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November 28: Jeremiah 33:1-5
Key Verse: Jeremiah 33:3
“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”
Devotion:
One of the hardest things to accept sometimes is bad news. When someone tells us bad news we don’t want to believe it because it is not what we think of as good or helpful. But, sometimes we do have to face the bad news so we can figure out what we are doing wrong and move forward. But, sometimes that bad news is not what we have done wrong, it’s just life; but in every thing which goes wrong, we can learn and move forward.
What is God telling the people here? The Babylonians are going to wreck havoc and many people are going to lose their lives. God does not sugar coat things but tells you the truth. This means we should be willing to hear and accept the truth when He tells us of things.
But also notice God is saying we should always spend time in prayer to Him, asking for the things we need no matter how difficult they seem to be for us. He is willing and able to answer prayers not matter how difficult or impossible things are in our view. But if we are asking for things and not listening to God, then how are we ever going to learn what is good and valuable for us?
God expects us to listen for the answers and to obey His answers and His will in our lives. Why? Because He is trying to tell us the best way forward!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you ask things of God?
How often do you listen to and obey God?
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November 27: Luke 21:1-4
Key Verse: Luke 21:2
He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins.
Devotion:
One of the things I have learned by living in all the places I have lived is that money can do many things amongst the rich and arrogant, but love will always win through with friends and family. As a child I was in a privileged position and had access to many things others did not have access to; but that did not stop me from hankering after some things my friends had, because some of them had things which I didn’t have access to.
As I go through life I continue to see the importance of being honest with what you have and helping those who have less than you. I continue to want certain things in life, but if a friend or our family need things, I start there and put my wants and desires on hold for a while.
Here the poor widow was putting in what she had access to, not to show others how much she could come up with, but to show God she was not holding anything back. Jesus saw this and was impressed with her actions, but not so much the people who were putting in large stakes because they wanted others to see how much they could afford. Their reward was seeing the expressions on others faces. The widow’s reward was the admiration of Jesus and God!
If you want to impress someone, be honest with God and give what you can to help others get to know Him like you do. God may like a cheerful giver, but one who gives no matter what others think or say so the gospel can be advanced is the one God watches over!
Points to Ponder:
Do you like to have things just to show others?
What do you do to help spread the gospel?
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November 26: Ezekiel 34:11-16
Key Verse: Ezekiel 34:15
I myself will tend my sheep and make them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord.
Devotion:
Ezekiel was sent by God to talk to various people; here being sent to talk to the shepherds of Israel. They were warned they should be looking after their sheep better so they would grow up being well fed. The shepherds had seemingly been a bit slack in making sure the sheep were fed but did not slack in making sure they were fed properly themselves.
The parallels drawn here with the leaders of Israel really stands out when we read about this later, but at the time God was trying to get the leaders to listen by other means because they did not listen to the Prophets at the time! The Lord is declaring the people of Israel to be His and to show people He is still looking our for them.
But if the sheep do not listen they are not going to come to the shepherd. In the day time this is not too much of a problem because the shepherd can see the sheep from far off. But when it grows dark their eyes are not as good as the animals which sought to kill them for food; thus the sheep would be in danger!
This is what it is like for us. If we stay close to God and stay in His light we will be a lot safer because we shall be seen. But when we wander off into the darkness and follow sinful ways, others do not see what we get up to and cannot help us back to God. He will have to come looking for us in all the dark and sinful places!
Points to Ponder:
Would you rather God found you in a good place?
Or would you be ok if He found you in a dark and sinful place?
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November 25: 2 Samuel 6:12-19
Key Verse: 2 Samuel 6:14
Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might
Devotion:
When king David had commanded the Ark of God to be brought into Jerusalem, there was an incident where Uzzah reached out to stead the Ark as it began the oxen drawing it stumbled. Uzzah was struck dead because God had already told them nobody should ever touch the Ark with their hands; it had to be kept pure for God.
