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July 16: Matthew 12:14-21
Key Verse: Matthew 12:15
Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. A large crowd followed him, and he healed all who were ill.
Devotion:
No matter what the people were up to Jesus knew He had to continue to make sure God’s promises stood firm and came to pass! The Pharisees continued to try and entrap Jesus, plotting against Him wherever they could but Jesus remained one step ahead all the time. Even when the end seemed like it had come Jesus remained firm and stood up to make sure God’s Word was kept!
When Jesus knew bad things were going to happen, He side stepped them until He knew the time was right. During this time when these words were coming true, Jesus side-stepped the Pharisees plans and continued to heal and care for the ill. He continued to show mercy even in the sight of danger… but He did ask the people not to spread the good news of them being healed so there would be a delay between what happened and when the Pharisees found out!
These words were foretold by the prophet Isaiah many years before when he told Israel they would see a servant king come to bring justice to the poor and needy and He would not use wars and injustice to bring about the justice – that would be man’s way!
As human beings we do get things terribly wrong at times – we bring injustice to the table so we can see when justice is done, we use evil to prove good exists. Jesus was very different and used love and hope to show how good exists. Jesus continued to bring hope and show mercy all the time He was amongst us on earth. He then showed absolute humility and gave His own life for us so we could know the goodness and righteousness of God.
Points to Ponder:
What do you do to show people goodness and mercy?
Will you share Christ’s love through goodness and mercy?
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July 15: Matthew 12:1-8
Key Verse: Matthew 12:5
Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent?
Devotion:
It is very easy to get carried away with the pomp and ceremony in any church service; normally people point fingers at the high church services, but there is ceremony in all services and people tend to do what has always been done or do what is supposed to be done instead of allowing the Holy Spirit to move freely amongst the people.
When Jesus was pulled up about the disciples picking and eating corn from the field, He reminded the people about what David had done and many more since – they broke the strict letter of the law but it was done out or urgency and not out of spite. Jesus wanted them to see the difference and to know that God will allow you to do things out of urgency or need rather than having to stick to the strict laws of the church.
The church services we go to are typically in celebration of what Jesus has done for us and how He gave everything so we can live! The purpose of the service is to worship God in three persons and not to see how close you can to getting things done perfectly in line with the law! Our purpose is to worship God with everything we have, not to try and impress Him how well we can stick to the laws!
Jesus wants us to have a loving relationship with Him, not a master/servant relationship where we have to do everything exactly right in order to get by. Jesus spoke freely and told the people He desired mercy and not sacrifice; this means showing mercy to people who get things wrong because they cannot help it and not sticking to what is lawful and stopping people from getting what they need!
Points to Ponder:
Do you stick to the law or stick to what is right?
The law should be right, but following God is more important?
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July 14: Matthew 11:28-30
Key Verse: Matthew 11:29
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Devotion:
How many times have you heard Matthew 11:28 said? “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” I have heard this verse said in many churches but not many continue on to the next couple of verses; today we do!
Jesus was indeed encouraging people to come to Him so He could give them some respite from the heavy burden life sometimes gives us, but He also wanted us to know this was a two way thing. We should swap our burdens with Christ. He has given us His life and continues to want us to know more about Him and His love for us. For us to learn that we need to know the truth about what He has done for us, accept that truth and to follow the instructions given us.
Christ’s burden at this time to to teach people about God, His love and to make sure they knew they could be saved from their sins by simply believing the truth. That is the burden we should be taking from Him – not the terror He went through in order for our sins to be forgiven, but the burden of sharing the good news with anyone who is willing to listen. He wants us to be gentle and humble as He was, showing people a new side to the fearsome God they thought they knew!
If we are willing to follow Jesus’ example and His ways, then we are going to find a new life waiting for us. A life where we will find rest for our souls in amongst the terrors of this world. The world will give us headaches and nightmares (so to speak) but God wants us not to worry about those things but give them to Him so He can show us the rest He wants us to have.
Points to Ponder:
Do you accept the burden of sharing the gospel?
Will you trust Christ’s words and live a better life?
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July 13: Romans 15:14-21
Key Verse: Romans 15:21
Rather, as it is written: ‘Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.’
Devotion:
One of the hardest things to accept is someone saying you have to do something you do not like! I’m sure Paul had mixed feelings about his going out to the Gentiles in the beginning since he started out as being the staunchest of Jews; so being told he should go to the gentiles and teach them about Christ may have come as a bit of a shock in the beginning.
