March 29: 2 Peter 1 16-21
Key Verse: 2 Peter 1 21
for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
Devotion:
If we were to take just the Old Testament, we would be in a very sorry state. God's Law is written down in length and the payment for so many of those laws was harsh; yet those same laws are now flouted each day and breaking them is becoming part of society, even law. Man has twisted the truth to suit his own needs, making Gods Law of no effect to himself – little does he know what he will be facing come Christ's return!
When Christ came to earth He did not say that all of the laws written down by Moses and the prophets were to no effect; rather He used them to show just what we are, to show us just where we have gone wrong in our lives. The disciples were taught by word of mouth, straight from the mouth of our Lord Jesus Christ. They did not have need of the scriptures but that did not stop them from learning them to find out about themselves and God. Christ wants each of us to come to terms with just what sort of people we are in His sight. It is only after we learn just how He sees us that we can then know what He feels. What we will not fully grasp is just how much He loves us from the Old Testament. That is shown by His example, how He willingly went to the cross as our perfect sacrifice so we would no longer have to pay for our sins.
God the Father spoke the words “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” What other proof would they need that Christ is the Son of God? The writers have written the scriptures so we may know what they have been through was just the beginning; God wants us to know what they have been through was for our benefit. The gospel writers went through things so they would be our eye witnesses to know Christ was and is real and He is our Saviour! What they have written is not up for private interpretation but must be taken as how it has been written. Just as Moses was instructed to write things down in the early days, so the disciples and others have written down more chapters in our bibles so we may know the truth that they were able to witness first hand.
Points to Ponder:
How many of God's Laws can you name?
How many of those have you taken to Christ in prayer?
March 28: 1 Corinthians 2 10-16
Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 2 11
For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.
Devotion:
Just as we have our spirit, God has the Holy Spirit... but that is where the comparison stops! Each of us can begin to understand what we are all about and understand our thoughts and even know what we should be doing. But what we cannot ever hope to do is to have that same understanding of anyone else. We can study them and take guesses at what they are thinking and even get good at making those guesses, but the true thoughts of that person are hidden from us. God, on the other hand, knows our every thought.
Each of the disciples were taught by Jesus, they were physically taught by Him. We do not have that luxury of having a physical teacher with us all the time, but we do have the Holy Spirit who is willing to teach us everything as long as we listen. When I was at school, everyone sat quietly and listened in our classes or we would get punished. Nowadays the classroom seems to be moving more to the way where the students have a choice as to whether they want to listen or not. That brings on a problem because some choose never to listen and hence not to learn.
We have received our spirit from God, our Creator. We have also access to the Holy Spirit. Neither are spirits of the world. There is nothing of spiritual importance we can learn from the world. That must come from God, our creator. In order to learn that, we learn from God's Word with assistance from the Holy Spirit. We do have the choice as to whether we are going to listen or not, but we will never learn anything unless we do listen!
Unfortunately, many people are going to choose not to listen and hence, never to learn. The understanding of the bible will never get through to them; it will remain a mystery because they choose to ignore those spiritual lessons. Yet God continues to be faithful and listens to everything we do through His Spirit. We can learn as much as we can listen...
Points to Ponder:
Do you like it when people distract you in class so you cannot learn?
Are you letting your spirit learn from the right places?
March 27: Proverbs 20 27
Key Verse: Proverbs 20 27
The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord, Searching all the inner depths of his heart.
Devotion:
Each one of us, whether we like it or not, has been designed by God. Each of us has a spirit that has been placed inside of us so we can have consciousness. I'm not talking of the Holy Spirit, but our own spirit. God created each of us with a spirit so we will be able to reason, to understand, to make our own decisions. That spirit is like a lamp which will allow us to discover ourselves, how we work, how we function. It also gives us understanding of others so we may understand other people as well.
We were created in God's image to have this spirit as our discerning power. God wanted each of us to be able to see how glorious a design He had come up with so we would know just how much He loves us. The spirit He created within us is there to allow us to glorify Him for His marvellous works. Our spirit is self-conscious. We are able to search into and understand our souls, our very lives. With that much understanding and ability to see into so much, we need to make sure that what is found by our spirits is good and praiseworthy or we will be damaging our own spirits, bringing them down to the level of the world around us. We also need a guide to show us through this maze – The Holy Spirit.
