October 9: Matthew 6:9-13
Key Verse: Matthew 6:12
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Devotion:
As we continue on in our quest to look deeper into the Lord's Prayer, we come to the part none of us like doing... admitting we are wrong! And, yes, I know this is coming to you late because I neglected to post this on the internet yesterday for publishing this morning. But this is talking about taking this admission of guilt to another level!
If we are not good at admitting to our own faults, then we should expect others are the same – in other words, when someone does something wrong against you, or which affects you, we should be big enough to realise they could have made a mistake and they probably do not want to own up to it – just like we don't!
We all sin and others even sin against us as well as against God. We should be willing to forgive and move on just as Jesus was willing to forgive and move on. He even gave up His own life so we would not have to pay the debt we owe because of the sin we do. This is how He wants us to be toward others – which is very hard at times because we are so 'human!'
God changed this all by allowing Jesus to come and give His own life to pay for the things we do wrong. This does not mean we can go an do anything we like without fear of consequences! There are still consequences for us doing things wrong, but if we are brave enough to admit to them, others may well be merciful enough to show us mercy... so we should do the same!
Points to Ponder:
How many things did you do or say wrong yesterday?
Were you brave enough to admit them?
October 8: Matthew 6:9-13
Key Verse: Matthew 6:11
Give us today our daily bread.
Devotion:
This important part in the middle is to continue to ask God for our daily bread – the reason why you are probably reading this in the first place! A simple request to God – please feed us... Not with a nice fresh loaf of bread each day, but with the spiritual sustenance we need to continue going. We need to look to Him for all of our guidance and strength too; the best way being through reading and meditating on His Word.
How does a child get to learn how to live? By following instructions daily from their parents or guardians. The more they listen and learn, the more adept they will be at living a life. The better the instructor, the better the student and the better prepared the student will be to live a life by themselves when the time comes!
If we refuse the instructions, then we are refusing to learn from the people who know better than us. If we refuse to learn how to live our lives to the best of our abilities, then the less likely we are to get anywhere in life! Now, we could focus on all the things of the earth and we could get by in this world very nicely – the more intelligent we are the more we learn and the more we get to know... and so it continues...
But if we want to be able to learn all about God and what He has in place for us, then we have to listen to a teacher who knows more about God than we do. Even then, when we start to outgrow our teachers, we can still learn from others because they will have learned different things to us. The more we mix with others and learn what they know about God, the more we get to have a meaningful friendship and relationship with Him!
Points to Ponder:
Do you know your bible?
Do you know what God wants in your life?
October 7: Matthew 6:9-13
Key Verse: Matthew 6:9
This, then, is how you should pray: ‘“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
Devotion:
I would like to spend the next few days going over the Lord's Prayer because I have not done this for a while – at least I cannot remember when I last did it (not that my memory is much to go by sometimes!) When Jesus was giving instructions to the disciples about how to pray, he was quite concise and direct; giving us what we know as the Lord's Prayer nowadays and one which is often recited allowed together. But have you ever thought about why He gave them this prayer?
He begins the prayer with words showing respect to God His Father in heaven – very important starting point for all of us; we need to acknowledge God as our God who is in heaven and Father over everything. A friend reminded me of the way this was taught many years ago, and which I don't hear enough of nowadays... A.C.T.S.
A is for adoration. We must place God in His rightful place in our lives! C is for confession where we are willing to bring our faults before God and ask for His forgiveness. T is for thanksgiving where we verbalise what we are thankful for in our lives, because God is our provider! And the S is the final part of supplication where we lift up our prayers for ourselves and for others.
So, starting with our adoration, we need to know God is creator God, Father over all and in Heaven where He is separated from our every day sins! We need to remember Heaven is a place where everything is right, righteous, Holy, without sin. For us to get there we have to be totally forgiven – our aim should always be heavenward!
Points to Ponder:
Do you always remember to adore God?
Will you start to acknowledge Him fully in your prayers?
October 6: Ephesian 5:21-24
Key Verse: Ephesians 5:23
For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Saviour.
Devotion:
Are there any parts of the bible you don't think you are going to like because they talk about contentious subjects? Like these verses... When we read this at first glance we may well begin to think God has ordained the man to be the head of the house and the wife has to be second to him in some way... But read through the words a few times and start thinking here...
The first thing which is said is in a Christian household we should submit to one another, reminding wives they should submit to their partners just as their partners should be submitting to Christ. In other words, if Christ is not a part of the relationship, then, just maybe we have missed the mark and don't understand what a relationship should be about!
Think about our place in the church. We should all have an equal place in church because we are all children of God, all called to serve Him and to obey His will in our lives. If we don't get it right, we should expect someone to notice and to pull us up on what we have done wrong – not because they can blame us for anything, but because they want us to do right by God...
The same must be said about our relationships with each other. We need to look out for one another and to say when something is not right – only then can we understand how we affect others in the things we do wrong and can work toward putting things right between us and God and each other. Any relationship must be a three way thing, between three partners, each other and God in a trinity.
Points to Ponder:
Do you have a good relationship with your partner?
Are you keeping God in your relationship?