Thursday 19 Oct 2023

October 19: Romans 3:21-30

Key Verse: Romans 3:23
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

Devotion:
One of the things we often forget is we have all sinned against God at some stage in our lives. Now, as humans, we like to measure how much we have sinned and go according to some sort of scale, but according to the law God has given us, when we sin we are guilty. So if we have all sinned and are all guilty, how will any of us not have to pay for our sin debt.

This is where our faith in what Christ has done for us comes in. If we do believe Christ came to pay for our sin debt and we believe He is faithful and merciful to forgive us when we admit to our sins, then we will be forgiven just as He said we will. There is no law which excludes us from forgiveness and righteousness if we believe in what Christ has done.

Christ demonstrated His righteousness by allowing Himself to go to the cross even though He knew He had done nothing wrong. Through shedding His righteous blood He was able to pay for our sin debt once and for all. Now all we have to do is to have faith He did this for us. Why? If we do truly believe in what he did, then we should trust He is telling us the truth and will forgive us; this is the basis of faith.

If we start boasting about “our church” or how well we are doing we may well be starting to lift ourselves up instead of God. It is because of everything Christ has done we have what we have. Our faith is what makes the church and will help others to see there is hope when they cannot see any.

Points to Ponder:
Have you ever looked for a better church?

What can be more important that Christ?

Wednesday 18 Oct 2023

October 18: Isaiah 35:3-6

Key Verse: Isaiah 35:4
say to those with fearful hearts, ‘Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.’

Devotion:
How many times have you been asked for something from someone who doesn’t really mean it? We do this all the time to friends and the people around us, so when we do really mean it sometimes we don’t get the answer we expect. If we are doing this with the people around us, then what are we doing with our relationship with God!

God wants us to be in a good relationship with Him and that means being committed to it and to Him. This does not mean normal and personal life should ever get in the way because any good relationship has space for other issues and other relationships. God know this and He encourages us to take Him with us into every relationship in our lives.

When we do begin to see how much we get out of a good relationship with Him, we begin to see how we can help others by showing them this communion we have with God. When the Bible talks about fearing God, it is not talking about trembling with fear because God is watching you… it is talking about having the uttermost respect for Him because He is willing and able to do anything in your life. If you are willing to take Him with you wherever you go and whatever you are doing, then He will be with you and He will show you the benefits of this communion with Him.

I have learned, especially over the last couple of decades, He is walking with me wherever I go and supporting me in so many ways and through so many people too. He makes sure I have the right people around me to get things done which will help me to glorify Him,

Points to Ponder:
Do you feel at wits end sometimes?

Will you take God with you, even to your wits end?

Tuesday 17 Oct 2023

October 17: Luke 11:37-41

Key Verse: Luke 11:39
Then the Lord said to him, ‘Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.

Devotion:
Carrying on from yesterday, it is one thing to act like a Christian but a whole different story to BE a Christian! If we go around acting like Christians but carrying out all of the things God calls us to do, then we are no different from any sales person trying to peddle items they do not want themselves. Now some people can lie and tell a big sales story just to get people to buy their goods, but I can’t – believe me I tried!

When Jesus sat down to eat with this Pharisee He chose not to wash His hands before the meal. This was not because He had bad habits (like my parents used to tell me) but because He wanted the Pharisee to see the difference between a habit and a sign of dedication! The Pharisee was used to doing things in a particular manner and making sure the rules were always followed – but what he did not realise he was doing was to forget why those acts, such as cleaning of hands, were being done in the first place!

The same goes for our lives with Christ. We must not get used to doing things because that is what our service sheet says or because that is what we have always done. We must be doing things because they are meaningful to our relationship with Christ at the time we are doing them!

Jesus berated the Pharisee for cleaning the outside but not the inside. We should be remembering we must not just do things but do them because we love Christ first and foremost!

Points to Ponder:
What things do you do in church because you have always done it?

Will you stop and think about what you do today?

Monday 16 Oct 2023

October 16: Romans 1:1-7

Key Verse: Romans 1:5
Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake.

Devotion:
I love the way Paul starts with the words he is called to be an apostle and set apart FOR the gospel of God. When we think about what we are and what we are called to do, how would we describe our positions as being. I did not accept I would be called to share the gospel with others in the beginning – indeed I ran away from God for quite a while, but He caught up to me!

Paul must have had second thoughts when he first realise he was called to reach out to the ‘Gentiles’ or the Romans with the gospel… why should they be singled out for God’s wonderful gospel which the people of Israel had been singled out for in the beginning.

This is the wonderful world which God has presented to us and in which we live. Nobody must be left out just because they were born in a different place or because they were brought up to worship anything else others than God! The best thing we can ever do is to continue spreading the gospel of Christ out to everyone. This does not have to be done by us standing on soap boxes and shouting out the Word of God to all passing people… it could just be us doing things which Christians do in front of other so they start asking ‘why?’

God is the one who can change people’s hearts and He alone is responsible for them. We just need to open the scene to show things can be different. We just have to show the different way of living and open up our lives for others to come and enjoy Christ with us. Be yourself with Christ!

Points to Ponder:
Do you shy away from sharing the gospel?

Do you not see the gospel is the way we live?