October 14: Matthew 13:31-32
Key Verse: Matthew 13:32
Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.’
Devotion:
Whenever I hear these verses, my mind goes back to our home in Zimbabwe where we had a pepper-corn tree in our yard next to the house. This was one of the tallest trees in the neighbourhood, yet it produced something so small and full of flavour: red pepper corns. They were bright red to start with, but after picking them the red coating would crumble away leaving black pepper corns which you could put directly into your pepper mills and use them.
This tree was at some stage, been a single seed smaller than a pea, but bigger than mustard seeds. This seed was planted and had grown for many years to be a huge tree standing far above the house roof. I loved climbing as high as I could to look out and see the whole neighbourhood from my vantage point. Unfortunately, the higher I climbed, the less steady the branches were, so I could never actually get to the top!
Now, after studying God's Word and living my life with Jesus, I can draw parallels with many aspects of Christ. We climb as high as we can, but we can never reach the top because we are too weighed down by this world – we long to be able to reach the top; the realm of God. The tree was not nice to climb because out of the bark would seek sticky sap as you tried to climb, but after climbing you would not worry about the 'worldly sap' but would focus on the amazing view.
As we live our lives with Christ, we don't have an easy ride but meet challenges all the way. What we find after living with Christ is a life worth living and 'out of this world!' What Jesus gives us along the way is something special which gives our world a new flavour which is sought after by many, yet given abundantly to us!
Points to Ponder:
Are you beaten back by the things in this world you don't like?
What if you could rise above those things and be closer to God?
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?