- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 691
February 18: Hebrews 11:1-2
Key Verse: Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
Devotion:
What happens when we loose faith in something? We can no longer trust it or believe in it because we can no longer see our hope leads to a conclusion… When the people of Israel were being guided through the desert by God, they continued to have faith whilst they could see the pillar of cloud and the pillar of light. But if they did not see the physical proof, they would lose faith in following God and start to wander off into worldly ways instead.
When we lose our trust in God, we lose so much in our lives! Imagine not being able to trust someone after they had done something wrong and broken that trust… But God does not break the trust but keeps His promises and shows us our faith in what He has promised is a sure thing… But we still allow doubt to come into our lives…
If we are able to put our trust in what God has said will happen, we show the world we have faith in God. When you can show the people around you that you have faith in something, especially in God, then they are encouraged to try and seek out what you know as the truth. This is the best way we can show anyone we have faith in God…
It all comes down to us saying we believe and showing we believe. That is what others will see as the measure of our faith. If we can show this to God, then our God will know our true feeling and will support us more in our lives.
Points to Ponder:
How much do you trust God’s Word?
Will you try and have a bit more faith in God’s Word?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 676
February 17: Mark 8:34-38
Key Verse: Mark 8:36
What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?
Devotion:
When Jesus told the disciples what a life of being a Christian would be like, they were probably very surprised to hear they would have to go through rough and tough times! Jesus was not one for dressing up the life they should lead and He certainly did not make it seem like His life was easy in any way.
When Jesus gave the command to go out and make disciples, these are the words the disciples may have remembered; why would Jesus say they would have to give up on their normal lives in order to become disciples? It is simply because we should be focused on what we are doing and not having second thoughts about things all the time. The worst thing to break down your faith is doubt! Jesus knows this and does not want us to have to face doubt because that weakens our faith.
How important is it to make sure you don’t have doubts? It is probably the most important thing about your journey with Christ. If you want to be a good disciples, you need to go out and make disciples! If you want to be effective with the task of making disciples, then you need to be able to show people the Gospel story without having doubts in your mind – those doubts show through!
Jesus wants us all to be as sure as possible in our relationship with Him. He wants us to be bold and confident in any dealings where we are talking about Him because our lives are a reflection of our life with Him. The best mirrors are the cleanest and most reflective mirrors. To be the best disciple we can, we should be the best reflection of Christ we can be!
Points to Ponder:
How reflective is your life about Christ?
Will you try to be the best reflection of Christ you can?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 621
February 16: Mark 8:27-33
Key Verse: Mark 8:33
But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. ‘Get behind me, Satan!’ he said. ‘You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.’
Devotion:
What has been the hardest thing in life for you to believe or understand? As a person with a scientific and engineering mindset, I have always looked for the practical answers to almost everything in life and have found most things to be explainable in some manner, but when it comes to the ways of the heart and spiritual ways, I find myself lacking in understanding and sometimes lacking in faith because of that!
Another thing I struggle with is biology and things concerning the body; my hat goes off to all the doctors and nurses out there who have an understanding on how the human body works!
So what do you do when you don’t understand? What do you do when you find yourself lacking the knowledge or wisdom to get through the next step you are trying to take? I found this out when I was in hospital because I had no idea how serious my illness was until I was well enough to speak to the doctors and nurses who looked after me – I then began to understand the seriousness of my situation! But, all throughout my stay in hospital, I knew God was looking after me and He was encouraging me to look for the positive and spiritual sides of everything.
When we don’t understand things we need to defer to someone who does understand and someone who knows what the outcome is going to be! I had no idea and so deferred to God because I had no idea. But for someone who has a partial understanding, it may have been a very different story! I find that with mechanical stuff – I know it is possible and I know there is a physical way forward, but sometimes I cannot see the wood for the trees!
Points to Ponder:
Do you give God a chance to explain things?
Or do you rush in and break stuff?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 662
February 15: Mark 8:22-26
Key Verse: Mark 8:26
Jesus sent him home, saying, ‘Don’t even go into the village.’
Devotion:
When you read verses by themselves you begin to wonder why Jesus did some of the things He did; this is why our study of the bible study should always take into account the whole bible and not just a couple of verses by themselves! Jesus was having a hard time with people in Bethsaida and because of that He took this man outside of the village before He did anything.
When Jesus performed the miracles He did, it was always to bring glory to God and to focus peoples minds on God. If He had stayed in the village and done the healing there, we don’t know what would have happened – but Jesus knew something would go amiss and so took the people out of the village.
