- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 1108
July 27: Psalm 106:6-8
Key Verse: Psalm 106:7
When our ancestors were in Egypt, they gave no thought to your miracles; they did not remember your many kindnesses, and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.
Devotion:
God remains the same, the same as He was in the beginning and the same as He will be in our futures. We need to remember what God has done in our pasts and in the pasts of our ancestors so we can know His power, might, love and forgiveness. Just as God showed love to the people when they were trapped and enslaved in Egypt, so He continues to show love every day of our lives.
The people cried out to God to save them from being slaves. They called on His might and power to free them. And He did. But soon after they were freed, they forgot the miracles God did because they were free and able to think for themselves… therein lies one of our downfalls – the more we try and think things through, the more we think we are in control and the less we rely on God for things. That is where things go wrong.
Not because God wants to punish us for the things we are doing, not because He wants to pull us back in line, but because we lose control when we think we are in control. We do not have the will or the power to release ourselves from the corruption and entrapments of this world; we give in too easily and we forget who has the ultimate power!
But, no matter how much we ignore God, reject Him or generally mess things up, He continues to try and give us a way of coming back to Him and enjoying the strength we gain from being with Him. God will use mere human beings to show us His power and His might – we just have to identify who is in control and who is allowing great things to happen in our midst!
Points to Ponder:
Do you see God’s work around you?
Are you willing to allow God to use you?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 1140
July 26: Psalm 105:1-4
Key Verse: Psalm 105:4
Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.
Devotion:
How do you re-connect with God after a bad experience? How do you try to get over what has happened and move forward? Well, it is God alone who will be able to allow you to do this because no matter how strong you think you are as a human, the only thing you can achieve is human sized and getting back to God is a whole new matter. I thank God He continues to allow me to remember this and allows me to grow stronger with Him every day.
I’ve lived in the world, lost my way with God, gone off on a long walk without Him and never gave it much of a thought. That’s the thing, when you do walk off on your own, you look for things to occupy your mind and try to fill your heart with all manner of earthly distractions. When you hit another wall you realise it was all a bit much and forget about all which has gone before and all you see is the wall!
God wants to lift you up over the wall and allow you to see what is on the other side. When you do get a glimpse of the other side, you can then lift up a word of praise to God – that will lead to another word and maybe even a song. The song will lift up your heart and allow you to remember all the wonderful things God has done for you in the past; things to look forward to once again.
Look to the Lord, not in your own strength, but for the strength to be able to hold your head up so you can praise Him and continue to lift up your head to look at Him face to face. God wants to continue His personal relationship with you every day and allow you to have many reasons to praise Him, sing to Him and give Him the glory!
Points to Ponder:
Whose strength do you rely on day by day?
Will you start depending more on God’s strength today?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 1070
July 25: Psalm 51:10-12
Key Verse: Psalm 51:11
Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Devotion:
So, you’re feeling down. You don’t feel like you can connect with God. You know you have done something wrong. You can’t see a way out. What do you do? People tell you to “get right with God!” How?!?!
God does not expect you to have the answers. He does not expect you to know exactly what to do. He knows you are in a state and He knows you cannot connect with Him just by reading the bible like other Christians do. God has the answers and He knows what to do.
How hard do you find it waiting for a bus which is already late because traffic is really bad? How do you find waiting when you don’t know the answers? None of us find it easy and none of us knows an easy way out of the problem… we all face very different situations in our walk with God and there is no “one size fits all” answer to everyone’s problems because God made us all very different, unique.
I find this part of the Psalm very helpful when things get on top of me because it seems to give me a platform from which I can move forward with God; not because I have the strength to do much about it, but because God has the strength to do something I cannot do. It starts off by asking God to help straighten things out because I know I cannot do it. It asks God to renew those feelings I had before. It asks God to do what I cannot do.
There is always the fear God will cut us loose because we have done things wrong, but we should know this is not true. He has promised us He will never let us go and nothing in this world will be able to take us away from God; that includes our feelings. God can restore those feelings and can bring back that joy which brings back the willing spirit and sustains us once again.
Points to Ponder:
How bad do things have to get before you ask for help?
Will you ask for help whilst things are still OK?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 1079
July 24: Psalm 51:1-6
Key Verse: Psalm 51:5
Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Devotion:
The more honest we are with God, the more we will be able to see just how precious the reconciliation He has prepared for us! This Psalm was written some time after King David had committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband sent to his certain death on the front line. We may have questioned whether God should forgive such a deed from a person who is supposed to be an example to others, but ours is not to question God’s judgement or love!
David does not demand anything from God but humbly submits to God’s judgement and offers a plea for God’s great compassion to cover his sins and allow forgiveness to be the outcome instead. If we had followed the rule of the land or the rules God laid down, David should have been put to death; instead we see a Loving and Forgiving God who is willing to listen to David’s prayer because He knows what is on David’s heart.
So it is not dependant on us being good enough to get forgiven for the little sins, but fully dependant on God’s grace to cover our sins, no matter what they are. If we are sincere and open our hearts with honesty to have a relationship with God, we can be assured of His willingness to forgive us of our sins!
