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August 4: Isaiah 48:12-19
Key Verse: Isaiah 48:16
Draw near to me; hear this! From the beginning I have not spoken in secret; from the time it came to be I have been there. And now the Lord God has sent me and his spirit.
Devotion:
As I am relaxing at the end of my 'day off' as a person who works from home, I had this passage pop up in my YouTube plays suggestions. So I naturally sat down and went through it a few times as the person explained, in their mind, just who is speaking to us through these words.
Isaiah was a great prophet who was very in tune with God and on many occasions he told us what God was telling him; this being one of those times. A passage which is pure, looking forward, backward and in the here and now for us to unpick.
For me this is one of those occasions when God reminds us, through Jesus, that he alone is God, but in the full Trinity and not just God the Father, God the Son or God the Holy Spirit. All three working together as one for our benifit, written so many years ago before we even get to see Jesus walking amongst human beings.
But we can look back to Genesis and see Jesus talking to us. We can look at the Gospels and hear Jesus talking to us. And we can look at Revelation to find otu what Jesus has in store for our futures.
Points to ponder:
How often do you think of God being a historical entity?
How often do you look at God as being in three parts and with us constantly every day!
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August 4: Mark 1:1-8
Key Verse: Mark 1:8
I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.
Devotion:
I love looking back at words like this which link together Christian events in my mind and allow me to understand a little bit more about how early Christians were bucking the trend and listening to what God had to say rather than blindly going on what the 'teachers' had to say back then.
If we blindly follow what a person says rather than gethering evedence and following the evidence, we are just followers of a person and not really followers of God. I know, what about the preacher up fron in church? Well, any good preacher is going to tell you to go and find out more rather than just believing them!
Many popular preachers will tell you to listen to them, obey them and do something for the 'church.' If they are doing this to promote the local church where they preach at instead of promoting God through his word, then I would like you to start questioning what they are doing.
God wants us to seek the truth, something he tries to teach us all the time. If we are willing to discern what we hear and compare it against all the evidence we have through the bible, then we are on the right track. If we are just following one person, we are on their track only.
Points to ponder:
How often do you seek God's word?
Will you take what you last heard in church and try to find out a little bit more about it for yourself...
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August 3: Matthew 14:13-21
Key Verse: Matthew 14:14 When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion for them and cured their sick.
Devotion:
I wonder if you are feeling the strain of Christian living. I wonder if you are tired and need a rest. Jesus came down to live as a human being amongst us which meant he would also get tired and weary. It is OK to ge weary. It is OK to want to stop for a while and rest.
Jesus reached a point where he had heard of John being killed and he just needed to stop for a while and get comforted by his father in heaven. We are all human and we need time out to get our heads and hearts 'back in the game.' How are we going to be able to help others if we are totally worn out?
Jesus took himself away and I'm sure he communed with God for that extra bit of comfort and energy. But as soon as the people caught up with him, he went back to being the servant of God he was born to be.
Each of us, if we listen to God, will find out what it is he would like us to do for him. Each of us has got to make time to do the things he is asking of us and to allow others to be blessed by what God has brought into our lives.
Points to Ponder:
How often do you need to stop and rest each day?
Do you bring God into those quiet times?
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August 2: Genesis 32:22-32
Key Verse: Genesis 32:24
Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.
Devotion:
This is one passage that fascinates me because it makes me stop and think about my journey with God. My journey has not always been an easy ride or a joyful experience because I live within a world filled with sin and other things!
God wants us to remember how he is with us at all times; during the times when we think we are on top of the world and at the times when we think we can no longer sink any deeper. We may not see him and we may not feel like he is with us, but he is.
At times we are going to want to fight with him and even shout at him because we think everything may be unfair against us. There are going to be times when we want to shout for joy because all we see him do. But I challenge you to try to think of how God is with you at any and every point during your day, week, month, year... life!
Jacob wrestled with what he assumed to be a man. He was not going to give us because he was protecting his family. He would not stop! God is just like that - he will never stop!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you fight inwardly with God?
Are you ready to allow him to pick on you to do his will?
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August 1: Luke 24:36-43
Key Verse: Luke 24:36
While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you."
Devotion:
Can you imagine talking about someone whom you miss and they suddenly appear next to you? Now, while I am sure we have all experienced the joy of seeing someone for the first timew after a long period of time without them, we are seeing something very different here... they all believed Jesus was dead because they saw he had died! Can you now imagine the shock of Jesus appearing in their midst.
Whilst we can think of the many ways in which we can gain encouragement from these verses, I would like you to think of why Jesus chose this time to appear amongst his disciples again after his ressurection. I can imagine the love Jesus had experienced when he appeared to walk with the two disciples on the way to Emmaus. Now he knew they would all be gathered together in one place, out of sight from the general public... how could he not chose this moment!
Jesus' love for us is far greater and deeper than we realise. The more we think about it and the more we find out about it, the more we begin to see how much deeper it is than what we first thought.
Each day we think about it we may start to wonder why he would ever love us because of the things we do; but we should also look into his word to see just how much he does think of us all the time. That should change our lives and allow us to try to do more for and with him - always!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you consider God's love for you?
What are you going to do with this knowledge that he loves you?
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July 31: 1 Samuel 16:1-5
Key Verse: 1 Samuel 16:4
Samuel did what the Lord commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling and said, "Do you come peaceably?"
Devotion:
When Saul had allowed the power of his position to get into his head, he started to do things for himself instead of doing things for God. Once he started down that slippery slope, there was no stopping him as the world and all it's temptation took hold in his life.
