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January 14: 1 Corinthians 7:21-24
Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 7:24
Brothers and sisters, each person, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation they were in when God called them.
Devotion:
In his first letter to the churches of Corinth, the apostle tries to encourage people not to try and become something they are not just to be more of a Christian! God comes to find us in the situations we are in so He can get the most out of us; unless He is telling you to radically change your life, the only thing you should be doing is trying to be a bit more like Christ. This does not mean suddenly becoming middle class or changing to act like you are working class – God wants you to simply trust and obey where you are.
The apostle likened this to people who were not Jews trying to become Jewish by being circumcised and changing their lifestyle to be more Jewish in nature. God chose you where you were and how you are. He wants to use you the way you are and not the way you think you should be. I found this hard to accept in the beginning, but by talking to others and encouraging them to be themselves I began to realise I was uplifting my own status beyond where it was – I was no longer the person God chose but something I thought He wanted.
By being myself again and living with the people God has called me to reach made me realise I was more like them than I realised. God brought me back to be the original design He chose and the one which he wanted to work with Him. Yes it was hard to accept in my mind until I did accept it; then I realise just how natural it should have been in the beginning!
When God calls us, He changes our spirit to be a little more like Him so we can hear His instructions and live with Him in our lives. This means we taste the freedom of life when we have been slaves to life beforehand or becoming slaves to Him when we have led a privileged life. This is His choice for you and one we all need to embrace with open arms.
This does not mean we have to become slaves to the people around us – God has not chosen us for that. Yes He wants us to be more loving and accepting of the people around us, but not to become slaves to their worlds just as they are; we are to show them the freedom God has granted us and allow them to see they too can accept this freedom in their lives. Be yourself. Be normal. Love and be loved where you are called.
Points to Ponder:
Do you struggle trying to be a good Christian?
Will you accept the life God chose you in and live with Him?
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January 13: Matthew 21:28-32
Key Verse: Matthew 21:32
For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.
Devotion:
How much do you think you obey God? I know it is a loaded question because so many of us do not realise when God is speaking to us because we are so caught up in the things and people around us. When we get caught up, we lose focus and we tend to stop listening for those small voices and hints He gives us. It is not often we receive an audible response from God but rather a response through others – how we treat those responses defines how well we listen to God!
I went through a stage in 2018 of not listening to the people around me when they were telling me to go to the doctor and get myself checked out… I was too caught up in worldly things, worldly ways and my own pride to listen – God had obviously been trying a few ways to get my attention. Needless to say, early 2019 came along and I ended up in intensive care. The rest of 2019 was spent in hospitals and recovering and revisiting hospitals – all because I did not want to listen to something so small as my friends and fellow Christians telling me I needed to get myself checked out!
It is not just you who will be affected by these choices you make – it affects all those people around us, especially the people we love the most! Listening to God has got to be central to our lives and needs to be a constant in our lives. Don’t just dismiss things other people say, start praying about things and then stop and listen. The more we are caught up in our own busy lives, the less we get to listen. We need to stop and just focus on God for a while – every day!
John was telling all manner of people about God and it was the people who were not so focused on what they thought they should be doing who heard the most. The religious people were so focused on doing the right thing and trying to keep themselves apart from the world; they lost focus on God. I wonder how many people stopped what they were doing and actually listened to Jesus as He was reminding them of this fact here.
Points to Ponder:
Do you get caught up in work too easily?
Will you make a time in your day to stop and just listen for God?
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January 12: Matthew 14:1-5
Key Verse: Matthew 14:5
Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they considered John a prophet.
Devotion:
When we continue to walk with God and listen and obey His wishes, we are going to meet all manner of opposition during our life; not because we are doing anything wrong but because there are people out there who somehow feel unsettled with us. When we lead a life with Christ, we act differently from the other people around us and we often start to stand out, we get noticed!
When we get noticed more than the people who are actively going out to get noticed, they start to object – they don’t like us getting the attention more than them. Don’t be too surprised when they start to work against you, using worldly measures to try and get back at you or bring you down. This is exactly what was happening back in the days of Jesus walking amongst us – the authorities did not like Him getting more attention than them and made stories up about them to try and bring them down in one way or another.
If we continue to listen to Christ, He will guide us as far as He can, but at some stage we are going to lose track and give in to the ways of the world and the people around us; just another way the evil one has to stop us from worshipping Christ. We are living in the world and the world can get very powerful because of the support it gets from people of the world.
Herod was not about to give in and allow another man to become too popular just in case he lost popularity amongst the people; his power came from the fact others were afraid of him and of his ways. If he lost that fear amongst the people, he may lose the political battle he would face against the people. Fear of the unknown or fear of losing popularity will often make us do stupid things – Herod was heading down that path and beginning to hate John for what he was able to achieve by telling people about Jesus. Herod also seemed to understand God was a lot more powerful than many realised and he was not going to give anybody the chance of allowing them to see God was more powerful than him!
Points to Ponder:
Are you proud of something in your life?
Would you be willing to lift up someone else just to give God the glory?
