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January 24: Isaiah 37:33-37
Key Verse: Isaiah 37:35
“I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant!”
Devotion:
There are going to be times when we lose faith, lose patience or just stop believing in something… but even though we may be backing down on what we should uphold as the truth, God continues to uphold the truth! We need to ensure we always remember just how much God can do by continuing to uphold the scriptures and the stories of how God has protected others in the past – He still does protect us nowadays, even when we lose faith!
God pointed out the ways of the Assyrian army, ways which the people no doubt were worried about and had in their minds and hearts. Yet, even though they had their doubts, God was not about to old back on His promises. No matter how far we go down the road of lacking faith, God will never back down His faithful ways!
It is sad to see verses like these where thousands of people die because of a war, a war in which they may not know the truth about. These people were led into war because of the unbelief of their king. No doubt they believed in him and followed him and his ways. The people of Jerusalem had also given in to the temptations of following false gods and now looked set to pay for their sins… but as soon as they turned away from their false gods and put their faith and trust in God, their position changed!
So many wars are started because of religious ways and because of false beliefs. People are caught up in the moment and rush into wars which are not just. We continue to see things like this happen nowadays and because of the false stories being told through media, we trust our leaders and are led down the wrong path. These thousands of people died because of their leader. Once he saw God’s power in action, he withdrew and never came back!
Points to Ponder:
Do you always believe the news?
Are you willing to study the truth from the scriptures?
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January 23: Psalm 76:1-6
Key Verse: Psalm 76:3
There he broke the flashing arrows, the shields and the swords, the weapons of war.
Devotion:
In the years which followed the Israelites being freed from Egypt, God became known as the one God who was able to defend His chosen people against anyone and anything. The stories spread over all the lands surrounding the Israelites and the people made sure these stories were told; they were proud to have a God who looked out for them and enabled them to live in a new land which had been picked out for them by God Himself!
When God says He is going to do something, nothing is going to stop Him from accomplishing that. We may well delay things by running off in the other direction, but even that will not stop God from carrying out His promises. The more we give Him the praise and honour He deserves, the more He is willing to do stuff with and for us. Our worship of Him is a very important part of our life; one which we often leave out!
God does not have to send in the biggest and strongest army in the world in order to toggle a country; He is able to get that done all by Himself. So why do we have to do anything? He asks us to do things to make sure we know He is with us and protecting us. If He went ahead and completed all His promises without involving us, we would become complacent and not give Him the honour due.
God should be the most important thing in your life; once He is given that position in your life, He is able to love and support you in your life. This does not mean we should ignore friends and family! But if we give God pre-eminence, He can give us the ability to uphold our friends and families. It is hard to love people who have done things wrong against you, but with God in your life, He can give you a love for them you thought was not possible. Trust in Him!
Points to Ponder:
Where is God in your life?
Are you willing to put your friends and family in God’s hands?
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January 22: Exodus 14:21-28
Key Verse: Exodus 14:25
He jammed the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.”
Devotion:
When I was young I marvelled at this story which shows the power of God; what was going through my head was pictures of the walls of water each side of the Israelites and the probability they would have been able to see whatever was swimming in the ocean! What I see now is the marvel of the different experiences between the Israelites and the Egyptians. The Jews were able to walk along the sea bad and get to the other side without issue… the Egyptians had problems with their chariots and struggled all the way.
You see, God is not just able to do things, but He does what is required at the time. We may be worried about things in our lives, but when we bring them before God and allow Him to take care of those worries, He does the right thing at the right time! God is faithful and He is just… so don’t ask something of Him which you know is wrong!
But God did not just do things by Himself; God made sure Moses was fully involved with each step. He wanted the people to see Moses as the leader, but knowing Moses was going to tell people it was not his power but God’s power. God does want to get the glory – we may be able to do amazing and miraculous things in His name, but we need to make sure He gets the glory for what He enables us to do.
Too often we may get a big head about the things we are able to do and assume we are able to do much more than we can; give glory to God for enabling you to do things, no matter how small or insignificant you think they are. Once you start keeping the praise for yourself, your pride grows and God gets left out of things...
Points to Ponder:
Have you asked God to do stuff for you lately?
Have you given Him the praise He deserves?
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January 21: Psalms 48:4-7
Key Verse: Psalms 48:6
Trembling seized them there, pain like that of a woman in labour.
Devotion:
One of the things we forget far to often is how great God is and how much He can and will protect us – even in this modern day and age! Sometimes I would think God was not capable of changing things in the modern age because of all the computers and other electronic devices. I am a computer programmer and I depend on the computers doing what I have told them to do… but I still make mistakes and things turn out differently. God can step in and work with humans who are in every walk of life; but don’t limit it there because God can do anything!
