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November 24: Hebrews 13:15-17
Key Verse: Hebrews 13:16
And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
Devotion:
Gone are the days where we must find unblemished lambs, goats, doves or heifers and sacrifice them to atone for our sins! Thank goodness! Jesus took on that mantle by giving Himself as the perfect sacrifice to cover all of our sins forever. He gave His own blood so we can live with no fear of the debt we owe for our sins.
So, what do we do now with all the “free time” we have not having to find the animals and sacrifice them and all that goes with that? We have been given clear instruction from Christ we ought to give the sacrifices of praise and spreading the gospel. This means taking time out of our busy lives and spending it giving glory to God for all He has done for us. Then telling other people why we do what we do and why it is necessary.
We have church leaders who have continued to tell us what God has done, what Christ has achieved and how the Holy Spirit continue to be with us. These are important parts of our lives with God and our leaders continue to obey God by spreading and teaching the gospel. We too have a task to spread the gospel to those around us who do not know about Christ yet.
God has also told us we will be held accountable for the times we do or do not tell people about Christ. It should not be seen as a burden we have to do so we don’t get punished but rather seen as a joyful thing we can do to help others. Telling people about the hope we have through Christ and the joy we experience is not a burden – it is a joy! Everyone does want to know about hope and joy...
Points to Ponder:
How often do you speak to others?
How often to you tell others about your relationship with God?
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November 23: Hebrews 13:1-8
Key Verse: Hebrews 13:2
Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.
Devotion:
The more we continue to love the people around us, the more we get to see how much more a true community can do instead of a bunch of individuals. But it is not about putting up with the others just to get the job done, it is about loving them as if they are friends and family so you build up a trust relationship with them.
The more we can fully trust the people around us, the safer we feel and the better we can work to achieve our goals together. Those people around us may be our neighbours or they may be people we work with or in proximity to. If you work in a prison, then those people around you are mostly prisoners. If they can feel totally confident you are doing the right thing and will always strive to keep them safe as well, they will respect you and trust you.
If we go about trying to do thing for ourselves without caring about the people around us, then we are failing at what God is asking us to do. We are going to face all manner of difficulties along the way, some through the type of people we have to interact with, some when God asks you to move to a new place to continue His work...
But each of those difficulties can be overcome by continuing to listen to God and continuing to obey what He asks of us. He will always look out for us and we need to remember to always trust Him wholly! We must remember God does not change and will always be there!
Points to Ponder:
What is God asking you to do?
Are you obeying Him?
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November 22: Deuteronomy 10:12-22
Key Verse: Deuteronomy 10:17
For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes.
Devotion:
We don’t have to look very far to see how much corruption there is in the people who are supposedly running many of the free world countries! We have stories of corruption, evidence to back up many of those stories, and the results on show of that corruption; and yet we continue to require people in charge of our countries, so we have something to aim for...
How much more hope can we gain with someone in charge who is not corruptible, someone who will never take a bribe, someone who has laid down promises which are true and just! Our hope we get from believing in Jesus and following His commands is so much more than anything mankind can give us – yet we still hope in our governments and the people in charge!
I thank God He is the one looking out for the people who need Him most of all – the children with no parents or guardians, the widows and those who cannot earn enough to live on. These are the people God reaches over and protects, not because they may be the ones who shout the loudest in their prayers, but because His love extends to every person in need!
And, yes, we fall into that bracket because we are all in need of Him to be our Saviour. We cannot obtain forgiveness for our sins other than through Jesus Christ and what He has done for us. We cannot stand on any promises without them being backed by Christ. We need Christ in our lives, every day, every step and every breath!
Points to Ponder:
What promises do you stand out for?
Will you share some of God’s promises with someone else today?
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November 21: Ephesians 2:4-7
Key Verse: Ephesians 2:6
And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus
Devotion:
One of the most amazing things I continue to be astounded at is how we have a seat in Heaven with God just because Jesus Christ loved us enough to make sure we can be there! It is because He is willing to forgive us for anything we have done in our lives that we are able to join in the Heavenly realm!
Jesus made sure enough people got to see and hear about His love for them by living amongst us, sharing His knowledge of God the Father, encouraging people to draw closer to God and by obeying God in everything He did. We need to step forward and try to follow the example Jesus showed us to introduce others to His ways and His love. The more we can do to, the more other people will get to know the love of Jesus.
