February 6: 1 Corinthians 15:1-2
Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 15:2
By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
Devotion:
What is faith? Some describe it as believing in the unseen. Others as trusting in a deity. Others may try to give a longer explanation so they feel like it is more worth while… But I think these couple of verses sum up what faith is all about – but don’t read these verses incorrectly! This is not a warning telling us if we don’t believe it’s all a waste of time!
When the apostle wrote this letter to the churches in Corinth, he wanted them to be encouraged by what they were doing and he wanted them to continue their walk of faith in Christ. He had taught them about Jesus and how they too could be freed from their own sin debt by believing Jesus died for them too. He wanted them to trust entirely in the truth as he had given it to them.
The people in the churches believed what the apostle had taught them. They trusted it as the whole truth and they stood firmly by that truth. I wonder whether there had been a person casting doubt and this was to dispel that doubt. It is by the gospel story these people were saved – in other words by what had happened, how Jesus had given His own life in their stead. This is the gospel they heard and believed.
The call was not to continue believing in this truth, because if they turned their backs on this truth, they would be saying their own journey of belief had all be for nothing! But the more they trusted in Christ, the more they knew this truth was definite and worthy of holding on fast to. This is the same call to us – we need to continue believing in the gospel truth and share it with others so they too can get to have hope in God!
Points to Ponder:
Do you continue to firmly believe the gospel?
Will you trust your belief to be exercised?
February 5: 1 Kings 3:4-13
Key Verse: 1 Kings 3:10
The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this.
Devotion:
When you pray for help or pray for something you need, what is the motive behind your prayers? We often hear the verses which remind us how God will always answer our prayers – but if we are going to be selfish or greedy with our prayers, should we really expect God to answer them!
When I was in hospital (OK, I won’t mention it for a while again) I did pray for many things, but my health was always secondary to my prayers. I knew God was looking out for me and I did ask for healing and comfort, but it was always after praying for someone else or for something else for someone else. My thoughts were something along the lines of, I know God is watching over me because the doctors though I was not going to make it several times, so why should I harp on about it!
Solomon was given everything on a plate. His father, David, had done so much for Israel and had built up everything anyone could want for so Solomon did not have to ask for anything worldly. Instead, He asked God to give him the wisdom he needed to effectively and faithfully rule over God’s people!
When God heard what Solomon was asking for, He gave him the wisdom he needed as well as great wealth and honour – things he had not asked for! God does actually know what is best for us; and God knew that for Solomon to be an effective ruler of Israel, he would need the wealth and power which came with being a great king (or at least that is how the people would see it) Trust in God for your answers to prayers for what you need, not what you want!
Points to Ponder:
Do you pray for what you need or what you want?
Will you lift up others in prayer first?
February 4: Genesis 22:2-8
Key Verse: Genesis 22:8
Abraham answered, ‘God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.’ And the two of them went on together.
Devotion:
When you read a story like this, what feelings are invoked by these words? Are you wonder how Abraham could have even considered taking his only son to be a sacrifice? Do you wonder at the barbaric suggestion to sacrifice your son? Or do you see a man who is torn between the love for his family and the love for God...
What you need to do is to remember what Abraham was doing here. He was not blindly taking his son to be sacrificed. He was, instead, listening to what God was telling him and obeying! He had no idea what God was going to do, but he did have a firm belief God would not let his son die because of the promise God had made to him earlier.
What we see is a man taking his son to be killed. What we should be seeing is a man obeying God and trusting fully that God would make a way for this all to be possible without letting his son perish – after all, how would God keep his promise to be a father of many generations if this one was cut short before it started!
Sometimes we look at what God is asking and we compare it to what we think we know and how the world can fulfil the request. But what God is asking is for us to obey and trust He will make all things possible!
Points to Ponder:
When God asks you something difficult, what do you do?
Will you trust Him to make the impossible possible?
February 3: 1 King 2:1-4
Key Verse: 1 King 2:3
and observe what the Lord your God requires: walk in obedience to him, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses. Do this so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go
Devotion:
When King David was about to die he made sure Solomon, his son, was reminded of the love and mercy of God, especially when we walk in His ways and obey His commands. David knew the people around him who would not follow God, and he knew the people who would. His wish to Solomon was he should walk in obedience to God, keep God’s commandments, His laws and follow where God would send him.
David had learned this through living with God for many years, breaking the rules and having to live with the consequences of failing to obey God. David wanted Solomon to have the best possible life and knew the way to do that would be if he would walk with God all of his life.
It is hard to follow God sometimes, especially when the people around you are doing their own thing and looking like they are getting away with it. This is not the case because God does see everything, and because He is not bound by time, everything is remembered all the time. But, Jesus came to give His life for us so we could escape from those dark consequences and live with God as if we were innocent!
God has a plan for each of us. When we walk within that plan, we can expect to have things go well and to prosper. When we walk away from that plan we may find we have to face the world by ourselves and we get horribly lost or overwhelmed by what the world has for us. Walking with God may see hard at times, but it is always the right thing to do!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you listen to God?
How often do you obey God?