David then ‘parked’ it at Obed-Edom’s house and God blessed the household! David then knew God had not abandoned the Ark and called for it to be brought into Jerusalem. There was a lot of pomp and ceremony as they brought the Ark in with sacrifices of a bull and a fattened calf being made as they entered. David even dances with all his might in front of the procession only wearing an ephod. Whilst people debate at to what the ephod actually was, we can think of it somewhat like a hospital gown which leaves little to the imagination!
Now, would you be on the side of Michal who was horrified of the fact that is all he was wearing, or would you be on the side of people who cheered because David was opening himself before God?
When you go to praise God, do you hide your emotions and sing like a chorister, or do you sing and dance with true abandon before your God? I’m not saying we all need to rush around half naked before God, but having the confidence God is look well on you for doing what you are doing is a step in the right direction. We need to not just love people more, but allow them to see we want God to see how we really are!
Points to Ponder:
How to you worship God?
Will you also try to give others gifts as part of your worship?
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November 24: 1 Chronicles 16:8-14
Key Verse: 1 Chronicles 16:11
Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.
Devotion:
When we look for prayer or how to pray, we often focus on the New Testament because that is where Jesus taught us to pray and we have many things He and the disciples prayed for as examples. But when we look into the Old Testament we find many examples of the prophets and kings praying to God and pleading with Him for many things.
The people in the Old Testament show us how God answered their prayers in many way. The writings may not be as explicit because these scriptures have been passed down through generations of scribes and we have those retold stories and songs to give us the hope which bring faith and ultimately God into our lives.
This book gives us the history of the people of Israel and, in this case, King David giving Asaph the position of chief priest to minister before the Ark of the Lord. The prayer starts out like Jesus taught us by giving praise to God our Father, not just through prayers but in song and stories and acts done to show others of God’s provision for us.
But the part which strikes me the most of looking to the Lord for His strength every day and always. We can remember all the stories of how much He has done for us from the beginning through the scriptures of the Old Testament. We can remember what He requires of us through the commands, judgments and miracles He alone has done for us all!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you start by recognising God for who He is?
How often do you seek Him each day?
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November 23: Luke 19:41-44
Key Verse: Luke 19:44
They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognise the time of God’s coming to you.
Devotion:
Imagine knowing exactly what is going to happen to each member of your family; how would you be able to cope with that knowledge! When Jesus reached the point where He could see Jerusalem, He stopped and wept because He knew what was going to happen. Despite all the teaching and the scriptures, the people had built up their own ‘religion’ based on what they thought was good and not what God was trying to tell them.
People become self-important when they think the stake of others lives are in their hands. They make decisions based on their own intellect instead of the wisdom of God. Nobody has enough knowledge to be able to cater for a whole country and any dictator who assumes such a role will fall.
God’s peace comes to those who follow Him and obey Him. It comes to the people who are willing to listen and not to make their own minds up. It comes to the people who look out for others and not promote themselves over all else. Too many politicians take on the role of self promotion when they gain some power and that separates them from the people.
God wants people who will support people and love people. He wants leaders who are willing to do as He asks for His people and not promote their own ideology. God would like good and faithful servants...
Points to Ponder:
What do you see as the most important thing in your community?
Where is God in your community?
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November 22: Luke 19:11-26
Key Verse: Luke 19:25
“Sir,” they said, “he already has ten!”
Devotion:
This is very much like the parable as told in the Gospel of Matthew, but there are slightly different circumstances. Here the man is of noble birth and is going to get crowned as a king leaving ten minas to ten servants while he is away. Once again we see one of them prosper and return great gains, another prosper and return slightly less but the third being too afraid to do anything with the money and keeps it hidden until the master returns.
I want us to think about the earthly values being talked about here instead of the parallels with the kingdom of Heaven. The master is not liked by any of the local people and they try to stop him from being crowned as king. His apparent disregard for the welfare of the servants seems to be something which is echoed in the parable in Matthew… but the servants all do different things with the money entrusted to them.
One of them manages to gain ten more minas from the one he was given, another five more. They were probably following the masters ways to gain such amounts. But the third servant talked about here had simply wrapped the money up in a piece of cloth to return it safe to the master.