Here in the Psalm we are reminded of the way in which the nations around and Israelites saw the power of God and were very afraid; afraid enough to feel physical pain and flee from their enemy! God will protect you and will keep you – you may not agree with the way He does it because you are human and you limit your ways to human ways… God is not limited to human ways!
So how do we go about getting this protection God is offering us? Do we have to go to Jerusalem so He can reach us? Do we have to lock ourselves up in a church so we can be protected by the church? NO! That is limiting God to earthly ways and imposing our limits on Him. God works with you wherever you are and in whatever circumstance you are in. But there is a catch… you should be the one asking Him for help!
Does this mean we are not going to get help unless we ask for it? Hmmm. Again, this is imposing limits on God… Yes, God can and will help people who don’t ask and some who don’t even know Him yet – because He can see our future and knows what is best for us. But when we come and plead for His help, He answers and does something about it which we will be able to recognise! We may not recognise it at the time when He does help us, but when we look carefully at our lives we can see the ways God is working in our lives and how He is helping us.
Points to Ponder:
Do you only call out to help from God when things go wrong?
Will you ask Him for help now, before things go wrong?
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January 20: Isaiah 26:16-18
Key Verse: Isaiah 26:17
As a pregnant woman about to give birth writhes and cries out in her pain, so were we in your presence, Lord.
Devotion:
Just how serious are you in your relationship with Christ? Do you talk about things and never get round to doing them with Christ, or do you do things and then talk about them?
We need to be living the right life with Christ as an example other people can look at and be encouraged by. But even as we try to do so, we are going to have times when we do not do the right thing and God is going to try to bring us round to getting things right again. It may not be a clear and visible reaction we get from God because He can and does use all of the people around us to try and keep us on the right track. Maybe the people around you are trying to tell you about something and you are not listening, thinking you know better!
God wants us to listen to all of His people so we have the best chance at living our lives with and for Him. It would not be wise for us to ignore all of the advice we are getting, especially if that advice is coming from godly people! Just like that, when we live our lives with Christ, He is able to use us to reach out to others and get them going in the right direction again.
It is going to be tough listening to others when things seem to be falling apart in our lives – even tougher when they are telling us to change and do things we don’t like doing or are too scared to do. Just maybe God is trying to get through to us!
And then there are going to be times when God is going to use us to reach out to others – maybe to bring them down a peg or two so He can reach out to their hearts like He used to be able to do. It will be tough for us as we think we are being unkind or are being stubborn; but as long as we are listening to God and obeying His requests, then we are doing the right thing.
Points to Ponder:
Do you find it hard to discipline others as a Christian?
How do you think God finds it when He has to discipline us?
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January 19: 2 Timothy 3:1-5
Key Verse: 2 Timothy 3:1
But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.
Devotion:
The deeper we get involved in the world, the more we are able to see just how corrupt it can be. Is this a good thing, or should we avoid the world at all costs? Jesus came to the earth in human form so He could be with us and encourage us with the truth… but He is God!
We are not! We are just plain human beings… who happen to have God on our side and if we are willing to keep Him close, He will guide us and keep us as we walk amongst the worldly people. We are based in this world and the only way the world is going to see Christ is through us showing them the gospel truth. We have to be amongst people – but we don’t have to get involved with everything they do!
The more the world grows, the more we see just how corrupt man can be. It does not stop at just being in the rough areas of our cities – it is widespread through businesses, administration and even governments all around the world. People get caught up in a power struggle in their own imaginations and they become so transfixed with those struggles, they become part of that corrupt world.
When Jesus came to earth He made sure He brought His love with and spread it to everyone He encountered. That does not mean He gave in to the ways of the world, but rather pointed out where people were going wrong – giving them the choice as to whether they would continue in their worldly ways or turn to God and bring His ways on board in their lives. We have that same choice every day and we need to be actively choosing God’s ways so others can see they have this choice too.
Points to Ponder:
Do you try to fit in to social groups?
Or will you stand up for God’s social group and make a point?
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January 18: James 4:7-10
Key Verse: James 4:7
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Devotion:
Do you know, there is always someone more evil than your enemies trying to get you to go over the edge and make a difference. You may not think about it too much, but he uses everything and everyone he can to try and get you to break your promises to God. He will turn your friends into chancers and daredevils so he can get you interested in doing things which do not please God. He will use your friends to take you into places where you will let your guard down... He is always trying to break down the protection we try to keep intact. He is the devil!
If we are able to resist the devil, he will not come back to bother you... But that is not something we can do ourselves! We are born into a sin nature, we are tempted by his temptations, we are weakened by his wily ways. He does not stop at anything. What we have to do is to lift up our protection against him; that protection is God's Word. The bible is our defence, the bible is our strength, with it we are able to resist temptation, resist evil, and push him back to the pit where he belongs.