Sometimes when we are faced with strife we need to take a step back and think of another approach rather than fighting against the local people. When we are faced with disagreement and conflict which we know will affect how people perceive the Gospel, we need to change our approach. We must not bring doubt into the equation when we are trying to tell people the truth. Jesus was doing the same thing here, knowing someone would disagree or make a scene, so He avoided the conflict and doubters altogether.
When Jesus had healed the man He told the man not to go back into the village and not even to tell them about what had happened outside the village. We can only imagine what was going on to force Jesus to come away from the village in the first place! We should be willing to stop and listen to what God is telling us through the Spirit and through Christ and through His Word; only then can we too avoid the disagreements and doubters who may affect our own faith.
Points to Ponder:
Do you get upset by people talking against God?
Will you try to avoid the doubters and see how your faith changes?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 609
February 14: Psalm 29:1-11
Key Verse: Psalm 29:7
The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning.
Devotion:
When you were growing up, who had a voice which would strike fear into your soul when you heard them shout out? For me as a very young child it was my Dad’s voice which struck fear into me. If he had to raise his voice at me, I knew I was in big trouble!
When the Psalmist wrote these words, I wonder who he was thinking about to describe the voice of God in such a manner. He would have known what the people thought about God from growing up and learning from the scriptures. He would have heard how Moses described the voice of God and how His voice struck fear into many people’s hearts over the years. King David, assuming it was him who wrote these words, knew how dire it was to get on the wrong side of God and having a good knowledge of the history of Israel through the Old Testament meant He knew how serious it would be if God were to speak directly to him!
I think we often gloss over just who God is when it comes to our Bibles. We like to look at the side of God which shows His love and mercy which enables so much in our lives when we need Him, but not to be reminded of the power and might when we do something wrong! I think these words should be read from time to time to remind us of the power of God.
Think about any time when you have been told off for doing something wrong. Think of the feeling of being told you are wrong and knowing it in your heart. Think of the fear which drained the blood and feeling from your face when the fear overtook you. Then think of God’s power in a new light, the light of His wrath when we do things wrong.
Points to Ponder:
Do you always make excuses when you have done something wrong?
What would God say to you?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 733
February 13: Mark 8:11-13
Key Verse: Mark 8:13
Then he left them, got back into the boat and crossed to the other side.
Devotion:
One of the things we don’t get to hear much about is Jesus’s anger. Each time we are told about a situation where we would have probably “flow off the handle,” Jesus would calm the situation down after telling people the truth. Here the Pharisees came to question Jesus because it seemed like He was not following the laws they were giving out. They had a very strict sense of the law and they would make sure people knew all about the law. This would give them a position of importance and would make sure everyone else would be in a position of being guilty!
What better way to placate people than to blame them for things so they are forced to back down because of some feeling of guilt! They came to Jesus and demanded He show them some sort of sign to prove He was the Messiah – what better way to corner an imposter than to force them to back down… at least that is what they were probably thinking!
Instead, Jesus kept the peace by simply saying He would not give them a sign and walking away from them. Sometimes the best way to win an argument is to walk away from it… Jesus was not about to give in to the Pharisees and He certainly did not want them to be in any position of power over His actions – how could they be!
When we are faced with any situation we think puts us in a difficult position, we should be trying to move forward with the truth and without aggravating other people. Much easier said than done because we will always take offence when faced with a truth we do not like… So next time you are cornered, think about the truth and not just your feelings...
Points to Ponder:
Do you retaliate when faced with the truth?
Will you allow God to show you the whole truth?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 518
February 12: Matthew 6:25-34
Key Verse: Matthew 6:32
For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
Devotion:
One of the hardest things to do in life is to rely on someone else for life’s essentials! But, during these times of great turmoil in our lives and in our countries we need to be able to stick together and help each other out whenever we can. This will often mean we have to put our pride aside and allow someone else to do something for us even when we think we should be able to do it!
God wanted the disciples to know this so they would go out into the world, not as great leaders, but as servants depending on the people around them for everything. Jesus was a man who went forward doing things for God and not commanding a great army or a great country – His army was the host of angel who would willingly follow Him as He listen to and obeyed His Fathers instructions!
This is what God would have us to do – to stop worrying about what the world is going to do to us or for us and to trust God for our lives. I used to think it was fine for the church leaders to say this sort of thing when they had a steady job with the church… until I found myself in a place where I could not work for myself and needed to totally rely on God! And guess what… He came through more than I could ever believe possible!
