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March 6: Deuteronomy 4:5-9
Key Verse: Deuteronomy 4:9
Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.
Devotion:
Have you thought about the wars which are happening around the world today? Have you tried to find an answer to why they are happening and where God is in all this war? It is difficult to try and find the pace and forgiveness we talk about with God when there is war going on instead; but God is everywhere!
We can read all about what God was trying to do with the people of Israel from the Old Testament and try to figure things out in this modern world, but we will come up against many things which we will still struggle to understand. Why? Because people are involved and where people are involved we get a very slanted view on things instead of the will of God like we do from the bible.
God wanted to be able to give His chosen people some good land and a place to live which they could call their own. Obviously someone is going to lose out if God is taking land away from someone to give to another – but He was doing this knowing the Israelites should be remembering why they were given the land and live in the love and mercy of God.
It is that truth of God’s love and mercy we should be remembering to find out why they got the land. Unfortunately when we look at things nowadays we find a lot of people fighting over things which are not Godly. We find a lot of pride and greed going on instead of the love and grace God was trying to teach them.
Points to Ponder:
What has God allowed you to have in your life?
Will you always remember God even when you are rich?
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March 5: Matthew 18:21-22
Key Verse: Matthew 18:22
Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
Devotion:
One of the things we find hardest to do in our lives is to forgive people when they have done something wrong – especially if we think they have done said wrong on purpose! Our simple minds cannot see the good in people when all we see is wrongs. Our hearts are broken by people doing wrongs to us and it takes a lot of rights before we can fix those broken hearts!
When Peter came to Jesus to ask about forgiveness, I think he expected Jesus to give him a simple answer so he could put that into effect. What Jesus did was to give him an answer He knew would not be easy to attain. How can we keep on forgiving people over and over again when they continue to repeat bad things against us?
Jesus wants us to look past the human element and to think of things in a way similar to how He loves us and how God feels about us. Jesus wants us to be able to overcome all hatred and to overcome those personal feelings we carry around long after the fact. He wants us to be able to forgive just as He is forgiving every sin we ever do in our lives…
But it does mean we should be willing to bring those sins to Christ in the first place. We should be willing to go out and ask people for forgiveness too, just as they ask it of us. If we are then willing to take s step toward reconciliation, He will show us just how big a step He is willing to take to show us mercy beyond our thoughts!
Points to Ponder:
Do you want people to forgive you?
Are you willing to forgive others?
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March 4: Psalm 42:1-2
Key Verse: Psalm 42:2
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
Devotion:
Sometimes we reach the end of our tether and we think we cannot go on any further; God is already listening to us and all we need to do is to ask for His help and guidance. Just when we start to think we have asked enough and we expect an answer, we get to wait a little longer… This is not God testing us or God seeing how much we can withstand; this is the world messing with us!
If we are willing to wait on God we will get to see just how much He can and does do in our lives. The world will push you past what you think your breaking point is because the world does not love you or care for you. God loves you and cares for you so will be offering solutions all along the way!
Sometimes we get to the point where we just want to be with Him and forget about the world because we think we cannot take any more. God is there with us and trying to help us as we go through those struggles. If we are listening and waiting for answers we will get to hear when He talks with us in ways we cannot imagine.
We don’t have to go anywhere. We don’t have to make a special temple or place where we can meet with God. We don’t have to go through a set of instructions before we hear from Him. We simply have to talk with Him and wait on answers. He will come to us and be with us just when we need Him most of all!
Points to Ponder:
Do you really wait for God?
Or do you press the point and try to make Him rush in?
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March 3: John 2:13-22
Key Verse: John 2:22
After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.
Devotion:
When Jesus entered the temple on this day He was dismayed by the people who were no longer treating the temple with the respect He thought they should. This made Jesus angry and He took out His anger on the animals and people who were doing this. Was He right to be angry?
