- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 563
November 18: Luke 19:45-48
Key Verse: Luke 19:46
‘It is written,’ he said to them, ‘“My house will be a house of prayer”; but you have made it “a den of robbers”.’
Devotion:
What sort of things do you get up with your community and your church? Do you focus only on the people who have committed themselves to follow Christ or do you reach out and get everyone involved? Do you get involved with things in the community? How far do you go? These are all difficult choices we continue to make in our lives; sometimes we can’t stand to be around worldly people and we withdraw to what we think is a safe place.
Sometimes we get too involved with worldly ways and we get a bit off track in our own lives. What God focuses on is what is in our hearts and the work we do because of what is in our hearts. It is no good just thinking of ourselves and knowing we are safe in God’s hands. It is no good running around in worldly ways because we think people in the church are too insular… there is a middle ground which is hard to define unless we follow what God has already written down for us.
Our bibles are a constant source of righteousness and ways in which we should be living. Following God’s ways by following what He has written down for us is always a better way forward. What we must not do, though, is bend the words of the bible to suit our own ways or worldly ways just so we can have a good time.
It may sound like it is ok and may ‘taste’ good at the time, but if we are sinning against God, the sin will find us out and we will have to face up to the consequences of our actions. We will also have to face the consequences of our lack of actions!
Points to Ponder:
What rules do you follow in life?
Does God approve of your actions?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 528
November 17: Isaiah 11:1-5
Key Verse: Isaiah 11:4
but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
Devotion:
Many people do not look into the scriptures because they see a church where people don’t seem to be following the ideals they think people should follow; people have this idea church people will never do anything wrong and when they see someone do something wrong, they turn away thinking the whole church is like that! This is something we face as church people all around the world!
If we look back into the scriptures which were written many years ago we see stories which may shock us and stories we find distasteful because they differ so much from our modern lives. Well, if we lives during those times we may find they are just normal stories and nothing out of the ordinary. You see, even people inside church congregations get things wrong and mess up!
Even back during these times a promise was made that a Saviour would come to save us from all the things we do wrong. That Saviour was Jesus Christ, born to a virgin who's name was Mary. This man was actually the Son of God and He came to give us hope and eternal life. He did not come to judge us like a stern teacher or church leader. Instead He came to judge people through their hearts instead!
He lifts us the poor and needy, breaks down the proud and fickle, helps the helpless and warns the people who refuse to help those He asks to help… He is our judge, but He judges with a righteousness not found in ordinary humans, but one found in Him.
Points to Ponder:
Do you feel like your are too guilty to go to church?
Do you realise all the people in church are actually sinners?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 565
November 16: Luke 19:11-28
Key Verse: Luke 19:14
‘But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, “We don’t want this man to be our king.”
Devotion:
This is one of those parables which Jesus told people, whether this was said twice in slightly different format or whether the disciples remember it differently, we can work out a lot from looking into it. So there was this important guy who was going away for something important and he gave charge of parts of his land or investments to three other people… That's about the gist of it!
In this account the people who were put in charge did not want this person to return with even more power; maybe they were secretly hoping he would never return! But he did! They did not know when he was going to return, just that they were told he would return. Sound familiar? It should do because Jesus has promised to return at a time unknown and he has left us, the people, in charge of things!
So what are we doing with the responsibility Jesus has given us. Have we buried the gospel and are hoping to bring it out just as He returns so we have something to show? Have we worked a bit and played a bit and generally done a half baked job? Or have we committed our ways to spreading the gospel through our actions and our words?
Jesus has given us charge of a very important task. The ball is in our court and He is watching to see what we are going to do with it. The time is now. The opportunities are endless. The chance is ours to take or to discard!
Points to Ponder:
Have you taken God at His word?
Or are you waiting for something to happen first?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 606
November 15: Psalm 15:1-5
Key Verse: Psalm 15:2
The one whose way of life is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart;
Devotion:
This is one of those Psalms which makes us realise just how far short of the mark we all fall when it comes to being like Jesus. We can safely say Jesus is holy because He was able to continue doing the right thing at all times, keeping the Fathers word, making sure people heard the gospel and helping people no matter what their background!
