August 30: Acts 7:11-14
Key Verse: Acts 7:12
For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.
Devotion:
We are back online! Sorry for not being here and sharing God’s Word with you over the past few weeks but I have been in hospital where I had to undergo emergency gastric surgery to allow me to eat and drink again. I have been home for a few days already, but I had also promised I would not do any work until this week – the first things to pick up on is these devotionals and answering emails...
I had thought about writing things down before but seemed to have difficulty sitting still for long, especially at my desk to do the studying required. And one of the things I have found difficult to do is to ask for help from friends and family – until this session when things went very wrong for me. So when I read this chapter and read these words, the idea of asking for help and receiving more than you imagine resounded deep within me!
When Jacob and his family were struggling with a great famine in their land, they were getting desperate and did not know what to do at first. When they found out there was grain to be had in Egypt, Jacob sent his sons to go an see if they could obtain some grain. What they did not know was just who was in charge of the grain in Egypt… it was family, estranged, but family.
The love which binds us together as family means we are willing to go above and beyond to help each other out; but asking for that help can always be hard even when you are desperate. I’m truly blessed to have the family I have around me and have enjoyed their love, company and help. This is what we do as family, be it blood, relationship or church family, this is what we do – to love and support each other, always.
Points to Ponder:
Do you enjoy your family?
Will you thank God for them and ask for blessings on each of them today?
August 14: Luke 12:49-53
Key Verse: Luke 12:52
From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three.
Devotion:
How often do you have a difference of opinion with a family member? How often do you argue about silly things in life? How often do you stand your ground on the more important things in life – like believing in Christ!
I have learned a long time ago it is quite normal to have a difference of opinion with family members, and one of the strongest differences may well be your beliefs, after all that makes us different from them! Jesus knows our beliefs will not just make us think differently but also cause many arguments in our lives; but just because there are going to be arguments does not mean we should give in and allow people to persuade us otherwise.
You don’t have to have big fights about your beliefs. You don’t have to fall out with your family just because you believe in Christ – but think about Peter and Christ. Peter was willing to give in to peer pressure and say he was not a believer just so He would not get drawn into the punishment Jesus was facing. We can agree to disagree. We can stand up for our beliefs. We can share our beliefs.
Jesus wants us to stand up and admit to our faith in Him and not to give in to peer pressure saying we don’t believe just to stop the arguments from happening. Have you ever had someone say they are not your friend just to not get drawn into an argument with others? This is what it is like for Jesus every time we give in… Stand up and be counted!
Points to Ponder:
Do you stand up to your faith?
Do you stand up for Christ?
August 13: Matthew 19:13-15
Key Verse: Matthew 19:14
Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.’
Devotion:
Sometimes it is the brevity of words which makes the biggest impact on us; sometimes it is the meditation upon those words after we have heard them which changes our lives. Going through each of the epistles teaches us how we are all different but also how we are very similar or the same.
When the people brought their children to see Jesus, probably hoping for blessings and healing, the disciples began to rebuke them… this was a society which was adult and male centred! The Jewish ways upheld the man as the head of the household and children did not have much say until they became adults; little wonder the disciples did what they did!
But Jesus’ reaction was so very different. He wanted the children to come to Him because they had an innocence about them which the adults had all but lost! They were willing to accept what was being told to them as the truth, often without question. The adults were the ones questioning everything and ruining many things through pride and greed…
Jesus wanted society to go back to being as innocent as young children, willing to listen and learn, willing to accept what they were being told as the truth. Children will always question things when they hear two different instructions preferring to listen to their parents. This is how we should be, but listening to our Father in Heaven as our ultimate parent giving us the truth. If we can be more like that, we can learn more!
Points to Ponder:
Who do you listen to in your life?
Will you trust the Words of God a bit more today?
August 12: Matthew 19:3-9
Key Verse: Matthew 19:6
So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.
Devotion:
When people take these verses and use them against couples who do not fit the exact words said here I get upset. God wants us to know His word, to hold His word deep in our hearts, but also to understand what love is! The wording used here is said as such because the Pharisees started off by using those words – they were trying to trap Jesus into saying something which the law, as they saw it, would not agree!
Instead Jesus repeated their words and told them the truth. They then called out Jesus because Moses had given them laws about getting a divorce and wanted to know why Moses was given divorce laws from God. Jesus then had to remind them it was because of their own hard hearts which the laws had to be made for… it was because of mankind's shortcomings that the divorce laws had to be made!
God wants us to find out about love and stick with love. He doesn’t want us to follow the route of lust or infatuation because they are bound by human wants instead of our needs. God knows we can live long and happy lives when we do follow the love He teaches us about, the love which makes people come together and stay together.
Too many people read the words of the bible and make up their own laws because they think they know better than the original authors. Unfortunately we don’t always get translations correct because we don’t know the minds of the people who wrote the letters we now take as our Bibles. God wants us to trust Him and listen out for His instructions through the Holy Spirit rather than jumping to conclusions based on words we think should be there!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you read your bible?
How often do you stop to listen out for God after reading?