- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 9
28 September: Job 1:6-12
Key Verse: Job 1:10
Have you not put a fence around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.
Devotion:
I was just thinking about this passage a short while ago and wondering what it would be like to be in the position Job was in.
He was an upright person, always praised God, made sure God go all the glory for everything in life and was not shy about allowing others to know this!
But as we go further into the passage (after the verses listed here) we start to find what Satan is capable of doing in an innocent persons life just to try and stop someone from praising God!
The evil one is not going to stop being evil and bringing evil into our lives until God steps in and stops him from having a free hand. If we do not invite God in to give us that helping hand, we may face a whole lot more than we are ready to face!
Points to ponder:
Do you invite God in to every part of your life?
Will you drop your pride and ask him in!
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 9
27 September: Psalm 123:1-5
Key Verse: Psalm 123:4
Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt.
Devotion:
What do you think living as a Christian is going to be like, or if you are, then what is it like for you? I think we would all agree it is going to be different - but how different?
Each of us live in a different part of the world surrounded by people who are very different from the others surrounding other people. We each live in a unique part of the world where our unique part is just around us.
We cannot really compare our lives with each others lives because of the vast differences in our lives and the live of those around us. But God has seen it all and continues to be there for us.
We may think our lives are too messed up and he would never consider us, or we may consider ourselves as lost causes not worth saving - but God does not agree with that! He wants each and every one of us to be saved and sometimes it is just about us asking for that help in the beginning!
Points to ponder:
Do you ask God to help you in your life?
Or do you tell him what to do - do you see the difference!
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 13
26 September: Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:8
Key Verse: Ecclesiastes 11:9
Rejoice, young man, while you are young, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Follow the inclination of your heart and the desire of your eyes, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgement.
Devotion:
What do we, as Christians, mean when we say that God wants us to enjoy ourselves? Do we mean we can go out and do anything just because we are Christians, or does it mean we live a very limited life where we are not allowed to sin or do anything wrong?
Well, it is somewhere in between all of that. God certainly does want us to enjoy ourselves, but he has warned us through what has happened to believers in the past. He wants us to be sensible and to continually show others we are not of this world but we belong to God.
This does mean we should be showing people through our actions that we follow God's commandments by loving one another in a way which reflects the love of Christ for us.
When we do go off the rails, like every human being does, we also have to live up to the consequences of our actions. But when we do things against God, we should expect him to react a bit more than he would for any other person!
Points to ponder:
Do you make sure you live like Jesus is walking with you?
What would you do differently if he was walking with you?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 20
25 September: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Key Verse: Ecclesiastes 3:5
a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
Devotion:
How many times have you tried to make something happen just because that is what you wanted to happen? As a youth worker, I did do that a few too many times, thinking that if I liked what was happening, some young people 40 years younger than me may like it too! No so apparently!
As the writer muses here, there is a time for everything to happen and we should not be trying to make things happen out of order just because we think it best at the time!
God has shown us what can and does happen in the past and he has made sure those things were written down for us to remember them - which is where we should be taking note and getting used to the idea everything will happen in its order!
There is no harm in asking God for other things to happen out of the normal order because that is us learning about the things we can ask of God - and learning what sort of things he is going to answer in its time!
Points to ponder:
Do you try to rush things into happening before they should?
Have you tried waiting on God for his answers?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 20
24 September:: Ecclesiastes 1:2-11
Key Verse: Ecclesiastes 1:9
What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun.
Devotion:
One of the things you find out as you grow older is that most things which happen in life are not new but have been done in some form or another multiple times in the past.
Does this mean we are stuck in a world where nothing new will happen? Certainly not! But many things have been done before.
If we are going to make the most of this life then we should be taking note of all the things which have happened before and choosing the best outcome based of the outcomes which have happened before.
But humans seem to be stuck in a rut where we do the same things over and over and expect a different outcome even though this has never happened before. God wants us to have a good life and be happy and content with all he is doing for us in our lives.
As long as we try to keep up with the best outcomes which have gone before based on what other children of God have done - we can expect good things!
Points to ponder:
Do you expect things just to happen for you?
Or do you go looking what God wants from you?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 22
23 September: Proverbs 30:5-9
Key Verse: Proverbs 30:9
or I shall be full, and deny you, and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ or I shall be poor, and steal, and profane the name of my God.
