Feb 22: Isaiah 55:6-9

Key Verse: Isaiah 55:6
Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.

Devotion:
One of the things I got to learn from an American Pastor friend of mine was we should be seeking the Lord at all times; not because He told us to or that we will get punished for not doing so, but because we only have a short time to do so! We have a finite life span and during that life we have to make a choice as to whether we follow Christ or follow mankind… and by not making a choice we have already made the choice!

The more we try to follow the world and its ways the more we will lose track of what we should be doing. The world changes its mind all the time. People change their minds all the time. God is the same today as He ever was and will always be the same!

God has warned people from the beginning of time how we will make bad choices and choose temptation instead of righteousness. He knows this because He knows what we are like. If we choose to seek Him we will be aiming at a better way of life and are more likely to get there than if we follow the ever changing will of people!

God allowed Jesus to come to us to show us the way we can live our lives with Him. He has given us the best choice to make – but we do have to make the choice. Choose to follow Christ!

Points to Ponder:
Do you actively seek Christ in your life?

Have you noticed He is actively seeking you?

Feb 21: Luke 11:29-32

Key Verse: Luke 11:30
For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation.

Devotion:
How many times have you been asked “why doesn't God look after Christians” or something similar to that? When I am asked this I try to find out where the person asking is coming from or why they don’t think God is looking after people – the answer is normally in the way the person asks the question!

When Jesus was talking to this crowd of people He knew the intentions o the people around Him; He knew some were seeking questions like this and His answer was probably directed to those people. God knows there are many people who have ulterior motives in life and who are not seeking the things they say they are!

We should never forget God sees right through us and knows what we are aiming for. Yesterday we talked about being honest and open with God – this is why! We can never hope to hide anything from God and being honest and open means we are honest and open with ourselves as well.  The longer we try to hide things from God, the longer we will be faced with harsh judgements!

God is holy. God is righteous. This means God does what is right! If we do wrong we should expect to live with the consequences of our actions. God has every right to judge people and if we are harbouring people in our lives who are dishonest or evil, we should expect the consequences to affect our lives as well!

Points to Ponder:
Do you try to live righteously?

Do you admit your faults to God?

Feb 20: Matthew 6:7-15

Key Verse: Matthew 6:7
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.

Devotion:
Have you ever asked yourself why you do the things you do? I’m not talking about the little things which you do differently to other people like how you hold you cup when drinking a beverage; I’m talking about things like your work and how you do that. Most of us have hobbies which we can say we do because we like doing them, but not all of us can say we work because that is what we enjoy the most in life!

For things like work we often end up doing work which pays the most or which gives us a guaranteed income with good benefits – we don’t always do it because we like it. So what about our spiritual lives? Do we do things just because we think we are going to please God by doing certain things during certain times of the year?

God is not so fickle as we are. He is not looking for the person who can recite the scripture the best or the person who can shout loudest on the street corners. God is looking for people who give from their hearts to Him and His people. This starts by us getting ourselves right with Him and building a proper relationship with Him.

When Jesus taught the disciples what we now know as the Lord’s Prayer, it was to refocus their prayers and their thoughts on what is important in a relationship with Christ instead of the most eloquent or longest words people can use. Be real and be honest with God as He is with you!

Points to Ponder:
How honest are you with God?

How real is your life with Him?