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August 18: Ezekiel 28:1-10
Key Verse: Ezekiel 28:9
Will you still say, ‘I am a god’, in the presence of those who kill you, though you are but a mortal, and no god, in the hands of those who wound you?
Devotion:
One of the most dangerous traits to have as a leader is pride because it is that pride which will lead to your downfall. We may know the saying "Pride before a fall" but this portion of the bible lays it out in God's words.
Here God is telling the Prince of Tyre through the Prophet Ezekiel that he is going to lose everything because of his pride and conceit!
God sets out to remind the prince he is nothing but a mortal just as the people around him. Yes he may have amassed wisdom and wealth beyond those around him, but it is still nothing compared to God and will amount to nothing when an enemy strikes against him.
God wants us to be humble and to lift him alone up as God of gods. No one or things can compare against God and we need to remember that at all times!
Points to ponder:
When we get encompassed by our pride, there is nothing we can do when the right enemy attacks!
Will you give God space in your life to spread his wisdom and glory?
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August 17: Acts 6:1-7
Key Verse: Acts 6:2
And the twelve called together the whole community of the disciples and said, ‘It is not right that we should neglect the word of God in order to wait at tables.
Devotion:
One of the things we will face when doing God bidding, is backlash from the people around us. Everyone wants things to be done their way and everyone thinks their way is the right way.
They may stop and reason with you showing you scripture to prove themselves right, but if they are taking you away from doing God's bidding, then it's time for something different.
God wants us to be servants, but if being a servant takes us away from sharing the Gospel and doing the things he has appointed for us, then we may not have got the balance quite right.
We cannot do everything. We can't do it all. We do sometimes need help and appointing other Christians around you to help with those extra tasks is actually the right thing to do. You are empowering other Christians to do God's bidding too!
Points to ponder:
How often do you feel like you are facing burnout?
When is the last time you asked for help - or accepted an offer for help!
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August 16: Jonah 1:1-10
Key Verse: Jonah 1:6
The captain came and said to him, ‘What are you doing sound asleep? Get up, call on your god! Perhaps the god will spare us a thought so that we do not perish.’
Devotion:
This used to be one of my favourite stories from the bible when I was a youngster, not because of the truth behind it, but because it had a giant fish in it who ate a man and the man was still alive!
When I look at the story now, I marvel at what God can do when he needs to get our attention. Do not put anything past him to grab your attention at the worst possible moment!
When need to stop and listen to God when he is trying to get out attention, not run the other way or cast doubts by clinging onto worldly things. God is beyond that and will do a lot to try and get you on the right path!
Sometimes it is going to be stepping back from the world and just listening to that small voice within. Sometimes he will move mountains to get your attention!
Points to ponder:
How often do you turn back to the world when you know it is not right?
Will you stop and listen for once!
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August 15: Acts 1:6-14
Key Verse: Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’
Devotion:
Sometimes we get caught up in trying to figure everything out and to prove things one way or the other. Sometimes we allow our thoughts to get the better of us.
Jesus was telling the disciples here to accept what God had given them and to use what they had been given to go out and share the Good News to everyone.
We do not have to know when and where everything is going to happen. We should be willing to accept things through faith and to believe what God has said will happen - in his own time and not to our timetables!
When Jesus ascended to heaven, it was a simple affair with the disciples around him. No big fanfare, just Jesus reminding them to have faith and exercise that faith! That should be our daily reminder!
Points to ponder:
Do you always need to know the exact time for meetings and events?
God does not work to the timetable of the earth; we should work to his evolving timetable.
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August 14: Matthew 19:3-12
Key Verse: Matthew 19:8
He said to them, ‘It was because you were so hard-hearted that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but at the beginning it was not so.
Devotion:
Have you ever noticed how mankind comes up with rules and regulation to get around what should be done or what shouldn't be done.
Back in those days people had followed what Moses had taught them about divorce, making sure that it was done in a proper manner with all the legal forethought.
What Jesus was telling them was something slightly different. Yes people could get divorced if there was something very wrong in the relationship, but doing it just because they wanted to made a mockery of the promise they said before God when they got married.
God wants us to go through life enjoying it, but also thinking carefully about what we do so we do not have to find ourselves in difficult circumstances and having to do something unlawful in God's eyes!
