October 30: Romans 11:1-6
Key Verse: Romans 11:4
And what was God’s answer to him? ‘I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.’
Devotion:
How many times have you given up on something because you thought nobody was there to help or support you? I wonder if you have ever found the most unlikely support from someone you never thought would support you? Too many times in our lives we don’t do things because we think of the failure which we are sure is just around the corner...
Jesus wanted the disciples to get out there without thinking of failure. He told them to step forward and tell people about the gospel without any thought for how they would survive and from where their support would come from. He said this because of the promises He has made to people from the very beginning. He has promised to be there for us when we call out for help; most often than not He is there before we call out for help and we only see the help after calling out!
When Elijah called out to God, he was sure there was nobody left who was looking to God. He was sure everyone had turned their backs on God because he continued to get so much opposition in everything he did. This is quite likely what we see when we face opposition – but God is already there and answering our prayers and supporting us behind the scenes.
He has promised to make sure there will always be people who are willing to worship – this means He has already gone out there and reached into people’s hearts before we get there. We just need to step forward and give people a little nudge so they remember what God is doing!
Points to Ponder:
Do you feel alone as a Christian?
Do you not know He has already got people ready to hear the gospel?
October 29: Ephesians 2:13-16
Key Verse: Ephesians 2:14
For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility
Devotion:
Have you ever become friends with someone who you never thought you would even like? We don’t have to look too far throughout history to find this type of thing going on all over the place – people making friends after swearing they would be enemies for life... or becoming arch rivals even though they swore they would stick together no matter what!
Humans tend to go overboard with feelings and emotions when they should not and clam up and hide their feelings when they should be letting go! God has seen this happening from the beginning of time, and yet He continues to share His open love with us all. If we swore to be His enemy and then changed our minds, we would be forgiven and accepted back into His family!
The Jews had built up a hatred for the people around them, not because God had commanded them not to mix with others early in their history, but because they took those feelings and emotions too far, allowing them to get the better of their lives. The more they allowed the hatred to build up, the more they hated the people who were not Jews – just because they were not Jews!
God allowed Jesus to give His life for everyone, not just the Jews, but the whole world, using the Jews as the example. He continued to try and show the world how much He loves us all and wants us to see the futility of building things up around our own notions of what we think is right and wrong. God allowed Jesus to pay the price for everyone in the hopes we will come together and see how much stronger we can be when we live together as one family instead of perpetually fighting!
Points to Ponder:
Do you carry grudges around with you?
Will you give them to Christ to allow Him to help you forgive and move on?
October 28: John 15:9-17
Key Verse: John 15:17
This is my command: love each other.
Devotion:
Often we think of love in terms of how much we give someone... We think of love as being able to be measured by what we do whilst being measured in worldly term; like it cost a lot to buy such-and-such for you therefore I must love you...
Love doesn’t work like that and Jesus wanted people to realise this. Far too many people were thinking like this in the temples. They measured their love for God by how much they gave in tithes or how much time they spent in the temple. What Jesus was trying to teach was not a new way of loving but a true way of loving. Yes I know we do go further because we love people and we do buy more because we love etc, but this is not a measuring stick to measure love by.
What Jesus was hinting here at was the willingness to carry on giving and carry on obeying. Love is not a once off how much can we give, but are we willing to continue giving even when the going gets tough. Jesus wanted people to show God their love by obeying Him too; not just saying they do, but actually obeying God! Jesus showed us His love by giving right up until the end. He did not brag about how much He would give only to step aside at the last moment – Jesus gave and continued to give even when it meant giving His life!
God does not want us to be servants who have to obey Him and do exactly what He says when He says it – that is not love but duty. God wants us to be willing to give I.e. give because we want to give and not because we have to give. Jesus showed us His love by doing some pretty extraordinary things. He continues to show us His love by answering our prayers and by continuing to give to us – even now!
Points to Ponder:
How far do you go to prove your love?
Will you simply obey God to show Him you love Him?
October 27: Deuteronomy 32:1-4
Key Verse: Deuteronomy 32:2
Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants.
Devotion:
I love the words used here ; to me it describes a very natural thing which should not be extraordinary but rather ordinary! No, I am not calling the Word of God ordinary because it is not, but why should we look at it as being something unheard of instead of commonplace?
God wants us to be Christians, not to stand out from the crowd and be noticed as someone doing something which is unheard of, but to be seen as someone doing what they should always do. So how do we get to the point where God’s Word is normal in our lives? By making sure we include it in everything we do and all the time. This way we will be able to see it as normal and share it as if it is normal too!
The rain falls from the sky – we see it as perfectly natural. But to someone who has not heard of it or see it, it would be very strange... seeing this water falling from the sky! No matter where in the world we are, we probably see the morning dew at some stage in our lives and we get to learn it appears at dawn. It becomes natural.
We should be sharing the Word of God as if it was totally natural in our lives. We should praise God as if it is the right things to do – always! He has been here for us from the beginning and continues to be here for us no matter what happens in life. He is as firm as the rocks which make up a mountain. His word continues to be true no matter what we go through in our lives. God continues to do what is right and we should expect Him to always do what is right!
Points to Ponder:
Do you treat God’s Word as something special?
Shouldn’t you be treating it as purely natural instead?