August 19: Romans 11:28-32
Key Verse: Romans 11:29
for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.
Devotion:
Sometimes you just have to fall flat on your face so someone else can help you to get up… but what you do after that is what counts! God has given us a promise which He keeps, not intends to keep, but keeps!
We have historical records which show how mankind has walked with God, wandered off from God, worshipped other gods and eventually come back to the One True God! We have many of these accounts in our bible which scholars have tried to ensure is as much of the truth as we need to have in order to know the truth. But, despite having all this history, records and encouragement written down, we still falter and trip up. It’s just the way we are and we need to accept ourselves the way we are.
If we were going down the road of taking drugs or drinking too much alcohol, we would have to admit to ourselves we have a problem before we could make any changes in our lives. If we don’t admit we have an issue, then we cannot identify where we are going wrong and what the right path is to take. The same can be said for our Christian walk with God. Unless we admit to having issues in our lives we cannot hope to identify we have problems and sin in our lives.
The most important thing we have to remember is God’s gift and His call are irrevocable! That means the gift has been given freely and will always be there for us to accept. He also knows the people He wants to step forward and take the gospel out to others. This call is also always there. No matter how far we wander off and sin, no matter how much we ignore His call, it is always there and will always remain for us to pick up as His free gift to us.
How else can God show us His amazing mercy and grace unless we have in some way fallen from that grace at some stage in our lives. Does this mean we need to fall before we can live with Christ? No! For those lucky enough to have only stumbled a little, the gift is still there and still free and just as important and powerful as to someone who has fallen off a cliff (figuratively speaking!)
Points to Ponder:
How far do you feel from God?
Do you really want to hit rock bottom before you take up your free gift from God?
August 18: Psalm 133:1-3
Key Verse: Psalm 133:3
It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life for evermore.
Devotion:
How would you describe living with God to someone in your life? This Psalm was penned many years ago and it relates to how they lived, behaved and governed their lives back then. It may not mean so much to us nowadays because our modern lives seem to be so far different from these words… We now have all manner of things going wrong around the world today with so much political upheaval and so many social injustices happening all round the world. How do we stop and take time out with God in this chaos?
Well, much the same as they did back then. We have to put aside the horror which surrounds us long enough to focus on the good things which have happened in our lifetimes. Yes there are good things, but sometimes they are buried deep in chaos and trouble! God wants us to remember those good times and to use the memories to build up our own hope and faith because it is those times which can strengthen us in times of deep trouble.
Trouble and natural horrors are always going to be with us – this is the world we live in. But when we focus on the good and the pleasant times, we can think of more good things and more good times. I know it is easy for someone to say “just remember the good times” and I know the bad and sad time do overwhelm us much of the time, but we really do need to try and remember the good times so we stop focusing on the world around us and look to God instead.
I have found the last couple of weeks have been tough as we remain in the “in between state” of half good and half bad things going on around us. Whilst it looks like there can be an end to this pandemic and the stress it brings into our lives, we also see failings in so many places which bring doubt to those hopes. God has shown us many good times in the past and we need to hold firm to those good times so we can hold firm to God and what He has in store in our futures!
Points to Ponder:
How much of your time is spent worrying about things around you?
How much time do you try to remember the good times with God?
August 17: Matthew 15:10-11
Key Verse: Matthew 15:11
What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.
Devotion:
Jesus was good at picking out the people who were pretending to be Christians! Take a look around you and try to understand why Christians act the way they do… try to discern why they do what they do and compare it to what God has asked of us. Far too often we fall back into the ways of the world when we get comfortable in a church; we go ahead and redefine what we think God has told us so we are more comfortable too!
God does not pick us out because we listen to the wrong things or because we eat the wrong stuff. What God does pick us up on is what we do wrong. I know we are often persuaded to do things wrong because of what we listen to and what we watch, but that is us making a conscious choice to do what we know is wrong.
God has given us enough direction for us to know the right path to follow. He continues to try and give us direction for as long as we are going to listen too. God’s instructions are for us all and not just a select few in church. This is why Jesus called the crowd to Him before telling them the truth about what they do; the warning signs are there that people will judge others by what they listen to, eat and drink, but God can look past that to what comes out of people’s hearts at the end of the day!
As long as we are able to separate the worldly ways from the Heavenly ways, we should stand a good chance of being able to do the right things and not to be fooled into doing the wrong things… but we are weak and we do give in; especially when we see someone doing the wrong thing but being rewarded for doing that! God is not going to reward those who constantly choose the wrong way, but He will reward those we do choose the righteous way.
Points to Ponder:
How often do you do things wrong because you see others do things wrong?
Will you take encouragement from God’s righteousness?
August 16: Mark 12:18-23
Key Verse: Mark 12:23
At the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?
Devotion:
How many times do you question what God does? How many times do you think about things which are happening in this world and blame God? How often do you try to impose wordly limits on God?
Most of us do limit things according to earthly limits and standards – because we don’t know any better and we need to impose some sort of order on things we don’t quite understand! God is not limited by wordly standard and His rules for us in Heaven are not going to be the same rules as we have here on earth…
We do get caught up in trying to explain things in terms of what we currently understand instead of accepting God and Christ are not limited by our understanding. When we pray for things, it is normally within limits we can understand… why do we continue to insist on limiting God? Well, because we don’t know any better!
God wants us to release ourselves from these limits and focus on God and what He has promised for us and allow Him to work the miracles He does. They are called miracles because we don’t understand how they can be done. Why then do we limit those miracles by our standards? Is it because we are afraid of what God can do? Is it because we want to be able to explain things?
These Sadducees started to try and question Jesus in order to trip Him up on theology; after all, they did think they knew more than Him because they had studied longer than Jesus had – or at least they thought they had! They tried to apply earthly laws, limits and rules on a situation which would ultimately be played out in Heaven! God is the one in control of what happens in heaven and not us. We just need to trust in His promises and allow Him to show us the way there!
Points to Ponder:
Do you like to be in control of things?
Do you try to control what God can do in your life?