July 9: Romans 14:1-9
Key Verse: Romans 14:3
The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them.
Devotion:
Each time I get to read verses like these I am reminded of the feud some have between vegetarians and carnivores! Why do so many people take offence at the little things in life like our diets, where we live, how we live or even our skin colour! When Jesus told us to love one another it was to put aside these things in our lives and learn to accept we are all different – but we can live together!
At the moment I am on a diet of mostly softer fruits. I struggled in the beginning because I wanted so much to have a pizza or a steak, but my health has dictated otherwise for the time being. I must say I am enjoying having so much fruit and things like smoothies and milkshakes made with real fruit!
God wants all of us to be able to live the lives which are best for us – but this does not mean we can immediately judge one another and say we should all be eating fruit and drinking smoothies. God has given this world for us and asked us to take proper care of it. This has meant taking care of animals and fish as well for our food, but those choices as to what we finally get to eat should be made by us and not forced on by others.
As long as we remember who has given us the food in the beginning and thank Him for the blessing of being able to enjoy the food we have, then we are doing what is right by God. If we don’t take care of our environment, then we will pay the price by not having the best food available to us. God will get us to listen when we go off the rails; but we really do need to listen to Him and obey His guidance in our lives!
Points to Ponder:
Do you frown at people who are vegan or carnivores?
Have you thanked God for allowing you to have the food you had today?
July 8: Matthew 10:16-20
Key Verse: Matthew 10:16
I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
Devotion:
When Jesus sent the disciples out to be disciples, He did not tell them they were going to have a wonderful time telling people about Him and thousands would flock to find out the truth – He told them they were about to start on a very difficult journey which could end up with them being arrested or worse! They would be taking off in the deep end, or jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire (to quote a couple of English sayings which indicate the going is about to get tough!)
The disciples would have to be on their guard as the people around them would be the ones who trip them up and get them in prison. These are the very people they were being told to go and tell the gospel to! But all through this they were told not to worry about what they should be saying to the people!
Have you ever gone off into the unknown without being prepared? It is quite nerve-wracking knowing you are going to face issues never mind having to face being arrested or even flogged in the synagogues! Let that sink in for a moment… they were going to face flogging in the synagogues – the ‘safe places’ they were used to going into to find what people were saying about God!
Jesus was turning their worlds upside down and telling them nothing was going to be easy from this point on. The same warning should be said to us when we volunteer to go out and be the disciples Christ says we need to be. The world around us is a very scary place where there are a lot of people working against God and doing strange and terrible things. We may well have to face up to them because Christ may want us to talk to them!
Points to Ponder:
Do you get tongue tied when you try to talk about Jesus?
Will you try trusting the Holy Spirit to tell you what to say?
July 7: Luke 16:19-26
Key Verse: Luke 16:25
But Abraham replied, “Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.
Devotion:
With all the uproar and strange happening in politics and governmental circles in the UK, I am surprised there are not a lot more people around the world pointing fingers at the government here. It is so sad to see the politicians looking after themselves and no longer serving the people as they had promised to do so when they were elected! One thing we do not get with Jesus is a bunch of empty promises which stand to be broken!
As a community, rather extended community of this country, we should be pulling together and working toward the good of the whole country and not a privileged few who have taken power. I see their actions in much the same light as this rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen ignoring the poor and needy people at his gate. It was only after the rich man lost everything by dying he saw the futility of what he had done all his life – to no reward!
Yet the beggar who had spent much of his life being looked down upon and being disregarded in all ways, was now enjoying a much better life by Abraham’s side in heaven. He had stayed true to his self and to God whereas the rich man had rejected God’s ways and followed the riches and cruel ways instead. The rich man was now paying for all his wrong-doings by living in constant torment.
Christ wants us all to be able to join Him in Heaven; but in order to do that we have to make the choice of allowing Christ to be in our lives and following His will and His ways. It is not an onerous task when we compare the short time we live on earth to the eternity we will spend in Heaven...
Points to Ponder:
Do you choose to live with your community or in spite of it?
Do you choose to live with Christ or in spite of Him?
July 6: Psalm 115:3-8
Key Verse: Psalm 115:8
Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.
Devotion:
The hope of the nation of Israel was not in statuettes or other makings of mankind but in The God who lives in Heaven! Even then some turned to silver and gold idols which had been crafted by men – not to speak, not to see, not to hear, smell or feel, not to walk or talk – just to exist as an object people could look at!
Why put your hope and trust in something someone else has made with their hands? I’m not talking about chairs, tables or even cars planes and buildings, but small statues made so people can do something strange like worship them! Putting your faith in a dumb idol is probably akin to putting your faith in “square wheels” being able to roll gently down the hill! They are not real!
The more we live our lives caught up in modern society the more we get drawn into all the things in this world which we trust our lives in. We place our trust in the physical things because we can see them. We place our hope in something we can see rather than what we cannot see. It’s easier that way because we don’t have to think things through… But God wants us to think things through and to put our faith and trust in the truth instead of what someone said in the heat of the moment!
God is our living breathing faithful God. He has done everything for us to get to know Him – but we have to step forward and make that choice to get to know Him. He has done so much already for us so we can be safe – but we have to make that choice to ask Him to protect and guide us. God hasn’t put everything in place so we don’t have a choice, He has put it all here so we do have the choice… Choose life!
Points to Ponder:
Do you choose to follow Christ?
Will you trust Him?