When we are saved by God's grace, we have the Holy Spirit within us. The big difference between the Holy Spirit and our own spirit is that of sin. We still have our sin nature which will put up with sin in our lives, even introduce sin into our lives. The Holy Spirit cannot abide sin. Yet, just like our spirit, the Holy Spirit can see everything and can understand even more than we can. When we do sin, we are forcing the Holy Spirit into a corner within us whilst our spirit gets involved.
We need to try our best to follow God’s commandments so we can live as close as possible to Gods way in our lives. That way we grieve the Holy Spirit as little as possible. When we live right, we allow our own spirit to seek and search freely, understanding more and more as we are taught by the Holy Spirit and letting Gods light shine within us.
Points to Ponder:
Who gets hurt when you know you are doing wrong?
Are you living for God or against God?
March 26: Proverbs 26 20-22
Key Verse: Proverbs 26 20
Where there is no wood, the fire goes out; And where there is no talebearer, strife ceases.
Devotion:
I wonder, have you ever studied a large fire like a bonfire. Looking deep into the fire you will see just how hot it gets in the middle, hot enough to melt all manner of things. One of the most surprising things I have seen was to see the aluminium legs of a chair melt in the midst of a fire as if they were silver plastic. Nothing is going to be able to escape when the fire is that hot in the middle! But, pretty soon, the wood has all burned out and the fire cools down again... the only problem for the chair leg was that the damage was done – well and truly done! Fires need fuel in order to continue burning. Once that fuel has been expended, the fire will die out. But given enough fuel, fires can continue to burn for a long time. You can even bring a fire back to life by giving it a bit of fuel just before the last of the embers stops glowing. It does not take too much to get it going again.
Gossip is just like a fire. It will spread just as quickly and it will burn as bright. It will destroy whatever or whomever is in the middle just like the middle of a fire. And, just like a fire, it needs fuel to continue burning. If you add just a small piece of fuel, the gossip fire will continue burning. Just like the fire I watched, everything inside of it can be destroyed. The words and secrets which may be revealed by gossip can destroy people, maybe not as visibly as fire, but certainly from the inside! The wrong words said at the wrong time can bring nations to war, or simply bring one person to their knees. It is not whether those words are true or not which normally matters, but the fact they have been aired in public.
A true word in private may help to allow someone to see their mistakes and allow them time to correct them. But a word in public may well push a person too far. A private word will help you to understand the truth, but a word in public may make you an instant enemy of many. Gossip eats down to the bones. It breaks people’s spirits. It is the silent weapon that everyone fears – yet we don't seem to have any problem using it against others...
Points to Ponder:
Who is the gossip centre in your circle of friends?
How many of Gods children have been hurt by your words? One is too many!
March 25: Acts 1 6-11
Key Verse: Acts 1 8
But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
Devotion:
Man has this insatiable desire to know everything in the universe. We find out things and we need to know more. We get told things and we need to know why. Whilst most things are there to be learned by us, there are some things which God has told us that we do not need to know – the main one being that we do not need to know when Christ is returning, just that He is.
Christ has promised to give us the knowledge that we need in order to take the gospel out to others. He has promised us the Holy Spirit to guide us and to teach us from His Word. He has given us His Word and promised it will last throughout time. He has delivered on each of these promises. He has promised He will return – so we need to live knowing He will deliver on that promise as well.
The disciples were allowed to witness many things which went on in Christ's life so they could build up the church based on His Word and an eye witness account. He wanted the first church builders to be strong and faithful and teach how His promises will be delivered. He gave them instructions to go out into all the world and teach that gospel. He had already told them He would return and the angels beside Him as He rose gave witness to that event as well. What they did not do was to say the date upon which everything would happen. For that we have to have faith it will happen because Christ has said it will.
There are not too many people in our lives who can say something and we can depend on it being followed all the way. Most people are flexible with what they promise because we live in a changing world and we think that offers us an excuse to change as well. God created and maintains this world – which is why we can know He will do exactly what He has said. He will return. Make sure you are ready.
Points to Ponder:
Do you always believe everything you are told by others?
Do you know of anything in the bible that is not true?