If we look at our modern society we see many people using church buildings for many things, and many are not doing this for the right reasons. We may say we are doing these things to raise money for the church and for the support of things in the church, but there will always be some who are doing it purely for selfish reasons and plain monetary gain.
God knows we have to have money to continue using our church buildings because we live in a world which is largely controlled by money. He knows we will have to go out and earn money in different ways because we may not be rich enough to pay for the expenses of the church buildings. But He also knows when some people are taking advantage of the situation and working for their own good!
We may have our own ideas of how Jesus should be portrayed, what He looked like and what we should expect from Him: but we did not live in those days when He walked amongst the people of Israel. We should not be trying to put Jesus in a box defined by us but rather allowing Him to work His miracles in our lives with the freedom He needs to work. We need to stop putting barriers up which stop Him working in our lives!
Points to Ponder:
Do you think you do work for Jesus?
How many barriers do you put up when He really tries to do things?
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March 2: Luke 15:21-27
Key Verse: Luke 15:24
For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” So they began to celebrate.
Devotion:
I have chosen the words often left out by people because they mean the most to me in this situation. This is the parable of the lost son, the son who ran away and squandered everything only to come back thinking he could work for his father because he knew his father was a good person who paid a fair wage. The son had lost everything and came back penniless and expecting nothing from the father other than, hopefully, an offer of a job!
The father’s reaction was one quite unexpected as he set about making preparations for a party to celebrate his son’s return! In our modern world we think “how could this man receive his son back after the son had ran off with the inheritance before it was due and had lost it all!” In our modern world we lose sight of the relationship between a parent and child just because there is money involved!
God does not care about the money or the way the world breaks the rules all the time. He cares about what the person has in their heart and how He can come forward to love and support us. The love God has for us goes beyond any earthly rules and norms and, instead, embraces love which can conquer everything!
Jesus was trying to show the disciples how much love He has for us and how He is willing to forgive and forget everything bad we do if we are willing to come forward with honest and humble hearts… that is the key...
Points to Ponder:
Do you come to God with an honest heart?
Will you allow God to forgive you?
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March 1: Genesis 37:17-28
Key Verse: Genesis 37:27
Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.’ His brothers agreed.
Devotion:
The story of Joseph and his ornate coat may not be very well known, but the fact he had an ornate coat is remembered. The truth is told here as his brothers, who were jealous of him for the attention he got from their father, plotted to get rid of him so they could get some attention. At first they had evil thoughts of getting rid of him altogether, but those thoughts mellowed a bit and they decided to sell him to the Ishmaelites instead.
Whatever happened, these brothers knew they were doing wrong and they knew if the truth got out they would not be in a good place. What they had forgotten in their jealousy was God had His eyes on them all the time and would make sure the youngest brother would get all the attention from God!
God was there in their midst protecting Joseph because He knew what could happen if Joseph would be able to continue living even if he was living as a slave. This is the power of God, using a young man destined to be a slave to become a leader and protector of God’s people!
No matter how far we walk away from the path God wants us to walk, He will continue to try and get us to walk the best path He has designed for us. God will use the people around us to try and make sure we get every opportunity to walk this path and will make sure those who do love and serve Him are protected in their walk with Him. Even when mankind sells us to the highest bidder, God is protecting us and guiding us!
Points to Ponder:
Do you listen to God when He talks?
Are you ready to obey God in His design for you?
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Feb 29: Isaiah 43:16-21
Key Verse: Isaiah 43:18
Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
Devotion:
One of the things which has always held mankind back is doubt and fear of what is ahead. God has tried to encourage us to move forward, to look forward and, above all, to trust in Him. When we look forward we get scared because we cannot foretell the future. When we look back we focus on all the bad things which have happened and we become scared of them happening again.
How do we get out of this circle of fear and doubt we are in? We have to let go of the past and trust in a future which is new and which is being controlled by God and not by us. God tells us to forget about the past because it is the memories of failure which hold us back. He tells us to look forward to what is ahead, not because we can make that big a difference but because He wants to be in control and show us the right way!