The master then places the servants in charge of various cities according to how much they had earned. His response is to give to the servants what earthly riches they had gained and to kill those who tried to stop him from being king. From an earthly point of view none of this seems very nice at all! We do have to be aware of the temptation of earthly rewards instead of heavenly rewards, and our lives may not turn out like we had hoped just because we are surrounded by people seeking earthly rewards above all!
Points to Ponder:
Do you do your best with earthly rewards?
Do you do your best with spiritual gifts?
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November 20: Luke 18:35-43
Key Verse: Luke 18:42
Jesus said to him, ‘Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.’
Devotion:
When I read verses like these I almost cringe at the thought of many churches doing the same as the crowds who were watching the procession which was all around Jesus. So often we get caught up in the spectacle or we get caught up in what people are doing and do not see what God actually wants from us and from His people!
The crowd were so caught up in the moment they neglected to see what Jesus wanted. This blind person called out to Jesus mentioning Him as the Son of David which showed the blind man had known the scriptures and was sure this person was their Messiah, the one who was a descendant of David who had come to save them all from their sins.
Jesus stopped to talk to the person, asking the crowd to bring them to Him. He wanted the crowd to see the power of faith and true belief… I wonder what was going through Jesus’ mind when He heard the crowd trying to stop the blind person from calling out to Him by name! I wonder whether there was a bit of despair because He could see people discriminating against the blind person or whether He felt the pride in some people that they were able to see Jesus in person…
We do need to stop and think about what Jesus wants from us and from every situation. We need to include Him in everything we do so we can do what is best to progress the spreading of the gospel to everyone before He returns!
Points to Ponder:
Do you get caught up in doing stuff in church?
Do you make time for Christ to work in your life?
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November 19: Matthew 25:14-18
Key Verse: Matthew 25:18
But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
Devotion:
What are you doing with your life? Do you think you are making the most of your life, or do you feel like you are fighting a battle against adversity and just keep to yourself as much as possible? God has allocated things for us because He knows us better than anyone else. He has entrusted us with this life and possessions so we can make the most of things while following His will.
He has not entrusted us with more than we can handle, though if we allow the world to get the better of us we certainly can feel like we have more than we can handle! He has given us the opportunity to make the most of what He has given us and wants us to succeed! But if we bury the treasure, skills and wherewithal He has given us because we don’t want to upset anyone, then we are not doing what He has asked of us!
Just like this man called his servants together to hand out bags of gold so they could continue his work for him, God has already handed out tasks for us to do. If we try to do our best and make the most of what He gives us, He is going to be pleased with what we do and allow us more. But if we hide His light under a bushel then we are preventing others from doing what He may want them to do.
Think carefully about what God has given you and listen to what He has to say so you too can do the best with what you have!
Points to Ponder:
Are you doing things in church?
Aren’t you doing anything outside of church which may help too?
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November 18: Psalm 105:16-22
Key Verse: Psalm 105:19
till what he foretold came to pass, till the word of the Lord proved him true.
Devotion:
A few nights ago we were talking about Joseph and the hope he had in God, his total reliance of what God had promised and all the agony he went through to get there. Our lives are not always going to be smooth sailing as Christians; often we will have people working against us because we dare to tell the truth. God always upholds the truth and will reward those who stick to the truth!
Joseph had his own brothers working against him. He was left for dead by them, sold into slavery and endured a hard life up until what he had forecast came to pass. This is when people stop to take notice and their attitude changes. For Joseph the attitude change came from the top and he was brought out of slavery and placed in a position of honour.
God will always try to make sure we get the best possible outcome in our lives, but the path to get there may be troubled. As long as we are willing to stop and listen for His instructions, the path will be the best way forward. The world around us is going to try and convince us otherwise so we do really have to listen for Gods call.
All throughout the bible we get to hear of all the things which are consequences of man’s greed, pride and lust. When we can look past those evil ways of man and look toward the truth we have in Christ we will always reach the best God has for us, be it in this world or the next...
Points to Ponder:
Do you struggle with others?
Are you trying to listen to Christ instead of the world?