November 16: Philippians 1:12-20

Key Verse: Philippians 1:15
It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill.

Devotion:
Have you ever been envious of people who go to a mega church where they are joined with thousands of others every week? I’m not talking about going to a camp or huge gathering which spans a few days or a week, but rather a congregation which meets every week, all year. I’m sure we all want more people to come to our churches so we can spread the gospel more, but numbers are not everything.

Then there is the clash between institutional style gatherings and more evangelical or liberal gatherings… We may even be confused by people who say there is only one style and the others are not good for you… I have been fortunate enough to go to a wide variety of churches over the years and I can say there are some who love God and their people and others who seem to be constantly at odds with each other – and they cross all styles of gatherings!

Paul was chained up in prison for telling people the truth and here he reaches out to the churches of Philippi to tell them they will have to face the good times and the bad times together. He even goes as far as saying his imprisonment is going to advance the gospel – that sometimes takes a whole lot more faith than some of us have!

Don’t go to a church to feel comfortable. Don’t go to a church because lots of other people go there. Don’t go to a church because they are rich. Don’t go to a church because a vicar or pastor tells you to… Find a church where people love each other and grow together sharing the love and the gospel together!

Points to Ponder:
Are you trying to find a nice church?

Have you tried to find people who love each other instead?

November 15: Luke 17:11-19

Key Verse: Luke 17:18
Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?

Devotion:
One of the things Jesus must have seen a lot of was the lack of people acknowledging God for everything which was done for them. Here is a case in point and one which we may have been caught up in during our lifetimes. Jesus healed 10 people who had leprosy and simply told them to go to see the priests – they were the ones who would have authority to say whether a person was healed from leprosy or not.

As they started walking to see the priests they were all healed. One of them, upon realising they had been healed, came back to praise God for the miraculous healing… only one! The person was so pleased they threw themselves at Jesus’ feet even though they were Samaritan by birth. You have to remember Samaritans and Jews did not mix at that time!

Jesus acknowledged their faith and told them it was because of their faith they had been healed. I wonder what happened to the other nine people and how they reacted to being cleansed of leprosy!

Sometimes God does things for us and we are so caught up in enjoying our new freedom, health or other blessing, we forget to come back to Go to thank Him for our blessing. We should be thanking Him daily for every blessing we have and even for those times we have to wait for the blessings. We should be praising Him for everything in our lives!

Points to Ponder:
How often do you thank God for your blessings?

How often do you praise Him and admit that to others?

November 14: Titus 2:11-14

Key Verse: Titus 2:14
who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

Devotion:
God wants us all to have full and free access to salvation… What does that mean? During the times of the Old Testament there were more and more hints about God making a way by which all people would be able to find salvation, but most authors have limited this to the people of Israel because, to them, that was the only ‘known world’ which was pure enough and also chosen by God.

When Jesus came to live amongst us He continued to teach us this was not going to be limited to the people of Israel but the everyone in the world, no matter where they come from: This is why Paul was sent out to give the gospel freely to all people outside of Israel.

The key elements of this are for us to turn our back on earthly ways, to ungodliness and things like greed, pride and lust. Instead Jesus wants us to turn toward self-control, upright ways and everything which is pure even though we live in an uncontrolled, unrighteous world. If we are eager to turn away from the unrighteous things and accept the righteous ways of Christ, then we have taken the first step.

Keeping Christ close and in the centre of our lives we have an advantage over the world because we have the guidance and strength to turn away from the ways of the world. Christ wants us presented to God as pure and innocent in every way – that is why He laid His life down for us!

Points to Ponder:
Do you think you are not good enough to be a Christian?

Don’t you know Christ died so you can be?