January 15: Genesis 17:1-8
Key Verse: Genesis 17:1
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless.
Devotion:
Abraham was promised he would have a son by his wife Sarah many years before this time and both Abraham and Sarah had had their moments of doubt and disbelief, but now God was going to remind him of this promise. It is most likely God appeared to Abraham in human form to make sure he stopped and listened. Previously Abraham had listened to his wife and had taken Hagar in order to have a child – but that was not what God had promised!
There are going to be times in our lives when we do have doubts because things are not happening in the timescales we have laid down or because we have imposed our own limits instead of listening to God and waiting on Him alone! We may not get the same treatment by having God appear before us to remind us to wait on Him, but wait is what we need to do.
When God is ready to use us, we should be ready and willing to obey His commands; it is not up to us to impose restrictions on God whether they are limits on what we think He can do or time constraints we think things should be done within. Trusting in God and waiting on Him becomes a huge test of faith for us…
When we do stop and listen, God can guide us properly and we will end up giving the glory back to Him as He accomplishes His will in our lives. The people around us will be encouraged by the faith we have displayed and their doubt will be lifted when they see God answering our prayers or fulfilling His promises!
Points to Ponder:
Do you like waiting?
How long will you wait on God?
January 14: 1 Corinthians 7:21-24
Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 7:24
Brothers and sisters, each person, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation they were in when God called them.
Devotion:
In his first letter to the churches of Corinth, the apostle tries to encourage people not to try and become something they are not just to be more of a Christian! God comes to find us in the situations we are in so He can get the most out of us; unless He is telling you to radically change your life, the only thing you should be doing is trying to be a bit more like Christ. This does not mean suddenly becoming middle class or changing to act like you are working class – God wants you to simply trust and obey where you are.
The apostle likened this to people who were not Jews trying to become Jewish by being circumcised and changing their lifestyle to be more Jewish in nature. God chose you where you were and how you are. He wants to use you the way you are and not the way you think you should be. I found this hard to accept in the beginning, but by talking to others and encouraging them to be themselves I began to realise I was uplifting my own status beyond where it was – I was no longer the person God chose but something I thought He wanted.
By being myself again and living with the people God has called me to reach made me realise I was more like them than I realised. God brought me back to be the original design He chose and the one which he wanted to work with Him. Yes it was hard to accept in my mind until I did accept it; then I realise just how natural it should have been in the beginning!
When God calls us, He changes our spirit to be a little more like Him so we can hear His instructions and live with Him in our lives. This means we taste the freedom of life when we have been slaves to life beforehand or becoming slaves to Him when we have led a privileged life. This is His choice for you and one we all need to embrace with open arms.
This does not mean we have to become slaves to the people around us – God has not chosen us for that. Yes He wants us to be more loving and accepting of the people around us, but not to become slaves to their worlds just as they are; we are to show them the freedom God has granted us and allow them to see they too can accept this freedom in their lives. Be yourself. Be normal. Love and be loved where you are called.
Points to Ponder:
Do you struggle trying to be a good Christian?
Will you accept the life God chose you in and live with Him?
January 13: Matthew 21:28-32
Key Verse: Matthew 21:32
For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.
Devotion:
How much do you think you obey God? I know it is a loaded question because so many of us do not realise when God is speaking to us because we are so caught up in the things and people around us. When we get caught up, we lose focus and we tend to stop listening for those small voices and hints He gives us. It is not often we receive an audible response from God but rather a response through others – how we treat those responses defines how well we listen to God!
I went through a stage in 2018 of not listening to the people around me when they were telling me to go to the doctor and get myself checked out… I was too caught up in worldly things, worldly ways and my own pride to listen – God had obviously been trying a few ways to get my attention. Needless to say, early 2019 came along and I ended up in intensive care. The rest of 2019 was spent in hospitals and recovering and revisiting hospitals – all because I did not want to listen to something so small as my friends and fellow Christians telling me I needed to get myself checked out!
It is not just you who will be affected by these choices you make – it affects all those people around us, especially the people we love the most! Listening to God has got to be central to our lives and needs to be a constant in our lives. Don’t just dismiss things other people say, start praying about things and then stop and listen. The more we are caught up in our own busy lives, the less we get to listen. We need to stop and just focus on God for a while – every day!
John was telling all manner of people about God and it was the people who were not so focused on what they thought they should be doing who heard the most. The religious people were so focused on doing the right thing and trying to keep themselves apart from the world; they lost focus on God. I wonder how many people stopped what they were doing and actually listened to Jesus as He was reminding them of this fact here.
Points to Ponder:
Do you get caught up in work too easily?
Will you make a time in your day to stop and just listen for God?
January 12: Matthew 14:1-5
Key Verse: Matthew 14:5
Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they considered John a prophet.
Devotion:
When we continue to walk with God and listen and obey His wishes, we are going to meet all manner of opposition during our life; not because we are doing anything wrong but because there are people out there who somehow feel unsettled with us. When we lead a life with Christ, we act differently from the other people around us and we often start to stand out, we get noticed!
When we get noticed more than the people who are actively going out to get noticed, they start to object – they don’t like us getting the attention more than them. Don’t be too surprised when they start to work against you, using worldly measures to try and get back at you or bring you down. This is exactly what was happening back in the days of Jesus walking amongst us – the authorities did not like Him getting more attention than them and made stories up about them to try and bring them down in one way or another.
If we continue to listen to Christ, He will guide us as far as He can, but at some stage we are going to lose track and give in to the ways of the world and the people around us; just another way the evil one has to stop us from worshipping Christ. We are living in the world and the world can get very powerful because of the support it gets from people of the world.
Herod was not about to give in and allow another man to become too popular just in case he lost popularity amongst the people; his power came from the fact others were afraid of him and of his ways. If he lost that fear amongst the people, he may lose the political battle he would face against the people. Fear of the unknown or fear of losing popularity will often make us do stupid things – Herod was heading down that path and beginning to hate John for what he was able to achieve by telling people about Jesus. Herod also seemed to understand God was a lot more powerful than many realised and he was not going to give anybody the chance of allowing them to see God was more powerful than him!
Points to Ponder:
Are you proud of something in your life?
Would you be willing to lift up someone else just to give God the glory?