When we allow the world to take hold of our lives we begin to lose sight of the things God actually wants in our lives and the ways He would like us to be. The more we focus on the world, the more we take hold of its ways and lose the ways of God.
It does not mean we have to be pure and holy; none of us can attain such a way of life without giving our lives totally to God like Jesus did. That is an impossible task for all of us because we live in this sinful world and lead a life surrounded by this sin.
But when we start to listen to God and obey what it is He wants us to do, others will take notice and they may even be affraid of what we are doing. Why? Because we are doing what God wants and that shows the weaknesses and faults of everyone around us - something nobody wants to have pointed out in their lives! Stay close to God and listen to Him... then obey...
Points to ponder:
How often do you stop to listen to God?
How about taking a bit of time to go to a place such as an open church and just stop and listen...
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July 30: Psalm 34:4-10
Key Verse: Psalm 34:8
O taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are those who take refuge in him.
Devotion:
I thought it was about time I started doing a bit of studying and writing; well, not so much studying as drawing closer to God by reading His word with a purpose rather than just reading another section of the bible so that I can say I have read the whole bible again! So, let's go on a journey where we can find out what God has to say to us through His Word again.
My choice of verses to start with was simple, what did the lectionary have for today (yesterday as you read this) and what would He be trying to say to me through those passages. This Psalm stuck out and after reading it, it made a lot of sence! God wants us to stay close to Him, and we do that by staying close through His Word.
The last few weeks I have been on a constant battle of fighting hackers who just seem bent on making other people's lives a misery. They are doing this through the use of AI, making AI read through the code underpinning many web sites, including this one, and asking AI to find ways of breaking into sites through code which has not been written with the strictest of security in mind!
I can remember running a BBS (Bulleting Board System) which prided itself in being open so anyone could use it. This site used to be very open but bad actors get in and spoil the world for the rest of us. This is the way of the world nowadays and we have to be prepared to stand up against those bad actors. It takes courage and time and effort; but with God by your side, there is always a way you can continue to be happy with Him.
Points to ponder:
Are you being bombarded by bad actors?
Are you remembering just how godo life can be with God, despite them!
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October 3: Job 19:21-27
Key Verse: Job 19:21
Have pity on me, my friends, have pity, for the hand of God has struck me.
Devotion:
Sometimes we need the people around us to affirm our trust and faith in God. What does that mean? Well, we are the ones who know what our faith means to us and we are the ones who know what God means to us; but sometimes that faith and belief can get eroded by what people around us say and do. It can be hard to keep up our faith and trust in God when those around us seem to be fighting against that faith and trust!
When our friends and family support us or contribute to our faith, our faith becomes stronger and we grow in Christ. When they are fighting that we often falter in our walk with God because we cannot put up with them being against us as well as any things going wrong in our lives! But with their love and support we seem to have no problem relying on God when we need to because we know we have the backing of those around us.
I know I have said this before, but when people start arguing within the church we often find those arguments reach out to more people than the two arguing. It often causes rifts within the whole church and certainly does not help people to keep their faith and love for God as strong as it should be! This is probably why Job was crying out – not because he lost faith in God, but because he did not want to have to put up with the nay-sayers as well as what was happening in his personal life.
Love each other and support each other – always!
Points to Ponder:
Do you love and support all people in your church?
Will you go out of your way to support someone new this week?
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October 2: Luke 9:57-62
Key Verse: Luke 9:62
Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
Devotion:
How many times have you heard someone say how much God loves you or how much we should love Him? How many of those times have they told you it would be such a wonderful life and times if you would follow Christ? How many times has someone stopped to tell you the truth about how much it will cost to follow Christ?
I may live in a country where I am free to follow God and free to talk about Him in public – but there are so many places in our world today where we are not allow to openly say we follow Christ for fear of being imprisoned or breaking some sort of law! God does not want us to think following Him is going to be a piece of cake and everything will run smoothly as soon as we do follow Him.
Jesus warned the disciples and others around Him they would have to put up with many things such as being persecuted if they chose to follow Him. They would have to face that because of the law of the land which mankind had created to suit themselves – not because it was the wrong thing to do!
Here we are reminded of just some of the costs of following Christ. We risk alienating our friends and family at times because we choose to follow Christ. We may well come up against all manner of bad things just as we know Job faced. None of these things are created by God, but by man for mankind. God wants us to buck the trend and to submit to His ways and His will in our lives instead.
Points to Ponder:
Are you willing to stand up for Jesus?
Are you willing to face persecution just because you love Jesus?
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October 1: Job 3:11-17
Key Verse: Job 3:11
Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb?
Devotion:
One of the hardest things to fight is depression in our lives. No matter how many people around us say we should perk up or do this or do that, we stumble at every step we try to take and the more we stumble, the harder it is to think about walking properly in our lives again. I cannot imagine what Job was going through after losing his whole family in such a cruel way and I would not know how to respond to anyone in their situation other than by trying to tell them how much God does loves them and how much He cares for them.
No matter how deep we are in depression or how much we cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel, if we can understand how much God cares for us, we can overcome anything. I can recall a time when I dropped to my knees in absolute fear of what was going to happen, not so much because of my safety, but the safety of my children who were with me at the time. I know God had me there and then because I know what happened now that I lived through that time…
What did it take? Did it take someone to tell me about God at that moment? No. Did it take someone to shake me and remind me of God’s power? No. It took a moment of pure submission on my behalf where I demonstrated to God I was willing to submit to Him for our livelihoods. He did not let me down then, and He has never let me down!
Points to Ponder:
How upset do you get with things when the world is not right?
How much does it take for you to submit to God?