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July 9: Matthew 11:16-19
Key Verse: Matthew 11:17
“We played the pipe for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.”
Devotion:
I’m pretty sure I got up to some strange things as a child, but none quite so strange as these children! I had to sit and think about these words for a while because my mind was racing off thinking of the strange things I got up to in my school days and how horrified my parents might have been if they had found out all I did… but God was watching me all that time which has brought me to talk about judging others.
No matter where we are in our lives or how much we try not to judge people, we all make judgments based on what we see and hear, most of those judgments are probably kept to ourselves being held in our hearts and minds; but they tend to come out when we are judged ourselves or anything happens which we don’t agree with!
God has the privilege of being able to know us from the inside out – something we think we can do with others but always fail when we do try. Judgment should be left up to Christ alone. We often take sides in arguments simply because we like one side of the argument instead of digging deeper to find out the truth. This is our downfall and something which can easily alienate us from others.
God wants us to be able to get along with other which often means putting aside our personal differences and waiting on God for guidance and encouragement; something most of us don’t like doing: waiting! Jesus did many things which the strict teachers of the law did not like and which some people may have taken offence with. But He did everything with a clear and open heart. If we want to get further in life we need to put aside personal judgment and move toward allowing Christ to guide us through relationships and friendships.
Points to Ponder:
How often do you get upset with others?
Do you ever look at things from their point of view?
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July 8: Genesis 27:15-21
Key Verse: Genesis 27:15
Then Rebekah took the best clothes of her elder son Esau, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob.
Devotion:
When you grow up in a community or a family you may find you all share responsibility for things and tasks. Sometimes you may feel like you are responsible for what someone else has done wrong in your group because you knew better but did not stop them at the time. You may even feel this about your partner at times when you find yourself covering up their mistakes or misgivings. One of the things parents struggle with is what their children get up to...
People often focus on certain passages in the bible which say we will be held accountable for things done by those close to us but this section of passage throws a different light on things. Rebekah was working against Isaac even though she was his wife of long standing – chosen by God… But if you go through the bible you will see each story being handled differently by God because the people are different and the circumstances are different; so how do we learn from the bible?
God looks at each of us through very different ‘eyes’ than we look at people. We tend to see what they do and judge them. We then hear from others what they ‘do’ and judge them… God judges people by what is in their hearts and souls. He is the only one who can judge people because He is the only one who actually knows what people’s intents are!
So we should not get hung up about whether we are feeling responsible for what others are doing. We do not have absolute control over others – despite what some may think! We can try to guide people and you can try to help people, but the final decision is what they choose and not what you think they should choose.
Points to Ponder:
Do you worry about what others get up to?
Have you tried to focus on what you are doing lately?
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July 7: Genesis 24:1-8
Key Verse: Genesis 24:8
If the woman is unwilling to come back with you, then you will be released from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there.
Devotion:
When Abraham’s wife died, he called for one of his senior servants to come and go on a mission for him. It sounds like a very strange mission for us nowadays, but was not unheard of in those days when marriages were arranged rather than people meeting each other and falling in love. You may think of this as a archaic way of doing things but what was happening here was not because of greed, pride or wanting prosperity; what was happening was the people involved were doing their best to listen to God.
Abraham knew he was not to give a local woman to Isaac for a wife but to go back to where they came from for a wife. But he also knew they should not return to their home town because God had promised Abraham he would have the land where they were staying at the time.
I don’t know if you have ever had to leave the place of your birth to go and live and work in a place far away. It is life-changing. But the reason for moving to another place and taking up roots is also life-changing. God does not want us to lust after land, money or other earthly treasures, but to try to seek Him out at all times and to obey what He asks of us. If we can do that, then wherever we end up, God is going to look after us!
Abraham and his servant did all they could to follow God’s wishes and trusted fully God would deliver the right person at the right time for Isaac. When the servant arrived at the town where Abraham’s relatives lived he asked God for guidance as to whom was suitable for Isaac. God chose Rebekah as the woman to marry Isaac and made sure the servant knew this was the right woman. They all listened to God’s guidance!
Points to Ponder:
Do you have difficult decisions to make?
Will you allow God to guide you in those choices?
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July 6: Genesis 22:9-14
Key Verse: Genesis 22:12
‘Do not lay a hand on the boy,’ he said. ‘Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.’
Devotion:
How far are you willing to go for God? So many of us fall short of the mark when it comes to doing what God wants us to do… and I have been in that boat too so we are all in good company! These verses remind us God is always looking after us and we need to be able to trust Him no matter what happens in our lives. I learned while in hospital God is in control even when it seems like the world around you is crashing and burning!
