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October 2: Deuteronomy 11:13-15
Key Verse: Deuteronomy 11:15
I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.
Devotion:
Back in the time of the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and the subsequent trial through the desert regions, God continued to uphold the promise He would look after the people if they remained faithful to Him. This is just another point where we read about God’s promise to the Israelites; one of many! Jesus continued to uphold the idea we should continue to live with a close relationship with God so He can continue to look after us... So how does this work?
Does this mean if we follow all the rules, we will be safe from all the bad stuff around us in the world? Unfortunately not. We live in a world where many people do not listen to God and many people rebel against God’s word and His ways. We could be close to those people and anything which goes wrong (or right) we are affected. So, even when we do follow all the rules, we can still end up in deep trouble as we are suffocated by the ills of the world!
So how do we get out of this problem? Well, one way is to try and listen to what God is telling us. He continually tries to guide us away from the trouble spots if He knows we cannot cope with it – but He may well allow us to be close to trouble just so others can see the impact of our close relationship with God. There-in lies the clue... We need to uphold an honest, open, and true relationship with God at all times; one which others should be able to notice and be encouraged by.
I have been called many things in my life, but I love it when people call me names because of my relationship with Christ! I love being selected out of a crowd and pointed to by non-believers – not because I want to be berated, but because it allows others to see there is another way of living. A way of living where we live with hope constantly. A way of living where we know of a certain future!
Points to Ponder:
Do you live with God in your life?
Do you invite others to share your relationship with Christ?
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October 1: Mark 10:1-9
Key Verse: Mark 10:5
‘It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,’ Jesus replied.
Devotion:
Have you stopped to look at the laws of your country and wondered where they have come from? How many of the laws do you think are based on Christian ideas? How many of the laws don’t make sense to you? I know here in the UK there are some pretty strange laws which have been introduced many years ago which still stand but which don’t make too much sense nowadays. Apparently, it is against the law to wear armour if you visit the UK Houses of Parliament! (written back in 1313)
The Pharisees threw questions at Jesus to try and trip Him up in cases of law but Jesus’ answer in this case was spot on! The law saying divorce was OK was not chosen by God but was given because men wanted to get divorced and it was detrimental to keep people in a state of marriage when they really did not like each other. How can we spread and share love if we cannot love the partner we are with?
I’m not going into a debate about whether it is right or wrong to divorce, or any other of the laws we chop and change nowadays. That is between you and God to get it right. I have done many things wrong in my past and I have come to accept my wrong-doings and move on in Christ’s love. The things I did wrong were because of ignorance or desperation or greed and I have submitted them to God to allow me to move forward.
The question should really be – whose laws are you going to uphold in your life? It is very difficult when we face laws which go against the country or laws which go against God – which do you choose? Jesus has taught us to obey the laws of the country because that is right to do so. But He has also taught us to keep the law of love above all else, because that must be the basis of all other laws.
Points to Ponder:
Whose laws do you follow in your life?
Will you try to uphold love above all else?
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September 30: Psalms 86:11-13
Key Verse: Psalms 86:12
I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name for ever.
Devotion:
God really does not ask a lot of us other than to love Him with all our hearts. He does not require we go to a church meeting once a week. He does not require we sacrifice a goat once a week. He does not require that we give all of what we own to Him... These are things people feel like they have to do for God, not written law we have to follow. Christ fulfilled all this by giving His own life on the cross so we would not have to continue with those laws originally laid down for the Israelites!
How much we choose to do for God is a show of our affection for Him. My waking though today was how much are we willing to do for love... I chose to continue in this Psalm simply because these words describe what David was willing to do for God and allows us to think about what we are willing to do or doing for God.
As long as we want to hear from God and learn from Him, we will be able to live with Him in our lives – just as we may live with our partners or family in our lives. But these is always something which God would like us to do so more people can get to live with Him in their own lives. We need to make sure we do this because of our love for Him and not because we have a duty to do something so we can get paid in kind from God. God does not owe us anything – He has already given everything for us!
Our love must be a two-way thing – we cannot expect God to do everything for us if we love Him. That is not how love works. In our relationships with others we give, share and take; that is what we do for love toward others and we must do the same because of our love for God. Listen to Him and act on what you hear simply because you love God!
Points to Ponder:
How much do you do for God?
