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October 5: John 14:15-21
Key Verse: John 14:16
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you for ever
Devotion:
Although this passage begins with the words “If you love me, keep my commands...” Jesus is not laying down an ultimatum to say we have no hope if we cannot keep the commandments! If this were so, then none of us would ever be able to get to Heaven because we have all done at least something wrong in our lives. This is Jesus saying, if you love me, then you should try your very best to keep my commands...
Jesus wants us to obey Him but knows we cannot fully obey Him because of our sinful nature and the sin in the world around us too. Therefore, He promises to give us an advocate who will stand up for us and defend us from judgement! This advocate was going to be in the form of the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit. Just like Jesus, the Holy Spirit is part of God and cannot lie either.
The Holy Spirit will try to guide us through every decision of every day and if we were to listen intently to Him, we would be able to avoid sin in our lives! Unfortunately, we are surrounded by a whole lot of noise and a lot of sin! We don’t have much of a chance at listening solely to Him because of these temptations surrounding us all the time... But, no matter how bad things get, Christ is going to be with us all the time in the form of the Holy Spirit!
Stop and take a breath. Stop and tune out the world. Stop and listen for the instructions from the Holy Spirit. We will find it easier to keep God’s commands, easier to walk with Him and much easier to avoid sin in our lives. All this because God allowed His Son to come down to be our Saviour and the Holy Spirit to be our Advocate. The best team in the world!
Points to Ponder:
Do you find it hard to avoid trouble?
Will your try to stop and listen to God today?
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October 4: Jude 1:17-23
Key Verse: Jude 1:22
Be merciful to those who doubt;
Devotion:
Do you find reading the bible hard? Is it because you find reading difficult, or because you find the words hard to digest? I have always found reading difficult and as such do shy away from reading when I can, but in order to share God’s Word with you, I have to spend time reading and thinking about the words I read!
Some chapters in the bible are hard to read because they remind us of all the wrong things in life and often, we find ourselves relating the words to what is happening in the world around us. This is because God is trying to speak to you through His Word. I do find it very refreshing how different people get different strengths from reading the same passage; sometimes I just want to copy the words down and see what others make of it. But this is a journey you and I are on and one which ultimately leads to eternal life with Christ.
We can read through all the terrible things which happen in the bible – but we can also listen to the news broadcasts and find out all the terrible things which are happening in the world around us. This is because we live in a world which is largely broken, just as they did back when the words, we now know in our bibles were written, and even before that!
But this chapter end with the encouraging words that this is all happening, but we still have a Saviour! We have a Christ who gave it all for us on the altar and who continues to love us no matter what happens in the world around us. We need to continue encouraging the people around us to look up to God and see how much hope they have – by demonstrating the hope we have! Be merciful to those who doubt. Keep on encouraging them through your actions.
Points to Ponder:
Are you quick to judge others?
Will you be merciful to those around you when things go wrong again?
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October 3: Matthew 11:25-30
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:
When Jesus talked to others, He always made sure people knew what the truth was and what details people needed to know. Just after berating various town because they refused to repent for the wrongdoing which continued throughout the towns, He switches to His relationship with God His Father. Yes, we know Jesus is God, but when He was amongst mankind as a human, He was exactly that, a human being like us.
But that is where things get very different. Jesus made sure He prayed all the time and stopped to listen to what His Father wanted of Him. Because of this, you could say His life was fairly sorted! He did not have to worry about getting and maintaining a job. He did not have to worry about financial positions or stock markets... All this was left to God and He wanted people to know that!
We could say His burden was extreme because of what He had to face, but at this time He was simply spreading the gospel and stopping the ‘learned leaders’ from continuing to corrupt people with their own ideas and not what God wanted them to know about.
As Christians we need to step forward and make sure people get to know the truth. This may mean posting stuff on social media for people to think about. It could mean standing on street corners (though there will be far less people than normal now.) Or it could just be talking to your neighbour over the fence to show them you lead a very different life to the rest of the world. But make sure they know how much peace we get from living with God in our hearts!
Points to Ponder:
Do your neighbours know you as a Christian?
When was the last time you offered to help your neighbours?
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October 2: Deuteronomy 11:13-15
Key Verse: Deuteronomy 11:15
I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.
Devotion:
Back in the time of the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and the subsequent trial through the desert regions, God continued to uphold the promise He would look after the people if they remained faithful to Him. This is just another point where we read about God’s promise to the Israelites; one of many! Jesus continued to uphold the idea we should continue to live with a close relationship with God so He can continue to look after us... So how does this work?
