October 25: Ephesians 5:25-33
Key Verse: Ephesians 5:30
for we are members of his body.
Devotion:
When we look at the kind of relationship God wants us to have with others, we need to look at the relationship Christ has with the church. Nothing got in the way from allowing Christ to be our Saviour. Nothing was able to stop Him from doing what He wanted to do for us, not even death!
We think of earthly things in such a final and short-lived way whereas Christ looked at things from an eternal point of view. He was not bound by the finality of life as we think of it. He was not bound by the rules and regulations imposed by mankind or even the religious people – Christ freed us from all of this so we can spent eternity with Him in Heaven!
When we look at these words describing the kind of relationship husbands should have for their partners we see an eternal dimension which we don’t tend to look at when we think of relationships. Christ wants us to set aside our limiting factors and think more of the spiritual factors which will last forever.
We need to step aside from our physical limitations when we think of relationships and focus on the spiritual love which goes far beyond the physical. Why should we limit ourselves by earthly measures when Christ clearly did not set any limits on love. He broke the mould and set us free by showing us there is more to love than physical. Spend some of your earthly time with God today in a spiritual way as you pray and wait for answers!
Points to Ponder:
Are you limiting your love by earthly standards?
Do you know Christ never limited Himself?
October 24: Luke 13:10-16
Key Verse: Luke 13:14
Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, ‘There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.’
Devotion:
Have you ever thought the world was against you just because you are a Christian? When you start to feel like you are being picked on, spare a thought for what Jesus went through whilst He was amongst us! God’s love for us is displayed through Jesus here as He reaches out to a woman who had been crippled for eighteen years! Jesus did not shy away from her just because it was the Sabbath; He went up to her and healed her just as He did many other people even though this was on the Sabbath. The love of God is not limited to works days or certain people or certain things – God’s love reaches out to everyone everywhere and always!
When you do something for God, people are going to notice and some will be angry you dare to do something for Him, especially when it goes against the rules they are setting in their lives. God’s promise to love us is not bound by promises we make, by rules we make or by anything man does…
The synagogue leader was keeping rules because that is what they had always done. They were not prepared to bend any rules or to make any exceptions because they wanted everyone to know just how strict God was… at least that is how they saw the world!
God wants us to know He power and might go beyond anything we can say or do. He love for us is beyond our understanding or imagination. His love is not going to be limited by any earthly rules or physical limits we impose on Him. God is above all and has power over everything. Imagine love that big!
Points to Ponder:
How far will you go for love?
Are you limiting your love for God too?
October 23: 2 Timothy 4:16-18
Key Verse: 2 Timothy 4:16
At my first defence, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them.
Devotion:
One of the hardest things to do, until you get used to it, is to keep on trusting in the unseen. I used to have great trouble trusting God because I thought I could never see the end result or see how He was going to help me. Many years ago I found out just how God does answer my prayers even without me knowing about it – and He answers more than I could imagine!
I don’t have any trouble now trusting God and that was very apparent to me over the last 4 years whilst I have been in and out of hospital. Every time I have prayed for things during this time, God has answered my prayers. People around me have had issues getting to grips with the amount I trust God now because I know how much He does for me…
A short while ago I heard one of my friends has had problems with their faith because they could not see how God was helping them. Just a short conversation and me being allowed to tell them of all the great things God has done for me during the last few years and they went away with a changed heart! God is good!
When our bibles say words like “The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack…” we should be believing this and trusting in God for more in our lives. He does indeed want the best for us and how He answers our prayers will astound us when we look back and see how much he has done. It may not always be immediately apparent how much God does, but when we do see the results some time later, we may be a bit ashamed we did not trust in Him more!
Points to Ponder:
Are you having trouble with your trust in Christ?
Will you give God a bit more time and lee-way and see what happens?
October 22: Acts 28:17-31
Key Verse: Acts 28:19
The Jews objected, so I was compelled to make an appeal to Caesar. I certainly did not intend to bring any charge against my own people.
Devotion:
How many times have you done something hoping it would fix a bad situation only for it to make things worse? I’m sure we have all had things go wrong for us while we have been trying to fix things… this is just what life is like; sometimes we are going to have things go wrong even when we believe they should not.
Paul wanted to be able to tell people all about Jesus, but the more he tried to do this the more he seemed to get into trouble. So much so he ran away to Rome (because he was born as a Romans citizen) so he could get a court to side with him and stop the persecution he felt under.
Sometimes it is a very real persecution we are going to face in our lives, even from the people around us whom we believe should be helping and supporting us. This is not because they have turned bad, gone against us or other things we may think of, but more akin to being in the wrong place at the wrong time as the evil one does his thing!
When we come to our senses and start to see what is really happening, we should set the record straight with the people around us so they do not feel like there is angst between them and us. God wants us to keep the truth in our lives and that sometimes means we have to speak the truth when it will go against the people around us. The truth is better heard now than heard after it is too late!
Points to Ponder:
Do you hold back the truth because you feel hard done by?
Will you share Jesus’ truth before it is too late?