July 18: Psalm 23:1-6
Key Verse: Psalm 23:1
The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
Devotion:
King David knew God. This does not mean he was perfect. This does not mean he did not sin against God. It meant he knew God personally because he was in a personal relationship with God. Because of this, he was able to write these words which we use to encourage ourselves in times of great adversity!
Jesus continued to tell the truth about what happened, what was happening and what was going to come in the future. He told it at the right time to others by listening to God and obeying Him. David, at the time of writing this, was close to God and knew he had to listen closely to God. When he listened and obeyed, good things happened and he felt the power of God in things he did.
If we are willing to listen closely to God and to obey His requests, then we too will feel the power of God through the things we do. This is what Jesus promoted and what has been written many times before in our bibles. This is the power of God working through people around the world and throughout time. I love David’s description of this power he experienced.
His words ring true: even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil! Why, because God was with him and walking by his side. The more David relied on the power and wisdom of God, the more he was able to do and the more people got to hear about the power of God through him. God wants us to be these beacons, ready to shine and willing to obey God’s will in our lives.
Points to Ponder:
Are you willing to obey?
Will you tell someone how good it is to be with God?
July 17: Mark 10:32-34
Key Verse: Mark 10:33
‘We are going up to Jerusalem,’ he said, ‘and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles
Devotion:
Have you ever had to tell someone close to you some very bad news? It is not easy to tell someone something you know they are not going to want to hear! And even harder when it is to tell someone something unstoppable is going to happen which will end up in a life being lost. Jesus was trying to break this news to the disciples without them losing faith in everything because He knew it would not be the end – despite it being the end of His physical life.
Jesus wasn’t going to broadcast this to everyone because God wanted them to see a human being raised up from the dead in no uncertain terms! If they knew of it before hand, they would have come up with some excuse for it to be trickery instead of reality. God does not deal in tricks but in the truth!
Jesus especially did not tell any of this to anyone who would report it back to the chief priests – they were the ones who would be largely responsible for all this happening! Jesus was not going to give them any reason to stop what they were going to do; how else would He be able to be the ultimate sacrifice for everyone.
When we have to tell someone any news, it should always be the truth and we should trust God to show us how best to tell of this news. From the very best news about Jesus, to the very worst news about family members passing away, we always need to be truthful and open. God showed us this through Jesus being truthful with everything in His life and about God as well.
Points to Ponder:
Do you try spare people the truth sometimes?
How could we believe Christ if His Word was not the truth?
July 16: Matthew 10:5-8
Key Verse: Matthew 10:6
Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.
Devotion:
When Jesus sent out the twelve disciples, He gave them authority of many things, to do miracles just as He had been doing, and to teach the people about God. But He did not send them out to all the gentiles; rather He sent them out to the Jews, the lost sheep of Israel. Why would He exclude most of the population of the area?
Jesus was sending these twelve disciples to get the Jews into action. Up until now they had been slowly wandering away from God and taking things into their own hands, making the own rules and not following the prophets as they should be. Jesus knew how urgent it was to get the chosen people of God back on track.
Often, we look out and we try to find the people we think who need the gospel more than others – we tend to look away from our homes and out toward people who we think have not yet heard about God. Quite often God wants us to focus on the people around us rather than those on the other side of the country or world!
When Jesus said the gospel was going to be told to all the people, He did mean everyone; but at this time He knew the importance of focusing on the people who had forgotten themselves. Sometimes it is the Christians who need a bit of encouragement or guidance. Sometimes it is the people in church who need that word from God. We don’t always have to take it to someone new all the time!
Points to Ponder:
Do you like telling others about God?
Have you told the people in your household?
July 15: Philippians 4:15-20
Key Verse: Philippians 4:17
Not that I desire your gifts; what I desire is that more be credited to your account.
Devotion:
Depending on what mood you are in and how your journey is with God, you will come out with a differing view of the words in this passage! So, what is my take in my journey today?
The Apostle reaches out to the people in the church of Philippi with words of encouragement and thanksgiving. He started off his journey on his mission around the area to try to open up God’s Scripture and Christ’s love to the people who were in need - everyone who would listen! He was very grateful to the church of Philippi for the support he had received ever since he had been there. He had faithfully stepped forward as Christ had requested and had not saved up enough to make sure he could go places before going – he went and trusted God for support.
Sometimes in our lives we tend to hold back and try to get into a safe place before we start. We don’t like to take risks and we hold back because of that. We don’t get very far with our mission because we have held back all along. But when we step forward and trust God with our lives, He is more than willing and very able to provide for our every need.
This is faith. Faith is stepping forward and trusting God. Faith is not leaping into a fire or jumping off a cliff (physically or metaphorically) to see if God will live up to His promise. Faith is listening to what God would like you to do and stepping forward to do it, trusting God will provide the necessary things along the way. Living by faith is hard, but so very rewarding!
Points to Ponder:
Do you have the strength to live by faith?
Will you trust God with more of your life?