God wants to be able to look out for us and to hold us close at ever opportunity. We have to be willing to let go of the world and allow God to guide us on the path we should be going on and not the path we think the world should give us! There is not much we can do to make our lives worth living other than trying as hard as we can; but what happens when we try hard and seem to fail? Try asking God what you should really be doing!
Points to Ponder:
Do you trust God for everything in your life?
Will you start by trusting Him with one thing at a time?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 545
February 11: Genesis 3:9-11
Key Verse: Genesis 3:10
He answered, ‘I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.’
Devotion:
When was the last time you hid from someone in charge because you had done something wrong? I can remember trying to run away to my friends house to hide because I had done something terrible at home… Of course it didn’t work because my friends parents came round to see what had gone wrong… lets just say emergency services were there to make things safe again!
I’m pretty sure my parents knew exactly where I would head off to when something big like this happened and having people all around who look after you and care for you makes it almost impossible to disappear at times like that. God knows us better than we think He does. He knows where we will try to hide and knows what we get up to…
My parents would have shouted at me long before things got out of hand if they had been on the scene at the time! But they weren’t, and things got out of hand and my brother and I ended up getting into a lot of trouble for the trouble we caused. When we go against God’s wishes in our lives we do face having to admit to our faults at some stage because God already knows! My parents had to ask someone else what happened because they were both working at the time; luckily there was someone looking after us but they were on the other side of the house at the time…
When God came back to see what had happened, the man had run away to hide. I’m pretty sure God knew exactly where he was but God wanted the man to admit to the fault before He passed judgement! The man was not let off just because he admitted the fault; he still had to face the consequences, but because he willingly admitted it, God would make a way whereby the man could be forgiven. That is how awesome God is!
Points to Ponder:
Do you try to hide from problems?
Are you willing to face the consequences?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 699
February 10: Genesis 3:1-7
Key Verse: Genesis 3:1
Now the snake was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say, “You must not eat from any tree in the garden”?’
Devotion:
Just when you think things can not get any worse, something worse comes along! We live in a world where so many things can and do go wrong. At the moment we are praying for people in the Middle East after a devastating earthquake has shaken cities leaving many many people dead and many thousands homeless and without a safe place to live. How can this be? Is God not supposed to be looking out for us?
And God has not caused this because people have turned their backs on Him, nor is it a punishment for something someone has done wrong to God or His people! This is the world in which we live. Earthquakes happen. Volcanoes happen. Floods happen. People get caught up in things like this all the time; and sometimes a whole lot of people get caught up in things like this.
Our lot should be to share the burden with our fellow humans and to try and lessen the load they have to bare. It is not God who makes things like this happen. It is because there is evil in this world. The evil is the cause of all things bad. The longer it goes without being confronted, the more power it has and the worse things will get.
God faced the same thing in the Garden of Eden. Evil forced something bad to happen to Adam and Eve and they had to bare the brunt of the consequences for allowing evil to gain ground. We need to keep bringing God into our lives so He can face up to the evil and not allow it to take hold; but when it does, we need to share the burden with our fellow human beings no matter where in the world they are or what they are facing. Bring God into the equation so you can have a winning hand!
Points to Ponder:
Do you allow evil to take ground?
Or will you allow God to take ground?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 588
February 9: Genesis 2:18-25
Key Verse: Genesis 2:20
So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. But for Adam no suitable helper was found.
Devotion:
In amongst all of this creation and the amazing things which happened, the man realised he needed someone to be with. This is the very essence of being a human – we all need someone! As a single person I know what it feels like to have nobody around most of the time. Yes God is always with me and a very real presence in my life, but its the human contact which we need in our lives.
I have always been a bit of a loner compared to others and I do find myself very good company sometimes, just being able to shut off from the world around me and to be at peace with my surroundings is a bit part of my life. But, no matter how much I enjoy being by myself most of the time, there is always a time when I do strive for company of friends and family… but even that has its limits too…
When God said we need someone as a helper, it was not to have a servant who would do everything for us, not to have a playmate whom we could call upon at any time when we get board. God was talking about having a soul-mate in our lives; someone who you can never be without in your life. Not everyone gets to find their soul-mate in their lifespan, but it is something we all would love to attain!
God knew exactly what the man needed and created a woman, a partner, different but the same, again in His image. God knows who you need in your life and is willing to help you find that person, but listening to Him and waiting on Him is sometimes a bit too much for some people and they go off hunting for something they think they need instead. This is where mankind gets lost and flounders!
Points to Ponder:
Would you trust someone to pick your lifetime partner?
Will you trust God to do exactly that?