November 20: Luke 20:28-38
Key Verse: Luke 20:38
He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”
Devotion:
This is just one of the occasions when the Sadducees (or others) tried to trick Jesus by asking impossible questions. Each time He was asked awkward questions, Jesus would answer them according to what God’s Word said – and in this case answering them by showing the question itself was based on an invalid assumption!
It is safe to say the rules in Heaven are not going to be the same as the rules here on earth. We will be different – Jesus has already told us we will face the resurrection which means we will be brought back to life but in a different form. Why should we be limited by earthly rules and laws when we are no longer going to be on earth? Why should we be limited to living our lives in relationships, jobs and different families?
Jesus reminds us here we are born into the family of God – all as one family – so we will not have to choose things which pertain to being in different families. We will not have to get married or have children; all that is for our lives on earth and to expand our families so we can keep the human race going generation after generation. In Heaven we will no longer face getting old or having to die again – that will all be behind us!
So if someone asks you whether you can get remarried or whatever – answer them by pointing out they are looking at this all wrong. While we are here on earth we live under rules for our earthly lives. When we get to heaven we will all be as brothers and sisters in one family with God as our parent(s)
Points to Ponder:
Do you try view Heaven by earthly concepts?
Will you try to open your mind to a new way of living with God?
November 19: Revelation 10:8-11
Key Verse: Revelation 10:9
So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but ‘in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.’”
Devotion:
Have you ever eaten or drank something which tasted fine, but really made you feel quite ill after a short while? This is what some people have to put up with all the time when they have food allergies! But this was not real food or drink being talked about here, and I don’t think it was literally taking a scroll and eating it – I don’t think we are meant to eat books!
God wants us to know everything we hear is not always going to agree with us. We have lived our life from the beginning and we continue to live our lives even when we have been born in the spirit; what some people term as being born again is us starting a new life with Christ in it. But, because we have lived our lives as humans and have made choices as we are, some of those choices may well ‘repeat’ on us, or disagree with the way we think we should live!
Jesus wants us to continue living our lives, but with a different view; one which includes Him in everything we do. When we do this, we may find some of the choices we have made to live by in the past do not agree with us in our new way of living with Christ. Or we may find a choice we make with Christ brings up horrible feeling about things we have done in the past.
God wants us to know we have been forgiven for everything we have done – but we do need to acknowledge we have done things wrong. When this happens, we get upset and may even cry about what has happened. That’s fine! As long as we also acknowledge what Jesus did by giving His life on the cross. He has set in motion the forgiveness for everything so we can be happy and content in our life with Him hence-forth.
Points to Ponder:
Do you get upset about things you have done wrong in the past?
Will you allow Christ to forgive you fully?
November 18: Isaiah 10:33-34
Key Verse: Isaiah 10:34
He will cut down the forest thickets with an axe; Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One.
Devotion:
If you read these verses by themselves, what would your conclusion be? Would you be thinking God was going to level the people like lumberjacks would level a forest? Would you be thinking God had given the people a death sentence? Or would you be comparing people and trees and come to the conclusion God was going to cut down all the people who had grown up to big for their boots?
If we read the verses before these and the verses after these we begin to get a better picture of what’s going on. The prophet is trying to convey a whole history to the people instead of just what we read here. God wanted the people to think about their history and to see where they were currently headed. He wanted them to compare that with how a forest takes many years to grow, but can be cut down in a matter of days!
But He also wanted the people to know why! God wanted the people to know just how wide spread the problem was… When we allow things to go too far in our lives, it takes a long time to recover and a lot of hard work to bring things back in line. When some people turned away from God, other would follow because they heard things and they did not see God punishing them… God was waiting for them to help the others back in line…
We need to take note of what people are doing around us and to try to help people when we see things going wrong. This may take us out of our comfort zones, may take us away from our ‘successful lives’ and may take us toward our enemies… But, unless we are willing to listen to God and hear what He wants in full, then we are not getting the whole picture!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you make your mind up before the results come in?
Are you making your mind up for your own life before God’s results come in?
November 17: Psalm 102:1-2
Key Verse: Psalm 102:1
Hear my prayer, Lord; let my cry for help come to you.
Devotion:
One year ago today our Dad passed away after a few years of fighting cancer; one thing he tried to constantly remind me of is to ask for help when you need it. We live in a very proud society where asking for help is seen as being weak and working hard and long is seen as being normal. However, if we go back a few years to when I was a child, our parents would always make time to be with us...
Yes, they would have to work hard and sometimes long hours, but they did not sit us in front of a TV or some other distraction to have some time for themselves. Today parents are even encouraged to give in to technology to take care of their children! We are losing the personal touch with our children!
Here the writer of this Psalm reminds us God is always here with us and always looking out for us; but we don’t always see it. We get too caught up in the situations and fear God has not seen us get into trouble. We then fear He is not going to help us so we try to get the world to fic our problems instead of taking them to God.
Jesus promised to ensure we always have a part of God looking after us. He promised a comforter to look after us and promised to always listen out for our prayers. That means God is always with us and always listening to us! We get too tied up in the world and its distractions to see how much He cares for us. How long have you spent talking to God today? How much help have you asked from Him?
Points to Ponder:
Do you need help or comfort in your life?
Will you ask God to be your aid and your comforter now?