June 21: Mark 4:35-41
Key Verse: Mark 4:38
Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
Devotion:
I loved the story we were told in our local church today where our elder compared this to a story of a child learning to ride a bike. When they first start, they wobble all over the place, but as they get more confident and can balance, they need less and less support... but the first time they realise they were riding by themselves, they probably wobble even more and fall off!
When we first learn to be Christians, we wobble all over the place and get things wrong. As we become more confident and learn more, we can do things and even act like Christians – but the first time we get challenged by someone or something, we fall flat on our faces because we don’t yet have the full confidence we need to continue alone.
Christ is like the father running alongside the child, supporting, then less so and finally not holding us up as we move ahead with Him; but as soon as we realise we don’t have Him holing firmly onto our hands, we fall flat and get things in a right mess again!
The disciples were still learning to put their trust in Christ and when they thought He was not looking out for them – they were in the middle of a storm whilst He slept – their faith, or lack of it, let them down and they called out to Christ for help!
Christ is always there by our sides and continues to support us in many ways while we learn more; but there will come a time when we will be the ones running alongside someone else as they learn and we should have the confidence to support them as they learn.
Points to Ponder:
Are you still learning to ‘ride you bike’?
Will you try to believe and trust in what Christ has already taught you?
June 20: 1 Samuel 17:32-37
Key Verse: 1 Samuel 17:32
David said to Saul, ‘Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.’
Devotion:
How many times have you been stuck in a certain situation and have thought about it so much there does not seem to be a way out of it – but along comes a friend and asks ‘have you tried this yet?’ A fresh pair of eyes on the situation can often see a way through when you are lost in your own issues!
God has promised to continue looking out for us and watching over us. He continues to support and love us just as He has promised. We can see this happening every day when we look for it; but if we focus too much on the world we lose sight of what God is trying to do to help us out and we lose out on that help because we discard it because we can only see the problems ahead and no solution!
God has given each of us unique abilities which we can use to either do things for ourselves, or to help everyone with. David was unique in how He trusted God. If he had simply stayed with his father's sheep, he would have continued fighting off predators without anyone getting to know what he was doing. But God opened up a door where he would be able to step up in front of the world and show them what God had been doing behind the scenes for so long – to open their eyes to what God can do once again.
Sometimes we have to step forward and put our faith and trust in God once again to allow people to see what He is capable; not to see what we can do, but to see what God can do through us. If we are willing to show people it is God who does these things through us, we will be able to do anything God has in mind for us!
Points to Ponder:
Do you limit yourself to what you think you can do?
Have you tried stepping forward and allowing God to show you more?
June 19: 1 Samuel 17:4-11
Key Verse: 1 Samuel 17:4
A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits and a span.
Devotion:
There are going to be times in your life when you think you are facing a giant who is impassable – someone or something which you cannot see a way round; we give in to these situations because we cannot see any way round. When we focus on the world or situations in the world, all we will see are those things and we will lose sight of what God can do in our lives!
Mankind spends so much time looking into the minutia of the world and not enough time spent on meditating on what God can do in our lives. I do think we have the most amazing programs about nature and history – things like that fascinate me and I love watching them. But I also see how the people making these productions have lost sight on what God could do in their lives.
It is great to learn about history so we can do the things which have worked in the past and avoid the things which have not. We limit ourselves and our lives to what other people have learned because we are learning from them. This sometimes allows us to fall into the same trap and believe everything we hear rather than trusting in God.
God has tried to teach us through His word by having it all written down. He has shown us what has and has not worked and even expects us to find out more about the world as we go on. But He also expects us to continue trusting in Him like the people in the bible did. We have so many examples of how people have lost sight of God’s power and might and given in to the fears the world shows us. Sometimes we have to stop and look back on what God has done in the past to see how we can go forward in life with God.
Points to Ponder:
How well do you know your history in the bible?
Will you read a bit more history today and be encouraged by it?
June 18: Psalm 92:4-7
Key Verse: Psalm 92:7
that though the wicked spring up like grass and all evildoers flourish, they will be destroyed for ever.
Devotion:
Whenever something good happens to or for us, we rejoice and even want to tell others about our good fortune. But when bad things happen, most of us will hide the bad news deep inside ourselves instead of sharing it with others. God wants us to be glad for all He does for us and to entrust more to Him so we can receive more from Him. It sounds counter-intuitive because we often find putting trust in other people often leads to trouble instead of joy!
But then we have to remember we are not going to put our trust in human beings, but in God Himself. It is the failing of mankind which lead to so much strife in our lives and not any failing of God. We cannot express all God is able to do and we certainly do not understand just how much He can do; in fact, we are like the senseless people described in this passage – we don’t know what God is capable of...
When we get down because of the success of evil or when bad seems to win over good – we are not seeing the bigger picture. We limit ourselves to what we can see and feel instead of opening our minds to what God can do. God will always look at the bigger picture and will work things according to our needs – which may well be out of our site to start with.
God does not simply allow evil to continue thriving. He continues to support and uphold righteousness. Evil and the people who support it are not being looked over – God knows who they are and what they have done and they will be judged according to their works when the time comes. As for me, I praise God for all He does in my life and look forward to seeing what else He can and will do!
Points to Ponder:
Do you give God room to work in your life?
Will you support Him in what he does?