September 29: Psalms 86:1-7
Key Verse: Psalms 86:4
Bring joy to your servant, Lord, for I put my trust in you.
Devotion:
How often do you ask God for help? I know I do ask a lot of God and I am amazed by how much He is willing to do for me, a simple, humble man. I am not a businessman, I don’t own much, not a house or even a car now... but what I do have is my relationship with God which means more to me than any earthly riches. Yes, I would like to own my own house, have a car and not worry about whether I will be able to pay my rent, but life is not like that... we all have hurdles to jump every day.
I know God cares for the poor and needy because I have seen it many times in person as well as read of it many times in the bible. I don’t go out of my way to be poor so God will look after me, but equally I don’t rush after earthly riches. I do love to volunteer for charity work and love to help people understand how much God means to me – this is what makes me happy and content!
One thing I have learned over the past couple of years is God is the one who is looking after my soul. My body broke down last year in a big way and forced me to stay for quite a while in hospital whilst the amazing doctors and nurses of the UK NHS treated me and nursed me back to a state where I had a fighting chance of surviving out of hospital once again. This time has taught me a lot about God’s love because I saw a whole string of people being placed around me who would normally not be there, both Christians and non-Christians alike.
God works with us in the state He finds us in. If we are broken, He will work with us in that broken state. If we are fit and well, he can use us to reach out to others who do need a little extra help. God has no problem reaching down to us in our most vulnerable and humble states and lifting us up in ways we don’t realise until after the fact. I look back now and see so much God did for me over the last two years and I love Him more!
Points to Ponder:
Do you ask God for help daily?
Will you stop trying to do it all and ask for more help?
September 28: Luke 20:45-47
Key Verse: Luke 20:46
Beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honour at banquets.
Devotion:
One thing I have always been wary of is people who insist on dressing up more than usual to go to church on a Sunday. I don’t know what it is that rubs me up the wrong way because many people do come out with the argument they are doing their very best for God and you cannot argue with that! But I would like to pose the question: why do you work for God in the way you do?
Jesus flat out warned the disciples of the men who dressed up in their flowing robes and went out of their way to be recognised and greeted in marketplaces and places of honour. Some of those people were doing it for self-recognition and not for God, despite their words...
If we are going to work for God, then we should be getting down and doing the work and not trying to bring fame to ourselves for doing the work. I, personally, don’t like the idea of advertising church and Christian work. We may argue this has to be done so our sponsors can get recognition for paying to support us – but if we are doing this for the sponsors, then we are not doing it for God!
It is a fine line we walk as Christian workers. On one hand we need to do the work and we often need financial support to be able to do the work – not because God requires it, but because earthly people want renumeration for allowing us to do the work in places they own or control. On the other hand, we are working for God and we should be doing all we can to ensure this work is done... just be wary about who gets the glory, because it should not be us, but God!
Points to Ponder:
How do you go about getting support for your church?
When was the last time you knocked on someone’s door to remind them of God?
September 27: Luke 20:1-8
Key Verse: Luke 20:7
So they answered, “We don’t know where it was from.”
Devotion:
It’s OK to not know all the answers! I found that out when I went on a youth camp, not as a youth but as a leader. A couple of youth came and asked me an awkward question for which I didn’t know the answer, so we went to speak to an elder who was mor likely to know the answer. What I got out of that was respect, both from the youth who got to learn more, and from the elder who praised me for not making something up!
Too many times in our lives we come up against people who would rather make something up which sounds good rather than admitting they do not know the answer. We are damaging our communities and ourselves by making up answers! God does not want us making things up because we are no longer telling people the truth and they may not believe us when we do eventually tell the truth!
God has always made sure we do hear the truth from Him. He continues to uphold the truth against everything and wants us to try to always keep to the truth as well. Sometimes we are put in a very difficult position where we know the truth will hurt others; but it is still best to tell the truth so others know you can be depended on in all circumstances.
Jesus made sure He could always be defended on for the truth as well as the love and healing. If we really do want to show people we love them, then sticking to the truth is always the best plan!
Points to Ponder:
Do you listen to people when you know they are not telling the truth?
How often do people stop listening to you?
September 26: Luke 9:10-17
Key Verse: Luke 9:11
but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing.
Devotion:
One of the things the disciples had to learn from Jesus was there is no end to His love and mercy and compassion for everyone! No matter what position they found themselves in, no matter how tired they felt and no matter how little they had with them, Christ was always willing to tell others about God and to heal them...
When they were seemingly cornered in a small town called Bethsaida, Jesus had no problem with teaching and caring for anyone who was willing to come to Him. When it all got a bit too much for the disciples, they wanted to send everyone home so they could get a bite to eat and have a rest. It does not mention what the weather was like, but, being in the Middle East, it was probably hot and sunny as normal!
When the disciples gave in Jesus told them to feed the crowd; they knew they did not have enough food – how could five loaves and two fish feed thousands of people! Jesus told them to organise them into smaller groups... Have you ever wondered why? Ok, the logistics made it easier to reach everyone if there was a bit of order, but I think this was more a time when Jesus wanted them to be distracted so they would trust Him.
Sometimes Jesus is going to ask us to do the extraordinary so we give in and trust Him fully instead of trying to get things done as best we can. When we give in to Christ and allow Him to work through us, we can do so much more than we realise. Trust goes a long way! It’s called having more faith!
Points to Ponder:
Do you always try to do as much as you can for God?
Will you allow Him to do more than you can do?