October 18: Hebrew 5:1-4
Key Verse: Hebrew 5:4
And no one takes this honour on himself, but he receives it when called by God, just as Aaron was.
Devotion:
How many times do you go over the readings you heard in church and get a very different idea from the passage than what was talked about in church? Well, this is not entirely different because the words are still the same, but I want to focus on something different which struck me when re-reading the passage (yes, I sometimes get a bit side-tracked doing the sound desk and miss things in church, so re-reading is a good idea!)
When I was doing in-depth studying of the bible I would do a lot of reading and listening to what other people thought about the passages; sometimes I would agree with what was being said, but sometimes I just got a very strong feeling they may be barking up the wrong tree... You see, this is what happens when two different people read the same piece of text. Because we have lived very different lives, we focus on different things in the text.
That being said, the Word of God does not change, we change. God chooses people whom He knows will be diligent with the studying and will be able to impart what they learn to others. A lot of people came to ask me questions because I like to try and explain things in plain English rather than 'Christian talk' or 'Christianese' as I like to call it! God will call you into the right place at the right time in order ti help other people understand His Word.
Priests and normal people! Yes, normal people! They are tempted just as we are and they make mistakes like we do. I am no different. I like to rattle on about God's Word and how it affects me, but I am still human and still do stupid things at times! This is why I try to do what I say and not do what I say not to. Living your life in the open will do more to convince people God is real than trying to hide from everyone. Be honest and open and share what you love about God!
Points to Ponder:
Do you try to live by God's Word?
Will you try to share by example instead of by words today?
October 17: Isaiah 53:4-6
Key Verse: Isaiah 53:6
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Devotion:
How many times have you stopped to think about why Jesus went to the cross? And who made Him do it? Well, as these verses state, we sometimes think it was God who put Jesus on the cross and God who was punishing Jesus because of our sins... but that is just the way we think and is not what happened!
Despite what we think, Jesus went to the cross because He wanted to be able to be our sacrifice. He wanted to take on the burden of our sins. Before He was taken to be on the cross, He pleaded with God His Father, not to let Him off, but to see if there was any other way. Does this mean God said it had to be done? I believe Jesus was pleading with God because He knew the pain and anguish we would feel when we realised the truth!
I believe Jesus knew exactly what He was doing when He took Himself to the cross and gave up His own life for our sakes. I believe He knew what was going to happen to Him, but He also continued to step forward, knowing the pain and anguish He would go through so we would not have to! He did this so we could have peace in our hearts!
We are the ones who have done silly things. We are the ones who have sinned against God, against His people and against ourselves. We are the ones who should be facing the desperate things Jesus went through on the cross – but Jesus made the choice to take on the punishment for everything we are going to do. Because He loves us!
Points to Ponder:
Have you asked Christ to forgive you today?
Will you step forward to help someone else out today?
October 16: Proverbs 4:23-27
Key Verse: Proverbs 4:25
Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you.
Devotion:
Have you ever been told to look straight ahead in order to accomplish a difficult task? I can remember being told to not look down when I was abseiling from a high bridge in Zimbabwe as we were completing task for an outward-bound course. I have always had a fear of looking over a precipice, not so much a fear of heights because I love flying and looking out from tall buildings... but looking over the edge of something where there is no guard rail does my head in!
God knows we will not always be able to cope with life and with what the world will throw at us, so He tried to warn us through the prophets and through His word – we need to focus on what is real and not be side-tracked by the world!
Our hearts can be deceived by people who pretend to be what we want in our lives. Our mouths let out all manner of strange things when we get upset. Our eyes tend to look at things we should not be looking at because we are tempted. We often choose the wrong things in life because we don't know all the facts or we don't think of others. God wants to keep us safe and keep us sane – but we have to listen to Him in order to get it right!
Jesus came and showed us it is possible to rely on God for everything in our lives. He showed us we can depend on Him for everything and He will answer our prayers when we ask. Jesus showed us it is ok to be scared and to fear what we do not know; but placing those situations in God's hands allows us to go forward and accomplish what has to be done!
Points to Ponder:
Do you trust God?
Will you listen to His instructions?
October 15: Proverbs 4:20-22
Key Verse: Proverbs 4:22
for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body.
Devotion:
Too many times we set our eyes on the things of the world instead on the things of God. We like to think we are doing the right thing because this is what the world says or because lots of other people do them... just because lots of other people do things does not make them right! We can go back just a few decades and find out many things were done which we frown at today because we now know they are wrong – but everyone did them back then...
God set about giving us a whole lot of rules to live by, rules which, at that time were looked at as being right and correct. A few generations later and mankind begins to think they are too hard to follow. A few hundred years later and we put our own rules in place so we would not have to follow those rules. A few thousand years later people are beginning to try and fix things because we seem to have lost our way.
God tried to remind us of those rules, not as things which break humanity, but as things which bring us all together as a community. Nothing has changed in those rules, but we have changed and we try to make sense of things according to how we live today. What we should be doing is trying to make sense of our lives according to what God said and not what people say God said!
Jesus came to remind us of those rules and to remind us God set them for a reason; we just got things wrong and made up our own versions of those rules. If we gave time to studying what God said and why He said things, we would understand more of how He wants us to live and we would be able to live a better life!
Points to Ponder:
Do you blindly follow the rules?
Will you spend time to understand why God gave us His rules?