Devotion:
One thing we do when we are content if forget about the bad things which have happened beforehand and we just focus on the here and now. The same can be said for our relationship with God at times too!
We get to a stage where we are content with what God has given us, what we are doing and we relax into a state where we just assume everything is going according to plan. This does tend to make us lax about the things we should be thinking of in order to continue on in our relationship with God.
From a very early age the prophets and leaders recognised this and they warned the people about becoming too comfortable with the lot God has given us. Go even had to warn the people of Israel a few times over the years as they relaxed into expecting too much because they had always had God there for them.
We still need to be on our guard against relaxing into false positions of comfort. What happens when we are happy and content? We may just start to deny God a little bit, then a bit more and then even more...
Points to ponder:
How comfortable do you have to be before you start forgetting God and his laws?
What will it take to reapply those rules in your life?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 25
22 September: Proverbs 21:1-6
Key Verse: Proverbs 21:4
Haughty eyes and a proud heart - the lamp of the wicked - are sin.
Devotion:
How many times have you given in to something which looked too good to be true, and only found out afterwards it was just a myth?
When we get something into our head, we often will go a bit too far and take on something we should be steering clear of. Sometime we are heading straight for danger!
God is not the one leading us into these temptations or these bad places, we are the ones actively seeking them out because we have it in our heads it is somehow a good idea!
It is never too late to admit we have done something wrong and to turn away from what we are doing. It takes courage and strength to do that and after we have do the U-turn, we may well find it was the right decision all along which was hidden from us because our eyes were too big and we could not see the truth!
Points to ponder:
How often do you admit defeat?
Are you willing to admit to your sin?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 26
21 September: Matthew 9:9-13
Key Verse: Matthew 9:12
But when he heard this, he said, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
Devotion:
How many times have you tried to get out of going somewhere because you had objections about the people you would have to mix with or about the place you were going to?
There are many times I have objected to something without having a firm reason for objecting other than having heard something bad about the people or place!
When I stop and think about it nowadays, I begin to think "what if God was trying to get me to go through that door just so one person could hear some good news instead of the terrible news which surrounds them every day."
It is not an easy task to go against your feeling or your intuition; but sometimes God is directing you to a time and place where just a simple smile or word can change someone elses life; and just maybe, he wants you to be that person!
Points to ponder:
When you are invited to go and do something for God or with other Christians, do you go?
When you are invited into a difficult situation, what stops you?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 26
20 September: Matthew 20:1-16
Key Verse: Matthew 20::10
Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage.
Devotion:
No matter how you read these verses, you feel for the poor people who had to work for the full day and they did not get any more or less than the people who only worked the last part of the day. By today's standards we would say that was unfair to all, but then we should also be looking at what agreement each of the people agreed to.
When we agree to do something for a certain wage or reward, we should try to do our best to fulfil what we have agreed to - to keep our side of the bargain. We should not be comparing ourselves to others all the time but comparing ourselves to what we have agreed to do!
When it came down to everyone getting what they had agreed to, the owner gave everyone what was agreed.
How then should we compare this to our Christian lives and the things we do for God? If we have agreed to do something for God, then we should be doing our best to fulfil what we have agreed to do. We should not expect any special rewards for payments or special treatment because we have made an agreement with God. Is that not enough?
Points to ponder:
Have you made any promises to God which you are now going back on?
Will you complete your tasks for God?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 28
19 September: 1 Corinthians 15:35-41
Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 15:38
But God gives it a body as he has chosen and to each kind of seed its own body.
Devotion:
One of the things I struggled with in the past was this thing about death and resurrection. Jesus showed us that anything is possible and he also gave the disciples direction of what will happen when they die.
The disciples did not have a fear of death like people have when they do not know Christ. That may sound like a strange thing to say, but I challenge you to read through these verses and think about the words and think about what may happen to you when your human body dies...
Morbid? No, not really, because we are looking at the next thing on from this human existence, As a human we have a human body and we can do so many things some animals cannot do; but we lack the things creatures like fish can do.
God made us all very different and he has given us this human body part but also a soul which lives on even when our human body stops functioning. This final thought gave me great encouragement after trying to work out what happens when a human body gets cremated. Well, it gets burned up, but our soul lives on in a new way with Jesus.
Points to ponder:
What do you think your soul is?
What would you like to do with your soul after death?