March 14: Exodus 32:7-14

Key Verse: Exodus 32:9
‘I have seen these people,’ the Lord said to Moses, ‘and they are a stiff-necked people.

Devotion:
Have you every stopped to think what sort of an impression you make on God? Do you realise just how much He hates sin, and He has to watch you bringing sin into your life! We tend to stick with the things we know, with the things we have done before, the things we think are part of our past… even when we begin to realise they are not right!

God wants us to turn away from sin in our lives and turn toward keeping Him closer to us through everything we do. The closer we keep God in our lives, the easier it is for Him to help guide us and the easier it is for us to listen! It is not impossible for Him to do anything, but if we keep rejecting His ways He has to do more and more work!

Why not try to keep God a bit closer so you can hear when He is trying to tell you where to go. Why not invite Him to be a controlling part of your life instead of an after thought! God wants to make us happy and wants to be able to give us so much – that is how much He loves us. Isn’t it time to stop driving a wedge between Him and you?

Points to Ponder:
Do you do things out of habit?

Will you try to change your ways and keep God closer?

March 13: Isaiah 48:8-11

Key Verse: Isaiah 48:10
See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.

Devotion:
One of the hardest things I had to cope with when reading the Old Testament as a young person was words like these where God was telling the people they had gone through hard times because He allowed it to happen! I used to think this was quite barbaric when I read it as a young person, but the longer I spent reading the bible and understanding God’s ways, the more I began to see a new side of these words!

God may well have allowed things to happen during those times, but He was doing so because of the hard hearts and stubbornness of the people! They went out of their way to do things contrary to what God was asking of them. They were doing things in spite of all the good God had showed them. If people were doing that to me, I would probably have exploded a long time before this point… yet God chose to stand by them and walk with them as they went through these tough times!

When we see some of the things which happen in our lives, do we ever look back and try to identify what we were doing during those times? I’m fairly sure we will find we were probably doing all manner of things which God was not looking forward to! I’m not saying God was choosing the fate of the people – they were sealing their own fates by exposing themselves to the world around them and God was trying, every step of the way, to remind them of the things He had asked of them in the beginning!

Points to Ponder:
Do you do things selfishly?

How often do you think of the people around you, including God?

March 12: John 5:5-16

Key Verse: John 5:12
So they asked him, ‘Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?’

Devotion:
When a prayer gets answered, what do you do about it? Do you keep it a secret and not tell anyone? Do you tell your friends in the hope they will be the ones who believe you? Do you go out and tell everyone to try and convince them it is the truth?

This story is about a person who was waiting close to the pool called Bethesda. This was a gathering place where people believed they could get healed when the waters were disturbed. This was because of something which had previously happened there and they wanted to see some healing happen to them or their families. This person did not have anyone they could depend on to get them to the waters edge if and when they were disturbed.

So when the person told Jesus about his plight, Jesus had pity on them and healed them without having to get to the pool. When asked about how they were healed, they simply said a man had told them to get up and walk! The teachers of the law were bust telling this person off for picking up their bed!

When Jesus does something in your life, He may well get you to do something out of character. If you know it was Christ then you should listen and obey no matter what the people around you think. Don’t be put off saying something which sounds incredible because this may be the one thing which will convince the people around you to believe in Christ!

Points to Ponder:
Do you tell people all Christ does in your life?

Or do you hide the truth from others?