It is hard to convince someone to allow God full control in their lives when all they can see is bad things happening if they let go and give God control; but God really does have our backs! I know in the past when I have given control to God He has never let me down even when those around me have given up hope and think the end has come…
Does this make me immune from worrying about things and always giving God control? No, unfortunately I still have doubts and I still try to control things my way at times. That is just the way we are and the way the evil one tries to get into our heads in the hopes we will reject God. No matter how many doubts you have and how much you want to have full control in your life, God really does know what is best!
I cannot even imagine what was going through Abraham's mind at the time of this even, and even what may have gone through Isaac’s mind too… But, despite the doubts and fears, Abraham trusted God because God had already delivered on His promises. Sometimes it is the first step which is the hardest and everything else seems to be ok – but taking that first step takes a lot of faith and courage!
Points to Ponder:
Do you have the courage to give God control?
Will you be able to trust Him ever time?
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July 5: Genesis 21:8-20
Key Verse: Genesis 21:17
God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, ‘What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there.
Devotion:
One of the greatest things about God is His mercy! Here we have a family argument brewing over inheritance and who gets to do what. God diffused the argument by encouraging Abraham to send the servant Hagar off with their son; not an easy task for Abraham because it was his son after all. But he listened to God and sent off the servant with the boy into the desert.
Cruel, harsh? Yes by today's standards it is. But this was a very different time and God wanted Abraham to be absolutely sure the boy Isaac would grow to be their son upon whom a great nation would arise. But God never gave up on Hagar the servant. God watched over her as she went off into the desert. When their water was running out Hagar left the boy alone because she could not bare the watch the boy die of thirst. God heard the cries and sent an angel down to care for them!
This boy was the product of human decisions, Abraham and Sarah wanting to speed up what God had said would happen. We don’t need to help God do things He has promised for us. What we do need to do is to have patience to listen to God and wait on Him. He has got this planned out if we are willing to listen and obey.
When things go wrong and we think there is no more hope left, God is waiting patiently in the background for us to call out for help! By listening and obeying we give God the right environment to do what He has planned all along. By doing our own thing we are essentially making it harder for God to accomplish what He has said will happen – no matter what!
Points to Ponder:
Do you try to tell God what to do?
Will you stop and listen to what God says should be done?
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July 4: Psalm 26:4-7
Key Verse: Psalm 26:5
I abhor the assembly of evildoers and refuse to sit with the wicked.
Devotion:
Where do you spend most of your time? Is it with friends and family or maybe at your place of work… How much do you think your life is influenced by the people around you? How often do you give in to temptations? Do you see where I am going with this? The more time we spend with people the more likely we are going to get into the same things they do...
We can read many stories in our bibles where people gave in to the temptations around them, but not before God had warned people they would fall into temptation. This is why we should be listening closer to our God than to the world around us. God knows which deeds will tempt you the most and will try to warn you away from them – as long as you are willing to listen to Him!
Here the psalmist is pleading with God to continue to protect him from the evil around him. His mind is set on God but he is honest and knows the temptations will be great and this is what he is afraid of. If you are not afraid of temptations then you are probably fooling yourself because they are not called temptations for nothing!
To be close to God means keeping God close to you. This is where He would rather be and this is where He can give you the most protection, not because He is going to do everything for you but because you are less likely to run in the opposite direction than if you are surrounded by temptations.
Points to Ponder:
Where do your temptations come from?
How much time do you spend with them?
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July 3: Habakkuk 2:1-4
Key Verse: Habakkuk 2:4
‘See, the enemy is puffed up; his desires are not upright – but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness –
Devotion:
How many times have you given in to someone who is causing you grief just so you can try and put things behind you… only to find that person causes you more and more grief because they thought they would get away with it just like the first time? This is what is happening with the evil one in our lives. The more we give in and allow him to have his way around us the more he is going to continue coming at us!
Habakkuk thought he and his people were being persecuted by continued wrongdoings by others. He took that out on God and asked God why He was not protecting them from this evil. He thought it was as if the law could not touch these bad actors so he called out to God.
The Lord’s answer to Habakkuk was probably not one he was expecting because he was warned of the Babylonians overcoming the people of Israel, not to allow evil to win, but because the hearts of the people had become cold and they were ignoring God in their lives.
We look at the world around us and we wonder why so many bad things happen and even ask God where He is in all this. The answer would be similar to Habakkuk’s; god is not ignoring the people, the people are ignoring God. The longer people ignore God the more the evil will be allowed to proliferate and the more we will get caught up in what happens in the world around us. God has promised things and they will happen; we need to have patience and wait on God while encouraging others to rely on Him too.
