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June 10: Psalm 55:16-23
Key Verse: Psalm 55:22
Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.
Devotion:
We all face horrible things in our lives, whether it is health related, personal reasons, socio-political circumstances or whatever – bad things happen! We are not alone. Bad things tend to happen to us all, especially in times when we face natural disasters. But, no matter how mad things get, the Lord is going to be with you ever step of the way!
One thing I learned whilst in hospital clinging on to life, was the comfort God can give you in your worst times! I know a lot of people around me went through horrible times as the doctors told them I may not make it through the night – but God was giving me a comfort in those times which I can clearly remember now and tell people about now I am well and able to do it!
When we spend time lifting up our prayers to God, He spends time sitting with us, listening and answering those prayers. He needs us to listen to any and all instructions He is giving us – which means we have to spend time listening and waiting on Him. If we shout out our prayers and then run off before He can answer or explain things to us, we miss out! When I was in hospital, I had more than enough time to sit and wait on Him, listening to what He was telling me through the people around me.
When Jesus told us to cast our burdens on Him, it was not a new thing! God has been trying to tell us to do this for many years through His word and through examples in our history. It’s time to stop, look and listen to what God is trying to tell us in our lives!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you worry about circumstances in your life?
How often do you lift up those circumstances and wait on God?
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June 9: Mark 4:1-9
Key Verse: Mark 4:9
Then Jesus said, ‘Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.’
Devotion:
Have you ever doubted whether you could tell people about Jesus, or how you would get muddled up when you tried, or how you would get asked a question you couldn’t answer... These are the doubts the evil one is putting in your head! He does not want you to go round telling people the truth about Christ otherwise they will know he has already lost the battle!
We are like the farmer in this parable, sowing seeds - I.e. talking about Christ. When the farmer sows the seeds, he does not spend hours trying to ensure ever seeds gets placed in the correct position so it has the very best chance of germinating – he throws them all over the place and depends on God to get the seeds to germinate correctly. This is how we need to tell people about God. We need to tell anyone who is willing to listen and allow God to get those words to germinate in their hearts.
This does mean we are going to talk to more people than those who will accept Christ into their lives; we are going to spread our seeds all over the place and not try to place the words exactly where they should be heard and in the perfect order in the most eloquent sentences! We talk what we know and we talk from our hearts; we talk to everyone and allow others to overhear what we say – because we don’t know who will be the ones who listen and take those words into their hearts!
I know I have tried to do things right and fallen flat on my face in the past. But when I have opened up the floor and allowed God to not just guide me, but to talk to others as I spout words I think make sense... It is God who will allow the right people to make sense out of the ramblings which come out of my mouth!
Points to Ponder:
Are you trying too hard to say teach the gospel perfectly?
Will you allow God to take your words and touch people’s hearts?
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June 8: Matthew 5:21-24
Key Verse: Matthew 5:24
leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.
Devotion:
Talking about facing the music... what do you feel like when you get angry with something or someone? How does it make you feel about yourself? Too often we get caught up in the heated discussions or arguments and we lose sight of what we should be doing or what we are doing to God and to our neighbours!
The more we get caught up in the heat of the moment, the more we lose sight on what is important, focusing on the little things which grow into big things which stop us from achieving our goals. God does not want us to lose sight of how we affect the people around us; Jesus taught the disciples to be mindful of the people around at all times and to love them as much as you love yourself... which means you have to start loving yourself before you can get very far!
To love yourself you have to let go of the things which are holding you back – typically the things which we have lost control to and which have started to take over our lives instead of releasing us from the burdens. Jesus also taught the disciples to bring all their burdens to Him so He could help to lighten the load; the same is true for us!
If we have something which is disturbing our hearts and minds, then we need to bring it to God and release it before we can move forward in the way God wants us to. What are the things which hold us back – well, mostly the strife from the arguments we have had and not let go of. God wants us to set them aside and allow Him to guide us forward in our lives and in our love.
Points to Ponder:
What is holding you back today?
Will you bring it to God and allow Him to lighten your load?
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June 7: Genesis 3:8-15
Key Verse: Genesis 3:8
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
Devotion:
What do you do when you know you have done something wrong and have just been found out? Do you run from the situation and try and hide, or do you stop and face up to what is going to happen? Yes, it’s probably going to depend on what you have done wrong and what sort of trouble you will get into... So you don’t have to answer!
When we do something wrong in our lives, God is not going to turn away from us and ignore us because we have sinned – He is more likely to come looking for us and find out why we did what we did! The same can be said for many of our friends – they will want to find out why we did what we did and help us to get things straight again.