God is the one who begins by making a change in the future. He knows what we are capable of and how we can achieve that future – and it is not by us going forward alone! As mad and chaotic as the world is around us, God can bring on peace and control because nothing is impossible with Him!
Even though we cannot see a future which is bright and decent, God can and wants us to go forward into that future. The problem is we have to let go of our past errors and ways and allow God to work new ways into our lives. Only then can we move forward into the good future He has for us!
Points to Ponder:
How much do you worry about the past?
How much do you worry about the future?
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Feb 28: Matthew 20:17-28
Key Verse: Matthew 20:26
Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant
Devotion:
When Jesus was telling the disciples He would soon be captured and put to death before being raised up again, their thoughts were not of how they could prevent this from happening or what they could do to protect Jesus – instead they were thinking about what Zebedee’s wife had said about them being on the right and left hand of Jesus when He was back in His kingdom!
They were more concerned with their position or standing in the eyes of others than what they had just heard. I think they must not have comprehended the gravity of what Jesus had just told them but focused on who was going to be labelled as the best or closest in the kingdom to come: it was all about pride at that stage!
I know I have been guilty of personal pride at times when I should have been thinking of the people who were around me at the time. We lose focus on what is important and rather grasp hold of our pride and our feelings at the time; this is our human ways and will always be a temptation we have to face when push comes to shove!
God would like us to put aside our pride and take on the humility of a servant so we will not be consumed by this pride which stands in our way. When we let go of our pride and take on the measure of a servant for Christ and for the people around us, we can learn a lot more about what it is to really love the people around us!
Points to Ponder:
How do you show your love to the people around us?
Are you willing to set aside your pride for them?
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Feb 27: Isaiah 1:16-20
Key Verse: Isaiah 1:19
If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land;
Devotion:
The prophets tried to do as much as possible to get the people of the land to listen to what God had told them. Some of them had great success whilst others fought and ongoing battle which seemed to be a losing battle throughout their lives!
Isaiah warned the people they would have to listen to God once again or they would end up losing everything God had given them. He gave the people stark warning which some listen to whilst others ignored. We have the same choice as the people of that time – to listen to what God is saying or to ignore the good advice!
The prophets tried to lay it out as simply as possible – listen to God and live, or disobey God and put up with the consequences of your actions! Isaiah also told them their sins would be forgiven no matter how dire the sin was or how much they had disobeyed God. If they truly came to Him with repentant hearts, they would gain full forgiveness and live as a child of God!
For those who chose to ignore God, they would have to live and die with the consequences of their actions. I don’t know how much else Isaiah could have said to warn people – and still many chose to ignore God. Today many people continue to chose to ignore God and they, too, will have to pay for their actions!
Points to Ponder:
How much do you listen to God?
How much do you obey Him?
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Feb 26: Luke 6:36-38
Key Verse: Luke 6:37
Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
Devotion:
One of the hardest things to do as a person is to not imitate others! We learn by seeing how others do things and then we try the same. We learn through what we see and hear. We are imitators. We have this built in desire to be able to do things as others do them so we can fit in or be accepted by others.
This is not what Jesus did. He came into the world as a human being, but from the very start He did things differently, listening to the Father instead of to His human peers. If we want to be more like Jesus then we should do things the same way, putting aside the things of this world and accepting what the Father tells us!
Once we can begin to master the actions of our Saviour toward the world, then we can hope to become more like Him and to please God the Father in all we do. But as long as we give in to the ways of the world the only things we will succeed at is pleasing the world an people of this world.
We should be aiming to do more: we should be aiming to please God the Father in all we say and do. He showed Jesus how we should behave so we have an example to try and attain to. If we can put aside the ways of the world and accept the ways of God, we certainly will have drawn closer to God in the same way Jesus was close to the Father through everything He said and did!
Points to Ponder:
Do you try to act like your heroes?
Will you try to act more like Jesus?