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September 20: Luke 7:1-10
Key Verse: Luke 7:8
For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, “Go”, and he goes; and that one, “Come”, and he comes. I say to my servant, “Do this”, and he does it.’
Devotion:
If you have ever been in a place where authority rules, you will relate to this verse. When the boss person says jump, everyone jumps... It’s not a side of our relationship we normally think about or see because this sort of authority is so often linked to some sort of dictatorship; but what we should never underestimate is the authority Christ has over everything!
The centurion was used to giving orders and having people jump into action and He knew Christ had ultimate authority over life and death. His reaction was to plead with Jesus to come and heal his servant, but he did not feel like he was worthy to come and ask this personally from Jesus; so, he sent servants instead.
All this must seem alien to people who have never been in a place like the army or who have never had servants themselves. We like to think of ourselves as being equal in society – though judging by recent riots and protests, this is very far from the truth! This is certainly not the way Jesus wants us to live and will not help us to make a friend out of Jesus whilst we harbour these attitudes...
Even though we are doing so many things wrong in our lives, Jesus is still willing to listen and to come and help us when we call. He is not going to turn us away just because we have been bad in the past. What He is looking at is your heart right now and what it is you desire in your heart. Forget about the worldly wants and try to focus on the love Christ wants us to share with our community...
Points to Ponder:
Who is in charge of your life?
Will you submit to Jesus’ call and obey His will?
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September 19: Luke 9:57-62
Key Verse: Luke 9:59
He said to another man, ‘Follow me.’ But he replied, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’
Devotion:
This has been a hard passage to read for me since I said goodbye to my birth mother some years back, but one I did not take much notice of as a youngster. When Jesus asks you to do something or to follow Him, what would you be willing to give up so you can follow His will?
Yes, this is an unfair question, but one designed to stop and make you think. I certainly do not wish to be in the position where I should have to choose between loving my family and loving God. I do not think Jesus would tempt you to make such a difficult choice in life; but if push came to shove, would you be willing to make a choice to follow Christ, or would you back down.
I’m pretty sure Jesus knew this person’s heart before He asked the question and knew they would not follow Him all the time, despite saying so. Jesus has told us He will never ask us to do things He knows we cannot do; this sort of question would be in that category for me!
When we choose to follow Christ, we should be willing to give up the luxuries we have in our life and follow Him no matter the cost. I know I have made difficult choices in my past which have led to what could only be a dead-end; but I have seen God give me options where I saw no options just because I was willing to try and obey Him rather than follow my desires.
Points to Ponder:
When you say you will support someone, how far do you go?
Will you support God all the way?
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September 18: Romans 11:33-36
Key Verse: Romans 11:35
Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?
Devotion:
One of the things we must never get caught up in is thinking we have to do things for God before He is going to do things for us! Jesus came freely to give His life for us before we knew Him. He came to show us His love goes far beyond our comprehension and far beyond what we would expect as anything normal!
God’s mercy goes beyond our failings. God’s faithfulness knows no end. God’s love covers every sin. All we need to do is to accept His love, His grace, His mercy and know His faithfulness is going to continue despite our failings and despite our laziness. We don’t know what He has in store for us until we stop and listen to His instructions. We cannot hope to tell God how things should be done because we do not know all circumstances like God does!
If you are like me and honest about how you know and treat God, He will show you where, when and how He wants you to be. Jesus picked disciples from all walks in life, not because they were available at the time, but because He knew who the best people were to do the jobs in hand. God knows what our strengths and weaknesses are and will continue to give us opportunity to do what we can for His glory.
God is not going to ask you to do anything you are not capable of doing – even if your doubts tell you otherwise. Believe in the almighty power and strength of our glorious God who can do so much more than we know. Trust He has the insight to do so much more. Listen to His instructions and obey...
Points to Ponder:
Do you try to show God how to do things?
Will you give Him more control in your life?
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September 17: Genesis 30:16-24
Key Verse: Genesis 30:22
Then God remembered Rachel; he listened to her and enabled her to conceive.
Devotion:
How many times have you ‘given God a helping hand’ so your prayers could be answered quicker? How many times have you picked up your own baggage so you can move forward quicker? And how many of those times have you seen only small gains instead of the expected answer to prayer?
Too often we think we can help God to answer our prayers and we step forward before He has a chance to answer them. We take on the task in hand and we go ahead thinking we are doing what God expects us to do... did you really hear from God before you stepped forward, or did you step forward first?
