March 8: Jeremiah 18:18-20
Key Verse: Jeremiah 18:20
Should good be repaid with evil? Yet they have dug a pit for me. Remember that I stood before you and spoke on their behalf to turn your wrath away from them.
Devotion:
How many times have you thought that God was not on your side because bad things were happening to you, or not enough good things were happening? How many times have you asked God why He allows the evil people to have so much and yet you don’t have a lot? I’m sure we have all been there at some stage in our lives...
We need to ready through our bibles and not get caught up in a few verses which seem to support or or a few verses which go against us. The bible is a story from the beginning right through to the end and the story does not make as much sense if we read just one part and not the whole! God wants us to remember all which has happened in the past so we can have an idea why things do not always go our way.
It is not that God is against us because we have done something wrong. It is not that God cares for others more than He cares for us. It is not that we should require God to punish the evil people and allow us to go free. God has given us enough to show that he looks out for all people and He cares for us all. When good things happen and when bad things happen, God may be the one who has ultimate power over it all, but He is not going to turn His back on anyone just because someone else wants to get to know Him more!
Jesus warned the disciples they would have to endure all sorts of things because they were going to be in the proximity of bad people. When bad people misbehave, they seem to get themselves and all around them in even more bad things. God wants us to know we are just as likely to attract bad things if we are close to them – but we should know we have the choice as to where we go and what we do. If we remember Jesus’ words when He said we need to love the Lord our God with all our hearts and souls and minds, we can move forward with confidence He is with us!
Points to Ponder:
How many good or bad times do you remember?
Will you remember what God has done for you throughout history?
March 7: Isaiah 1:10-20
Key Verse: Isaiah 1:18
‘Come now, let us settle the matter,’ says the Lord. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
Devotion:
I wonder if you have heard people talk about verses where God was not pleased to accept burnt offering any more. Or maybe you have heard the verses where God talks about looking after those who are less fortunate than you. Or where He says our sins can be washed away even if they are as red as scarlet… How many times have you been told these are all in the same place in your bible?
We often take verse out of context to support something we are saying or talking about. We often emphasise the verses to uphold out point we are trying to make. But God was saying all of these things to the people of Sodom and Gomorrah! The city that was levelled because they did not listen…
God gives us plenty of warning and He continue to make sure we hear the truth and have every opportunity to bring our sins before Him and ask for forgiveness. He promised the world would not end until the time is right and that time will only be when everyone has had the opportunity to hear the truth and to choose the path of truth or evil…
All people on earth are given the truth at some stage in their lives. God makes sure of that. He gives us the opportunity to walk away from evil and to choose to follow Him. He gives us plenty warning what could happen if we do not listen and if we ignore the warnings. We have no right to blame God for anything which does happen because we are the ones who walked away from Him to start with.
Points to Ponder:
Are you still walking away from God?
Will you choose the path He directs you toward?
March 6: Luke 6:36-38
Key Verse: Luke 6:37
Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
Devotion:
One of the hardest things to do can be to forgive people for doing things wrong against you or to not judge other people when you think they are doing things the wrong way! It’s very easy to say we will not do this, but when we get caught up in the moment we often judge and blame without thinking. Jesus was very careful to not judge people without knowing what they were doing wrong. He had every right to judge people because He was without fault – but He chose not to to show us it can be done!
We should only have to look at the things we do and say to realise we do often get things wrong; why then do we jump at the chance to blame or judge others when we think they should not blame or judge us for the things we do wrong all the time!
I find the best thing to do is to wait before answering or saying anything. Every week I hear people judging and blaming others and gossiping… and that is in church! I know I am guilty of it when I speak out of anger or impatience, but when I spend time to think about the things I am about to say or do I tend to follow Christ’s example instead. I know in my head I am wanting to say things because that is what it was like growing up in a boarding school…
The more we try to make the changes, the more we are going to be the change! That means the change is going to start from what we do and say differently as an example to others. I have seen what God can do to peoples hearts and how He can change the way they live and talk – let us be the example that will make them think...
Points to Ponder:
Do you get angry or gossip quickly?
Will you try to take a few seconds to think first?
March 5: John 3:5-8
Key Verse: John 3:8
The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.’
Devotion:
If there were three people standing next to each other and only one of them was a Christian, how could you tell the difference? If they are simply standing and not doing anything, then we may be hard-pressed to tell the difference, but when they start doing things and talking, we could probably start to make informed decisions based on how they were affecting the others or the people around them.
When the wind blows we do not see the wind blowing, but we do see the affects of that blowing wind: we see trees swaying, dirt flying and flags waving… We do not see the wind, we see the effects of the wind on everything around it. When Jesus was talking about being born again He was not talking about the physical aspect of it – I’m sure most of us would know we cannot get born a second time because we grow breathing and moving about…
Jesus was talking about the spiritual part of our lives, the part we don’t know we have until it is show to us. We cannot see this spiritual side of us, but, like the wind, we can see the affects it has on everything around us. Without the spirit how are we going to commune with God in Heaven because He does not have a human body in Heaven.
Jesus did not remain in spiritual form when He came to live amongst us – how would we have been able to see Him! He came in Human form to live amongst us so we could see the effects of His life on everyone around us. He came to demonstrate how we can do things in human form and what we can do to make sure we do join Him in Heaven in spiritual form after we leave our human bodies behind...
Points to Ponder:
Do you have any health issues?
Are you looking forward to having a perfect body in Heaven?