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August 24: Luke 22:24-30
Key Verse: Luke 22:27
For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.
Devotion:
Just when the disciples were getting the hang of Jesus being Lord of Lords, He says something like this to them while eating the last supper they would have together. This was Jesus’ way of showing them how to be humble with others – no matter how much we think of ourselves, we should also be lifting up others to positions they cannot think of!
Jesus was lifting up the disciples to be like the judges of old, the prophets and leaders before Israel chose a king. These men who had been little else than fishermen and the like were now being told they have a place at the table of the King of Kings, one where He is willing to serve them!
I don’t know if you have had a job of serving others, but it can be seen as rewarding even though you are doing all the hard work. At boarding school, some of us would be chosen to serve some of the seniors at special meals. It was not a task to take lightly, but one we would look forward to because it was something different and we may get noticed if we did the task well.
Jesus was trying to show the disciples they had to go forward with the right attitude. Not as a slave working for nothing, but a person trying to show others they are worth something and show them a new hope. As Christians we should be willing to be servants who take the word of God out to others, showing them they have hope and a new reason to live! Christ has shown us the way – we should do what we can to emulate Him.
Points to Ponder:
Are you willing to serve?
Will you serve to the best of your ability?
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August 23: Psalm 149:1-9
Key Verse: Psalm 149:6
May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands
Devotion:
When we do put on the whole armour of God, we are able to stand firm in our faith because we see the evidence of all Christ has done and continues to do in our lives. Knowing this we surely must praise Him for everything and in everything.
I continue to be amazed at how much God does in my life. It’s not because I keep on having to beg Him for things but more because He continues to show His love for me by doing things in my life before I have to ask for them. We can read through our bibles and see how much of this happens to people who place their faith and trust in Him. We can see how many people are blessed because they believe the scriptures and they try to apply them into their own lives.
God loves us all, but when we do things according to His will, He has a special place in His heart for us. When we love and obey Him, He is faithful and just to answer our prayers. When we keep Him close to us, we are able to see how much He does do in our lives. This is not just a coincidence – this is the love of God in action.
The psalmist here recognises how important it is to praise the Lord for everything He does. Not just the miracles which happen, but every little facet of our lives which show us how He loves us. Stop and look around you. Stop and recognise just how much God is doing in your life right now. We need to examine our lives a bit more closely to find out just how awesome our God really is – and then praise Him!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you praise God?
How often do you stop to look at everything praiseworthy in your life?
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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?
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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?
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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?
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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?
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August 18: Matthew 20:1-16
Key Verse: Matthew 20:8
When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, “Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.”
Devotion:
This is one of those parables you think of as not being fair – just like the people involved in the story. The landowner hired some people at first light and they were to be paid a certain wage. He then hired some people at noon and even a few more when it came to evening time... His decision was to pay them all the same wage – not an hourly wage according to how long they had worked, but a flat fee because they turned up to do the work!
Can you imagine the dismay for the people who had already been working all day to find out the people who had just joined the workforce were being paid the same amount as them! But, the landowner is the one who can dictate how much people get paid and did so in this case.
Jesus was telling everyone this was what Heaven was going to be like... If someone accepted Christ as their Saviour just moments before their death, they would get the same position in Heaven as a person who had been a good Christian the whole of their lives! What an awesome gift!
What we have to do is to look at it from the “awesome gift” point of view. This is a ultimate gift God is giving us – to be with Him in Heaven after we die. It does not have requirements which have to be met regarding the length of service or the depth of service... it is just service! All we need to do is to say Yes to Christ and be willing to do what He asks, that is all!
Points to Ponder:
How long have you been a Christian?
Will you continue to encourage people right up until the end?
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August 17: Judges 6:11-24
Key Verse: Judges 6:12
When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, ‘The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.’
Devotion:
How many times have you thought differently about another person than your friends? When we meet other people, we don’t all get exactly the same impression because we change our opinions of others as we get to know them more. We don’t have the same insight God has!
When the angel of the Lord came to meet with Gideon, God had already told the angel what a great warrior this man was going to be. What other people thought of Gideon would probably have been very different if they saw him threshing wheat in a winepress trying to hide it from the Midianites! What Gideon thought of himself was probably not much different from what others would have thought – he knew he was hiding from the Midianites in the wine press!
But what God saw was a man who would be able to serve Him in an amazing manner because he would eventually be willing to listen to God. This is where we would fall down at first just like Gideon. We would not think we could do what God asks because we know ourselves as being the humans we are – with all our faults and shortcomings!
What God saw was what Gideon would be able to become, given the right time, encouragement and space. God is willing to supply our needs so we can serve Him to the best of our abilities... we just need to be willing to listen to God. Yes, it may take a few times of asking just like it did with Gideon, but God is persistent!
Points to Ponder:
What would you do if God called you?
Will you be willing to stop and listen to Him?
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August 16: Judges 2:10-15
Key Verse: Judges 2:10
After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.
Devotion:
How many times have you watched someone fail to do a task because they refused to read the manual, or they refused to listen to someone who knew how to do the task? We have probably been there too at some stage; a time when we have failed because we refused to listen to someone else’s advice, or we threw the manual away before reading it!
Israel went through this a few times. Generation after generation tried to pass down the Good News, the scriptures and everything God had done for them... But when things went wrong and a generation was not effective at passing on the information, the people became restless and went after seeking their own desires instead of seeking God. When they did this, the stopped worshipping God and found themselves making up their own gods instead.
Each time God would get upset with them and send dire warnings about what would happen if they did not turn round. Each time they ignored the warnings they would have to face the consequences of their actions – which never went down well! You’d think they would have learned after messing things up the first time, but they did it time and time again... much like we do when we go off the rails!
God wants us to listen to His instruction so we can move forward in a positive and meaningful relationship with Him. Now is the time to stop and listen. Now is the time to follow God instead of inventing our own gods or following after other gods. We need the truth in our lives and we need God by our sides!
Points to Ponder:
How often have you left God behind?
Will you try to take God with you to the next generation?
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August 15: Luke 1:46-55
Key Verse: Luke 1:48
for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed,
Devotion:
When Mary visited Elizabeth, they were both blessed by their visit. Elizabeth’s baby jumped or kicked within her when Elizabeth heard the voice of Mary. If we ever need a reminder the child within a pregnant woman is alive and living, here it is! Elizabeth must have heard about what had been going on and was very excited to see Mary knowing she was carrying a very special baby indeed.
Mary’s reaction to Elizabeth’s encouragement was (and is) an encouragement to us all! When we get to know Christ, we know Him in our heart – within our spirit, within our souls. It is a very deep and meaningful relationship which we enter into and one which is not easy to shake... It does not matter whether we are kings and queens or the humblest servant, Christ looks at us all ion the same light and will bless us equally.
When we are humble, or at our humblest time, our relationship with Christ is at its peak and blessings mean so much more. The more we acknowledge the blessings and allow others to share in our blessing, the more we gain encouragement from the people around us. On the other hand, when we try to walk this path alone, the loneliness of the journey does bear down on us, and doubts do creep in where they should not.
God has levelled the greatest rulers with simple words and raised the most humble with similar words. We need to take into account everything we know about Christ and listen closely to everything He wants us to hear. We must continue to be encouraged by His Word and reach out for those blessings at all times!
Points to Ponder:
Do you listen closely to God’s Word?
Will you take His Word to heart today?