This is a difficult thing in many of our lives because God wants us to have the faith to step forward and do things knowing He is going to back up all the way so His will can be done. But when we overstep our bounds and take on something by ourselves, we may well find out we only get part of the way there before we start to see things fall apart. I know I have difficulty listening to God sometimes and it is something I do ask help for, a lot!
We need to make sure we are doing what God is asking of us and not bending the rules to see if God will answer a bit quicker. Sometimes it does take patience to wait until God clears the path properly so we can give Him the glory He deserves. I have found the bible to be a constant source of patience for my faith; carry on reading until God makes it clear what you must do in your life. If that is to wait a season, then wait!
Points to Ponder:
Do you like doing things for God?
Are you sure you are not doing things for yourself first of all?
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September 16: Nehemiah 1:4
Key Verse: Nehemiah 1:4
When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.
Devotion:
I have enjoyed going through Nehemiah each day for a season; so, in summary, let’s look back and see some of the key things we have learned. The key thing I have got from this all is to spend time with God in prayer. Pray when things are unknown. Pray when things are good. Pray when things are bad. Pray when it’s all just ‘normal!’ God wants to hear from us all the time and He wants to talk to us all the time too.
Sit and wait for an answer from God! Far too often we shoot up a prayer and then run off into our lives and expect things to happen all by themselves. Whilst we should always expect God to do things we pray for; we also need to stop and wait for an answer. Sometimes He will want us to do something so the prayer can eb answered. If you think you are no good at waiting for an answer, then try reading through a chapter or two from your bible. Sometimes God just needs us to break away from the world before we can hear Him.
When God asks you to do something, do it! We need to act on what God says otherwise we start failing in our faith as we think God is not doing anything... He doesn’t have to do everything! We must do things too!
Always try to seek out Godly people who are also willing to pray, wait and then act. Together we can work better as a team than by ourselves. Together we can encourage each other. Together we can protect each other. Together we can notice when one of us slips up; we can help each other up so we move forward with God.
Never forget God is your team captain!
Points to Ponder:
Do you spend time each day to pray, wait and act?
Will you wait just a little longer today to hear from God?
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September 15: Nehemiah 13:1-9
Key Verse: Nehemiah 13:8
I was greatly displeased and threw all Tobiah’s household goods out of the room.
Devotion:
When we sort things out in our lives or in our businesses, there is bound to be someone who will go against what we are doing because they have their own motives which are not the same as yours. They may be saying and doing the right thing at the time, but as soon as your back is turned, they revert to their own motivations and things go astray once again!
God knows there are going to be people in our lives who will go against what we are doing for God; and when this happens, we have to work hard to bring things back in line. Nehemiah was back with the king at the time while Eliashib was undoing what had been done and when Nehemiah returned, he had work to do!
The priest had, in effect, invited the evil back into the city after Nehemiah had spent a long time trying to protect the city from evil and well as re-focus the people back on God. When the people heard the words said by Moses where it said, ‘no Ammonite or Moabite should ever be admitted into the assembly of God,’ they took things literally and excluded any foreigners from the city!
God does not want us to exclude people from the church just because He demanded that of certain races during the times of the great exodus. Jesus came to show us how to include all people into His kingdom; how we should love our neighbours... But He did not tell us to invite evil back into our lives... Tobiah had done many things to try and prevent Jerusalem from turning back to God and would continue to do so.
Points to Ponder:
What do you get up to when you’re not “in church”?
Will you live your life as if Jesus is standing next to you instead?
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September 14: Nehemiah 12:27-30
Key Verse: Nehemiah 12:30
When the priests and Levites had purified themselves ceremonially, they purified the people, the gates and the wall.
Devotion:
Nehemiah did not stop with making sure people got to hear the word properly, digest it, confess their sins and worship their God. He also made sure the gates and walls were dedicated to God. Too many times in our lives we are given or gain good things which we simply accept and carry on enjoying. What about making sure God is celebrated in these gifts or gains? What about making sure we remember just who it is who has given us access to such things in our lives!
I think the best houses I have lived in are the houses where I have asked God to bless and continued to ask Him to help look after them. The best things in life have also become more enjoyable and of greater blessing when I have involved God in the decision making and the looking after things.
Just like Nehemiah was doing here, we should be making sure God is involved in all things in our lives, especially those which are important or crucial! Just because it is made of bricks or stones or mud does not mean we leave God out of things! God needs to be involved in our physical world as well as our spiritual worlds.
Do you invite your best friend(s) to be a part of your life? Do you involve them in more aspects of your life than others? Do you allow them to help make decisions? Do you involve your partner in decisions you make in your life? If we want healthy relationships, we should be involving others in our lives and making relationships real. We also need to make sure we make our relationships with God real and involve Him more in our everyday lives and not just on our holy days!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you ask God for help making decisions in everyday life?
