July 23: Romans 8:12-15
Key Verse: Romans 8:15
The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.
Devotion:
I wonder if you are like me and see the different societies in the bible through the Gospels and Letters of the New Testament. I know the name “New Testament” may be modern in terms of the age of the Bible, but we can draw parallels with many modern societies because people may all different but we have roots in the people described in our Bibles.
The Romans needed someone to give them some stern words because they were living under the law of the Romans Empire. They had clear definitions of many things and so the Apostle needed to reach them through said ways of life linking them to what Jesus wanted them to hear. They knew all too well what slaves were, and like many places around the world, slaves are not treated as normal human beings but rather a something lower than normal people; I am so glad slavery has been abolished in most of the world!
We may talk of ourselves as being slaves to Christ, but this is not the same as the ‘sub normal’ position slaves had back then. The apostle wanted them to know the difference between the word they used for slave and the way we look at ourselves as being slaves to Christ. I think the gist of the difference being described here is slaves for Romans were the lowest of the low, yet we look at it as being ‘willing participants’ because we feel like we are children of God instead of ‘unwilling slaves!’
If we were unwilling slaves we certainly would not call out to God as Father (Abba Father) and would not want to do the things He asks of us. That is another difference because God is asking things of us and not demanding we do things. We have been given free choice and God sticks to supporting that free choice. Our choices will govern our relationship with Him!
Points to Ponder:
Are you a willing child of God?
Are you willing to listen to your Heavenly Father?
July 22: Song of Solomon 3:1-5
Key Verse: Song of Solomon 3:5
Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field: do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.
Devotion:
I have caught myself thinking about past loves a few times over the past month or so, so when I read these verses I began to think more about our modern world and the relationships we hold in it. So many films and stories we hear and see are about people falling in love, out of love, splitting up, and obviously all the wars – but is our world so different to the past?
There obviously were people who split up and argued in the past, lots of wars too and some of those stories got into our bibles because God wants us to think about what we are doing. God gave us stewardship of this planet and we have not done a very good job in my mind; we are all guilty of breaking it in one form or another. Is this the way to treat the gift God has given us?
Jesus came and reminded us the at the centre of everything is love. Without love we cannot hope to care for each other or the world. If we treat love like a disposable asset, then we are treating the whole world as a disposable asset… but with love we can gather together the overcome the things which separate ourselves from others.
God wants us to seek out love in all aspects in life and to not jump at desires and wants, but to seek out the love which can last upon which we can build better communities and a better society as a whole. When we see the love Christ showed us we should aim to reach as close to that love as we can in our lives.
Points to Ponder:
How many times have you been ‘in love’?
Will you allow God to guide you in your life?
July 21: Psalm 116:10-19
Key Verse: Psalm 116:12
What shall I return to the Lord for all his bounty to me?
Devotion:
These verses are a simple insight into the psalmists thoughts on a few things they could do because of all God has done for them. Note how they start off this section of verses: “I kept my faith…” That is the starting point for everything – do you keep your faith? This could be the first answer of how to repay God for everything He has done for you – simply keep your faith – keep on believing in Him and what He can do for and with you!
After that, things then open up in a big way. Many people struggle to think what they can do for God knowing God has done so much for them. They get to know how great God is and so struggle to think what they could possibly do to repay God for all He does in their lives. Don’t overlook the obvious things which we take for granted all the time! God wants to have a relationship with you. Remember that.
What is the key to any relationship – there are two in the relationship which means both have got to work at keeping the relationship fresh and right. This means trusting each other and even relying on each other for many things… So you can probably see how you can rely on God for so much in your life, but how can He rely on you?
How much do you lift up what God has done for us all through going to the cross? How many people know you are a committed Christian? How many people have you supported through bad things or times? How often do you say “here I am, use me” when God is looking for people? Are you willing to give up on anything to support God’s work? How often do you meet with God’s people and worship Him? Think on the answers to these things.
Points to Ponder:
Have you recognised all God does for you?
Will you increase your giving of your time to God?
July 20: Matthew 11:28-30
Key Verse: Matthew 11:28
Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.
Devotion:
When was the last time you just wanted to stop and talk with someone and offload the troubles you are having in your life? Did you manage to find someone who was willing to listen and how did you feel after you had talked? There are many times when we need to express ourselves, not to spread gossip or to tell lies, but to undo the pent up frustration and ill feelings we harbour when we try not to burden others with our worries!
God knows we need to talk and He is always willing and able to listen to whatever you have to say to Him. If you want to complain about things, bring it to The Lord. If you want to vent your frustrations over what is happening, or what is not happening, bring it to God. If you need to shout, bring it to God!
When we bring our worries and troubles to other people, they then shoulder some of that burden – and we don’t like doing that to others! They then may have to take those worries to others and so the chain continues. We may end up with a lot of people with a small amount of worry, but that may play more on our minds than the original worry to begin with! No so with God because He is more than capable to consume our worries without passing them on to anyone else!
We need to stop worrying about our worries and simply hand them over to God knowing He will work out a way forward for us. We have to stop and listen to what he has to say to us because we may have to do things in order for Him to help us; if we are not willing to listen to instruction, we may end up not having our worries taken care of...
Points to Ponder:
Do you worry about your worries?
Will you try to offload them to God and listen for answers?