When we hear that small voice in our heads saying “don’t do it!” it may well be God trying to get through to us so we don’t run off and commit the sin in the first place. God does not want to continually run after us and get us back on track – He would much rather we stayed on track and listened when He tells us we are about to fall flat on our faces! God is not the God of punishment. God is just, but because of His mercy He is more likely to warn you before you fall!
But, when we do fall and break the rules, we will have to face the music at some stage. We cannot keep running from the truth and running from God and His rules! It’s not us who are inherently evil, but the world we live in and the evil one who tricks us into doing those evil things just because he can! God may have won the war over sin, but we face continual skirmishes all the time as he picks and prods at us to stop us from drawing closer to God.
Points to Ponder:
Do you feel the weight of sin?
Will you ask Christ to help with your burden?
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June 6: Psalm 130:1-5
Key Verse: Psalm 130:5
I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.
Devotion:
No matter where we are in our lives or how we feel about things, God is always going to be there, listening and answering prayers! Were you told stories as a child about how Father Christmas would keep a record of who has been good and who has been bad – and he would only deliver gifts at Christmas to the people who were on the good list! The best thing about God is He does not keep count of all the things you have done wrong! Can you imagine how long the list would be if He did keep record of everything we have done wrong!
One thing we can be sure of is Him listening to our cries – not because we have been good, but because He promised to do so in the beginning! Nobody's prayers would get listened to if God kept records of our sins! Instead, Christ has given us a sure way God will not just listen to our prayers but will answer them!
So what do we have to do? Simply wait on God! There is no point shouting about how God is not doing anything for you if you are not willing to wait for Him. He is the one who knows when and where the best time and place is to answer your prayers – we cannot know that sort of information because we do not know anything outside of our world we live in.
God is not limited by time and space like we are and certainly is not limited by our physical world. Christ showed us how He was willing and able to do so many miracles for people who were willing to wait on God. We have this hope in Christ which goes far beyond what we can think of – simply wait on God...
Points to Ponder:
How long do you wait after praying for something?
Are you willing to say yes to God even if He does not answer your prayers yet?
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June 5: 1 Samuel 8:4-20
Key Verse: 1 Samuel 8:19
But the people refused to listen to Samuel. ‘No!’ they said. ‘We want a king over us.
Devotion:
One of the things we do as humans is look for other humans we can hold up as our leaders – we elevate them into positions where they hold far too much power over us and yet we don’t see it as such! When Samuel was getting old and the people saw none of his family were ready to take on the mantle of being the prophet to lead them, they turned to human ways and wanted someone they could think of as powerful to look after them and lead them.
What they were not thinking of was how God had been the one who was always there for them and always looked after them – albeit through the prophets because they would not listen directly to God!
The more we are surrounded by worldly issues, the more we look for someone who is willing to tell us what to do to get us out of the problems! If we were to set aside our physicals wants and look to God for our answers, we would be in a much better ways than we are now. The power and position of authorities gets to people’s heads and pride and greed take over their ways!
God wants us to not get too hung up with earthly way6s and power, but to look to Him in all ways for guidance and strength. He continues to offer us the guidance, but we keep on turning to mans ways to get us out of the problems when we should be looking for Gods ways! As the Israelites looked deeper at the issues which lay ahead, all they could do was to think of an earthly way forward... just like us!
Points to Ponder:
Who do you turn to for guidance when things go wrong?
Will you try to listen to God this time?
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June 4: Luke 9:12-17
Key Verse: Luke 9:17
They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.
Devotion:
Sometimes in life we tend to rely a bit too much on what we think is probable rather than what God has promised. We water down God’s Word because we think it is a bit too difficult or hard to believe in the miracles. God is not limited by what we think is possible, probably or even by what we think is improbable!
Just like the disciples, when we see a problem approaching, we think of all the things which can go wrong and we expect them to start happening. Because we are looking for the problems and issues, we overlook what could be solutions to the problems and we get caught up in a mess – just as we expected!
When the disciples could see nothing but a big problem approaching, God told them to face the problem with a miracle. God is not going to leave us in the lurch if we are willing to listen to Him and obey Him. When the disciples started to listen and obey, they saw a solution to the problem which required God to do something extraordinary. They had to step up and allow God to do something extraordinary! They had to put all their faith and trust in God and allow Him to work out the problem.
