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Jun 7: Mark 12:35-37
Key Verse: Mark 12:37
David himself calls him ‘Lord.’ How then can he be his son?” The large crowd listened to him with delight.
Devotion:
Have you noticed Jesus did not always say things which were expected of Him? He would challenge people in what they thought and how they interpreted the Torah. Do you just read the bible and accept it for what it is? Do you read it and think of it as a guide book? Do you read it and think of it as a list of suggestions which may or may not work?
We each have our different ways of looking at the bible and God knows what we think in our hearts. We will come up against people who think differently people who will try to trip us up through the way the words appear in our languages… What we should be doing is thinking about what the words are as they are written down and wondering why they were written the way they were.
The bible is a God-inspired writing from many people all trying to explain what they gained from God. We will often find it difficult to explain exactly what we feel about God’s Word because our lives are different from other’s lives, so we take the words differently as we read them. We relate to things differently based on our experiences.
When I describe a problem I face in my computer job I don’t always look at it the same way as a person who uses the software I write because they are expecting something different… Take time to talk with God and try to understand things from His point of view and not just your way!
Points to Ponder:
How often have you explained something wrong?
How often have you heard something different about your favourite bible verse?
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Jun 6: Mark 12:28-34
Key Verse: Mark 12:28
One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
Devotion:
Are you one to listen to what your boss has to say and blindly go off and do what they want, or do you question what they ask to make sure you do what is best for the company? Yes it is a loaded question because if we do one thing we can get into trouble and if we do the other we can still get into trouble… Life is full of instances like this and we have to accept people are people who change their minds!
God, on the other hand, does not change and continues to want what is best for everyone. We don’t have to blindly accept whatever He says and go off to do things. If we do that we may never understand what He is asking of us. He wants us to understand why we do the things we do.
Here the Gospel writer saw a teach of the law questioning Jesus because he saw Jesus had given an answer which was good and may not have agreed with what he had been taught all his life! We need to question things in our lives so we can align our ways with Christ’s ways to live a better life with Him.
God will always make time to show you why things happen the way they do. We need to make time to stop and talk with Him, not just talk but listen too. God wants to explain things if we are willing to listen and learn!
Points to Ponder:
Do you stop and listen to God?
Do you know what God wants of your life?
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Jun 5: 2 Timothy 1:6-12
Key Verse: 2 Timothy 1:11
And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher.
Devotion:
What do you do when things go wrong in your life? Do you complain constantly o shut down and crawl into a proverbial cave? I know what sort of person I am but I also know God continues to be with me every step of the way – especially when things are going wrong or when people seem to be bent on doing things against me!
God has always got you back and will continue to love and support you no matter what goes on in life. If we can remember that and continue to thank Him even when things are going wrong, then we will come out with a few things: A stronger relationship with Christ. A better understanding of what God wants in our lives. A new way of looking at problems which we face daily!
As we read through some of the things which happened to the apostles and disciples, we find out they were working against a sect of people who had all but obtained power through dishonest means. They continued to spread the truth and tried to show people they were willing to continue with that truth no matter what would happen to them. They were doing this because they knew God was on their side and knew it was what God wanted.
Working for God often makes it seem like we are working against the whole world – it is just because the world does not yet understand what God wants. We need to tell them!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you react to bad things in life?
How often do you walk with God when those things happen?
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Jun 4: Psalm 90:1-9
Key Verse: Psalm 90:6
In the morning it springs up new, but by evening it is dry and withered.
Devotion:
Life is too short to have to worry about everything which is happening in our lives. Our life span is but a grain of dust in the grand scheme of things, especially when you listen to the scientists as they try to figure out more and more about how the earth came into being!
Ours is to trust Christ and to wait for what He gives us after we have spent a while on earth trying to figure things out. If we make it to the end with a firm belief He has been the one in control all along, we will surely find out how special things can be when we do trust Him!
God wants us to be able to enjoy life as best we can, but He also does not want us to lead any other people astray by walking away from Him. He will come along and ‘water the grass’ to try and keep it green. He will tend to our needs and watch over us, feeding us when we need to be fed and trimming us when we need it too.
By trusting Him we are saying “Here I am, use me!” so He can then allow someone else to come along and see just how green life can be on the other side of the fence. We may not realise how much of a difference we can make in other’s lives until we get to meet them in Heaven and see how we changed something small which led to their life-changing event! Be the change...
Points to Ponder:
Do you feel like you want to make a difference?
Have you tried changing something small in your life first?
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Jun 3: Mark 12:1-12
Key Verse: Mark 12:5
He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed.
Devotion:
I woke up a little early this morning and wondered what had changed in my life to make me stop writing these devotionals each morning… So I got up and started again! Only to find the verses this morning simply saying to me “My Grace is sufficient!”
God will always be by your side and His Grace really is all we need. He will allow us to have a rest and allow us to take time out, but when He thinks the time is right to get you back on your feet – He is there and gives you a little nudge. Sometimes the nudge He gives you will make you feel uncomfortable so you take a moment to think things through and other times the nudge is just what you need to gently get back in the saddle to continue the journey with Him in your life.
This morning my nudge was to get me back in the saddle and share my love for Him with you all once again. It is not going to be a ‘Big Bang’ event which will shake the earth and change everyone’s lives, but a little ripple in the pond which will change someone’s life some way down the track – even if it is only my life it changed!
This parable about the vineyard owner who got the ‘tenants from hell’ who went against everything the land owner had entrusted them with. We must expect to meet people like that in our lives every now and again, but we should keep God with us and move on to the next chapter knowing His Grace is sufficient and His ways is always the best way...
