July 22: Psalm 43:1-4
Key Verse: Psalm 43:4
Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight. I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.
Devotion:
If you are still worried about how much doubt you have in your life, then go through this group of Psalms and find out how much doubt David had in his life! We think of King David as a stalwart of trust and faith who we can look up to and be encouraged by. Various places in our bible tell us of his faithfulness and his dedication... but we can still read about the doubts and worries he had all the time.
What we need to do when we do have doubts or worries is to lift our spirits up so we can re-focus on the good God does in our lives. This could mean stopping what you are doing and listening to a worship song, or maybe tuning out of the worldly worries and thinking on what God has done in your past. There are so many ways we can encourage ourselves, but far too often we brush them under a carpet instead of doing them!
My dad would quite often remind me to ‘help myself’ rather than waiting on God for everything because I would spend a lot of time waiting on God. This is not to say he was encouraging me to do it all myself, but rather to take the step forward and do something. God opens doors and shows us the ways forward, but if we do not step through those doors or follow the paths He shows us, we are going to stagnate and even begin to doubt...
When we open our eyes to everything God does, we will see the good and the bad! There is a whole lot of bad and evil things in this world we have to live in. God wants to direct us through the minefields laid out in front of us by the world. God wants us to be safe. He tells us how to be safe. He guides us daily... but if we don’t do anything about it, we will start to needlessly blame Him instead of ourselves for what we don’t do!
Points to Ponder:
How often are you guided by God?
How often do you act on that guidance?
July 21: Psalm 42:9-10
Key Verse: Psalm 42:9
I say to God my Rock, ‘Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?’
Devotion:
Ok, admit it, how many times have you doubted whether God is with you? I know it’s something we don’t like to admit, but when we get into a bit of a rut or a tight corner, we tend to start thinking thoughts like this... it’s normal! Don’t fret about it! I used to get really upset with myself for having doubts which would cause all sorts of issues with health and my life in general!
God knows we are going to have doubts, He knows we will fail at things, He knows we are not up to certain things... This is why Jesus came to do all He did – so we would all have access to the promises of God no matter how far we have gone off track and no matter how many doubts we have in our lives!
I have written many times about how I pray all the time – well, that’s not 100% true because I do have times when I am lacking in my prayer life and when I feel like God has forgotten me. But I also can spend much more time talking about the great things God has done for me and all the love and support He gives me daily – even when I have been doubting!
You see, God is always with us. If we are looking the wrong direction up the road, we will not see the bus coming from the other direction! The same can be said in our spiritual lives. If we are looking in the wrong places we will probably not see what God is doing for us until after it has passed! We may feel like it is the end of what we can endure, but God knows exactly how far we can go and He will open the best path for us to get there... if we listen and obey.
Points to Ponder:
Are you worried about your doubts?
Have you noticed God answers prayers no matter what?
July 20: Mark 6:53-56
Key Verse: Mark 6:55
They ran throughout that whole region and carried those who were ill on mats to wherever they heard he was.
Devotion:
Who do you run to when you need help? We finished off yesterday with this question to ponder; do you seek out a brother or sister, a parent or guardian, or even your best friend? Sometimes the people around us are not the people who we can fully trust in because they do not have all the answers we seek!
Wherever and whenever people saw Jesus, there was recognition and the word spread very quickly. People were desperate to bring the sick and inform to Him so they could get blessed and even healed. They knew they could just touch something from Christ and they would be healed – they had learned this through things Jesus did.
Whenever people brought forward their sick friends and relatives, Christ had mercy on them and would normally heal the people who needed it. Because of this people would always seek out Jesus and reach out to touch Him with absolute faith their infirmities would be removed just by His touch! They had faith in what God could do through Him – this is the faith we need to share with others by showing them they have a friend in Jesus who is willing and able to do so much with and for us!
Imagine the crowds if they had social media back in those days – I think the internet would be buzzing whenever people saw Christ. Can you imagine the crowds and the chaos as people flood in to hear Christ? Why should this not be happening just because Jesus is not physically here in human form? Christ can do many things and is not bound by the physical limitations we build up around ourselves. Look forward to what it will be like to be with Jesus!
Points to Ponder:
How do you show people Christ is with you?
Will you send out a few invitations to people to show them Christ is real?
July 19: Mark 6:30-34
Key Verse: Mark 6:34
When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.
Devotion:
I wonder how many times you have got so carried away with work or a hobby, you have forgotten to eat and drink properly! I know I have done this on many occasions with computer work and also in doing God’s work. When we get going, it is hard to stop and doing something which seems menial such as eating or drinking when you have so much more work to do!
God wants us to take time out at regular intervals so we do not wear ourselves out. He showed us to take one day of the week as a day of rest and recuperation – something many of us forget to do in our busy lifestyles. Jesus upheld this by reminding the disciples to take time out and to try and spend it with God.
But when Jesus tried to take the disciples away to a quiet place so they could rest, many people saw where they were going and followed them expecting to be blessed in some manner by Christ. Jesus found a way to getting peace by taking them out onto the water so others would not try to follow them – but they had to come back to dry land in the end. This is when the people crowded round them.
When Jesus saw them all, He had compassion on them. Not because they had wondered out into this place, or even because they came out without food and drink... He had compassion on them because He could see they had no real spiritual leader to turn to. They did not have a good shepherd at that time. He knew He would be able to step forward and take on this mantle, but He also knew what else He had to do before then...
Points to Ponder:
Do you always go out fully prepared to do God’s Work?
Who do you put your trust in when you need backup?