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January 11: Philippians 2:5-11
Key Verse: Philippians 2:8
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death - even death on a cross!
Devotion:
No, you are not seeing things and my bible isn’t stuck in one place, but these verses have so much to give us! What is the best way to infiltrate the enemy? What is the best way to be able to walk around the enemy’s camp without being detected? If you wanted to be able to walk unnoticed in a rough neighbourhood, would you walk through it is a suit with flashing lights, or in clothes they wore in that neighbourhood?
The Lord knew the only way to reach people, was to become a person. He knew He had to bring Himself down to our level to allow us to see what He has in store for us. He knew He would have to show us how He was willing to accept all the punishment which is due to us. If you wanted to show someone you could arm wrestle them, would you cheat by taking a robotic arm in to the contest, or would you offer your arm against their arm?
Jesus knew He had to accept the punishment in the same form which we accept our punishment. He knew He could only show us how much He loves us if He was at our level – if He was in a human body, the same as we are in a human body. He needed to show us His love for us by showing He was willing to accept it all for our sake. What better way than to become one of us, to become a human being, so He could share the pain as we would if we had to pay the price for our sins.
He was willing to take on your sins for you when He went to the cross. He was willing to take on human form so He could accept the punishment in the same body as you would normally accept it – just because He loves you. He was willing to be born of no reputation, be your servant and become one of us, just so we could see how much He loves us.
Points to Ponder:
Have you ever pretended to be someone else?
Jesus physically became a human to make sure He paid for our sins IN FULL!
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January 10: Philippians 2:5-11
Key Verse: Philippians 2:7
rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
Devotion:
How many times have you figured out the best way you can help someone out? Do you ever think how you could best be of use to someone else? One of the best ways, but one you may not like doing, is to be their servant. By doing that, you will do whatever they wish you to do; in doing so, you would not expect anything in return; you would not do other things first because it is what you want; you would be looking after them before looking out for yourself.
Can you imagine what people would think of you if you turned round and said you would be their servant? Here in England you may well get a few mad looks, but in some parts of the world, this would be a perfectly acceptable thing to do.
What would you do if a man dressed up in a very expensive suit, with a posh sounding voice, and a very expensive car, came up to you and offered to be your servant for a year. What would you do if the Prime Minister or the President came up to you and offered to be your servant for a year? What would you do if a King or Queen came up to you and said they were willing to be your servant for as long as they were alive!
Well, our King of Kings, our Lord of Lords, has already done that for us. He came down to earth, made himself to be of no reputation by being born in a stable, dressed in rags, and then began to act like He was our servant (Vs. 7) just so we would be best served by Him. He did not just say He would be our servant, but actually did it! He came down to earth so we would be forever able to ask Him to do anything, forever able to ask Him for anything, and forever able to know He was going to answer each one of our requests.
Points to Ponder:
Have you ever had a servant?
Would you be willing to do anything for God that He asked of you?
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January 9: Philippians 2:5-11
Key Verse: Philippians 2:11
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Devotion:
We were all taught Jesus Christ was crucified. Most of us were also taught about how He suffered. Most of us were taught how He gave up His own life on that cross... But what did He go through up to that point in time?
Imagine standing on a corner in the city, watching people go by... If you saw a person in a very expensive suit, well-groomed and walking with purpose, you would probably come to the conclusion they were a respected businessperson. If you saw a person dressed in fashionable clothes with loads of shopping bags, calling for a taxi, then you would probably think they were out for a good days shopping. On the other hand, if you saw a person dressed in old, dirty clothes, sitting in an alley way, you would probably come to the conclusion they were homeless and living off the street.
Your immediate reaction to each of these is probably to decide the first two people had some sort of reputation, but the third had no reputation.
Jesus Christ is our King of Kings, He is our Saviour, He is our Lord... and yet He was willing to put all of those titles aside and to make sure He arrived on earth in a position of no reputation. He made sure He was born in a stable and He was wrapped in swaddling clothes; because that is what was promised by the prophets.
He could quite easily have been born into a royal family where He would have had all the comforts of life, but He made sure that He was born into a world where He had “no reputation” (Vs. 7) so we could ultimately see just how much He loved us.
Points to Ponder:
Do you wear designer clothes to fit in?
Jesus put aside societies ways to make sure He fitted in with the least of us!
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January 8: Philippians 1:27-30
Key Verse: Philippians 1:29
For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him
Devotion:
There will always be a time in your life when being a Christian is going to work against you. It is these times in your life where you need to stand firm and be counted. Peter lived what he thought was the right way and would not believe Jesus when He said that he would deny Him three times that night. It was only upon the last time when he suddenly realised he had indeed denied Jesus three times; it was then he realised his weakness.
We all have weaknesses within us, we all have our weak points, and we all have our downfalls. But how many of us are willing to take the blame, willing to confess, willing to stand up for Christ, willing to step forward and put our lives totally in God's hands?
Faith is putting your trust into the unseen, putting your trust into God's hands, putting your trust into something you cannot see. Faith is knowing your trust is true and will withstand anything.