Points to Ponder:
Do you feel like you have reached the end?
Will you take a step of faith with Christ today?
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March 18: Psalm 23:1-6
Key Verse: Psalm 23:1
The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
Devotion:
One of the hardest things to do is to find the good in something when you are surrounded by bad things! Most of the time we will not see the good until we look back on the times we had and see where the Lord has worked wonders in our lives; even then it can be hard to see what God has been doing because we focus on the things which we can see or those which gain our attention.
I love the words of this Psalm because it show what we should always be thinking – God has got our backs and He continues to watch over us in every walk in life. My last words with my Dad before he passed were us knowing he was in the very best hands possible and how he could finally stop chasing his tail.
No matter how dark and oppressive things get in our minds, we should be able to lift our heads and know Christ is walking with us. No matter how much we think we are failing, God is helping us up and giving us a hand to complete the task in front of us.
As long as we are willing to work for God and to serve Him in whatever way we can, He will keep His promise to us to never leave us or forsake us. He will be our strength when we need it, our guide when we are lost and our comforter through the roughest seas in our lives!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you give things to God?
How often do you try to take things back?
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March 17: Romans 5:12-21
Key Verse: Romans 5:13
To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law.
Devotion:
Have you ever wondered why the world seems to be getting worse? Have you ever looked back and thought “it wasn’t as bad back when I was younger?” We can blame things on the world, people, television, the Internet and anything else we can think of, but the fact is this is all down to us – human beings! We were given the free choice to choose the path we walk, and we have done something wrong somewhere along the way.
The more we try to cover things up, the worse things become because of the lies we have to tell to try and cover things up. The more we dig, the deeper the hole becomes. And all of this is because we keep choosing the wrong path.
God has shown us where we have gone wrong by giving us some rules to follow. Once we see the rules have been broken, we can then choose to change… if we want… The problem seems to be we keep choosing the wrong path.
God has also told us the penalty for choosing the wrong path. He has told us what the punishment for breaking the rules and He continues to warn us… Now is the time we have to make an active choice to either turn our backs on sin or continue down this path of self destruction!
Points to Ponder:
What path have you chosen in your life?
Will you listen to God and try turn your life around?
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March 16: Jeremiah 11:18-20
Key Verse: Jeremiah 11:18
Because the Lord revealed their plot to me, I knew it, for at that time he showed me what they were doing.
Devotion:
One of the things I am always amazed by is how much God can and does look after you. We are surrounded by a world which, at times, seems out to get you and yet we continue being safe and secure when we live our lives with God. This has been the same throughout history and for many of the people in our bibles!
Jeremiah was protected in ways which we can look back on and know God was there making him safe when the world was plotting against Him. I know that feeling of being totally safe when you are surrounded by strife and dangers because I have been there a few times in my life and I know God was looking out for me during those times!
It is when we look back on the dangerous situations we see just how much God was doing behind the scenes. When we look back and are frightened by what has happened, we are also amazed at how calm and secure we felt at the time – because we knew in our hearts there was someone watching over us!
This is the pace we have in God, the knowledge we have He is there and He is protecting us when everything else seems to be falling apart. This gives us the strength and faith we need to continue living our lives with and for God!
Points to Ponder:
How many times have you been in trouble?
How many of those times do you think God was with you?
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March 15: Jeremiah 26:8-11
Key Verse: Jeremiah 26:11
Then the priests and the prophets said to the officials and all the people, ‘This man should be sentenced to death because he has prophesied against this city. You have heard it with your own ears!’
Devotion:
Sometimes, one of the hardest things to hear is the truth! We are scared of the truth if we know or suspect the truth will either expose something we are doing wrong or it will put us in a bad light! We all would like others to see us as good and not bad and when someone comes along and upsets the status quo in any way, we feel threatened in some way.
This is the same fate Jeremiah had to face up to when he was trying to tell the people what God had said. Here was a prophet saying bad things would happen to the people of the city because they were not doing what God wanted them to. The objected and wanted to continue doing what they liked doing rather than having someone talking them down!
The same fate faced Jesus when He tried to tell people of the things they were doing wrong. They turned on Jesus just as the people of this city were turning on Jeremiah – just because they were confronted by the truth and they did not like it!
We are going to have to face similar reactions from people if we dare to tell them the truth and the show they should change their ways or face God’s wrath! But how are they going to find the truth unless someone steps forward and tells them!
Points to Ponder:
Do you face the truth or run from it?
Will you help others face the truth too?
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March 14: Exodus 32:7-14
Key Verse: Exodus 32:9
‘I have seen these people,’ the Lord said to Moses, ‘and they are a stiff-necked people.
Devotion:
Have you every stopped to think what sort of an impression you make on God? Do you realise just how much He hates sin, and He has to watch you bringing sin into your life! We tend to stick with the things we know, with the things we have done before, the things we think are part of our past… even when we begin to realise they are not right!
God wants us to turn away from sin in our lives and turn toward keeping Him closer to us through everything we do. The closer we keep God in our lives, the easier it is for Him to help guide us and the easier it is for us to listen! It is not impossible for Him to do anything, but if we keep rejecting His ways He has to do more and more work!
Why not try to keep God a bit closer so you can hear when He is trying to tell you where to go. Why not invite Him to be a controlling part of your life instead of an after thought! God wants to make us happy and wants to be able to give us so much – that is how much He loves us. Isn’t it time to stop driving a wedge between Him and you?
Points to Ponder:
Do you do things out of habit?
Will you try to change your ways and keep God closer?