Points to Ponder:
How often do you complain to God?
How often do you encourage others to seek God?
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July 2: Romans 6:15-18
Key Verse: Romans 6:15
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means!
Devotion:
What is all this talk about being a slave – didn’t we outlaw the slave trade? You may look at verses like this and think they are archaic and irrelevant nowadays, but it is not the human tyrant vs human slave we are talking here; rather this is the way of life which we lead because of the company we keep. Does this mean if we just stick with church people we will be ok? No, unfortunately not because we can all get trapped into certain ways of life...
When we do certain thing in our lives we get used to doing things that way and the more we do them the more we plan to do them in the future until it becomes a way of life because we don’t think of anything different. This is being a slave to that way of life and this is the slavery being talked about here. This could be what we call temptation to do sins if they are sinful things we are practising.
When I was young I ventured into a very short time at selling encyclopedias. They promised great rewards and on paper it looked like I could earn a reasonable wage. The people trying to teach us the way of selling these books was very good at doing what they said and tried to convince me it was the right way of doing things. But the first visit into an actual home and I had to give that up before I sold anything. They were not being honest with customers and they were trying to get them to take loans for something which would ultimately sit on the shelf most of the time; and they were targetting people in low income areas! This was their way of life and I could not support it!
When we get used to doing the wrong things, we don’t see it as wrong any more. This is being a slave to the wrong thing! We should be aiming at doing what God wants of us so we become a slave of doing the right thing all the time...
Points to Ponder:
What do you do most of the time?
Is it what God would want you to do?
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July 1: Matthew 8:5-17
Key Verse: Matthew 8:13
Then Jesus said to the centurion, ‘Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.’ And his servant was healed at that moment.
Devotion:
One of the ‘excuses’ I hear all the time is of how people struggle with their faith because they cannot see Jesus face to face, or they hear about someone who has heard the Lord’s voice and they wonder why it cannot happen to them! Faith is believing in the Lord even though you cannot see Him face to face and as long as you can believe without having to see Him face to face, your faith is strong!
We have heard it said how faith the size of a mustard seed can make all the difference in the world, and that is how it really is. Just a little faith will keep you believing no matter what you face in life. I have not heard the Lord’s voice, I have not seen amazing images or visions, but I know I can and always will trust God because I have that grain of faith in my life!
I used to think I gained that grain of faith after God answered my prayers in my hour of need: I literally got on my knees in my lounge and begged God to help me, and a few days later I heard how He had answered my prayers… But my faith actually started when I got on my knees and prayed. That was the moment I placed my whole life in God’s hands and that is where my faith blossomed. Yes it was given a growth spurt when I heard about how the prayers were answered, but it started by me praying first.
God knowns when we are in need, but unless we ask for help we are not really displaying any faith in Him. The moment we give control to God is the moment our faith takes root in our lives. The centurions faith started when he left his servants side to seek out Jesus and it grew leaps and bounds with each step he took...
Points to Ponder:
Are you going to take a step toward faith?
Are you ready to give control to Christ?
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June 30: Matthew 8:1-4
Key Verse: Matthew 8:4
Then Jesus said to him, ‘See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.’
Devotion:
No matter who came to Jesus He was always willing to listen and serve, but how He served was dependant on what He could see in their hearts and what God in Heaven was telling Him. Here a man approached who had leprosy and wanted to be rid of it. The man knew in his heart that Jesus could heal him because that is what he believed in his heart. Jesus saw this love for God and opened His own heart to this man, cleansed him and sent him on his way to the priests (because they were the ones who could declare a person free from leprosy and allow them back into the fold after the appropriate sacrifice.)
This is where we see the ulterior motive Jesus had; to reach out to the priests and allow them to know He is their Messiah come to heal and forgive. The Messiah should come for all the people of Israel and not just those who would approach Him without questioning . Jesus knows what goes on in our heads and knows we have doubts; He tries to open things in our lives whereby we can have those doubts removed, as long as we listen!
Jesus’ ministry was to the people of Israel, but He chose disciples to continue His work and Apostles to go out into all the world and spread the Good News of what He had done for us all. We don’t have to wait until He returns before we can ask Him for forgiveness, or ask Him for healing and comfort, He is willing to help each and every one of us who come to Him in spirit. We can simply reach out to Him in prayers and He will show He is willing to answer those prayers!
Points to Ponder:
Are you waiting for something before you believe?
Will you believe and then wait instead?