It is purely this great love which has enabled us to gain access to Heaven. It is not how good we are, how much we can follow the rules or how many times we go to church on Sundays! It is just the love of Jesus which has opened the door for us to get to Heaven.
This week we said goodbye to a giant in our lives, my Dad, who loved Jesus so very much – just as I do. It is the greatest comfort to know He is in Heaven, not because of anything we have done, or he did, but because Jesus loved him enough to make room for him! I know he is with Jesus right now, and probably planning things to do just as he used to plan things here. In loving memory...
Points to Ponder:
How do you share Jesus’ love?
Who will you reach out to today?
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November 20: Psalm 23:1-6
Key Verse: Psalm 23:1
The lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
Devotion:
When we put our faith and trust in God, we get to know just how much He loves us and how much He is willing to care for us too. I have always been amazed at how my parents have continued to love me despite me getting mixed up in sordid things! I have seen how much God cares for me, especially after being through desperate times in Hospital. I know God watches over me more than I can imagine because I have seen His protection over me.
IF we are willing to walk close to Him, we will be able to experience His love first hand and live in that love. We may start to think this is the life and get lax about the way you live; but God continue to want us to be aware of the evil one always lurking around us. We may feel very safe and wander off to explore different things, forgetting about staying close for protection... but, just as a good parent, God is watching us and keeping His eye on us.
God wants us to remain in His everlasting care and He wants to give us the best lives He can give us, which does require some input from us too. If God prepares the feast for us and we reject the invitation for that feast, we will never get to see it! If God prepares a wonderful place for us, we will not see it until we move into it! We do have to turn away from the world and all the glistening things in life and turn toward the things God wants us to be near.
This could mean walking away from a real world feast and giving a helping hand to someone who has no food and is living on the streets. This could mean turning away from a big gathering to attend to the care of a single person who shows a need. This could mean simply giving the cost of your morning cup of coffee to another person so they can buy a meal for the family.
Points to Ponder:
How well do you think you follow God’s will?
Are you ready to give when God asks?
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November 19: Matthew 6:25-34
Key Verse: Matthew 6:26
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
Devotion:
I do find these verses hard to read at times, especially when I am feeling down, rejected or anxious; but God’s promise stands no matter where we are in our lives and no matter how we are feeling! Jesus came to remind us of God’s promise and to give us hope through what He was able to do. We now have the Holy Spirit living with us so we can continue to know God has everything in hand.
It may not look like it when we are focused on the world around us, on our clothes or on the bank balance – but God has a plan. If we are willing to humble ourselves before Him and listen to what He has in store for us, we can be assured of a better life. That better life will probably no mean living in the best house or having the best car or clothes; but it will be having the most hope for your future!
Each time I see birds fluttering around here in London, I am reminded of how much God cares for us. They don’t get to have the best bird tables laid out with fresh country seeds, but they do get fed and they do bring joy to many people like me. If God can do this for tiny birds, then think how much more He can do you us when we focus on Him in our lives. The birds just accept God’s love and care without knowing it – they just are in God’s care.
We tend to get tied up in all the glitter of the world around us and we start to judge our own lives based on the glitter in the lives of people around us. We measure ourselves against worldly measures and forget about the eternal life we are going to have after we leave this earth. I thank God He has a firm grip on my life, and I try to listen to His instruction and His will so I can draw closer to Him every day.
Points to Ponder:
How are you measuring your life?
Will you allow God to show you your true life?
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November 18: John 15:1-8
Key Verse: John 15:2
He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
Devotion:
It is good to read and re-read passages from the bible because you get to understand the words and meaning behind the words as the Holy Spirit ministers to you. I know that sounds very evangelical but go over these few verses a few times and see what God say to you today.
As I look out at the garden and think of all the pruning I should have done last month, I begin to see just how important these words and actions are. When I was in hospital, not a lot was done with the garden and it showed when I finally did come home. The garden looked patchy and in dire need of work – but as soon as the rains started, so much of it sprung to life without me doing anything (at that time there was not a lot I could do because of my physical condition)
It reminded me how God is behind every life on earth and how His Living Water reaches far beyond our limits and restrictions. We should be willing to get in there are do the basic garden work so the harvest can be more fruitful, and the splendour even more than we can imagine! God calls us to tend to His flock daily – not to go into the garden centres to prune their plants, but to stay where we are and work with what we have: our neighbours!
