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August 19: Matthew 19:13-15
Key Verse: Matthew 19:14
Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.’
Devotion:
The more I read through these few verses the more convinced I was Jesus was not just talking about the young children who had come to make a fuss around Jesus. Children will always get excited about crowds or something different which is happening. Our modern society frown upon children getting involved because of child safety issues, but as long as there are responsible adults involved who are impartial, things can be done safely!
I say it was more than just the children because we see people being shunned by churches because they do not fit in, or do not come from the right area. This is as bad as the Pharisees policing the people instead of allowing God to work. God wants the gospel to be accessible by everyone, which means allowing people from all walks of life to be able to come and join in with worshipping God.
Our places of worship must be safe places where anyone can come to be safe and to share in finding out more about God. We should encourage people to come in and not discourage them. If we set up rules and expectations we may well be excluding people without realising it; and by the time we do find out it is already too late because they have the wrong opinion about church life already!
Some societies actually encourage people to be themselves and work together to make sure everyone feels included. If our churches are not like that, then we are excluding people from the gospel and from meeting with Jesus. If we are too stiff-necked about the type of people we expect in church, we shouldn’t expect to see many people joining us in worshipping God because we are more likely worshipping our ideas instead of God!
Points to Ponder:
How inclusive do you think your church is?
Are you willing to talk to anyone today?
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August 18: Joshua 21:1-18
Key Verse: Joshua 21:7
The descendants of Merari, according to their clans, received twelve towns from the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Zebulun.
Devotion:
I find the portioning of the land after Joshua had led the people over the river to settle in the ‘land of milk and honey’ to be a strange affair. Why strange? Maybe because we live in such a corrupt and diverse society the way in which it was all done with such agreement is quite unfamiliar. In our modern world the politicians fight it out all the time not always thinking of the people but their own gain instead. We have countries warring and sending young people to fight a battle they do not understand…
Yet these people obeyed God and did this whole section peaceably. Over the past few chapter we read all about what land was elected to which tribes, why it was so and even the setting up of cities of refuge where people in trouble could flee to until things were sorted out in law. Now we have the tribe of the Levites who had always looked after the temple who had not amassed earthly wealth in livestock or land but had listened to and obeyed God throughout the journey through the desert.
Now was the time for the people to step forward and give back to the Levites for all the work they had done. Each tribe apportioned parts of their land to the Levites, some for farming, some for living and even parts for safety refuge too. These were not given to the people who were first chosen to be Levites, but to their descendants.
God does not forget what we have done and although we may not always get to see the earthly wealth for our Godly works, He is always fair and makes sure we, or our families get rewarded. God is good, all the time! This was not a case of the people giving what they didn’t want to people they didn’t like, it was a case of people obeying God and giving part of what they treasured to people who had obeyed God!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you do things because of earthly wealth?
How often do you do things because of Heavenly wealth?
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August 17: Joshua 3:7-17
Key Verse: Joshua 3:8
Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: “When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go and stand in the river.”
Devotion:
How often do you implicitly trust a friend when they tell you to do something in a particular way? Maybe you have to build up trust in that friend before you listen to everything they say? When you do have enough trust in someone you are willing to listen to them even when they tell you to do something which at first seems counter-intuitive!
If we are able to give Christ the faith we have in some of our friends, then, just maybe, we will get to see Him do marvellous things in our lives! We often forget just how capable God is at doing everything in our lives and we listen to the world a bit too much. Just like Peter stepping out of the boat to walk to Jesus on the water; he started out fine until he allowed himself to be swayed by the world around him, then he sank!
God made a promise to Joshua he would be able to cross the river Jordan. At this time of the year the river was in flood, yet as soon as the people carrying the Ark listened fully to God, everyone witnessed something of a miracle! It took faith from Joshua to believe God. It took faith from the priests carrying to ark to listen to Joshua. It took faith from the people they would be able to follow the ark.
Nobody had to perform a miracle. Nobody had to have amazing powers. It was all down to faith in God and listening to the people God was talking to and through. If we are able to think less of the limitations of the world around us and more of our faith in God, we too will be able to see things God wants to do in our lives!
Points to Ponder:
What does it take for you to believe in something?
Will you try to allow God to do what He wants to do?
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August 16: Deuteronomy 34:1-5
Key Verse: Deuteronomy 34:4
Then the Lord said to him, ‘This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, “I will give it to your descendants.” I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it.’
Devotion:
How many times in your life have you done something, not for yourself but for others or for your family further down the generations? Too often we focus on the here and now and do not think about how what we do affects others around us or after us. The world is not in a good state at the moment because too many have driven for short term profit and have neglected the long term effects of what they do on the planet!
