June 18: 2 Chronicles 24:17-19
Key Verse: 2 Chronicles 24:19
Although the Lord sent prophets to the people to bring them back to him, and though they testified against them, they would not listen.
Devotion:
We often think we are safe in our houses or in our countries because we live in a peaceful part of the world; but that is only what is on the surface. If we did deep into our own countries and communities we will see all manner of corruption and greed which leads to many having to go without the things we take for granted. One of those things many Christian take for granted is that God is always going to look after us!
We only have to look back into our history to see how God was tested to the limit by many people over time. Some of those people had to face the consequences of their inaction or of their bad behaviour, whilst others ended up paying for what their parents had done wrong.
After the death of Jehoiada, Joash became the new king. He did not follow what God had continued to ask the people of Judah to do. They rebelled against all of God’s rules and covenants. Instead they started worshipping Asherah poles and idols – not quite sure what made them do that, but it was probably one person who started talking about what could be better if they did something else instead.
The Lord sent prophets to try and bring the people back to worshipping Him but the people continued to ignore them and rebel against God. They made the choice to go against God… We have a choice to make in our own lives, we could just go ahead and ignore all the people who give us advice, or we could choose one person to listen to and follow whatever they say… the wise choice would be to follow the right person who is telling us things which agree with everything God has taught us in the past!
Points to Ponder:
Who do you take advice from?
Does that advice agree with what is in the bible?
June 17: Matthew 6:19-23
Key Verse: Matthew 6:21
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Devotion:
How come there are rich Christians and poor Christians? Shouldn’t we all be the same so nobody will get treater better than the rest of us? No matter where you look in life, you will always see people who are better off than others and people who are worse off than others; that is how we behave as human beings, never mind Christians.
We can look through the bible and see how some Christians were kings, some were poor and many others were in between those extremes – that is part of life! But what should tell us apart from any other human is how we look at what we have and what we do with what we have. God wants us to do our best to make use of what we have and to treat those around us with respect and dignity.
Some of the richest people in the world are also some of the most generous people in the world; it may not always work like that because there are also many who are truly greedy with their wealth and will not share anything with anyone… what do they have? They have wealth which they cannot use with the very people around them because their greed sets them apart from the rest of us. But those who choose to share what they have or to look after others who do not have enough have a lot more – they have the friendships and partnerships around them with people who are thankful!
God would like us to not just share what we have but to use what we have to help others; and if making more money with the money we have is what is going to help more people, then that is what we should be doing. Wealth can be measured by many things, not just money but love and friendship too!
Points to Ponder:
What do you do with the money you earn?
What will you do to show people God is generous with you?
June 16: John 6:51-58
Key Verse: John 6:52
Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’
Devotion:
I have heard many arguments about this subject and I’m pretty sure I will hear many more: what did Jesus mean about His blood and body? We can argue about exactly what Jesus meant but we will never know the exact definition until we see Him face to face – then we can ask Him!
But, despite never knowing, Jesus wants us to have faith to believe what He was telling the people at this time. Each person’s definition may differ but we should all be able to agree on the fact Jesus gave His body and blood for our sakes; if we take that literally or metaphorically or whatever is going to be our choice. Jesus wants us to try to understand what He was saying. To do this we need one of two things: either we should have Jesus in person to explain exactly what He meant, or we should have the one He left behind for us to explain what we need to know!
If we are not going to partake in this feast, we fall short of the mark. But the feast is not physical because that would be gross – Jesus was in Human form! The feast can be the fact Jesus gave it all for you, or us believing what He did was for us, or us celebrating the fact Jesus did this all… etc. But the central point should be we have faith to believe it was all for us!
The Israelites had to have faith to not try and hide away yesterday’s manna but to use it all and wait for God to supply a new batch in the morning. Just like that we need to have faith to trust God is going to supply us with our daily needs no matter what – even if we do not have enough faith to totally trust, we will still see the amazing miracle of His love as needs are fulfilled!
Points to Ponder:
How much of your doubt is because of physical issues?
How much faith are you willing to have that nothing is impossible for God?
June 7: Matthew 5:13-16
Key Verse: Matthew 5:13
You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
Devotion:
Do people think of you as being different in any way? We could be said to be different in good or bad ways, so let’s stick to being different in some good ways! It is good to stand out as being different because people will notice you, hence sticking to being good – the last thing you want is to be known as being bad...
I believe we should be different as Christians, we should stand out from the crowd and people should know why we stand out. God wants us to be noticed in our communities as the people who are different for a reason – not just different because we dress up differently or talk a different language, but because we reach out to people in a different way from everyone else.
The thing is you don’t have to be that different. Salt is something many of us take for granted and we add it on food without thinking. Light is something we take for granted too – we know the sun will come up in the morning and allow us to see what we have to to get through our day. But those things are different…
God wants us to be the difference in the world. He allowed Jesus to stand out from the crowd as the man who was very different to everyone else before Him. He came to be the same as us – a human person, but He came to be very different so people would notice. You can be different in you own way.
Points to Ponder:
Do you want to make a difference?
Will you stand out and be different?