Friday 5 July 2024

DJ

July 5: Matthew 9:9-13

Key Verse: Matthew 9:11
When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

Devotion:
One of my biggest issues with church is the people! No, seriously, so many people get upset with others for seemingly small reasons or misunderstandings and they just don’t take the time to sit down and discuss things! They just to conclusions which eat at their hearts because they assume the worst, overthink things and generally go about things in what I would describe as an earthly or worldly manner!

God does not call us to be worldly people and to keep and hold grudges against each other; God calls us to be disciples who care for and love each other, people who are willing to take time to sit and talk things over and not to judge others through their own eyes.

The Pharisees were judging Jesus and the disciples here through what they thought God wanted based on their own thoughts and feelings. This is clearly not what God wanted because Jesus was the one listening to God and trying to reconcile people and their ways with God’s ways!

People ask me why I am at the church I am at if there are problems. That is exactly the reason why I think I am here, to try and bring people back together where they will love each other as Christ wants us to. Someone has to reach out to the marginal otherwise they will continue to be marginalised!

Points to Ponder:
Do you strive to bring people together?

Or do you strive to ‘do what is right’?

Thursday 4 July 2024

DJ

July 4: Amon 7:10-17

Key Verse: Amos 7:15
But the Lord took me from tending the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’

Devotion:
What would you do if God called you out to go and say something against the leaders or government? I think the first thing I would do is spend time with God to find out a bit more. By reading these words from Amos it does appear he did exactly that because he was able to tell the priest Amaziah some personal details!

Always try to make sure it is God who is prompting you to do things and make sure you are prepared for what is ahead instead of rushing forward with half an idea. The evil one also has his spies amongst us and will use them to trip us up if we go in unprepared. We don’t have to be the ones fighting the war because Christ has already done that; but we should be prepared for what the evil one could do to trip us up and make us look like the ones telling stories!

God will always make sure you are prepared for what is ahead if you are willing to stop and listen to His instruction. Today I have been wearing a T-shirt which proclaims “God does not make mistakes!” He does not! But we do and if we do not listen to the instructions carefully, we may be the ones ending up with egg on our faces...

Points to Ponder:
Do you listen for instructions?

Or do you rush in like a fool?

Wednesday 3 July 2024

DJ

July 3: John 20:24-29

Key Verse: John 20:29
Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Devotion:
One of the hardest things to do is to believe on something you have not witnessed, especially when it is by definition ‘unbelievable!’ Why else would we have the word unbelievable if it did not mean exactly what it says! Thomas was keen to believe and to follow Christ, but when they told Him Jesus had come back to life, he could not quite bring himself to believe it – after all he had witnessed the wounds Jesus had on His body!

This is where Christ calls on us to have faith in the unseen. Jesus came to us to change the world and the way we look at things. It is up to us to take on board all we have read about and to believe it in our hearts without having to witness it first hand. This is the definition of faith – believing in the unseen!

Our task is to believe in what Christ can and does do even though we know it goes against our physical thoughts and against what we think should be physically possible. Nothing is impossible for Christ and nothing should stop us from believing nothing is impossible…

We have our bibles which are full of promises from Jesus and we should stand firm on those promises knowing He has done it all before and will do the impossible once again. Yes, it does take a deep faith in Christ!

Points to Ponder:
Can you believe without seeing?

Will you trust Christ and what He has said can be done?

Tuesday 2 July 2024

DJ

July 2: Matthew 8:23-27

Key Verse: Matthew 8:27
The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”

Devotion:
There were a few times when Jesus made known the power of God in ways which made people stop in their tracks; this was one of them! Some of the disciples were experienced fishermen and knew how to handle themselves at sea, even in storms. None of them had ever seen a storm be quieted by a person!

Jesus did not claim this victory as His own but gave the glory to His Father in Heaven. He was willing to place His faith and trust in God and to rely on God at that very moment. When we do place our trust entirely in God’s hands, we can be sure He will answer us in ways we do not see every day. I know this because I have seen what He can do when I have placed my faith wholly in His hands.

If we claim to have done something when it was clearly God, we should not expect Him to continue supporting us when we call out to Him. But the disciples continued to see God love and support them wherever they were and what ever they were up to!

Jesus did not hesitate to give God the glory. We should do likewise and make sure we show others God is the power and He should get all the glory!

Points to Ponder:
Do you give God the glory?

Or, do you take glory for your own?