October 13: Jeremiah 29:10-14
Key Verse: Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Devotion:
Can you imagine God answering your prayer but saying you have to wait 70 years before it will come true? To understand this we have to look at how God sees us and not how we see ourselves. When we look at ourselves and the world around us, we think of the short active lifespans we have and how we can cram as much of life into a short a period as possible so we still have time to do what we want!
God sees the human race. He sees generation upon generation of people and understands which generations are going to seek Him and which will not. He understands there are going to be times when most people seem to reject Him and times when more will be worshipping Him; He sees the whole picture and not just the little bit of our life in the middle we think we own!
I love to think the devotions I write will be available long after I have gone and read by many more people than I have met in real life. I don't do this to get likes and shares, I do this because I want to understand God's Word a bit better each day, and in doing so I share what I learn with whomever wants to read about it.
I saw these words shared by Nicky Gumbel on Facebook and it brought back memories for me, not just of times I have heard him say these words, but of a time when a group of people prophesied over me with these words to remind me to carry on doing what I started many years ago because one day there will be a time when someone is encouraged by the words. We all have our time on earth – use it to worship God and share your love for Him with others.
Points to Ponder:
Have you tried sharing something lately about God?
Do you get upset if someone does not listen? Maybe it's not time yet...
October 12: Mark 10:17-22
Key Verse: Mark 10:21
Jesus looked at him and loved him. ‘One thing you lack,’ he said. ‘Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’
Devotion:
How many things do you collect? I know there are a lot of people out there who collect things like stamps, coins and the like, but there are also people who collect other strange things... When we see people collecting strange things, we may think of them as eccentric or just plain weird! Maybe Jesus saw this man as just plain weird!
Jesus tried to impress the value of a relationship with God over and above everything else in life upon the disciples; something they did not always see and something this man did not see. When we go overboard with collecting something, be it stamps, cars or whatever else, we lose focus on God and tend to concentrate too much on our collections instead. When people get to do this with money, we either look at them as entrepreneurs or greedy – we don't seem to have much of a middle ground when it comes to money!
When this man asked Jesus what he needed to do to get to heaven, Jesus tried to allow him to see what he was doing with his life. This man had been too focused on making sure he gained money in everything he did, he lost focus on the people around him and on the needs of those people.
What Jesus wanted him to do was to step back from this unhealthy focus on money and to refocus on God. This mean giving up this love for money he had and to start to focus on God's people instead. We often lose the ability to see the needs of others when we focus too much on ourselves or our own wants...
Points to Ponder:
Are you focusing too much on something in your life?
Will you stop and look at the needs of those around you today?
October 11: Hebrew 4:14-16
Key Verse: Hebrews 4:16
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Devotion:
Why did Jesus talk to the disciples about praying in this manner? Because they were asking Him how they should pray – they would see Jesus go off and pray and the prayers would be answered. They would see Him ask God for anything and it would be granted. When they tried their best in the face of dire evil threats, they would not always succeed... Think of it like you trying to see if you can walk on water!
We know Jesus did walk on water and we know Peter did too for a while – but as soon as he lost his focus on Christ, he began to sink because his focus was on the world around him and not on Christ. Think about your prayers and those which you don't see get answered yet. Is it because you are far too focused on the world and what the world may be able to fix or do instead?
Christ wanted the disciples prepared for what they would be able to do – but first they had to take their eyes off the world and put them firmly on Christ. Jessu is our great high priest and He has gone to be with God in Heaven, not because He can't cope or anything like that, but because that is His rightful place! We need to remember the words of the prayers Christ taught us all to ensure we continue to keep our eyes on Jesus the Son of God who has promised us to be our advocate who will take each of our prayer directly to God – just as He has promised!
Be confidence in asking your prayers and ask Jesus to take them to God and He will do exactly that. When we are in need, Jesus is there waiting for us to lift up our prayers so He can get God to answer them!
Points to Ponder:
Do you ask with confidence?
Will you focus more on Christ and less on the world?
October 10: Matthew 6:9-13
Key Verse: Matthew 6:13
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
Devotion:
How many things have you given into over the past 24 hours? I had to own up yesterday for giving in to my laziness and not getting round to posting the devotion... I do tend to leave things to the last minute sometimes and more often than not get caught out when I do! Are you doing the same with your life with God?
It is so easy to coast along when things are going well and to not worry about the prayers we should be praying or to read our bibles... because we are in a comfortable position and not a lot to worry about! But these are the times when we should be praising God we have the time to do nothing. These are the times we must thank Him for giving us this life to live. If we don't continue to keep Him in our hearts and in our minds, we may well give in to peer pressure and go do something we should not be doing!
The evil one is waiting for every opportunity to trip you up and watch you fall. If he does that enough, we get tired of fighting and we give in to even more stuff. This is how he continues to take control of so many people's lives... not by tempting them with a good life, but by bashing them into submission so they give in to worldly things to try and dig themselves out of holes!
Allow God to guide you daily, not just when you think you need help – but even when things are all wonderful! Give God more control of your life so you will spend it more in worship to Him and be able to live a much closer life with Him... this is how we stay safe!
Points to Ponder:
How many times have things been really good in your life?
Did you give in to the temptation of doing nothing?