July 14: Matthew 11:28-30
Key Verse: Matthew 11:29
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Devotion:
How many times have you heard Matthew 11:28 said? “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” I have heard this verse said in many churches but not many continue on to the next couple of verses; today we do!
Jesus was indeed encouraging people to come to Him so He could give them some respite from the heavy burden life sometimes gives us, but He also wanted us to know this was a two way thing. We should swap our burdens with Christ. He has given us His life and continues to want us to know more about Him and His love for us. For us to learn that we need to know the truth about what He has done for us, accept that truth and to follow the instructions given us.
Christ’s burden at this time to to teach people about God, His love and to make sure they knew they could be saved from their sins by simply believing the truth. That is the burden we should be taking from Him – not the terror He went through in order for our sins to be forgiven, but the burden of sharing the good news with anyone who is willing to listen. He wants us to be gentle and humble as He was, showing people a new side to the fearsome God they thought they knew!
If we are willing to follow Jesus’ example and His ways, then we are going to find a new life waiting for us. A life where we will find rest for our souls in amongst the terrors of this world. The world will give us headaches and nightmares (so to speak) but God wants us not to worry about those things but give them to Him so He can show us the rest He wants us to have.
Points to Ponder:
Do you accept the burden of sharing the gospel?
Will you trust Christ’s words and live a better life?
July 13: Romans 15:14-21
Key Verse: Romans 15:21
Rather, as it is written: ‘Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.’
Devotion:
One of the hardest things to accept is someone saying you have to do something you do not like! I’m sure Paul had mixed feelings about his going out to the Gentiles in the beginning since he started out as being the staunchest of Jews; so being told he should go to the gentiles and teach them about Christ may have come as a bit of a shock in the beginning.
But as the words in this section of passage tell us, Paul thought it the greatest honour to be able to go out and tell people about Christ – no matter who they were or where they came from! This is the attitude we need to see more of in our churches in the Western World. We do tend to stick to our own and not go out of our comfort zones or out of our circle of friends… How is the church supposed to expand if we do not break those moulds and go out to people we don’t normally see or talk to!
When Jesus told us we have to love God with everything and love our neighbours, it did not mean just the person next door, but everyone around us. The more the world takes on travel and the internet, the more our neighbours become further afield and more widespread.
God wants us to be able to reach out to people who haven’t heard the gospel yet… How are they going to get to know how special it is to be in a relationship with Christ unless someone shows them and tells them? Our goal as disciples is to reach out to people in whatever means we can, to tell them about Christ and to allow them to want to do the same – this is the love of Christ spreading...
Points to Ponder:
Who knows you are a Christian?
Who do you talk to about God?
July 12: Matthew 11:20-24
Key Verse: Matthew 11:24
But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.
Devotion:
One of the things we often forget about is that Jesus is very serious about us being in a relationship with Him! We like to focus on the love He has for us and we lose track of just what that love means; we assume He is going to be able to forgive us no matter what we do! Whilst it is true He will forgive us for anything if we are willing to repent for what we have done wrong, we do have to repent!
Do you take people for granted when you are in a relationship with them? If you do, how does that go? Do they get weary and stop being so kind and loving? We all have our limits in any relationship and we all get to a point where we cannot go on any further!
Christ has His limits too – His limits may be far and beyond anything we can imagine, but He does have limits! Jesus began to talk about those limits here in an attempt to make people stop and realise they were going too far and had to do something about their lives to make sure they would still be able to join Him in Heaven.
Christ did not promise us He would not turn anyone away – He promised us He would not turn anyone away who was willing to step back from their sins and ask Him for forgiveness. He wants us to stop and realise we have to make that important step before we get to gain that forgiveness!
Points to Ponder:
Do you ask Christ to forgive you?
Or are you expecting Him to forgive you?
July 11: Luke 17:26-36
Key Verse: Luke 17:28
It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building.
Devotion:
These descriptions of the time when Christ will return should make us stop and think about what we are doing with our lives. Each time when God has appointed a time, many people did not see those times coming because they were too busy living their lives – be it in a good way or a bad way, they were focused on their lives instead of God’s warning or pending time limit.
When it was time for Noah to save the few people the rest of the world was busy enjoying their lives and continuing without listening to God’s warnings. When Lot had warned the people about God’s pending judgement, the people ignored Lot and continued on in their own ways. When Christ comes again the same will be happening – many people will be ignoring what God has promised and the warnings we have had and they will be too busy focusing on themselves to notice Christ’s return!
Believers and non believers will be separated in an instant because the non believers will be focused on themselves whilst the believers should be focused on God. The moment Christ return will separate the people who are obeying God and those who are not! Friends and families will be split up. Co-workers will be separated. People will not see it coming unless they are looking to God and watching and waiting.
We need to remember warning words like these so that we are ready for the time when Christ does return. It will be in an instant where we could quite easily miss it if we are focused on the world instead of on God.
Points to Ponder:
Do you prepare for events in your future?
How well have you prepared for Christ’s return?