June 1: Matthew 22 15-22

Key Verse: Matthew 22 21
They said to Him, "Caesar's." And He said to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."

Devotion:
No matter where we go in life, we are always going to face people who will try to trip us up over our beliefs. We may firmly believe in what we do, but when people start to bring into question beliefs which are close to us, they may well force us to start thinking about those things and confuse us with what they are saying. Satan will continue to do this and to use others to do this as much as possible to us. The object lesson here for us is to learn how Jesus dealt with this type of person and opposition.

The first thing which Christ did was to make them aware of the situation they were in. They were unbelievers and they were trying to trip up Christ. We may get mugged for saying something so blatant nowadays due to the politically correct movement but when people do try to trip us up we should be letting them know where we stand and where they stand and allowing them to see the large gap in between. That simple fact will get them to see they are the ones who are isolated rather than us.

The next thing Christ did was to take something from their world and expose it for what it was. We may not be able to get by without money nowadays but just because the money we use has various dignitaries' pictures on it, it does not mean we have to worship those people. They are but mortals the same as we are. God is the one who looks at the inner person and not the outer person and hence does not separate king from peasant other than by what they believe in. God still wants us to continue to pay our taxes and expenses because that is all within the law of the land which we must respect. But, what He does not want us to do is to lift up those laws higher than His laws. We need to remember that God's Laws are paramount and others need to see us upholding them above everything. How else will others believe that God is real if we are going to promote other things ahead of our God?

Points to Ponder:
Do you crave for more money?

Do you crave for a closer life with God?

May 31: 1 John 1 5

Key Verse: 1 John 1 5
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.

Devotion:
We accept sin. We live with it. We even sin. We are surrounded by it. We ignore it. You could say we are part of it. One thing we will always find hard to understand is living without sin. We get so used to having sin around that we do accept it as part of our lives. As soon as someone says to us they have not done something, we probably start to think along the lines of “well if they are trying to tell me this, then they must be trying to cover something up”. It is now such an inbred part of society we do wonder how we could ever be accepted by God. Our verse today reminds us God will not accept sin. He cannot accept sin. He is without sin.

When you switch on a light in a dark room, the whole room becomes light. Even the parts where there are shadows have some light in them because of reflections. Once the light is switched on, there is no real way of hiding from it. When God's light shines, there are no shadows. God's all-encompassing light will fill any dark space you care to mention... but only if He is invited in to illuminate the place. Unlike the thief in the night who is willing to break in and use his subterfuge, God will not break in when not invited.

The thief will come in unannounced and use his torch to throw a bit of light on something but as soon as he loses interest in what he is looking at, the light is taken away with him. With God, that light comes to stay and will never be shut off. We may try to hide the light in a box so we can use our own methods of subterfuge to gain our own wicked ways, but the fact is that light has gone nowhere – it is still there. If we truly accept Christ into our lives, we are saying we want His pure light in our lives. As soon as we say so, His light is going to start shining from us. We will not be able to hide it... no matter how much we try to hide it in our box, the box will always let out some light. God wants us to allow His light to shine strongly so others will be able to see their way to Him too. He does not want us to try and hide it!

Points to Ponder:
Have you always been able to choose the right things?

With all the truth before you, will you choose the right things?

May 30: 1 John 1 1-4

Key Verse: 1 John 1 2
The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.

Devotion:
The one thing we must never forget is that each of the books of the bible were written by people who were witnesses to the wonders of God, be it through God the Father, God the Son or God the Holy Spirit. We have written testimonies that Jesus Christ did live, why He lived, that He died and why He died, and that He rose again and why. What other proof should we need other than written proof?

Scepticism comes from one source and one alone. It comes from the one who is fighting a battle which he has already lost. So instead of giving up peacefully, he is going all out to try and persuade as many people as possible that the written word which we have is not real. He is giving ammunition to the people who would rather not fight the good fight. He is doing all he can to spoil as much as possible before he faces up to his inevitable end.

We are lucky. We know that God created us and everything around us. We know He has given us the eyes, heart and spirit with which to experience His Word, Love and companionship. He has given us all we need to fully realise that we are a marvellous creation and He is our Creator. He even sent His Only Son to this world to be born, to teach, to guide and to ultimately die on the cross for our sins. Christ even rose from the dead to defeat Satan once and for all. We now have the Holy Spirit who is able to dwell within each of us who believe in Christ... And all of this is written down so that we can learn about it using everything He has created and believe in it knowing that we are created. All of these things are written so we can find Joy and comfort through Him and not have to worry about the traps of this world which is now full of sin...

Points to Ponder:
Do you believe all your school text books?

Are you willing to learn from The Master?

May 29: 1 Peter 1 24-25

Key Verse: 1 Peter 1 25
but the word of the Lord endures forever. ”And this is the word that was preached to you.

Devotion:
We can look back over historical records and find out how we are more likely to live for longer nowadays than we did a few hundred years ago. We can see how the medicines and lifestyles which we have now have improved our lives. Those people who lived in the past would probably look at our age and think we have a continual life of luxury when compared to themselves. But, just like then, our lives will still come to an end and that end is still unpredictable. We may live out our life in full and be over one hundred years old when we die, or we may contract one of the incurable diseases we still have lurking around and find out our life is cut very short. The fact is, we don't know how long we will live...

Another way of looking at things is that you spend about one quarter of your life in some sort of educational establishment; from home to school and university. Then we try to work our way up the ladder by working hard in our employment. We may find we never quite reach the heights we think we ought to before we have to retire as we have reached an age when we can no longer keep up with the rest. Then we spend the rest of our days in retirement, hopefully enjoying ourselves...

How can any of this compare to the age of the earth? How can any of this compare to the length of time we have written historical records about? Our lives are, in fact, quite short when compared to anything... But still God's Word has been there from the beginning of time and continues to be here. His Word continues to be heard (though we may think by fewer people each year). His Word outlasts each one of us and it will continue to last even after this word is gone. This same Word which is given to each one of us will continue through eternity... That is why we should stand up and embrace it into our lives with all that it stands for.

Points to Ponder:
How many times do your parents have to tell you something before you believe it?

How many times does God have to remind you of His Word?