November 30: Romans 10:16-18
Key Verse: Romans 10:17
Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.
Devotion:
God does not force any of us to believe in Him or to follow what He says; He has given us the choice. Our choices have consequences! Jesus came to demonstrate the fullness of our reward if we choose to believe in Him and trust His words. He gives this same choice to everyone in the world, whether we are of His chosen race or otherwise...
How did you get to hear about Jesus and what He had done for you? I can remember going to Sunday School at a very early age, but none of that made much sense to me at the time; my parents attended a church which was fairly set in their ways – all I remember from that side is people dressing up and acting polite to one another. When I was in high school I started to attend a church which put me forward for confirmation after I attended classes… again, not much of that stuck because it all seemed like school at the time.
But when one of the seniors in school sat down and explained what Jesus had done and why He did it, I chose to follow Christ! I was finally given the choice to follow Christ and to believe what I wanted to believe given the truth; it was no longer just a scholastic lesson I had to complete!
We get to hear God’s Word from many different angles in our lives and we get to choose what we do with those truths. If they are not fully explained to us, we fall short in our understanding of the situation and we may not make the right choices. This is why God calls each one of us to come forward and retell the story in our own words – that is what will make others choose to follow Christ or not. It makes all the difference!
Points to Ponder:
Do you understand what Christ has done for you?
Have you chosen to believe He did it for you?
November 29: Isaiah 11:1-5
Key Verse: Isaiah 11:2
The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him – the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord
Devotion:
I love reading parts of the Old Testament like these where the prophets were told of what was going to happen – maybe in words which they did not fully grasp or understand – but they faithfully scribed what they were told! We now look back, knowing what happened during the time Jesus was here on earth, and see just what these words meant and how accurate they were too!
God wanted us to know what was going to happen, but many people did not want to know the truth. The truth would force them to evaluate what they were doing in their lives. Just like today, people don’t want to hear the truth when it shows them up in any way!
These words predicted a person who was related to king David’s father, Jesse, would come to live amongst us in a very special way. This person would not be like any other person of the times. Their lives would be firmly anchored in the Word of God. The Spirit would be with them and they would show us signs of great wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge and the fear of the Lord!
While we can attribute some of these attributes to people who lived, none could say they covered all bases! This was going to be our Messiah, Jesus Christ who would fulfil all of the above and more. He would show us what could be achieved through following and obeying God in everything we do and say. This should be our aim!
Points to Ponder:
Do you feint at the thought of having to fulfil all of this?
Will you allow the Holy Spirit to bring you closer?
November 28: Matthew 8:5-11
Key Verse: Matthew 8:8
The centurion replied, ‘Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.
Devotion:
There are some parables in our bibles which are both simple and short but offer a very deep insight into faith and belief. This is one of them and is told in a few places by the disciples. I like Matthews account because he records the Lord as asking the centurion if he wants Him to come and visit the servant (knowing full well what the answer is going to be anyway.)
I have shown how we often have to ask multiple times in prayer, not so God will eventually hear us, but so we understand it is our asking which God answers – asking which is in earnest, humble and repetitive. God wants us to understand it is our faith which will move mountains and not just a single prayer thrown up to get something we want at the time!
This is along the same lines because Jesus is showing the centurion it is his own faith which is going to get the servant healed and not the fact he is a centurion, Jew or whatever! This prayer is being answered because the centurion showed absolute faith in Christ. He knew whatever Jesus commanded would get done because that is what he was used to as well – being a centurion in the Roman army!
Don’t base your faith on what people have said before you. Don’t base it on what others tell you to do. Base your faith squarely on Christ being the cornerstone of your life; the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the “I am” and with whom nothing is impossible. Trust Christ to do what He has said He would do!
Points to Ponder:
Do you give Christ the authority?
Will you show more faith by giving Christ authority?
November 27: Romans 13:11-14
Key Verse: Romans 13:12
The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armour of light.
Devotion:
How many times have you got tired of waiting for someone to show up after they told you they would? How many times have you been surprised when someone showed up earlier than you thought they would? Have you had a sleepless night, tossed and turned because you were thinking of something, and then finally dropped off to sleep maybe an hour before the alarm goes off? All of these happen because we don’t know the exact time everything is going to happen – people let you down, things happen which let you down… this is what life is all about, coping with unexpected things.
We have been told many times that Jesus will return. We have also been told we will not know when He is going to return. We have also been told we should make our lives ready so we are ready for His return. One day that time will be here… will you be ready?
We can look at the world around us and think how easy it would be to get involved with the things happening close to us. We can think along the lines of “it won’t really matter if I do this one thing wrong because I’ll do it right again tomorrow.” But what happens if the Lord returns today just after you have made the decision to go off and be worldly in your life – what happens if He returns on the day you turn your back on Him?
This is why Jesus tried to make sure the Disciples understood how important it was to be ready at all times. Jesus told parables which reminded the disciples of the importance of being ready. He warned them to their faces He would return at an undetermined time… but people still think it is ok to go off and do something today because He might not return today...
Points to Ponder:
How ready are you to go off and try something worldly?
How ready are you for Christ’s return?