January 23: Psalm 76:1-6
Key Verse: Psalm 76:3
There he broke the flashing arrows, the shields and the swords, the weapons of war.
Devotion:
In the years which followed the Israelites being freed from Egypt, God became known as the one God who was able to defend His chosen people against anyone and anything. The stories spread over all the lands surrounding the Israelites and the people made sure these stories were told; they were proud to have a God who looked out for them and enabled them to live in a new land which had been picked out for them by God Himself!
When God says He is going to do something, nothing is going to stop Him from accomplishing that. We may well delay things by running off in the other direction, but even that will not stop God from carrying out His promises. The more we give Him the praise and honour He deserves, the more He is willing to do stuff with and for us. Our worship of Him is a very important part of our life; one which we often leave out!
God does not have to send in the biggest and strongest army in the world in order to toggle a country; He is able to get that done all by Himself. So why do we have to do anything? He asks us to do things to make sure we know He is with us and protecting us. If He went ahead and completed all His promises without involving us, we would become complacent and not give Him the honour due.
God should be the most important thing in your life; once He is given that position in your life, He is able to love and support you in your life. This does not mean we should ignore friends and family! But if we give God pre-eminence, He can give us the ability to uphold our friends and families. It is hard to love people who have done things wrong against you, but with God in your life, He can give you a love for them you thought was not possible. Trust in Him!
Points to Ponder:
Where is God in your life?
Are you willing to put your friends and family in God’s hands?
January 22: Exodus 14:21-28
Key Verse: Exodus 14:25
He jammed the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.”
Devotion:
When I was young I marvelled at this story which shows the power of God; what was going through my head was pictures of the walls of water each side of the Israelites and the probability they would have been able to see whatever was swimming in the ocean! What I see now is the marvel of the different experiences between the Israelites and the Egyptians. The Jews were able to walk along the sea bad and get to the other side without issue… the Egyptians had problems with their chariots and struggled all the way.
You see, God is not just able to do things, but He does what is required at the time. We may be worried about things in our lives, but when we bring them before God and allow Him to take care of those worries, He does the right thing at the right time! God is faithful and He is just… so don’t ask something of Him which you know is wrong!
But God did not just do things by Himself; God made sure Moses was fully involved with each step. He wanted the people to see Moses as the leader, but knowing Moses was going to tell people it was not his power but God’s power. God does want to get the glory – we may be able to do amazing and miraculous things in His name, but we need to make sure He gets the glory for what He enables us to do.
Too often we may get a big head about the things we are able to do and assume we are able to do much more than we can; give glory to God for enabling you to do things, no matter how small or insignificant you think they are. Once you start keeping the praise for yourself, your pride grows and God gets left out of things...
Points to Ponder:
Have you asked God to do stuff for you lately?
Have you given Him the praise He deserves?
January 21: Psalms 48:4-7
Key Verse: Psalms 48:6
Trembling seized them there, pain like that of a woman in labour.
Devotion:
One of the things we forget far to often is how great God is and how much He can and will protect us – even in this modern day and age! Sometimes I would think God was not capable of changing things in the modern age because of all the computers and other electronic devices. I am a computer programmer and I depend on the computers doing what I have told them to do… but I still make mistakes and things turn out differently. God can step in and work with humans who are in every walk of life; but don’t limit it there because God can do anything!
Here in the Psalm we are reminded of the way in which the nations around and Israelites saw the power of God and were very afraid; afraid enough to feel physical pain and flee from their enemy! God will protect you and will keep you – you may not agree with the way He does it because you are human and you limit your ways to human ways… God is not limited to human ways!
So how do we go about getting this protection God is offering us? Do we have to go to Jerusalem so He can reach us? Do we have to lock ourselves up in a church so we can be protected by the church? NO! That is limiting God to earthly ways and imposing our limits on Him. God works with you wherever you are and in whatever circumstance you are in. But there is a catch… you should be the one asking Him for help!
Does this mean we are not going to get help unless we ask for it? Hmmm. Again, this is imposing limits on God… Yes, God can and will help people who don’t ask and some who don’t even know Him yet – because He can see our future and knows what is best for us. But when we come and plead for His help, He answers and does something about it which we will be able to recognise! We may not recognise it at the time when He does help us, but when we look carefully at our lives we can see the ways God is working in our lives and how He is helping us.
Points to Ponder:
Do you only call out to help from God when things go wrong?
Will you ask Him for help now, before things go wrong?
January 20: Isaiah 26:16-18
Key Verse: Isaiah 26:17
As a pregnant woman about to give birth writhes and cries out in her pain, so were we in your presence, Lord.
Devotion:
Just how serious are you in your relationship with Christ? Do you talk about things and never get round to doing them with Christ, or do you do things and then talk about them?
We need to be living the right life with Christ as an example other people can look at and be encouraged by. But even as we try to do so, we are going to have times when we do not do the right thing and God is going to try to bring us round to getting things right again. It may not be a clear and visible reaction we get from God because He can and does use all of the people around us to try and keep us on the right track. Maybe the people around you are trying to tell you about something and you are not listening, thinking you know better!
God wants us to listen to all of His people so we have the best chance at living our lives with and for Him. It would not be wise for us to ignore all of the advice we are getting, especially if that advice is coming from godly people! Just like that, when we live our lives with Christ, He is able to use us to reach out to others and get them going in the right direction again.
It is going to be tough listening to others when things seem to be falling apart in our lives – even tougher when they are telling us to change and do things we don’t like doing or are too scared to do. Just maybe God is trying to get through to us!
And then there are going to be times when God is going to use us to reach out to others – maybe to bring them down a peg or two so He can reach out to their hearts like He used to be able to do. It will be tough for us as we think we are being unkind or are being stubborn; but as long as we are listening to God and obeying His requests, then we are doing the right thing.
Points to Ponder:
Do you find it hard to discipline others as a Christian?
How do you think God finds it when He has to discipline us?