January 24: Isaiah 37:33-37
Key Verse: Isaiah 37:35
“I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant!”
Devotion:
There are going to be times when we lose faith, lose patience or just stop believing in something… but even though we may be backing down on what we should uphold as the truth, God continues to uphold the truth! We need to ensure we always remember just how much God can do by continuing to uphold the scriptures and the stories of how God has protected others in the past – He still does protect us nowadays, even when we lose faith!
God pointed out the ways of the Assyrian army, ways which the people no doubt were worried about and had in their minds and hearts. Yet, even though they had their doubts, God was not about to old back on His promises. No matter how far we go down the road of lacking faith, God will never back down His faithful ways!
It is sad to see verses like these where thousands of people die because of a war, a war in which they may not know the truth about. These people were led into war because of the unbelief of their king. No doubt they believed in him and followed him and his ways. The people of Jerusalem had also given in to the temptations of following false gods and now looked set to pay for their sins… but as soon as they turned away from their false gods and put their faith and trust in God, their position changed!
So many wars are started because of religious ways and because of false beliefs. People are caught up in the moment and rush into wars which are not just. We continue to see things like this happen nowadays and because of the false stories being told through media, we trust our leaders and are led down the wrong path. These thousands of people died because of their leader. Once he saw God’s power in action, he withdrew and never came back!
Points to Ponder:
Do you always believe the news?
Are you willing to study the truth from the scriptures?
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?