But as the words in this section of passage tell us, Paul thought it the greatest honour to be able to go out and tell people about Christ – no matter who they were or where they came from! This is the attitude we need to see more of in our churches in the Western World. We do tend to stick to our own and not go out of our comfort zones or out of our circle of friends… How is the church supposed to expand if we do not break those moulds and go out to people we don’t normally see or talk to!
When Jesus told us we have to love God with everything and love our neighbours, it did not mean just the person next door, but everyone around us. The more the world takes on travel and the internet, the more our neighbours become further afield and more widespread.
God wants us to be able to reach out to people who haven’t heard the gospel yet… How are they going to get to know how special it is to be in a relationship with Christ unless someone shows them and tells them? Our goal as disciples is to reach out to people in whatever means we can, to tell them about Christ and to allow them to want to do the same – this is the love of Christ spreading...
Points to Ponder:
Who knows you are a Christian?
Who do you talk to about God?
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July 12: Matthew 11:20-24
Key Verse: Matthew 11:24
But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.
Devotion:
One of the things we often forget about is that Jesus is very serious about us being in a relationship with Him! We like to focus on the love He has for us and we lose track of just what that love means; we assume He is going to be able to forgive us no matter what we do! Whilst it is true He will forgive us for anything if we are willing to repent for what we have done wrong, we do have to repent!
Do you take people for granted when you are in a relationship with them? If you do, how does that go? Do they get weary and stop being so kind and loving? We all have our limits in any relationship and we all get to a point where we cannot go on any further!
Christ has His limits too – His limits may be far and beyond anything we can imagine, but He does have limits! Jesus began to talk about those limits here in an attempt to make people stop and realise they were going too far and had to do something about their lives to make sure they would still be able to join Him in Heaven.
Christ did not promise us He would not turn anyone away – He promised us He would not turn anyone away who was willing to step back from their sins and ask Him for forgiveness. He wants us to stop and realise we have to make that important step before we get to gain that forgiveness!
Points to Ponder:
Do you ask Christ to forgive you?
Or are you expecting Him to forgive you?
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July 11: Luke 17:26-36
Key Verse: Luke 17:28
It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building.
Devotion:
These descriptions of the time when Christ will return should make us stop and think about what we are doing with our lives. Each time when God has appointed a time, many people did not see those times coming because they were too busy living their lives – be it in a good way or a bad way, they were focused on their lives instead of God’s warning or pending time limit.
When it was time for Noah to save the few people the rest of the world was busy enjoying their lives and continuing without listening to God’s warnings. When Lot had warned the people about God’s pending judgement, the people ignored Lot and continued on in their own ways. When Christ comes again the same will be happening – many people will be ignoring what God has promised and the warnings we have had and they will be too busy focusing on themselves to notice Christ’s return!
Believers and non believers will be separated in an instant because the non believers will be focused on themselves whilst the believers should be focused on God. The moment Christ return will separate the people who are obeying God and those who are not! Friends and families will be split up. Co-workers will be separated. People will not see it coming unless they are looking to God and watching and waiting.
We need to remember warning words like these so that we are ready for the time when Christ does return. It will be in an instant where we could quite easily miss it if we are focused on the world instead of on God.
Points to Ponder:
Do you prepare for events in your future?
How well have you prepared for Christ’s return?
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July 10: Psalm 82:1-8
Key Verse: Psalm 82:5
The “gods” know nothing, they understand nothing. They walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
Devotion:
God is God of everything; we cannot hope to understand His thoughts because they are so far and above anything we can think or imagine… but we still talk to Him as if we do understand and complain about the things we think are unjust! We cannot understand how God seems to allow wicked and evil people to not just survive but thrive in many places around the world!
Rather than trying to second guess God or to impose our own judgements on how He does things in this world, let’s just look at the things we can all agree upon in these verses! God is God over everything. No matter how many gods mankind invents or tries to worship, God is God over all of them, made up or otherwise!
The gods are in the same boat as God Himself in that we like to judge whether they are doing things right instead of trusting Him to do what is actually right for all mankind. With all the gods who have been created and worshipped over the years, we see a trail of death and destruction because they cannot and do not control this world!