Will you try to involve God more in your daily routines?
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September 13: Nehemiah 9:1-3
Key Verse: Nehemiah 9:3
They stood where they were and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day, and spent another quarter in confession and in worshipping the Lord their God.
Devotion:
I like the way Nehemiah talks about how those people who were direct descendants of the Israelites separated themselves from other people in order to complete their worshipping. This, to me, highlights how it is OK to be different in our churches. We do not all have to do exactly what the Israelites do because they were given rules and laws by God which were never given to the rest of the world.
What was given to the rest of the world was the gospel after Jesus had opened up ministry to the gentiles beyond the borders of the Jewish states. But, as a Christian from outside the Israelites, I want to know all about the Old Testament ways so I can understand God better and know just how much His love and Strength can accomplish when people allow them into their lives.
Another thing we need to take notice of is how Nehemiah shows the dedication of the Israelites. This has to be an inspiration to us all to seek God more in our own lives! They read from the scriptures for a quarter of a day, not just five minutes, not just a while... They were willing to spend time in God’s Word, reading, taking it in and understanding it.
But then comes the next step. Spending another quarter of a day in confession and in worshipping God! When we spend time in the Word, we also need to spend time in admitting we have failed to uphold everything we have read. We need to understand we do break God’s laws and for that we do need to confess things to Him. But we also need to worship Him in any ways we can... Just because we cannot all get into a church and worship together does not mean we cannot do this at all. The Israelites did this ‘where they stood’ and so can we!
Points to Ponder:
When was the last time you took time out to spend reading the bible?
When was the last time you took more time out to confess and worship?
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September 12: Nehemiah 8:13-17
Key Verse: Nehemiah 8:16
So the people went out and brought back branches and built themselves temporary shelters on their own roofs, in their courtyards, in the courts of the house of God and in the square by the Water Gate and the one by the Gate of Ephraim.
Devotion:
This year has seen many things change for the whole world and one of the biggest I have missed is the large gatherings of Christians in the summer where so many come together in one place to camp in temporary shelters (tents or chalets) so people can re-focus on God.
This year during the time when we would normally gather near Peterborough in the UK for New Wine, we all had to stay at home and in very small groups... not quite the same as thousands of people getting together... But, nonetheless, we did spend that time trying to refocus on God in an entirely new way. Unfortunately, I was quite busy with work during that week, but having the whole week recorded and available to watch online at a later date helped me catch up a few weeks later...
What am I getting at? Sometimes we get too carried away with the organisation of things to stop and spend our time refocusing on God. Nehemiah got all the organisation out of the way, got the celebrations out the way, and then tried to spend some time alone with God.
Sometimes we do find the connection with God when we are in big groups, but sometimes we do have to separate ourselves from the every-day to reconnect in a meaningful way. Whatever way we find is best for us is going to be best for God since we are reconnecting with Him.
As the weekend starts, maybe this is a good time for you to stop the everyday for a while and spend time with your God away from the distractions of life...
Points to Ponder:
What are you willing to do to reconnect with your God?
Will you stop your everyday activities for a season to settle down with God?
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September 11: Nehemiah 8:10
Key Verse: Nehemiah 8:10
Nehemiah said, ‘Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.’
Devotion:
After all of this had happened and they had listened to God’s Word to remind themselves of where they had come from, how God had looked after them and re-focused their hearts and minds on the Saviour, Nehemiah wanted people to be able to have a celebration. He did not make a grand celebration as soon as the wall was complete, nor after they had hung the gates. He waited until people remembered why they had done this all – for the glory of God.
Now they were in the right state to celebrate, not the fact they had managed to get everything done by themselves, not how they had managed to do it in the face of adversity, but because they had been able to do this because God enabled them to do so!
When we have things going our way and we are enjoying life, we still need to remember just whom it is who has enabled this all in the first place. We need to remember what God has asked us to do. We need to remember why God has asked us to do this all...
Nehemiah’s words here are simple – go and enjoy good food and drinks... but remember those who do not have any and give some to them so they can celebrate too. As Christians, God has call us to care for our neighbours just as much as we care for ourselves – yes, I have changed the words, but isn’t that what love is all about – caring for those people.
When we realise we have done something wrong against God, it is not always easy to pick ourselves up and move forward loving our neighbours, but God will give you the strength and wisdom to do this if you are doing it for Him. God wants us to enjoy life, but not leave others without anything...
Points to Ponder:
How often do you enjoy life?
When you spend time with God, will you set time aside for others as well?