Jun 18: Psalm 51:1-9

Key Verse: Psalm 51:9
Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.

Devotion:
One of the things we learn from the people who lived before Christ is how they regarded sin in it’s various forms. This passage, for me, gives me direction and a way of looking forward no matter what has happened or is happening in my life. When we do something wrong, it normally affects the people around us as well as us and they get drawn into our issues – just as we get drawn into their issues in their lives.

God wanted mankind to see sin has far reaching implications in everybody’s lives and not just the life of the person doing wrong. God also wanted us to see the most important thing is the end goal of not sinning against Him. No matter how good we are to others and how well we get on with others, if we have anything against God in our lives, it is going to continue affecting us and the people around us.

Churches are not safe havens where everyone gets on and nobody argues; people are not like that and we always seem to mess up in front of others. God wants us to live in peace with others, but even when we are at peace with everyone around us, we also need to make sure we are at peace with God.

Christ came to level the playing field by making it possible to live in peace with God through His grace and mercy. It is because Christ paid for our sin debt that we are able to have our sins forgiven – something the people in the Old Testament had not yet been introduced to yet. They continued to try and appease God with sacrifices and offerings ever time they did something wrong… it was hard work!

Points to Ponder:
Do you find it hard to live with others?

Do you know Christ makes it possible for God to live with us?

Jun 17: 1 Kings 21:1-16

Key Verse: 1 Kings 21:7
Jezebel his wife said, “Is this how you act as king over Israel? Get up and eat! Cheer up. I’ll get you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”

Devotion:
This is one of those stories in the bible which I don’t like to read because it talks about a woman who had no qualms of taking someone else’s life just for the property they owned. This is a person who calculated the act and carried it out without thinking about the family and people involved. It does not matter she was not the one to take the life herself, but because she calculated it out and got other innocent people to take the life of another unjustly, makes me shiver at the thought.

Fortunately I have not had to meet too many people like this in my life, but I have met some who had no thoughts about the safety of others, about the families or about how their actions affected so many people through what they were doing. The most upsetting part is how some people just do not see the bigger picture in life, but focus on their own greed instead.

The people around them get caught up in the actions and are affected without realising it themselves. They may never find out the unjust things which are happening behind the scenes as they are hoodwinked into believing they are in the right. We need to be aware of people like this in our lives and steer clear of them by allowing God to guide us instead of people...

Points to Ponder:
Do you get caught up in things which make you think?

Have you compared those things with what God wants in your life?

Jun 16: 2 Corinthians 5:6-10

Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 5:9
So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.

Devotion:
One of the things I shall always remember are the last words I had with my dad the day before he went to be with Christ. He was finally looking forward to being with Jesus after going through many things in life. He knew with absolute assurance he would be with his Lord in a short while. That is the faith we should all have and should all aspire to show others too!

Our goal should be to be more like Jesus is knowing we will be with God soon, and knowing we are already safe in God’s arms, even before we have to face our earthly demise. When people see we have a hope like this in Christ, how could they not be changed and look for a way of being more like that too!

Jesus showed us how to act with absolute assurance God is always with us. He wanted all of the disciples to have a faith which stood head and shoulders above any earthy ways of the people who called themselves religious. God wants us to know we have a personal relationship with Him which nobody can take away from us – and eternal relationship and life with Him.

We will all stand before Christ one day; on that day we should stand firm knowing we knew Christ before that day and knowing He promised us everything we need to face that day with confidence and assurance. What a blessed assurance, Jesus is ours!

Points to Ponder:
Do you know Christ as Lord and Saviour?

Do others know you know?