about what He has done for you – not for everyone else, just you, personal things... How has He affected your life? How has He accomplished things in your life? If you are drawing a blank at the moment, then you need to think a bit harder because you are probably thinking you are in charge and in control rather than admitting God is. If you cannot see what God has done or allowed to happen in your life, then you are not admitting that there is a God and that He is real!
Young children follow their parents without question. They believe in them and trust them with their lives, not just for food! That trust is what God wants us to have with Him. We may well get worried about things going wrong in our lives, but we need to know that God is there and looking out for us. For that, we simply need to trust Him more! He is the one that has given up so much just because He cares so much for you!
Points to Ponder:
Do you still trust your parents all the time?
Do you look to God with that same trust?