October 10: Luke 10:38-42

Key Verse: Luke 10:40
But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!’

Devotion:
Sometimes we get too distracted by what other people are doing or not doing to be able to see what we are not doing… Mary and Martha loved Jesus and they wanted to do what they thought was right for Him at the time. Mary just wanted to soak in the majesty of the moment by sitting at Jesus feet and listening to everything He had to say, but Martha wanted to show Jesus her love for Him by waiting on Him and the other guests.

Martha took offence to what Mary was doing and what she should have been doing in her eyes… a case of concentrating on the wrong thing. Each one of us is created different from others and we will worship God in different ways. Some will love to shout out and sing for everyone to hear. Others will want to quietly site with Christ and listen without even talking or making a sound.

There is no wrong way of worshipping God if you are doing what you heart says you should be doing to glorify Him. The fact you are doing something just for God is what He is looking for – an honest reflection of what is in your heart for Him!

Jesus wanted Martha to understand we don’t have to have all the bells and whistles to make our worship better. We just have to be honest and open with our feeling for God. Others will pick up on the fact we are being honest and open and may well choose to be more open with Christ too. That is enough!

Points to Ponder:
What do you like to do to worship God?

Are you being caught up in what others are doing?

October 9: Jonah 1:1-9

Key Verse: Jonah 1:3
But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.

Devotion:
Jonah ran the other way when God called him to preach against the people of Nineveh! There are probably many times in your life when you have run the other way instead of stepping forward to handle a very difficult situation; and if any of those times have been when God asked you to do something, He will persist until you do because He knows you are the best choice for that task!

God does not draw a name out of a hat to see who does the next thing, He chooses people carefully and with the knowledge they are the best people for the current circumstance. If He is calling you to do something which may seem uncomfortable right now, take courage in knowing He has chosen you despite the opposition!

He will not leave you to fend for yourself because He is asking you to do something for Him. He will not push you into a dead end to see if you will survive, He is pushing you forward because He chose you!

This is our almighty, all knowing, all powerful God who is choosing you! He is asking you because He knows exactly how to solve the issue you are going to face and as long as you are willing to let Him be your guide, you will be able to succeed! I know this first hand from the things He has asked of me...

Points to Ponder:
Do you shy away from God’s work because you think you cannot do it?

Why else would He have chosen you?

October 8: Exodus 20:1-20

Key Verse: Exodus 20:3
You shall have no other gods before me.

Devotion:
If there are things we forget it is most likely going to be the things which happened when we were just living life and which happened a long time ago. But when big things happen in our lives we tend to remember them even if they happened a long time ago. The Hebrews had been long-time slaves to the Egyptians and now God had delivered them from their plight. But before they got comfortable and started forgetting things He wanted them to remember some basic rules about how they should now conduct their lives.

No longer were they going to be told what to do every day. No longer were they going to be restricted from living their own lives. No longer were they going to just listen and do… they would have to find their own way now and live a new life.

When we leave home for the first time we start out on a new adventure, and if we have listened to our parents we most likely have a good chance at making it through the next few years. God wanted the people to have a good grounding of basic rules to live by and so He gave these rules to Moses.

This is what we now know as the Ten Commandments; the basic rules God gave us to live by. None of them are grievous. None are impossible. But as humans we may find some of them difficult to follow when so many people around us are ignoring them! God wants you to have a great life and these are the simple ways of doing that, starting with loving Him!

Points to Ponder:
Do you keep God as you primary focus?

Will you try to keep these commandments?