If we continue to draw closer to God by keeping in His Word, by allowing His Word to guide us and to protect us, then we no longer have to live in fear of the evil one getting his way with us. All we have to do is to make sure we are doers of God's Word, not just idle listeners. Too often we say we are going to do something positive and end up putting it off until it is too late and we get caught out! Too often we build up a false sense of protection and we fall into the trap which has been put down for us.
When all we had to do was to humble ourselves before God!
Points to Ponder:
Can you think of something which has side-tracked you from your bible today?
God wants us to walk close to Him all the time!
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January 17: Proverbs 6:1-3
Key Verse: Proverbs 6:3
So do this, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into your neighbour’s hands: Go - to the point of exhaustion - and give your neighbour no rest!
Devotion:
How many times have you let a friend down by going off and doing something with someone you have just met, or a complete stranger! I wonder if you have done that to your family members; maybe gone off with a so called friend and done something against your family just to please your “friend”.
I know I have done that before, made up some sort of excuse about what I was going to do so I could go off and have fun with a friend – a friend who was leading me away from my family! It's only when you look at it from the outside you can recognise what you have done & then you know it is time to go back to your family and make things right... starting with an apology!
Maybe you have done something you should not have... Or maybe your friend has, and you were with them... Then along comes someone to blame your friend for doing whatever it was, and they turn around and lie blatantly saying it was not them. Then they turn around to you and ask you to lie for them too to get them out of trouble... Worse still, your mother comes around the corner and gets involved. Now you have to continue with the lie because of what you have started, always digging a deeper and deeper hole!
Then when you get home your dad turns round and says “now don't lie to me, or you're going to be grounded for a year!” Ok, so do you lie and get grounded, or tell the truth and still get grounded! God wants us to tell the truth from the beginning, to live in the truth, not in a pit of lies. God wants us to make a covenant with Him, just as He has made a covenant with us.
Points to Ponder:
How many times do you lie a day... even to yourself?
God sees us from the inside and knows our thoughts, you can't lie to Him!
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January 16: Genesis 21:1-7
Key Verse: Genesis 21:5
Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
Devotion:
As I grow older I begin to relate more to this situation Abraham found himself in and I draw strength in my faith in reading how God was able to do this for him and Sarah. Nothing is impossible for God and this is just one of the stories we can hold on to realising just what God can do. As I recover from my illness last year I find all sorts of things which I used to do without thinking now need a bit of forward planning!
But this was not the case for Abraham and Sarah; though they doubted and tried to fix things themselves, God continued to carry out His promises. He gave strength to both of them to be able to cope with childbirth at their age and also to bring up the child – what use would they be if they could not bring their promised child up in the ways of the Lord?
Because they kept a hold of their faith – even though they had doubted and probably still did to a certain extent, God was willing and able to make it all possible. Abraham had remembered the promise and held on to it with faith. Sarah held onto her faith alongside Abraham. Together they strengthened each other and were able to hold onto God in their old age.
We may doubt dates and wonder whether Abraham was actually so old, but this fact is upheld by other people and recorded in history. We know this to be true, but still we have our doubts… We need to be a bit more like Abraham and Sarah and support each other in having faith in God. Christ came up uphold His promises and we should hold on fast to all God has done for us over the years.
Both Abraham and Sarah celebrated their life with God and were able to spread happiness and be witnesses to others showing all of us just what God can do when we believe in Him!
Points to Ponder:
Do you like to believe others?
Will you tell someone this story and encourage them?
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January 15: Genesis 17:1-8
Key Verse: Genesis 17:1
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless.
Devotion:
Abraham was promised he would have a son by his wife Sarah many years before this time and both Abraham and Sarah had had their moments of doubt and disbelief, but now God was going to remind him of this promise. It is most likely God appeared to Abraham in human form to make sure he stopped and listened. Previously Abraham had listened to his wife and had taken Hagar in order to have a child – but that was not what God had promised!
There are going to be times in our lives when we do have doubts because things are not happening in the timescales we have laid down or because we have imposed our own limits instead of listening to God and waiting on Him alone! We may not get the same treatment by having God appear before us to remind us to wait on Him, but wait is what we need to do.
When God is ready to use us, we should be ready and willing to obey His commands; it is not up to us to impose restrictions on God whether they are limits on what we think He can do or time constraints we think things should be done within. Trusting in God and waiting on Him becomes a huge test of faith for us…
When we do stop and listen, God can guide us properly and we will end up giving the glory back to Him as He accomplishes His will in our lives. The people around us will be encouraged by the faith we have displayed and their doubt will be lifted when they see God answering our prayers or fulfilling His promises!
Points to Ponder:
Do you like waiting?
How long will you wait on God?