July 13: Isaiah 6:1-8

Key Verse: Isaiah 6:8
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

Devotion:
I love this section of scripture, not because it is the commissioning of Isaiah into his role God has selected for him, but of how it is done. One of the things I struggled with in the beginning as a Christian was knowing I was just a sinner who needed forgiving, so how could I go and tell anyone about Jesus? Wouldn’t they turn round and tell me I was just the same as them!

This is a bit of what Isaiah was going through when this was happening. He knew he was just the same as all the other people. How could he be anything other than a sinner too…

God had other plans and came to him in a significant way. God wanted Isaiah to know this was God’s plan and not something Isaiah was thinking of on his own. Isaiah was very scared by the sound and sight of the seraphim and probably thought this was the end for him. But God used the seraphim to show Isaiah what mercy and forgiveness was.

In an instant he was shown how God can forgive, and when God forgives, it is a forgiveness which covers everything! As soon as Isaiah understood God was forgiving Him and setting him free, Isaiah had no qualms about stepping forward and doing God’s bidding there and then.

Points to Ponder:
How would you respond if God called you?

Christ came so we could be forgiven, and He called us!

July 12: Matthew 10:16-23

Key Verse: Matthew 10:22
You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

Devotion:
One of the hard things to accept of being a Christian is how people will reject you just because you are a Christian. Some people feel threatened by the fact you are a Christian whilst others reject you because they want to believe they are better than you! Either way, there will be people working against you just because you dare to say you love Jesus Christ!

Some of those people will plot against you thinking that you are working against them. They will think this because they live in a world where corruption and lies is an every day thing, whereas we are walking away from that (or at least we should be trying to walk away from it!) Some will look at you and think you are weak because you need Christ in your life whereas they think they can survive anything without Christ.

We have a great comfort in knowing Christ has promised us something they will never see and something which we can look forward to. They see a black hole or emptiness at the end whereas we can see light and eternity. Governments and leaders may work against you because you dare to point out their rules are broken!

We need to try to include everyone in our discipleship and reach out to everyone who is willing to listen. For those who work against us and refuse to listen, Jesus told the disciple they should walk away from them after giving them every chance to turn their lives around; they have made a choice to live without Christ and we must allow them that choice in the end.

Points to Ponder:
Do you look forward to your life with Christ?

Do you try to include others in your life with Christ?

July 11: Matthew 10:7-15

Key Verse: Matthew 10:8
Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy,[a] drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.

Devotion:
When Jesus sent the disciples out into the world, it was with a very specific job, but one with no limits. They were not given a single task to do, to go and be good at, to train for a long time to earn money or anything like that. His instruction was quite simple: Go out into the world and give back to people what you have been given.

Jesus had already told them they had been given eternal life because of what He was going to do. He had already said a way would be made which would enable them to have their sins forgiven and for them to enjoy a life in full communion with God. That is what Jesus wanted the disciple to go and do now. He was making disciples and now He was sending them out to go and make more disciples.

The task was not to go and make money, to go and gain a huge following, to go and be famous; it was to go and give freely what had already been given freely to them!

If we would focus on giving back to our communities what Christ has given to us, we would be able to bring more people freely into a life with Christ. If we focus on the earthly things surrounding all that, then our only gain will be the earthly things we gain. That is not what Jesus wants...

Points to Ponder:
What is your goal in life?

Have you listened to Christ to find out what your goal can be?