June 12: Proverbs 23 6-8
Key Verse: Proverbs 23 7
for he is the kind of person who is always thinking about the cost. “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.
Devotion:
Being able to spot people who are not sincere is something we often learn the hard way by being let down time and time again. We trust in someone because of what they say and do to or for us and before long we find out the hard way they did not actually mean what they said and they let us down just when we need them most. As we continue in our lives we learn to be able to tell the genuine people from those who are not.
What we must also be learning is how we should not be wanting after the things that they do and have! They have got where they are in life by the lifestyle they have lived to so far. They may have achieved whatever they have by living a lie which they continue to do so. How can anything in life be worth the heartache which those lies generate. It is not just the bad feelings of those who are let down, but the constant building up of those feelings within themselves too. With each lie, they build up more evil within themselves until such time as it becomes the natural thing to do.
In that state, nobody can hope to come close to God! Just the first 'little' lie alone is enough to separate us from Him. Building lie upon lie is like building a huge wall around yourself to keep everyone out, including God. Not only that, but in doing so you have trapped yourself in a situation where you no longer have an escape route! That is when you need the help of someone else to start to work your way out.
We need to learn how to spot people who are building those walls around themselves so we can avoid them if they are intent in continuing to build those separations. We also need to spot that same situation within ourselves – we need to spot it before the walls we are building completely surrounds ourselves!
Points to Ponder:
Are you or your friends building hidden walls around yourselves?
Are you trying to hide yourself from God, or are you doing it without knowing it?
June 11: Proverbs 23 4-5
Key Verse: Proverbs 23 4
Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness.
Devotion:
There are reasons for doing work, but there are also the wrong reasons for doing work. We are so easily persuaded to get caught up in doing things for the wrong reason – like personal financial gain when it excludes God from your life. Whilst you may turn round and say you will never work on Sundays because you give that day to The Lord, what about the rest of the time when you get busy with so many other things? We do get carried away with things in our life for personal gain – it does not have to be a full-time job that is doing this but something as simple as a computer game that takes up more time than it should... Whilst you are busy with your work or pastime, you find that time seems to go by faster than it should – because you are getting carried away with it.
Even if you are switching off from whatever you do on Sundays, you are still excluding so much from your life on all of the other days. You may think it is OK to 'go for it' for a few days or weeks or even months in order to get the most done, but during that time you may not just be ignoring God directly, you may well be ignoring others around you. When you are doing that, you are ignoring another one of God's children. Pretty much the same as ignoring God... It's not just the direct effects on God but on everyone around you that you have to think about!
And for what gain? You will find you gain either a whole lot of fun (at the expense of others), or a whole lot of money (again at the expense of others). And to what goal? You have had your fun or now have your money, but as soon as you have spent it... it's gone. To what effect? Well, short term only... Nothing we create or make up here is going to come with us to heaven. How do you know what others are going to do with all your estate when you die? Would you rather not make sure the right thing is done now rather than waiting until it is too late? Think about the story of the prodigal son and how he had so much and lost it all.
Points to Ponder:
So you think you know it all now?
Do you think God has not seen it before – even after reading about it in The Bible?
June 10: Proverbs 23 1-3
Key Verse: Proverbs 23 3
Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive.
Devotion:
One of the things most people will always find hard to resist is loads of food, especially men! But just how far you let yourself go is at question here. Whilst it is no sin to ensure you do have enough to eat, going overboard for no good reason is just wrong. We need to make sure we are not going to be wasteful with what we have nor to allow ourselves to be tempted by what others put before us. God showed the people of Israel this when they were in the desert by supplying just the right amount of mana for each person.
When we go to a party in celebration of something, we are going for a reason and that is to celebrate. In many such cases, we are to take part in a feast as part of that celebration. Whether we are going to eat and drink ourselves full or eat and drink until we are sick is a choice we need to make. As part of the celebration, we are expected to enjoy what is put before us – but we are not expected to eat and drink ourselves sick. Should we do so, we are making the choice to be greedy and go too far, we are the ones letting ourselves go too far with the temptation.
