August 22: Ephesians 6:10-20
Key Verse: Ephesians 6:13
Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
Devotion:
Whenever I read this passage I think of David before he was chosen to be king of Israel. His main task at the time was to look after his father’s sheep, something the rest of his brothers probably had great delight in handing down to him. But when the brothers were in the army and facing the Philistines, the champion of the Philistines was taunting them every day to come and face him.
David had no problem going forward to tell the king at that time, Saul, he would be willing to go and face the champion. This would have caused a few people to laugh because David was small in stature compared to his brothers in the army. Indeed, when Saul gave his armour for David to wear in his facing of Goliath, it was far too big for him and he ended up not wearing it.
Instead, David was going to rely on the ultimate armour – God! This passage tells us of the various pieces of armour which David was depending on at the time; all of which centred on God. If we are able to put on each part of this Godly armour too, we will be protected and given strength by God just as David was.
Stand firm in the truth. Uphold righteousness. Be ready to share the gospel. Depend on the protection we have through our faith. Know the salvation we have through Christ. Depend always on the Word of God to explain things we don’t understand. In all of this, depend on the Spirit telling you what to do and always pray for the protection God has promised.
Points to Ponder:
How much armour do you put on every day?
Will you try to put on each piece of God’s armour today?
August 21: Matthew 23:1-12
Key Verse: Matthew 23:6
they love the place of honour at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues;
Devotion:
How many things you do are so other people will take notice of what you are doing? If we are very honest with this question – most of the things we do are for the response we get from others rather than what we get out of it! The more social media takes grip in our world, the more we are going to demand attention for ourselves rather than doing things for others.
Jesus tried to teach the disciple how they should be thinking of others at all times and to do things for others as much as possible – not because you want to be seen to be good, but because the things you end up doing are for the good of others! Jesus could see how people, even back then, were turning to attention seeking rather than doing good to others. People wanted to get noticed and not necessarily do the right things!
God was very select in what He did. Jesus went out of His way to help others. Yes, some of the things He did were to get noticed or to bring glory to God, but none of it was in a negative way like most social media things are nowadays. We even have professional people whose primary goal is to influence what others should do – not necessarily to do the right thing but to influence others to do things they are getting paid for.
When we hear God’s word, we should be aiming to follow it and to do what God is requesting of us. Sometimes we get told about God’s word by people who are not following their own advice – this is what was happening at this time and Jesus was warning the disciples of this. We should not be seeking fame and fortune at the expense of others!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you show off?
Will you try to listen to and obey God’s word before showing off?
August 20: Psalm 146:1-5
Key Verse: Psalm 146:2
I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
Devotion:
How many times have you promised to do something and then later regretted the promise because you cannot live up to it? How many times have you just brushed it off and kept on going rather than face up to not keeping the promise? If we are honest to each other and ourselves, we could probably list a whole lot of times when this has happened – both ways!
We can look back on the history of the world through the eyes of the people who penned the words of the bible down and we see this has been happening for a long time to many many people! We all fall short of our promises and we all fall short of being able to do what we think we can. But God does not fall short of His promises and certainly does not say anything He cannot do!
We need to think about the words of this psalm and try to keep them in our hearts. We need to try to promise God we will praise Him all the days of our lives. Why should we if we know we will fail? Because if we do not make the promise we will always have an excuse to not praise God. If we make the promise it will stay with us and remind us every time we fall short – that is the time when we can try turn things around and keep the promise as best we can.
God does not need a bunch of robots which keep doing the right things over and over again. God needs people who are willing to try to do the right thing as much as possible. And when we fall short we need to reach out to God and ask for His guidance and strength to get us through. Hopefully this way we will be able to learn how we can achieve daily praise and worship!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you fall short of the commandments?
How often do you ask God to help you through those times?
August 19: Matthew 22:1-14
Key Verse: Matthew 22:12
He asked, “How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?” The man was speechless.
Devotion:
Have you ever tried to turn up to work in your pyjamas or to ball in shorts and t-shirt? I have not done either of those, but I can remember someone telling me I still had my slippers on when I had just started walking to school! If I had turned up for school in my slipper, I’m pretty sure I would have been told off and forced to go home and get my proper shoes on!
But, let's go back to the beginning of the parable where the king sent out invitations to some people for the wedding. These people all made excuses and would not turn up for the wedding. The king sent out more servants to invite more people who also made excuses and some even killed the servants who came to invite them! The king retaliated and burned the towns of those people.
When God sends out the invitation for us to go to Heaven, He does expect us to say yes and to come! If we make up an excuse and don’t turn up, we lose out! But if we start fighting or killing the messengers who are telling us about God’s invitation, then we are fighting directly with God! Then again, if we say yes to the invite but do nothing to change our lives or promote God in any way, we are like the person caught in the wrong clothes!
God may well be loving and merciful, but he is just and expects us to accept Him fully into our lives. If we say we will but do not accept Christ as our Saviour, then He will not be our Saviour and we will not get to be with Him in Heaven.
Points to Ponder:
Have you said yes to Christ being your Saviour?
Have you changed to show you have?