July 10: Psalm 82:1-8
Key Verse: Psalm 82:5
The “gods” know nothing, they understand nothing. They walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
Devotion:
God is God of everything; we cannot hope to understand His thoughts because they are so far and above anything we can think or imagine… but we still talk to Him as if we do understand and complain about the things we think are unjust! We cannot understand how God seems to allow wicked and evil people to not just survive but thrive in many places around the world!
Rather than trying to second guess God or to impose our own judgements on how He does things in this world, let’s just look at the things we can all agree upon in these verses! God is God over everything. No matter how many gods mankind invents or tries to worship, God is God over all of them, made up or otherwise!
The gods are in the same boat as God Himself in that we like to judge whether they are doing things right instead of trusting Him to do what is actually right for all mankind. With all the gods who have been created and worshipped over the years, we see a trail of death and destruction because they cannot and do not control this world!
The gods we create come and go over time just like habits and fads, they are not here to stay forever like God is. God remains unchanging and yet when we look at he history of created gods, we see so much change over time! There can only be one judge over all and that is God Almighty Himself because He has created everything and sees and knows everything...
Points to Ponder:
How much do you understand of this universe?
Will you trust God with the rest of the universe?
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?