Do we deserve to live in heaven with Him? No! But we are going to because He stepped in and took the punishment for all the little things we do wrong (and the big things!) Jesus knew we were going to fall short of the mark so stepped in to make sure we would pass! Maybe like letting someone else take your exam for you so your certificate gives a 100% mark! (But obviously not cheating like that!)
Think about each of the points raised here and think about how you approach them in your life. Do you pass with flying colours, or do you still have a bit of work to do. I know I have work to do on so many of these items. I try to keep these points, but I know I fall short when push comes to shove.
Some of the hardest points to keep are the ones where we have to be polite to people who are rude to us or be nice to people who mistreat us… It does not mean we have to be a push-over, but there is a difference between standing firm in what is right and doing something just to spite someone else. Jesus did not show spite, and nor should we...
Points to Ponder:
How tough do you find life?
Will you try to allow Jesus more room to teach you?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 517
November 14: Luke 18:35-43
Key Verse: Luke 18:42
Jesus said to him, ‘Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.’
Devotion:
How many times have you read passages in your bible where something has happened to a person because they have believed in God? I know it is a difficult thing to hear, especially when you have things going wrong in your life or when people have let you down – but God does look after us and does change the things around us to help and protect us!
I had a hard time believing God would do anything for me as a stroppy teenager, and I still have my doubts at times; but enough things have happened in my life to ensure I do trust and obey God. I have had things work themselves out as soon as I asked God for help. I have had things which took ‘forever’ to work out when I asked… But God always comes through and helps out when I ask.
That is the key thing here. We have to ask! This blind man who was sitting by the roadside outside of Jericho would not have known it was Jesus coming along. We can only assume there was a bit of a hustle and bustle happening which made him ask what was happening. When he heard it was Jesus, he had no delay in shouting out for help from Jesus! He was bold and he was a believer – he also had nothing to lose!
Jesus saw what was in his heart and immediately healed the man making sure he understood it was because of his faith and belief in God. If we are willing to have faith and believe in Jesus too, then He is willing to help us out; but we have to wait for His answer knowing He is going to answer!
Points to Ponder:
How patient are you with your prayers?
Do you give God time to answer?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 562
November 13: Malachi 4:1-3
Key Verse: Malachi 4:1
‘Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘Not a root or a branch will be left to them.
Devotion:
I think many Christians grow up thinking everything is going to be OK and we will all get to heaven in the end. What God has warned us about and has told us over and over again in the scriptures is there is going to be a time when He says enough is enough! That day is not going to be what many people expect. There will be some who will tell you when this day will be, but remember, Jesus told the disciples He did not even know when He was here as a human being!
As long as we truly believe Jesus has done what He did for us and is our Saviour, then we will not have to worry about this day because we will get to be with Christ in heaven before the destruction of things. This is not to say we will not see natural disasters and horrific events (such as the ever present worry about a nuclear event) because these continue to happen (but hopefully not the nuclear one) all around the world.
Then there is the ‘reality’ side of things where we live in this world and have people who seem to be intent on the destruction of property and/or people. We all live in this world and so we are all affected by these types of people. Just because we say we are a Christian will not stop us from being hurt when we are standing next to someone when an avalanche happens… I believe if we are truly listening to God, then He would warn us to stay away from that place if we have more work to do for Him…
God is good; it’s the people of this world we have to worry about!
Points to Ponder:
Do you believe and trust in God?
Do you listen?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 605
November 12: 3 John 1:5-8
Key Verse: 3 John 1:6
They have told the church about your love. Please send them on their way in a manner that honours God.
Devotion:
How many strangers have knocked on your door recently; maybe trying to sell something, to ask for money or your vote or other strange reasons. How did you treat them? Would you have treated them any differently if they had known you were a Christian?
We do tend to treat people differently based on current circumstances, how well you know them and how much you like them. How does that relate to the way Jesus treated people when He was with us? Jesus treated all people equally. It did not matter if you were a king or a beggar, He would treat you with respect and humility. But if you worked against God then Jesus would have no problem telling you where you had gone wrong and what God thought of it!
When I was young and just out of university there were not many jobs going so I went along to join a sales team with some door to door sales… This is where I learned a very different story to the advert for the job; the sales people were dishonest in their dealings with people. I could not handle telling people lies when I could see they clearly could not afford the books we were trying to sell them! I left before the day ended!