The gods we create come and go over time just like habits and fads, they are not here to stay forever like God is. God remains unchanging and yet when we look at he history of created gods, we see so much change over time! There can only be one judge over all and that is God Almighty Himself because He has created everything and sees and knows everything...
Points to Ponder:
How much do you understand of this universe?
Will you trust God with the rest of the universe?
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July 9: Romans 14:1-9
Key Verse: Romans 14:3
The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them.
Devotion:
Each time I get to read verses like these I am reminded of the feud some have between vegetarians and carnivores! Why do so many people take offence at the little things in life like our diets, where we live, how we live or even our skin colour! When Jesus told us to love one another it was to put aside these things in our lives and learn to accept we are all different – but we can live together!
At the moment I am on a diet of mostly softer fruits. I struggled in the beginning because I wanted so much to have a pizza or a steak, but my health has dictated otherwise for the time being. I must say I am enjoying having so much fruit and things like smoothies and milkshakes made with real fruit!
God wants all of us to be able to live the lives which are best for us – but this does not mean we can immediately judge one another and say we should all be eating fruit and drinking smoothies. God has given this world for us and asked us to take proper care of it. This has meant taking care of animals and fish as well for our food, but those choices as to what we finally get to eat should be made by us and not forced on by others.
As long as we remember who has given us the food in the beginning and thank Him for the blessing of being able to enjoy the food we have, then we are doing what is right by God. If we don’t take care of our environment, then we will pay the price by not having the best food available to us. God will get us to listen when we go off the rails; but we really do need to listen to Him and obey His guidance in our lives!
Points to Ponder:
Do you frown at people who are vegan or carnivores?
Have you thanked God for allowing you to have the food you had today?
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July 8: Matthew 10:16-20
Key Verse: Matthew 10:16
I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
Devotion:
When Jesus sent the disciples out to be disciples, He did not tell them they were going to have a wonderful time telling people about Him and thousands would flock to find out the truth – He told them they were about to start on a very difficult journey which could end up with them being arrested or worse! They would be taking off in the deep end, or jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire (to quote a couple of English sayings which indicate the going is about to get tough!)
The disciples would have to be on their guard as the people around them would be the ones who trip them up and get them in prison. These are the very people they were being told to go and tell the gospel to! But all through this they were told not to worry about what they should be saying to the people!
Have you ever gone off into the unknown without being prepared? It is quite nerve-wracking knowing you are going to face issues never mind having to face being arrested or even flogged in the synagogues! Let that sink in for a moment… they were going to face flogging in the synagogues – the ‘safe places’ they were used to going into to find what people were saying about God!
Jesus was turning their worlds upside down and telling them nothing was going to be easy from this point on. The same warning should be said to us when we volunteer to go out and be the disciples Christ says we need to be. The world around us is a very scary place where there are a lot of people working against God and doing strange and terrible things. We may well have to face up to them because Christ may want us to talk to them!
Points to Ponder:
Do you get tongue tied when you try to talk about Jesus?
Will you try trusting the Holy Spirit to tell you what to say?
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July 7: Luke 16:19-26
Key Verse: Luke 16:25
But Abraham replied, “Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.
Devotion:
With all the uproar and strange happening in politics and governmental circles in the UK, I am surprised there are not a lot more people around the world pointing fingers at the government here. It is so sad to see the politicians looking after themselves and no longer serving the people as they had promised to do so when they were elected! One thing we do not get with Jesus is a bunch of empty promises which stand to be broken!
As a community, rather extended community of this country, we should be pulling together and working toward the good of the whole country and not a privileged few who have taken power. I see their actions in much the same light as this rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen ignoring the poor and needy people at his gate. It was only after the rich man lost everything by dying he saw the futility of what he had done all his life – to no reward!
Yet the beggar who had spent much of his life being looked down upon and being disregarded in all ways, was now enjoying a much better life by Abraham’s side in heaven. He had stayed true to his self and to God whereas the rich man had rejected God’s ways and followed the riches and cruel ways instead. The rich man was now paying for all his wrong-doings by living in constant torment.
Christ wants us all to be able to join Him in Heaven; but in order to do that we have to make the choice of allowing Christ to be in our lives and following His will and His ways. It is not an onerous task when we compare the short time we live on earth to the eternity we will spend in Heaven...
Points to Ponder:
Do you choose to live with your community or in spite of it?
Do you choose to live with Christ or in spite of Him?