Points to ponder:
How often do you look for an excuse to not do something?
How often do you do something just because you said you would do it?
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August 13: Acts 4:32-5:11
Key Verse: Acts 5:2
with his wife’s knowledge, he kept back some of the proceeds, and brought only a part and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
Devotion:
There are times when we do not want to hear the truth and times when we gloss over things people have done wrong because we just don't want to get involved.
This passage tells of a time when all the people in this area gathered together and they wanted to live as one big family, sharing all they had with all around them so nobody would go shorter of anything than anyone else.
This meant that when things were short, everyone balanced out the goods, and when things were plentiful, everyone shared in the plentiful goods. But, there were some amongst them who did not want to share everything.
Ananias and his wife sold their parcel of land and only brought forward part of the money because they wanted to keep it. This may seem fine to us, but they were all living under an agreement to share everything.
Things did not go as planned when they were found out.
Points to ponder:
How often do you say one thing and do another?
God wants us all to be honest, open and generous!
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August 12: Matthew 18:15-20
Key Verse: Matthew 18:18
Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
Devotion:
How do you deal with conflict? Do you try to avoid it so you don't have to get involved with people who have disagreements? Do you go in shouting and make oters back down because they dare to disagree with you?
We are all made different, and as such, we will all think differently. This should be seen as a positive and not as a detriment to the way we live with others. Having differing oppinons allows us to see things from a different perspective and may allow us to right our own wrongs!
If we really do not agree with someone, we should start by discussing the situation with them in person; no good shouting about it to others people because we will only make enemies instead of friends.
The more we have issues with others and do not work things out, the more baggage we will take with us when we get to heaven. The more we work things out, the easier our lives here and after will be!
Points to ponder:
Do you harbour grudges?
Do you try to resolve issues with others before things explode?
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August 11: Matthew 18:1-5
Key Verse: Matthew 18:4
Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Devotion:
As a long time youth worker I really like these verses because there are quite a few people out there who still adhere to the saying 'children should be seen and not heard.'
These verses tend to put people who think like that off because it is probably the biggest encouragement for young people to join in with being Christians and living a life with Jesus in it!
I suppose the diciples were thinking of all the great prophets who had gone before them and trying to work out who had done their best for God. But Jesus was not thinking like that - he was looking into their hearts.
One of the biggest lies we can tell ourselves is that we are doing things right and others are doing things wrong! That immediately stops our hearts from joining in with the Gospel and joining in with the way Jesus wants us to live our lives.
Points to ponder:
Do you compare youself with others?
Why not just work on doing what Jesus would like you to do!
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August 10: Matthew 17:22-23
Key Verse: Matthew 17:23
and they will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised.’ And they were greatly distressed.
Devotion:
how many times do you tell the truth even though you know it is going to hurt in some way? Most of us will 'embelish' on the truth so it does not sound as bad as it could, or to make it sound even worse when we want sympathy!
Jesus was not one for doing any of that. He told the truth and he wanted the disciples to get used to telling the truth. I think this is one of the reasons why I feel I can trust the bible, because of the truth being told 'warts and all!'
We can read through our bibles and find out the people who did lie and we can see the consequences they had to face for those lies - some of the consequences being as bad a death and others affecting all the people around the liar and not just them.
Jesus has tried to warn us of the consequences of lies throughout the bible and throughout history, but mankind still chooses to cover up the truth and lay out a bed of lies instead.
Points to ponder:
How often do you tell a white lie?
How often have you faced up to the consequences for admitting the truth?
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August 9: Matthew 14:22-33
Key Verse: Matthew 14:29
He said, ‘Come.’ So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came towards Jesus.
Devotion:
How many times have you done something without thinking, and then, after thinking about it, cannot do it again? Our brains may well be a significant part of us, but they can also let us down.
When we think too hard about something, the doubts and fears crawl in and stop us from doing what we would otherwise be able to do at times.
When the disciples got over their fear about seeing a person walking toward them on the water, Peter decided he should be able to do this too & immediately got up and did it; until he thought about it!
Our faith and our beliefs are quite different at times because both vary in strength at time depending on the circumstance we are in. Jesus wants us to be able to see past these limitation and grasp hold of what he can do for us in our lives.
Points to ponder:
How often does your brain hold you back?
Will you look to Jesus and allow him to guide you more?