When the disciples were witness to the resurrection of our Lord, they then had more than enough faith to stand up and be counted for God. They were willing to pay for their faith and belief with their lives. God allowed them to do that so we would have the ultimate examples of what people did for their love for Christ. If we did not know how far others have gone for their faith, how could we expect to know what is expected of us.
That expectation is the hard part, to put your life 100% back into the arms of God, to be totally dependent on the Lord Jesus Christ for your safety. He has already paid the price for your sins; He has already shown us His love by doing that for us... All we have to do is to show Him we are willing to show others we love Him. Is that so hard?
Points to Ponder:
When was the last time you showed your love by giving special gifts?
When was the last time you showed your love for Christ?
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January 7: Philippians 1:19-21
Key Verse: Philippians 1:20
I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.
Devotion:
When was the last time you were 'ready for anything'? When was the last time you were 'willing to go for it'? As Christians, we should be in a constant state of readiness, we should be on 'red alert' all the time.
You may turn round and say nobody would be in such a state of readiness all the time, that they would look like fools... You may say only fools stack up so much water in their houses just waiting for civil war to break out... You may say only fools live in constant fear of an aeroplane dropping out of the sky onto their house... It could happen... it probably will not... but it could...
I am not talking about such physical things, but rather the things of the spirit. We know what is going to happen. We know The Lord will return. We know Christ has already been once. We know God created the heavens and the earth. We know these things, so we should be ready for them.
What we do not know is the time and place. We do not know when the Lord is going to take us home. We do not know what is going to happen before that – we only know things are getting worse and we can see that happening. We need to be ready for the Lord's return. We need to be ready to take His word out to others today, not tomorrow, not when it suits us, but here and now. We need to be ready for that happening, here and now.
There is nothing to be ashamed of, because we know it is going to happen. It is not a case of IF, but rather WHEN. The hermit who refuses to leave his house in case a car runs over him is worried about the IF part of his life. The Christian who walks out the door knowing they will soon be with God is working on the WHEN.
Points to Ponder:
What would you do if a car crashed into your house right now?
Are you ready for His return?
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January 6: Ephesians 6:1-4
Key Verse: Ephesians 6:2
“Honour your father and mother” - which is the first commandment with a promise -
Devotion:
How much have you done for your parents over the holiday period? How much have you done which they objected to? How much have you done to make their life more comfortable? How much have you done to annoy them in one way or another?
It is so easy to fall in line with what your friends are doing and to allow their influence to rule your life. It is so easy to try to fit in with the crowd to make your life easier... But how much thought do you give to the people in your family? How much thought do you give to the people who are closest to you? How much though do you give to God?
The Bible teaches us many things, and one of the most important things is love. This love stretches from God down to the smallest and tiniest things in our lives. There is no one person who should be left out of that love just because our friends say so.
It is a two way thing – your parents have shown you their love from the early years of your life, they have brought you up in the way that they believed was correct and right – and now you have the chance to show them your love by sharing with them, by loving them, by listening to them, by following their lead. But what happens if they are not saved? Well, then your love should extend to allow them to see in you what the Lord is doing in your life, allow them to experience the love of God, allow them to experience a tiny bit of what they can have if they would turn to God. Let them know why you have changed, let them know of God's love, let them know there is a reason.
Stick to the discipline of the drug dealers, and you will die as one of them... stick to the discipline of a Christian, and you will live as one of us!
Points to Ponder:
Have you done anything positive for your parents today?
Are you doing anything positive for the Holy Spirit today?
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January 5: Ephesians 5:19-20
Key Verse: Ephesians 5:19
speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord,
Devotion:
“If only I had...”, “If only I did...”, “If only I...”, “If only I...” and before too long you are in the depths of despair. “Why did they do that”, “Why couldn't they just...”, “Why do they...”, “Why can't they...”... and before too long you are feeling hatred towards them.
It is amazing how quickly you can talk yourself into a hole, or talk yourself into more trouble than it was worth! It is amazing how quickly you can change your mood just by thinking about something which goes against your feelings. It is amazing to look at actors crying their eyes out on demand... It's all in the mind...
The more we think about bad things, the more those things are going to start to surface in our lives. The more we think in bad ways, the more those ways are going to creep into our lives. The more we imagine doing things wrong, the more likely we are to do wrong.
Our minds are extremely powerful in directing our lives. By making sure we are thinking in “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” we are making sure we keep our minds clean. We are making sure we do not allow evil thoughts and things into our lives. What would bring more joy to the Holy Spirit than to be in a body which is always thinking about spiritual matters, always singing praises to God, always letting God's Light shine through?
It is a wonderful thing to listen to a full orchestra in perfect harmony. How wonderful it must be for the Holy Spirit to listen to a body resonating in praises to God constantly. How wonderful it must be for God to listen to a church in perfect harmony, singing praises to God through mind and deed, always!
Points to Ponder:
Have you ever sung totally out of tune with everyone else?
Are you doing your best within yourself for The Holy Spirit?