July 6: Ezekiel 16 16-19

Key Verse: Ezekiel 16 19
Also the food I provided for you—the flour, olive oil and honey I gave you to eat—you offered as fragrant incense before them. That is what happened, declares the Sovereign LORD.

Devotion:
What would you do if you gave someone a very special gift and they gave it away to someone else? What would you think of that person? Would you think that because it was a gift they could do with it whatever they liked, or would you, knowing it to be special, be upset they did not remember it as being special between you and them?

Our choices may seem simple at the time and indeed they may turn out to be straight forward, but so many times we do not think of the people who will really be affected by our actions or reactions. We like to jump in and be involved and even use our best qualities or possessions to make an impression! But as our need for being involved becomes more deep-seated, we start to lose sight of the real worth of so many things around us.

There comes a time when we will have to explain why we have lost sight of those things in our life. Whether that time is now or far in the future is immaterial. We need to recognise the fact there are so many things in our lives which mean so much to others. We need to take hold of those things and make sure those special meanings are never lost or forgotten.

God is our creator. He created this world we live on. He supplies the air which we breath in composed in exactly the right amounts for what we need. He gives us an environment in which we can thrive... And yet we choose to forget He is our Creator and that He has supplied us with things. We give those gifts away to others just because we think they mean more to us at the time. We really do need to remember that God comes first in our lives because He is everything to us. Yes, we can share things, but never forget who has provided them and who deserves our faithful and daily praise!

Points to Ponder:
Do you get annoyed when others do not treat you properly?

How do you treat God's property?

July 5: Luke 16 9-12

Key Verse: Luke 16 12
And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?

Devotion:
One place where I think many religions fall down is where they condemn others for not believing in their god or gods. As a Christian, we have no place to condemn any one; rather we have to leave judgement to the one who has the power to condemn but also the only valid reason to. This does not mean we have to spend all of our time with people who refuse to believe in Christ – far from it. The longer we spend with such people, the more we are likely to be tempted into doing what they do. But what we must not do is to condemn them!

How could we ever reach anyone with God's Word unless we were willing to go out and meet people? How would we ever introduce God's Word unless we were willing to show others what we believe in? How can we convince anyone that what we do is worthwhile if we are going to slap them in the face when they reject our ways? We need to be able to go freely in all walks of society, treading carefully so we do not deliberately upset others but always seeking to make friends and influence people!

We may think we are upright and just in our own eyes and may not want to mix with those who we think are not just – but all we need to do is to remind ourselves of what Christ had to do for us in order for us to be saved! All we need to do is to remember what we looked like in God's eyes. With that knowledge, we can go out and meet people, mix with them and hopefully allow them to see how we have given up those ways and now follow Christ's will in our lives. There is no better witness than a faithful follower!

Points to Ponder:
Do you pick your friends too carefully?

What would you do if Christ picked His friends carefully?

July 4: Luke 12 13-21

Key Verse: Luke 12 21
“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

Devotion:
If we take the focus off being there for other people and focus solely on being there for ourselves we have then turned our backs on God and gone with the way of the world. We can listen to wonderful ways and methods of doing things which are taught every day by the rich and famous. They will tell us of the things we need to be able to do in order to look after ourselves or in order to make sure we have a huge nest-egg we can enjoy later in life. They will tell us of all the good things we can do such as saving money and even using it to make more.

But none of this is going to be any good to us unless we are able to use it! If we build up our wealth and die in the process of doing that, we have gained absolutely nothing in the process. If we gain all the wealth we can here on earth whilst forgetting about what we are facing after our physical death, then we have lost focus on our future. Our future is not just what we have here on earth; our future is our eternal existence. Our souls are going to live on in one form or another. God has given us the choice so that we can determine where and how we spend our eternal existence.

Whilst there is nothing wrong in making sure you have enough money to live on, even comfortably, going all out just for the sake of money means we are losing sight of the important goal in our life – that of eternal life. There is nothing wrong in making a few million – as long as we are not going to make it the be-all and end-all of our existence. As long as we are keeping God in focus and doing His will, we may well be required to earn a whole bunch of money so that we can help out His people. There are some very rich people out there who are using a sizeable chunk of their personal wealth to help other people. God did not make us to be alone and we need to make sure that we do not turn our backs on His people, just when they need us most.

Points to Ponder:
Are you frantically saving for something?

How much are you building up for yourself in heaven?

July 3: Romans 2 1-4

Key Verse: Romans 2 3
So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?

Devotion:
It is so easy to sit back and think about exactly what others are doing wrong. Even if we do not come forward and challenge them for the things they are doing wrong, we are still thinking about it. We are condemning them in our minds through some sort of false belief that we are above them in some manner because we can see what they are doing wrong. What we need to remember is, if we were faced with circumstances like they are, we may well be the ones giving in to the temptations or distractions and doing the wrong thing too. When we are faced with temptations, we give in when we think it is OK. When we are faced with new situations, we make choices which are often not the right choices – but we find that out too late!

One thing we do learn from the bible is that God is just. He will make sure His judgement will work against those who commit grievances against Him. God cannot abide sin in any form and will always make sure we face up to our sin in one way or another. That is where we have a choice. We can either go along with all the other people and think we will get away with it, or we can face up to the truth and know that we cannot. When we face up to that truth, we then begin to see when we do things wrong and have a better chance at straightening our own lives out.

But it's not just about making sure we do not sin – because we always will! We have to take in mind all God does do for us, all He has done for us and remember all the suffering He had to endure just for our sakes. When we do these things we will be more in a position to admit our own faults, we will be more willing to come forward and admit to our sins. Then He will do exactly as He has promised and forgive us of those sins!

Points to Ponder:
Do you seek help from others when you have problems?

Do you admit your problems to God?