Does this mean if we follow all the rules, we will be safe from all the bad stuff around us in the world? Unfortunately not. We live in a world where many people do not listen to God and many people rebel against God’s word and His ways. We could be close to those people and anything which goes wrong (or right) we are affected. So, even when we do follow all the rules, we can still end up in deep trouble as we are suffocated by the ills of the world!
So how do we get out of this problem? Well, one way is to try and listen to what God is telling us. He continually tries to guide us away from the trouble spots if He knows we cannot cope with it – but He may well allow us to be close to trouble just so others can see the impact of our close relationship with God. There-in lies the clue... We need to uphold an honest, open, and true relationship with God at all times; one which others should be able to notice and be encouraged by.
I have been called many things in my life, but I love it when people call me names because of my relationship with Christ! I love being selected out of a crowd and pointed to by non-believers – not because I want to be berated, but because it allows others to see there is another way of living. A way of living where we live with hope constantly. A way of living where we know of a certain future!
Points to Ponder:
Do you live with God in your life?
Do you invite others to share your relationship with Christ?
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October 1: Mark 10:1-9
Key Verse: Mark 10:5
‘It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,’ Jesus replied.
Devotion:
Have you stopped to look at the laws of your country and wondered where they have come from? How many of the laws do you think are based on Christian ideas? How many of the laws don’t make sense to you? I know here in the UK there are some pretty strange laws which have been introduced many years ago which still stand but which don’t make too much sense nowadays. Apparently, it is against the law to wear armour if you visit the UK Houses of Parliament! (written back in 1313)
The Pharisees threw questions at Jesus to try and trip Him up in cases of law but Jesus’ answer in this case was spot on! The law saying divorce was OK was not chosen by God but was given because men wanted to get divorced and it was detrimental to keep people in a state of marriage when they really did not like each other. How can we spread and share love if we cannot love the partner we are with?
I’m not going into a debate about whether it is right or wrong to divorce, or any other of the laws we chop and change nowadays. That is between you and God to get it right. I have done many things wrong in my past and I have come to accept my wrong-doings and move on in Christ’s love. The things I did wrong were because of ignorance or desperation or greed and I have submitted them to God to allow me to move forward.
The question should really be – whose laws are you going to uphold in your life? It is very difficult when we face laws which go against the country or laws which go against God – which do you choose? Jesus has taught us to obey the laws of the country because that is right to do so. But He has also taught us to keep the law of love above all else, because that must be the basis of all other laws.
Points to Ponder:
Whose laws do you follow in your life?
Will you try to uphold love above all else?
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September 30: Psalms 86:11-13
Key Verse: Psalms 86:12
I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name for ever.
Devotion:
God really does not ask a lot of us other than to love Him with all our hearts. He does not require we go to a church meeting once a week. He does not require we sacrifice a goat once a week. He does not require that we give all of what we own to Him... These are things people feel like they have to do for God, not written law we have to follow. Christ fulfilled all this by giving His own life on the cross so we would not have to continue with those laws originally laid down for the Israelites!
How much we choose to do for God is a show of our affection for Him. My waking though today was how much are we willing to do for love... I chose to continue in this Psalm simply because these words describe what David was willing to do for God and allows us to think about what we are willing to do or doing for God.
As long as we want to hear from God and learn from Him, we will be able to live with Him in our lives – just as we may live with our partners or family in our lives. But these is always something which God would like us to do so more people can get to live with Him in their own lives. We need to make sure we do this because of our love for Him and not because we have a duty to do something so we can get paid in kind from God. God does not owe us anything – He has already given everything for us!
Our love must be a two-way thing – we cannot expect God to do everything for us if we love Him. That is not how love works. In our relationships with others we give, share and take; that is what we do for love toward others and we must do the same because of our love for God. Listen to Him and act on what you hear simply because you love God!
Points to Ponder:
How much do you do for God?
He simply want you to love Him with all your heart!
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September 29: Psalms 86:1-7
Key Verse: Psalms 86:4
Bring joy to your servant, Lord, for I put my trust in you.
Devotion:
How often do you ask God for help? I know I do ask a lot of God and I am amazed by how much He is willing to do for me, a simple, humble man. I am not a businessman, I don’t own much, not a house or even a car now... but what I do have is my relationship with God which means more to me than any earthly riches. Yes, I would like to own my own house, have a car and not worry about whether I will be able to pay my rent, but life is not like that... we all have hurdles to jump every day.
I know God cares for the poor and needy because I have seen it many times in person as well as read of it many times in the bible. I don’t go out of my way to be poor so God will look after me, but equally I don’t rush after earthly riches. I do love to volunteer for charity work and love to help people understand how much God means to me – this is what makes me happy and content!
