May 2: Matthew 24 42-46

Key Verse: Matthew 24 42
Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.

Devotion:
Through all of His promises we can clearly see Christ has kept all that He has promised; hence all of His promises about His return must be true as well. Our only problem is we do not know when He is going to return! We do not know whether it will be in 1 minute or a thousand years, never mind the time or date. We can get a pretty good idea things will continue to get worse until such time as He does return. We can get a pretty good idea of the things which will happen because many of these are written down for us. The one thing we know is we ought to be ready for that return...

If you organised a meeting with someone to talk about something which is going on in your life or work, would it not be prudent to be ready and waiting for that meeting at the appointed time? What use would organising the meeting be if you are going to turn up after the meeting has been held already? But if we do not know the exact time for the meeting, then simply being prepared so you can get called at a moment’s notice would be a good idea.

God does not want to wait for the most awkward moment in everyone's lives before He says, “time's up”. He does not want everyone to be at their worst just before He enters the room. He would rather we are ready and doing the things which He wants us to when He does return. His return is described as being like a thief in the night because it is our nature that is letting us down. We do lose focus on things when they do not “happen” according to our own time-line. We do get lax and lazy when things don't seem to happen the way we think they should be happening. By our very nature, we are letting ourselves down and that is why the stark warning. If we want to be ready, we have to make sure we continue to do the things He has asked us to do and to continue to expect His imminent return.

Points to Ponder:
Do you get caught out when people suddenly turn up on your doorstep?

What do you think you will be doing when Christ returns?

May 1: Matthew 2 16-18

Key Verse: Matthew 2 16
Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.

Devotion:
There are some things in life which are certain but we just don't want to know about them because they are so barbaric or soul-crushing that we think they should not be possible. One of those things is the acts of genocide we face from world leaders. These acts of genocide have been around for a long time and will continue to be around whilst man still has it in him to get angry or take pride further than it should go. It is nothing more than one man's extreme anger, pride or greed which sparks off an act of genocide.

When the wrong people get into power, they yield their power in ways we have not thought of or in more extreme ways than we had imagined. How can we tell if they are the wrong people – we could simply see if they are following Christ. We have a leader in Christ from whom we can learn through historical records. We have a leader in the Holy Spirit through whom we can take daily guidance. He wants us to be able to do the right thing so we can treat people correctly and show them how much love He has for each one of us.

When we turn our backs on Him, we try to grasp whatever power we have and yield it in a manner that will show those around us we are in some way powerful. We try to gain respect from yielding that power. But because we do not have divine guidance, we make up our own rules and invariably get things wrong. We exert more than we should, or we lose track on the original direction and seek out more and more situations where we can use our power. It is little wonder then that people who are placed in positions of great power do find it easy to yield their power in unexpected ways.

God has given us free will. He may not take it away from us directly, but don't be at all surprised if He uses some other corrupt person to take that power away!

Points to Ponder:
Do you get angry when things do not go your way?

Do you seek out God when you get carried away?

April 30: Proverbs 21 23-24

Key Verse: Proverbs 21 24
A proud and haughty man— “Scoffer” is his name; He acts with arrogant pride.

Devotion:
What would be the one thing you would never want to lose? Maybe it would it be a friend, or a special something, or maybe it would be all your money... But what about yourself? What about the thought of actually losing your identity? Not just about losing yourself in something, but actually losing who you are because you have given yourself up to so many other things you have buried the real you in the past somewhere! That should be one thing we are always striving to make sure we do not lose.

How easy it is to agree with someone to go off and do something just to keep them quiet or to keep them as friends. How easy it is to give in to a dare and do something you ought not to do. How many of those things have you done just because you said 'yes' at the time? How many of those things have you agreed to do without thinking about the consequences? Once again, your mouth letting loose before your brain has had time to think about things! Keeping your tongue in control not only helps you to stay out of temptation and trouble, but will also make sure you keep your own identity and don't take on someone else's by agreeing to do the things they do!

Most of the time it will be our pride which will keep us from changing our minds after we have agreed to do something that may not be right or good. Most of the time it is just our pride that is leading us off into the wilderness of temptation and sin. The more we deal with it, the more we are going to accept it and even get to agree with it. Our lives are twisted by the things we agree to go off and do! We even get to the stage where we get angry when things go against what we have agreed to do – even though we know that what we have agreed to do is not actually right! We become dealers in pride and anger, losing all sight of whom we used to be. It is that pride that will lead you to shame, not the admission that things are wrong!

Points to Ponder:
Would you like to go back to being you?

Have you asked God for help to refocus your life?

April 29: James 3 2-5

Key Verse: James 3 2-5
Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things.

Devotion:
How little we do care for our tongues. How little we care for what they get us into. How little we bridle or stay them... If you want to get yourself into trouble, just try saying something! It sometimes seems that no matter what we do say, we will land ourselves in trouble – but yet we insist on saying something! You can almost guarantee the thing which has got you into the most trouble so far is your tongue. It is almost as if we do not have full control over what comes out of our mouths!

Well, we are not alone. None of us are perfect and our tongues are even less so than the rest of us. If we are going to go out and do something, it takes a few minutes and we have time to think about what we are about to do. But when it comes to just turning round and saying something – it takes but a few milliseconds for us to start saying something which we may well regret! Our brains are more than willing to let fly with the tongue well before we have even had time to think about what we are going to say.

Controlling our tongues is one of the most difficult things we have to learn. All it takes is a few seconds, but oh so many times we do not allow those few seconds for our brains to get into gear! What we say can destroy someone's confidence in a single second. What we say can destroy a relationship in a single sentence. What we say can lose us our jobs or lose a friend. Such a small thing as the tongue can get us into the biggest and deepest of trouble!

That is why we have to try hard to stop and think before we let loose. We have to try to allow God time to guide us before we just blurt out what we think is best! Allowing Christ a few seconds to guide you will go a long way to allowing you to be more like Him!

Points to Ponder:
So what is your favourite put-down?

Would you say that directly to God?