March 29: Psalm 94:1-3

Key Verse: Psalm 94:3
How long, Lord, will the wicked, how long will the wicked be jubilant?

Devotion:
How often have you wondered why the wicked people seem to gain so much in this world? Have you asked the question “how long will they get away with it?” At the moment I am asking this question of the Russian president just as I have asked the question of other tyrants in our world.

When I was reading these verses the one thing which struck me was the fact we always ask these questions as if they belonged only in our time-line. We have a finite life-span and we expect answers to our question while we are still around to think of them; we don’t look at the bigger picture which God is doing! When we look back on the Hebrew people spending so much time in the desert, we try to measure the time based on our ideas.

God was concerned about the people, the generation of people who had continued to doubt Him time and time again. He was not looking at how many days, weeks, month or years it would take, but the generation of people. When we start asking questions of God, we should be willing to allow God to answer in the time-scales He is used to working in. When we ask God to let the wicked come to justice, our prayers have already been answered!

The evil will not inherit the kingdom of God. What is ahead for these people is a time and place we cannot imagine in our worst nightmares. They will be facing the most evil they have brought into the world and they will be facing it for eternity! We may face the evil for a while on earth, but God is looking after us and will take us to be with Him in heaven just as He has promised; not so for those who deal in evil...

Points to Ponder:
How long before you give up praying against evil?

Will you continue to pray against evil and allow God to deal with it?

March 28: Exodus 2:11-14

Key Verse: Exodus 2:12
Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.

Devotion:
How many times have you wondered why God has chosen you to do the things you do? How many times have you thought you were not worthy enough to do anything for God? How many times have you surmised you are not good enough to be chosen by God? Well, let us look at this moment in time when Moses was not all he seemed to be...

Moses had been saved from certain death by women who felt sorry for a young child. He grew up in a privileged position when he was supposed to be put to death. He learned all manner of things when he should have been just another poor person from a slave family. But God chose him before he did anything wrong.

Moses went out to see the plight of his own people and came across an Egyptian beating up a Hebrew, one of his own people. Instead of doing what other Egyptians would do and look away, he got involved. He checked to see if anyone was watching, thinking nobody was, he killed the Egyptian to save his fellow Hebrew. This went terribly wrong because this act encouraged another Hebrew to beat up his fellow men.

God chose Moses. He then watched on as Moses committed a grave sin. He then watched on as the earthly the consequences of what Moses had done caught up with Moses. But God did not banish Moses; He had already chosen Moses and knew it would be Moses who would be able to save the Hebrew people. God would continue to protect Moses before encouraging him to do something outrageous – to lead the Hebrew people out of Egypt under God’s protection.

Points to Ponder:
Do you wonder if you are good enough?

Do you not see God can choose anyone?

March 27: Luke 15:11-20

Key Verse: Luke 15:14
After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need.

Devotion:
This parable of the lost son is pretty well known and so is the message it gives us, no matter what we have done, God still loves us and He will welcome us home in open arms if we come back… But something else struck me when I read through these verses to write these words for us: When we are blessed by God, or are living a blessed life, we often lose our way and run off the rails a bit!

When the one son heard about the inheritance, all he could think about was the money and what he could do with it! If we are not careful in our lives, we will take the blessings God allows us to have and we will focus on them instead of the one who has given us those blessings! When we focus on those worldly things instead of the things of God, we run full on into the world instead of into God’s arms.

It is only when we realise we have nothing without God we see just how blessed we were to have Him in our lives to start with. We then think about all the other people who God is blessing and we can even get jealous about it! That pulls us further down the rabbit hole of wanting earthly goods instead of wanting God in our lives…

The son in this parable had to realise he had a much better life when he was with his father. He had to realise the people who were with his father, even though they were servants, were is a much better position than he was. When we realise the people who stick with God are in a better place than us, we may finally realise just how far we have gone away from God and turn back to Him. He will be waiting with open arms!

Points to Ponder:
Do you thank God for your blessings?

Will you try to focus more on God in your life?