Another side of the great food debate will be that of someone tempting you away from what you should be doing with tempting foods and drinks. It is very easy to be tempted by luxury and sensual food and drink, and even easier when we are hungry. But just because we may be hungry or desirous of that food and drink, it does not mean we should just accept it. We have to make sure we are not being drawn into something we are not seeing. Just as your parents would have taught you not to accept sweets from strangers, we need to carry on with that philosophy through life – don't just go with the flow, think about the reasons behind the offer before you jump in!
Why all the focus on food? Because it is one of the easiest things that will let us down... We do enjoy good food and drink. We do like to have luxuries. But we need to be wary of anyone who is offering us an abundance of food and drink without good cause.
Points to Ponder:
Do you accept everything from strangers?
God supplies our needs but we need to make sure we don't take too much.
June 9: Philippians 4 10-13
Key Verse: Philippians 4 11
I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.
Devotion:
If we were to live with our parents in a country where we hardly ever got to see or hear how anyone else lived, I'm pretty sure we would live being content with what we have. But when we mix with others and see all manner of luxuries on film and television, then we learn that there is so much more out there and begin to be tempted to want what we cannot have. That desire becomes stronger all the time our desires turn us away from what is right and we start bending the rules to get what we want!
It is little wonder then Satan used this tactic to tempt Eve with the forbidden fruit. All he had to do was to plant the seed into Adam’s and Eve's heads that there could be so much more than they had now and their minds and desires took over and the rest is history. You may think you will never be tempted from what is right... Adam was right next to Eve and knew what was right, and yet he followed Eve. Our minds and bodies by themselves are no match for the wiles of Satan. But When Christ is on our side, we find a new strength.
God does not promise us a life without pain and suffering here on earth; in fact, He warns us of the exact opposite – that we will have pain and suffering in our lives. But He continues to allow this to happen so we can become stronger. It is unfortunate that we are surrounded by people who have let go or who are evil so things do seem out of control! But, once we realise we cannot do it by ourselves and we call upon Christ to strengthen us, then we find the true strength and learn the right ways of doing things; we need to make sure we do call upon Christ for this strength! Without it, we are nothing...
What we also need to remember is whatever comes our way is what Christ has deemed allowable to come our way. Therefore, we need to be content with what Christ is allowing our way, knowing full well He does know best and it is, in some way, for our own good!
Points to Ponder:
How often are you upset by what your friends allow to happen to you?
How often do you allow Christ to strengthen you?
June 8: Galatians 4 8-11
Key Verse: Galatians 4 9
But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage?
Devotion:
We all start in life searching for something to look up to and when we find something which drives us on or something which we desire more than anything, we make that out goal and go for it. We carry on doing this whenever we find something better to aim for in the hopes we will find a better way or better life. We set all sorts of things in high esteem and we treat them like mini gods. You would think that when we get to know God we would put all these things behind us; yet so many times we still hold far too many things of higher position than God.
Whatever we look up to most, whatever we love the most ... that is going to be our god because that is what we are going to aim for most in our lives. The first two commandments God gave to Moses were to make sure we do hold Him highest in our lives and that we do aim for nothing less than His perfection – yet we all do still fall short most of the time.
So many people get caught up in things which they know little of, but because they can change the rules to suit themselves, they continue with those ways of life. So many people think that aiming for inner perfection is something we can all achieve blocking out their reliance or dependence on God. Or they change the rules so God is a God of love and not justice. We must never forget that God is just and He will carry out all that He has promised, even if we don’t like it at the time!
We need to refocus our lives on God and put aside our individual aspirations of becoming more than we are – His children.
Points to Ponder:
Do you ever think you can become your parents’ parents?
How do you think God feels when we try to better Him?