January 20: Psalm 34:19-20
 
Key Verse: Psalm 34:20
he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken.
 
Devotion:
One of the most surprising things is that I have not broken any bones yet! When I think back of all the stupid things I have done in my past from jumping off roofs and rock climbing without any protection, the odds were clearly stacked against me – but I still came out relatively unscathed from all my doings... Now I am not saying we should all go out and jump off roofs! There is no way we should be knowingly tempting God!
 
But these words are so very comforting to us – not that God will always protect us from breaking our bones, because we still do stupid things and we probably deserve to have a broken bone or two! But God continue to watch over us in everything we do and will try to make sure we are safe at all times.
 
The most comfort I get from these verses is not the broken bones part, but that God gives us a peace which really does go beyond all our own understanding. That peace is able to cover all our worries and self-doubts. That peace lifts us up from our mourning and gives us an understanding of how God continues to love and protect us.
 
I pray each one of you who are reading this (or listening to it) are blessed by God’s peace and continue to trust Him in many more things in your lives. I know I have always been surprised by the depth of the peace He gives me and continue to accept it in bundles. He really does look after me and protect me in so many ways, especially with my heart and mind!
 
Points to Ponder:
How much do you trust God with?
 
Will you give God your heart for safe keeping today?

January 19: Acts 4:32-35
 
Key Verse: Acts 4:35
and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.
 
Devotion:
If you wanted to start changing your community from the inside, what would you start out by doing? One of the best things to start with is blessing others... I’m not talking about the crass way some people go about giving things to others just so they can get loads of views on social media, but the true servant hearted giving Christ calls us to. These people talked about in this section of passage were all now living as one community and were sharing everything they had with one another.
 
I can feel the cries of socialism and various other things... but when it comes down to it, this is what Christ was teaching – not the rule based “you will share everything with everyone” but the servant hearted “I am willing to share with anyone who is in need!” There is a huge difference in the two!
 
God does not call us to be a regimented society who are all too scared to do anything else but follow the rules. God calls us to be willing to share with people who are in need... So who is in need? It may surprise you to find out who the ones are who are in need.
 
It could be the company director just down the road who is now facing bankruptcy because their bills far outweigh the family income, or it could be the factory worker who had hardly anything to start with. We are not here to judge people on what they have done but to stand by people because of the situation they are in now! God bless you Dad for always being willing to help anyone.
 
Points to Ponder:
Are you willing to open your eyes to people in need?
 
Would you help someone who has not helped you before?

January 18: 1 Corinthians 5:6-8
 
Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 5:8
Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
 
Devotion:
This chapter may be a hard read for many because it is dealing with a case of incest in the community; but what is more disturbing is the attitude of the other people around in accepting this behaviour as OK and using some excuse to uphold what is going on. Paul’s comments are hard hitting, and I would like to focus on the humility of the submission Paul is suggesting.
 
Paul is trying to cut off this behaviour in the bud, before it takes over the community and destroys peoples moral code. It does only take one instance of something which is accepted to bring about a change in the whole community. If that acceptance is for something which is not good, then that behaviour may well spread throughout the community, destroying what God has tried to build up.
 
As Christians, we need to be the lights in our communities, holding up the light as high as we can and not covering it or hiding it. Just like letting in a little of a bad thing in to the community, letting in a little of a good thing to the community can bring about changed for the good!
 
Allow God to guild you and protect you as you step forward allowing His light to shine through you. Allow Him to guide you and counsel you to bring about a small, good change in your community; one which will be accepted over time and adopted as part of your community. This is how God gets into the broken communities we call home...
 
Points to Ponder:
Are you willing to start a change?
 
Are you willing to uphold that change for God?