God will not make it plain sailing because we will get lazy and not do anything to promote growth. But when He prunes in and around us, the growth afterward is even more than we can do and expect from ourselves. Allow God to do His work diligently and listen to His instructions so we can work diligently too!
Points to Ponder:
Are you growing lazy in the lock-down?
What is God asking of you now, right now?
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November 17: 1 Corinthians 8:4-8
Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 8:6
yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.
Devotion:
Sometimes we get carried away with wanting to know everything instead of resting faithfully in God’s grip! We like to think we are drawing closer to God though the things we read and all the things we do. Let us continue to always lift our one true God and to proclaim the name and deity of the name of Jesus Christ; let us also rest in the peace and mercy of the Holy Spirit who indwells us and continues to watch over us in everything we do.
I have been in churches where certain foods are not allowed to be eaten, in churches where certain drinks are not allowed to be drunk and, in many churches where certain things are not allowed to be said or done! God calls each one of us to live our lives with and for Him and those lives are going to be very different according to where we live. When we moved onto our local estate to live amongst the community, to belong to the community and to bring them the good news of the gospel, our lives changed dramatically.
If Jesus can come to live amongst people who are breaking the laws all the time, then we should be willing to do so too. It is not up to us to judge whether people are doing things right or wrong but to bring them the truth from and about Jesus Christ. We have done enough things wrong in our own lives to exclude us from Heaven – but because of Christ’s mercy and faithfulness, He has paid the price for our sins and allows us to join Him in Heaven.
Stop focusing on the rules people set up and focus on sharing the love Jesus has shared with us. We are the church, and we need to share the good news at all times wherever we are!
Points to Ponder:
Do you exclude things from your life?
Do you exclude people just because they are different?
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November 16: 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 13:4
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
Devotion:
Have you ever tried to describe love? I always turn back to this chapter when someone asks me to try and define love, and every time I realise, I continue to fall short of the mark! Don’t despair at falling short of the mark when you read descriptions like this because love has to start somewhere – and that somewhere is typically in your heart, deep inside of you.
That seed of love from which great big trees and bushes grow is nestled deep in you and fed by God with something so special we don’t realise it is feeding us. Just like you can plant a seed in the ground and see it blossom when we water it, so God has planted the seed of love deep within us and continues to water it with His living water!
Just like a new plant growing uncorrupted and unbroken, so too does our love start to grow. But, just as the world bashes and knocks the plants, so does it bash and knock our love down. As long as we continue to accept and feed from God’s living water, we will be able to see our love continue in its growth. The world will continue to bash us and knock us, but we can continue to grow and even thrive when we stay close to God!
God does not want us to record every step of our love as we would in a scientific experiment, but to enjoy the growth and fruitfulness which will follow from that growth. God wants us to imagine the finished product and not to worry too much about how we will get there. The more we worry about how we get there the more we focus on the things around us and not on our goal to grow in Christ!
Points to Ponder:
Do you focus too much on getting there?
Will you trust God’s guidance and simply grow in Christ?
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November 15: Isaiah 41:8-10
Key Verse: Isaiah 41:10
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Devotion:
Don’t you love the way this passage starts out, calling on Israel and identifying Jacob as a servant who He personally chose to lead the nation who are all descendants of Abraham, God’s friend! This is a very personal relationship between God and all of Israel, identified through Jacob and going all the way back through Abraham and beyond!
God reminds us through this we are His chosen people, people who are called to serve Him, not as slaves, but willing servants. That is the huge difference between slaves and servants – servants are willing to come forward and do the work for which they will receive support from the master. It is not a role where we have to stand up and go forward to do work where God is not willing to do it Himself; far from it!
God leads us forward with Him, staying with us every step of the way, leading us through troubled lives toward a place where we will finally be released from all the hassle and strengthened to fight with God, side by side as friends of God. Abraham was willing to stand up and be counted as a friend of God. It does not matter how much he doubted or even how old he was, because God had chosen him to step forward as a father of a great nation to come.
God continues to call people to stand up and be counted as friends and as servants, willing to take on the work He wills in our lives. What an awesome privilege it is to be counted as a friend of God and have Him work by our sides!
Points to Ponder:
Do you like to work alone or as a team?
Will you gather a team and work with God today?