When God mad the promise to Abraham, it was a promise for generations to come, not for Abraham himself. This promise of giving the people a land which they can call home was to the people of Israel and not just to whomever was leading at the time. Moses was told in no uncertain terms here he would not be crossing into the lands, but the promise was being kept for his descendants, the descendants of Abraham, to possess the land as far as the eye could see!
So what is the lesson? It is not all about me or you. It is more about us, but further than that it is about the people who come after us. God has a long term view on everything and we need to understand that. We cannot keep looking at our own situations and forgetting about the long term effects of what we do. We need to think about how we affect the world around us, people, animals and ever living thing included!
God gave us dominion of the world in the very beginning; but that came with an instruction to treat the world properly as we should a very special gift being given to us. We need to be good stewards of everything around us and stop living life as if we are entitled to everything.
Points to Ponder:
What have you done today?
How much of that was for other people?
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August 15: Isaiah 61:10-11
Key Verse: Isaiah 61:10
I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Devotion:
I wonder, when was the time you have felt most handsome or beautiful? Perhaps it was on your wedding day or a special anniversary… Maybe you did not feel it but everyone around you was telling you your were! There are times when we feel on top of the world and times when we don’t because of the weight of the world, our health or even finances constricting us. But, no matter how we feel physically or mentally, we can stand proud knowing that spiritually we are perceived as a delight to the Lord when we place our faith and trust in Him!
When we can say we delight in the Lord no matter what the world is throwing at us, we can know He looks upon us as a groom looking at his bride on the day of the wedding. Because Jesus has taken away all our sins and presents us as perfect before our Father in Heaven, we are that special bride!
God is the one who is looking out for us and He is the one who will make sure we do have what it takes to complete our journey with Him. The world may be giving us grief, but with our hearts firmly set on Christ, we are special and unique in God’s eyes – someone to be proud of; and He is!
We see all manner of things going wrong in the world around us because of the way people have treated the world. We see wars and infighting everywhere because of the way people do not love their neighbours. If we want to see the beautiful bride just as God see us, then we have to make a difference by obeying His command – by being good stewards of the world around us and loving our neighbours just as He asked us from the beginning. Then we will be at that wedding feast with all the beauty and pageant!
Points to Ponder:
How are you feeling right now?
Do you know how fondly God is looking at you?
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August 14: Deuteronomy 10:12-13
Key Verse: Deuteronomy 10:12
And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul
Devotion:
These words are often quoted from the New Testament when the apostles and Jesus quote them for our remembrance. It is not too often I hear too many teachers quoting things from the scriptures which have been here for many thousands of years rather than quoting the words of Jesus or the disciples. One thing we must never overlook or forget is the Word of God has been around for a very long time and does not change.
Our understanding and translations will change over time as we get to know more or scholars get to understand the ancient languages more. But then the more the scholars learn the more they recognise how things have not changed. Jesus would quote the scripture all the time when He was not talking in parables; He did this to emphasise the scriptures are the truth and always will be the truth!
God does not require many thing of us, but the root of all of it is the love we should have for Him. If we say we love Him and refuse to follow what He has given to us in the scriptures and in person many years ago, then we should question our love for Him! The life He has given each one of us is unique and for a certain cause. If we do follow Him and obey Him we have the best chance at allowing the right people to hear the gospel at the right time!
God simply says we should love Him with a fervour which makes us question ourselves when we do something wrong. We should love Him enough to obey Him at all times. We should make Him the centre of our lives.
Points to Ponder:
Do you fear not listening to God?
Will you keep Him deep in your soul?
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August 13: Romans 10:5-11
Key Verse: Romans 10:11
As Scripture says, ‘Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.’
Devotion:
I find it very interesting to compare the letters which the apostles wrote to the various churches to see what emphasis was put on which ways of life. Here, for the Romans, the apostle knew they had a strict regard to the law because the emperor would make sure his army would knock out any dissident activities with force! The Romans also did not dare to bring down the name of Caesar or to lift themselves up to his level – instead there was a strict hierarchy which would be followed! If only the people would have the same regard for God as they did for Caesar!
But human society desires would play a very big part of the Roman society with people always striving to be better by citizens by proving themselves against each other! They would always measure themselves against one another! This is not what God was trying to get people to do – quite the opposite. Christ was teaching the disciples no matter what social standing they had, God would always look at them by what was in their hearts for God!