He simply want you to love Him with all your heart!
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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?
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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?
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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?
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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?
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September 25: Luke 9:7-9
Key Verse: Luke 9:9
But Herod said, ‘I beheaded John. Who, then, is this I hear such things about?’ And he tried to see him.
Devotion:
Sometimes people are not going to show their true colour until the unexpected happens... With this pandemic in various states of disrepair in countries all around the world, we are beginning to see many of the issues people are facing in their own countries which we don’t get to hear about.
We don’t often think about why John was not on the scene for too long, even though we have a loving Gospel written about all he was able to do in his short time on earth. We know him as the loving disciple because of the love which is written about in his Gospel; what we don’t get to hear too much about is the hate which was constantly working against him...
Jesus faced a whole lot of haters in His life on earth as well, all because He wanted to show people the truth and true love. I know what I face is nothing in comparison to what they have faced, but people do still get upset with us when we tell them about Jesus. People don’t like to be reminded of the bad things in life or how they have broken the basic rules in life to get where they are...
I am glad the baggage I carry round in my life is small in comparison to many – because I do like to share my baggage with Jesus; after all He has offered to help me with it, always!
Jesus gives us the power to do many things in our lives if we work with Him and include Him in our lives. He wants others to see His love and His power and willingly gives us the ability to spread that love and power! Don’t let the haters shout you down, even when they show their true colours...
Points to Ponder:
Do you care for the needy people?
How far are you willing to go to stand up for those in need?
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September 24: 1 Kings 18:41-44
Key Verse: 1 Kings 18:43
‘Go and look toward the sea,’ he told his servant. And he went up and looked. ‘There is nothing there,’ he said. Seven times Elijah said, ‘Go back.’
Devotion:
What do you do when you pray? Do you throw up a prayer and continue running off in the other direction, or do you sit and wait for an answer? Sometimes we do throw up prayers because we are in a state where we cannot sit and wait for an answer. I don’t think people on the motorway would think too kindly of me for stopping in the middle lane and waiting for an answer from God!
But sometimes we lift up a concerned prayer and then get side-tracked with the small things in life before we have heard back from God; because there is so much happening around us and so much to get on with in our busy days... But hang on, don’t we all have to try to do things differently now? Don’t we have life on pause due to the pandemic which seems to be on the rise once again world-wide?
Ok, enough of a guilt trip... what do we do when we do hear back from God? How long does it take to put down our normal routines and pick up what God is asking of us? I have done a few impulsive things in my life and they have often turned out to be very difficult times, so why must I go back there and face it all again? Because God is asking!
When God says something, we need to listen and trust in what He has said. We need to stop thinking like the politicians and start getting back to living our lives for God. This does not mean rushing back to ‘normal life’ as the world around us descends into chaos from Covid restrictions... it means getting busy and working to help people who need it because of Covid and working safely rather than pretending we are not facing a dire plague!
Points to Ponder:
Are you ready to answer God’s call?
Will you work safely with God?
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September 23: 2 Samuel 12:1-10
Key Verse: 2 Samuel 12:4
‘Now a traveller came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveller who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.’
Devotion:
The more hardships people face around the world, the more there are people who take advantage of the poor to promote their own ways. This may be the way we view things now, but this has been going on throughout time and will continue to happen until people take God seriously!
It is during the hardest of times the true extent of the disparity between the rich and the poor comes out. It is never more prevalent than when the poor are at their poorest and the rich are coasting along as if nothing is happening. Sadly, that time is now. I like the following verses in this passage where Nathan tells king David the ‘rich man’ in his story is David himself! Often, we do not see the damage we are doing until someone else has the courage to point it out.
Instead of rebuking people who are rioting or protesting, take a week to go through what evidence there is to support what they are complaining about; see for yourself how things are covered up. I say a week because, if we glance at the evidence, we will continue to cover it up with our own preconceptions. We need to take time to look over things so we can put aside our own bias thinking and seek the truth.
The same can be said about God. People put aside a relationship with God because of their perceived ideas about religion – something Christians all around the world are fighting against. We need to put aside our learned responses and work toward a love which encompasses all instead of a desire to promote oneself...
Points to Ponder:
Have you ever thought of yourself as being privileged?
Will you spend a week trying to find out the truth about something?