July 15: Matthew 10:24-33
Key Verse: Matthew 10:29
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.
Devotion:
No matter how much you tell people God is going to watch over them, they will have doubts and fears until the day when Christ steps forward and helps them out of a difficult situation… We can show people how God has looked after people throughout the bible and they may get scared of what God can do. We can tell people all God has done for us and they will have doubts. Even when Jesus told the disciples they would be looked after they had doubts – hence these words being spoken to them.
It is our nature not to trust what people say because of the amount of lies we face in this world we live in; the lies come from people we are told to trust and believe and even a few church leaders! But, no matter what goes on in the world around us, God never changes and will always be there for us. I love the words Jesus used here in describing the birds as being looked after by God.
We see birds as a symbol of freedom because they can fly high above the dangers we face on the ground. They can fly away when danger approaches. These birds are worth so little in our eyes and yet God looks after them all the time. A tiny young bird flew into my house the other week and I helped it to gain some energy and fly off back to the parents who could feed it properly.
God wants us to be like that fledgling, trusting in Him to protect us and to give us the right people and the right time to sustain us in our everyday lives. God can and does use many people to fulfil His will; and if we are willing He is able to use us for so much more too!
Points to Ponder:
Do you doubt your worth sometimes?
Do you know God is by your side right now?
July 14: Matthew 10:16-23
Key Verse: Matthew 10:16
I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
Devotion:
When I read this passage this morning, I sat and reflected on it for a while. Yes my head was going all over the place thinking of many things but I kept coming back to the first verse here talking about going out into a dangerous world and being different! That is what it comes down to!
It is very easy to go into the world and to behave like those around you because that seems OK and get into stuff everyone seems to be doing, after all they are all doing it… But that may not be what God is asking you to do. Jesus warned the disciples it is like you are a sheep and you are going into a den of wolves! But if you are as shrewd as a snake and innocent as a dove, you may just make it without being eaten! So how does that work?
Snakes are very adept at hiding in the most amazing places where people will not see them and where they can wait until the time is right. Doves are innocent – or at least that is how we see them. So for us to live in this world we should try to be as adept as snakes at finding the right place to be at the right time. It does not mean we should act like the stereotypical snake and bite people for the fun of it!
God wants us to be different from the world. He wants us to stand out, not because we are mean or calculating but because others will see us as adept and innocent. We will have to face all the same things everyone else has to face, and then some, but we should try to maintain our righteous stance in amongst the sins of the world. God wants us to share why we are different and encourage others to be different too – always listening to and obeying God!
Points to Ponder:
Do you join in with the crowd?
Will you stand up for righteousness?
July 13: Matthew 10:7-14
Key Verse: Matthew 10:8
Heal those who are ill, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.
Devotion:
When Jesus sent out the disciples to spread the Gospel, it was not as a modern-day sales team or organisation which would be self sustaining group to conquer the world… He sent them out saying they should not have to take anything with them or have to provide for themselves because the people who were willing to hear the gospel would be the people who would sustain them because they would recognise the benefit of what they were learning!
Sadly many people take this as being a ‘free lunch’ ticket where they will be able to earn money just by doing things for the church! Jesus would warn the disciples they would not be well off in earthly terms and many people would hate and persecute them because they were different. Being an active Christian is not the easiest task but I do find it the most rewarding thing in the world!
Initially Jesus sent the disciples to go to the people of Israel because they were in immediate need, they had wandered away from God and needed to come back to the real meaning of being in a relationship with God instead of the rules and regulation which were being imposed upon them by the Pharisees and the Scribes. Jesus wanted His people to know the truth so they would be able to share it with the world.
Our task really is to reach those people around us with the gospel, not making money out of teaching them things, but simply giving them the good news so they can know the true benefit of knowing Christ. The news is so good in fact anyone would be willing to share what they have so they can hear and experience that good news. This is the Gospel of Christ!
Points to Ponder:
Are you waiting for a business model before you start work?
Will you simply share the gospel and allow God to work out the details?
July 12: Genesis 41:55-57
Key Verse: Genesis 41:56
When the famine had spread over the whole country, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe throughout Egypt.
Devotion:
The story about Joseph interpreting Pharaoh’s dream about the seven years of abundance followed by seven years of famine is another one which I found hard to accept as a young person – why would God allow a great famine to come to the whole area? But when we look at what the people were getting up to and how far they had drifted away from God you begin to see a picture of disobedience which was all over the place.
God had raised people to continue reminding people of Him and to warn them things would happen if they wandered away from God; but when things seem to be going smoothly, people forget about the hardships. When the time comes for the warning to come to pass, people get upset with God as if He has done something wrong!
This sort of world we see in this story is what I see happening in the world around us. God has been trying to get through to people for a long time but people have been more interested in personal gain than loving their neighbours. I think it is little wonder then we see many countries with leaders who are all but destroying the economy and societies.
If more people were like Joseph and cared about their relationship with God, then more people around them would see the difference it makes and how we can all grow into better communities through working with God. None of this is an overnight fix; after all we see seven years of abundance before the seven years of famine – that is a long time in anyone’s life!
Points to Ponder:
What do you do to make your life better?
What are you doing to make your relationship with God better?