Jesus wants us to treat strangers the same way as we treat our friends and family, always telling them the truth and sharing the gospel story with them wherever we can. When we see others doing God’s work, we should be willing to step in and help wherever we can too. The goal is to share Jesus with the whole world!
Points to Ponder:
How do you treat strangers to your door?
Will you greet someone differently today?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 493
November 11: 2 John 1:4-9
Key Verse: 2 John 1:6
And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.
Devotion:
Today we remember all those who have gone before us and have served their country in order to keep us safe. We remember them for their sacrifice and their willingness to give the ultimate price for keeping other people safe – what love!
Jesus always reminded people they need to love one another and the disciples took this forward to all the places they visited, encouraging more people to share love instead of wars. We continue to face wars and all manner of fighting from people not sharing love and not caring for others; the opposite of what Jesus was trying to get us to do.
What is left from all the wars and the fighting? The pain of sorrow. Our feelings for those who have given their lives for us should never diminish over time, but they do because our memories grow cold and as generations move to new generations, people don’t remember the fallen like those who’s brothers and sisters fell.
God wants us to remember our love for others, even during these torrid times. He wants us to remember love will be so much better than the loss we will incur after fighting wars with our neighbours. We need to continue remembering the fallen generation after generation so the new generations can see the loss in real terms, but we also need to share the love so they can compare the loss with the love...
Points to Ponder:
Will you remind your children of the importance of remembering the fallen?
Will you remind your children of the importance of love to prevent the wars?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 539
November 10: Luke 17:20-25
Key Verse: Luke 17:23
People will tell you, “There he is!” or “Here he is!” Do not go running off after them.
Devotion:
Have you ever been asked what Heaven is going to be like? I know I have been asked by many a youth as they tried to get to know God better, but it is an answer which I could not give in the way they wanted. We describe Heaven as being a place where there is no hatred and no suffering, and yet we cannot describe it as being a place where we all get married to the perfect partners and have a jolly good time...
We long to be able to see things with our own eyes so we can believe them. We try to imagine everything in terms of what we have seen before. Heaven is not going to be like anything we have seen or experienced before because it is going to be so very different! How can we then try to describe this place to people who want to know?
I like to try and describe it in terms of inner feelings rather than outward seeing. I try to get people to imagine something which they will not see unless they have their eyes closed… how can we see with our eyes closed? It is not the physical seeing we need to do but the spiritual seeing, and that seems to fare better when we do have our eyes closed!
We are going to get people who try to con us by saying they have seen where heaven is and try to get us to follow them. Instead, try to think of it in terms of Jesus descriptions where He does not give physical descriptions but tries to show us through spiritual meaning.
Points to Ponder:
Do you ever try to figure out where heaven is?
Will you trust Christ to have heaven prepared for you, no matter what?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 650
November 9: Psalm 23:1-6
Key Verse: Psalm 23:1
The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
Devotion:
This is probably the best known psalm from the bible and one which is used often to encourage people with support from God. It is one which I have seen many war movies with these words written on helmets or walls. It is one which is now written and displayed in many pictures on the Internet.
The words from the first verse say it all. The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing… Because Christ is our shepherd and high priest, there should be nothing we lack in our lives – yet we choose to see many places where we think we lack things. If we stop and have a proper look at the things we think we lack, we will see those things are normally things of this world and not spiritual or heavenly things!
Even though these words are talking about the spiritual and heavenly things we have in abundance, it is also reminding us Christ will support us in earthly ways as well. When it talks of green pastures, quiet waters and refreshing our souls, these are all things we relate to in earthly terms but which span both earthly and heavenly realms. When we know Christ is on our side we are sustained both spiritually and physically – this is why these words are used in dire times to give us strength and courage.
Even though we may face all manner of terrible things, we can always look forward to the eternal and amazing rewards awaiting us with Jesus. Nothing on this earth is bigger than the eternal rewards we are going to get. Nothing here on earth should phase us; but things do and we need reminding of the awesome power and might of God. These words in this Psalm do just that – remind us nothing is impossible with God!
Points to Ponder:
How many things get you down in life?
Will you try to compare those with what awaits you in heaven?