One thing I have learned over the past couple of years is God is the one who is looking after my soul. My body broke down last year in a big way and forced me to stay for quite a while in hospital whilst the amazing doctors and nurses of the UK NHS treated me and nursed me back to a state where I had a fighting chance of surviving out of hospital once again. This time has taught me a lot about God’s love because I saw a whole string of people being placed around me who would normally not be there, both Christians and non-Christians alike.
God works with us in the state He finds us in. If we are broken, He will work with us in that broken state. If we are fit and well, he can use us to reach out to others who do need a little extra help. God has no problem reaching down to us in our most vulnerable and humble states and lifting us up in ways we don’t realise until after the fact. I look back now and see so much God did for me over the last two years and I love Him more!
Points to Ponder:
Do you ask God for help daily?
Will you stop trying to do it all and ask for more help?
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September 28: Luke 20:45-47
Key Verse: Luke 20:46
Beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honour at banquets.
Devotion:
One thing I have always been wary of is people who insist on dressing up more than usual to go to church on a Sunday. I don’t know what it is that rubs me up the wrong way because many people do come out with the argument they are doing their very best for God and you cannot argue with that! But I would like to pose the question: why do you work for God in the way you do?
Jesus flat out warned the disciples of the men who dressed up in their flowing robes and went out of their way to be recognised and greeted in marketplaces and places of honour. Some of those people were doing it for self-recognition and not for God, despite their words...
If we are going to work for God, then we should be getting down and doing the work and not trying to bring fame to ourselves for doing the work. I, personally, don’t like the idea of advertising church and Christian work. We may argue this has to be done so our sponsors can get recognition for paying to support us – but if we are doing this for the sponsors, then we are not doing it for God!
It is a fine line we walk as Christian workers. On one hand we need to do the work and we often need financial support to be able to do the work – not because God requires it, but because earthly people want renumeration for allowing us to do the work in places they own or control. On the other hand, we are working for God and we should be doing all we can to ensure this work is done... just be wary about who gets the glory, because it should not be us, but God!
Points to Ponder:
How do you go about getting support for your church?
When was the last time you knocked on someone’s door to remind them of God?
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September 27: Luke 20:1-8
Key Verse: Luke 20:7
So they answered, “We don’t know where it was from.”
Devotion:
It’s OK to not know all the answers! I found that out when I went on a youth camp, not as a youth but as a leader. A couple of youth came and asked me an awkward question for which I didn’t know the answer, so we went to speak to an elder who was mor likely to know the answer. What I got out of that was respect, both from the youth who got to learn more, and from the elder who praised me for not making something up!
Too many times in our lives we come up against people who would rather make something up which sounds good rather than admitting they do not know the answer. We are damaging our communities and ourselves by making up answers! God does not want us making things up because we are no longer telling people the truth and they may not believe us when we do eventually tell the truth!
God has always made sure we do hear the truth from Him. He continues to uphold the truth against everything and wants us to try to always keep to the truth as well. Sometimes we are put in a very difficult position where we know the truth will hurt others; but it is still best to tell the truth so others know you can be depended on in all circumstances.
Jesus made sure He could always be defended on for the truth as well as the love and healing. If we really do want to show people we love them, then sticking to the truth is always the best plan!
Points to Ponder:
Do you listen to people when you know they are not telling the truth?
How often do people stop listening to you?
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September 26: Luke 9:10-17
Key Verse: Luke 9:11
but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing.
Devotion:
One of the things the disciples had to learn from Jesus was there is no end to His love and mercy and compassion for everyone! No matter what position they found themselves in, no matter how tired they felt and no matter how little they had with them, Christ was always willing to tell others about God and to heal them...
When they were seemingly cornered in a small town called Bethsaida, Jesus had no problem with teaching and caring for anyone who was willing to come to Him. When it all got a bit too much for the disciples, they wanted to send everyone home so they could get a bite to eat and have a rest. It does not mention what the weather was like, but, being in the Middle East, it was probably hot and sunny as normal!
When the disciples gave in Jesus told them to feed the crowd; they knew they did not have enough food – how could five loaves and two fish feed thousands of people! Jesus told them to organise them into smaller groups... Have you ever wondered why? Ok, the logistics made it easier to reach everyone if there was a bit of order, but I think this was more a time when Jesus wanted them to be distracted so they would trust Him.
Sometimes Jesus is going to ask us to do the extraordinary so we give in and trust Him fully instead of trying to get things done as best we can. When we give in to Christ and allow Him to work through us, we can do so much more than we realise. Trust goes a long way! It’s called having more faith!
Points to Ponder:
Do you always try to do as much as you can for God?
Will you allow Him to do more than you can do?