If we are willing to do this for God, He is willing to do extraordinary things for us to allow us to face problems which seem insurmountable when we see them through our earthly eyes. Only seeing things through God eyes can help us to solve things His way. God wants to help us. God wants to show us He is capable of anything when we trust Him.
Points to Ponder:
Do you find it hard to work past big issues in your life?
Have you tried giving them to God?
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June 3: Isaiah 54:7-10
Key Verse: Isaiah 54:10
Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,’ says the Lord, who has compassion on you.
Devotion:
If you ever find yourself doubting God’s love, mercy or compassion, then I challenge you to read this chapter from the book of Isaiah. God acknowledges He has turned His back on the Israelites, but now He is setting a new promise in stone for them to rely on. Just as He made the promise the earth would never again be covered in water at the time of Noah, so too is God making a promise – this time to never again turn His back on His people!
I love the way He describes that time as a brief moment – because, when compared to how long God has watched over us or how long he will watch over us, the years when the Israelites were in captivity were but a moment! Now, for us as humans, we don’t regard those years as a brief moment because we tend to measure everything in comparison to our earthly lives; but God is comparing this to the time He has watched over us... which is so much more!
But, like the moment He turned back to bring the people together under His mercy, so He is turning toward us and saying we no longer have to fear being alone any more. This is the turning point after which His promise will stand forever!
But we do have warnings which remain – there will be tough time ahead, time when the mountains will shake, times when complete hills will be removed; but His love is going to continue and His promise will stand no matter what! His covenant is an everlasting covenant which will never be shaken, never mind being broken! God is faithful and will uphold His promises!
Points to Ponder:
How long is too long when you feel rejected?
How long have you ever turned away from God?
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June 2: Isaiah 24:1-3
Key Verse: Isaiah 24:3
The earth will be completely laid waste and totally plundered. The Lord has spoken this word.
Devotion:
When we read verses like this we may well get very worried God is going to decimate the world and leave us all homeless and starving in a desolate land! We need to take verses like this in context and to understand what it is God is talking about. The more we study places like this in the Old Testament the more we will understand how many warnings God has given mankind about building up treasures on earth!
No matter how many times we read how we should not build up our treasures on earth, we still do and we still look at earthly wealth as being something tangible. Society keeps track on the most wealthy people and even judges people by their lack of wisdom in building up earthly wealth or treasures. We have people who make a living out of teaching people to build up treasures... yet God has been trying to warn us time and time again...
So does this mean we should give everything up and live in a tent? No, God does not teach us to do nothing. God wants us to be able to love and support people around us, which means sharing in many things instead of hording them for ourselves. When God was leading the Israelites through the desert, He instructed them to gather the right amount of manna for themselves and their family – any hording would be met with rotting food and hence a lack of food in the end!
We also need to understand this is something which will affect all people, no matter what standing in society, how far up or down the wealth ladder people are and no matter where they live. The more we horde, the more we will see the breaking down of everything we have. Not gathering enough, or spending too much will leave us short... It is a balance of making sure we listen to God whilst living in the world!
Points to Ponder:
How wealthy do you think you are?
Measuring your wealth only in spiritual terms – how wealthy are you?
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June 1: Psalm 100:1-3
Key Verse: Psalm 100:2
Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.
Devotion:
How many big church celebrations do you think you have missed out on this past year? I can think of quite a few where I would have loved to be there with a whole bunch of others Christians singing for joy and worshipping openly... and loudly! But, alas, we have been through some horrible times lately where we have not been able to mix with others and certainly not gather together in crowds for fear of spreading this virus!
No matter how many things we have missed out on and no matter how dejected we may feel because of the lack of gathering or singing together, we can still worship God in many ways. It is not all about the singing together. It is not all about being in a massive crowd listening to a famous preacher tell us all about God and Christ and the Holy Spirit... It is all about how you worship God personally!
Do you have to wait until you are gathered together before you can worship God? NO! You can worship God in many ways which don’t need singing or large gatherings. When Christ said we are all God’s children, He meant it! When we do something, no matter how small it may seem, to or for another person, we are doing it for a child of God. Just because someone does not yet know Christ in a personal way does not mean we should not treat them as God’s child.
It may be the simple fact we help someone out which prompts them to listen to someone talking about how God helps us which leads to them seeking God and starting their own relationship with Christ. We do not have the foresight to see how God works, but we can do things and see what God does after we have done things. God wants us to step up and show people Christians live life differently!
Points to Ponder:
Do people know you as a Christian?
Will you show someone what a Christian can do today?