Christ reminded the disciples it was all about their belief in what God had done and what He was doing. This belief did not have to have foundations on any human measures or levels in society. The Romans were brought up in a racist manner (by comparison to our modern world racism standards) and they would have thought this God was a God for the Jews and not for them. The apostle had to convince them otherwise!
We are not limited in our relationship with Christ by our social standing, race or any other worldly measure – the only justification is through what we believe. God gives us all the chance to be in a relationship with Him through our belief – and that is it!
Points to Ponder:
Do you fall short of what you think a Christian should be?
Do you know your belief in Christ is enough?
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August 12: Deuteronomy 6:10-13
Key Verse: Deuteronomy 6:12
be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
Devotion:
The first time I read the Old Testament I was a bit confused as to why I should have to know about these people who were slaves in Egypt, went for a great trek through the desert and ended up taking over someone else’s country! At least that is what it seemed like back then… I first thought the people were barbaric and did strange things...
But when you get to learn history and get to know God, a whole lot of things fall into place. How could a people change when they had only ever remembered being slaves and being treated like they did not deserve anything their whole lives! God showed them His mercy and compassion filled their ways. It must have been very hard for the people to turn their lives upside down!
Sometimes we may think God is being totally unreasonable by asking us to do things which we just don’t understand; things which seem to go against logic and against what we expect to happen in this world. But if we give Him time to explain things and trust Him, then we too will see great rewards. As we go through each step of that journey we may start to feel comfortable because things are finally turning round. Those are the times when we have to be most alert!
The more comfortable we get to feel the less we will be on guard for the wiles of the evil one and the more danger we put ourselves back in. God is leading us down a path which may not seem like the best path we would like to choose, but it will make sense when we reach our destination. If we give in before then or get too comfortable and put God aside, we may not be able to grab that last rung on the ladder!
Points to Ponder:
Do you shy away from things which seem illogical?
Will you be able to fully rely on God?
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August 11: Deuteronomy 4:32-40
Key Verse: Deuteronomy 4:39
Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other.
Devotion:
How often do you get discouraged by things which go wrong in life or don’t seem to ever get done? We get to see films about people doing things, making things and may even get encouraged to try and do things yourself, only to be discouraged because it is taking too long! What we don’t get to see is how long the people making the things we watch take to do what they are doing! When I moved into my flat where I live now I knew what sort of computer set-up I needed in order to do my work properly – I also knew I couldn’t afford to lay out all that money in one go to set it up; it has to be done in stages, and is still ongoing over two years later!
Sometimes we impose limits on God because we want things to be done now as opposed to being done right. He is God after all and nothing is impossible with Him! But we forget we are the people on the receiving side and we need time to adjust to things and time to get ourselves in the right place at the right time for things to come together. What we should be doing is looking back on what has happened, how it happened, how long it took and plan ahead with realistic timetables!
I see many things starting to come together in our church too, things which have taken years to come together and will take years to complete; for these I pray we will continue to have a loving supportive church community who are not in a rush to get some results rather than the proper results!
What I always try to do is to take time out regularly to remember just who God is. He is the one who has this plan all organised for the long run. As long as we continue to listen and obey Him, we will be able to build upon things and end up with the church we need in this community. He has the plan and we need to be patient and work with Him to make sure He gets the glory in the end the way He planned it!
Points to Ponder:
Are you working to God’s plan?
Or are you working to your own plan?
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August 10: Numbers 20:1-13
Key Verse: Numbers 20:12
But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Because you did not trust in me enough to honour me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.’
Devotion:
Stories like these used to confuse me as a youngster because of my lack of understanding of the bible at the time; and partly because of the lack of explanation from the church leaders at the time too. This is not a blanket statement, just an observation based on my personal experience as a youngster trying to figure out life!
We often see what we think of as contradictions in the bible and we get confused. But, if we spent a little more time reading our bibles and getting the full picture, we would go away a lot happier and a whole lot less confused. God has given us the same truth from the beginning and will continue to do so until the end of time. We are the ones who forget about the parts in the middle where we are given warnings or where we were told not to do something!
God simply wants our faith and trust in Him. When we start doubting and relying on the world, He gives us what we are seeking – worldly replies and rewards. But if we are able to continue relying fully on Him despite what is going on in the world around us, then we will continue to see His full love and support.
God was looking for trust and faith. The people of Israel started falling back and losing faith because of their impatience. God’s instructions were simple. Moses took an earthly approach to a heavenly instruction; so He was given an earthly reward for what he had done. I know full well it is a big ask for us to have faith in something we cannot see, but we must try against all odds!
Points to Ponder:
How would you describe your faith?
Are you willing to wait on your faith in Christ?