We could argue we have been born full of sin and the only way we can escape the punishment for our sin is if someone who has no sin in them is able to stand and take on our sin debt instead of us having to pay for it. Jesus Christ alone is that person who has no sin in Him and is able to stand in our stead. He alone is able to forgive us because He took on our sin debt. God implanted the knowledge of good and bad in our hearts before we were born – we choose which path to follow...
Points to Ponder:
Do you admit to your problems in your heart?
Will you honestly and humbly talk to God about your sins?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 1060
July 23: 2 Corinthians 5:16-21
Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 5:19
that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
Devotion:
Have you ever had someone say you have lost your mind or lost the plot because you choose to be a Christian? I have had my fair share of people saying this and learned these are only words said by people who do not know God yet. Those people are judging you by earthly means and according to earthly standards; they cannot conceive the limitlessness of the world according to God and all He has done for us.
Christ came to live amongst us as a human being so we could try to understand there is hope for human beings. He put aside the heavenly ways so He could demonstrate how we could have a loving relationship with God even though we think we are limited by earthly limits. The truth is we are not limited by anything other than what is in our minds and hearts. God has promised this to us…
When Jesus came to earth, people judged Him as a human being because that is exactly what He was. What they did not look for was the Heavenly relationship He had and the unbound love God continued to show Him whilst He was but a mere human being! Jesus showed us the new way to belong to God, in spirit instead of bound by earthly rules and regulations.
He committed His life to demonstrating the reconciliation offered to every human being through His actions. Each one of us is, therefore, just like Jesus in being an ambassador for Christ. It is our job to show people the way to God through Jesus. It is not something we may be called to do once in a while but a way of living we need to pick up and run with! This way we can share the joy of being reconciled to God!
Points to Ponder:
Are you mad on Jesus?
Will you demonstrate a loving relationship to others?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 1170
July 22: Psalm 42:1-5
Key Verse: Psalm 42:2
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
Devotion:
How thirsty are you for God’s Word? How much do you really want to hear from God? Living in this world, we get to hear a lot of people asking “where is your God?” when they see things go wrong, and we even hear people in our church communities asking this as well. And whilst we have been in lock-down all around the world, we have probably asked “where can we go to meet with God?” because we have been kept from our church buildings and meeting places...
But each prayer you ask, each smile you wear for thankfulness, each tear you shed in sorry, God is watching over you and is with you. Why do we cling to the illusion we have to be in a building to worship God? I love the pictures I’m seeing of drive-in churches, where people are able to come together to feel more like they are with a church congregation… but I fear that is no substitute for an actual encounter with God!
We don’t have to be in the building we call church. We don’t have to be a group of more than 20 people before we can say we are a church. We don’t have to even leave our homes to be with God – because He is always with us in spirit and in truth!
We should not be mourning the loss of a meeting place. We should not be mourning the loss of a congregation. We should be rejoicing knowing our church continues to be wherever we are with God… and that can be anywhere!
Jesus Christ came to earth to be our Saviour and our God. He came to show us He is with us and meets with us even in our brokenness. We don’t have to be straight with God before we can meet with Him. We don’t have to get dressed up smart to be meet with Him. He came to us as a servant to show us He is with us...
Points to Ponder:
How did your church meet before lock-down?
Are you still meeting with God every day?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 1098
July 21: Matthew 6:19-21
Key Verse: Matthew 6:21
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Devotion:
What are your goals in life? What do you aim to do in life? I know those are really big questions, so lets trim this down a bit… what do you aim to do today? Does this differ from what you want to do, what you desire to be able to do?
If we are all very honest with the question “what do we want to do” then we are going to say things which may not be likely or possible for us. These are the things we seek after in our hearts and these are also the things which will probably make a very big difference to our lives if we are able to achieve them.
Quite often we set goals which are more achievable so we can get to them and make ourselves feel good about being able to get there. When we get to the goal, the goal is complete and we set up another one – and so the story goes on and on. We get to feel good, not just once, but multiple times… But what happens when we are able to achieve a goal only to see it crushed by someone else doing something which makes it of no affect? What happens when our goals are dashed on the rocks? We feel down and despondent…
Any goal we set up here on earth, be it getting the latest game on our computer, getting the latest fashion, getting to be a millionaire… these are all things which are temporary and get bashed and dashed multiple times within our lifetimes. The joy of achieving them is overshadowed by the grief of having them taken away.
What we need to do, then, is to aim for goals which other people cannot take away from us. Goals which can never be dashed, bashed or destroyed by any human being or anything else here on earth! This is why we are encouraged to seek and save up treasures in heaven where they can never be touched by other humans. The joy is everlasting!
Points to Ponder:
What is your goal today?
Have you tried to ask God for your next goal to reach for?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 1117
July 20: Isaiah 44:6-8
Key Verse: Isaiah 44:6
This is what the Lord says - Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.
Devotion:
And when God asks you to do something for Him… what is your response going to be? I think we would all like to think we would jump up and down for joy at being asked to do something for God and go right ahead and do it… But we are facing all manner of things which work against God in our lives and He may well choose one of those things to either work against or to talk against!
I can remember the horror of being asked to come to London to do God’s work here, and not only that, but to be on one of the estates which was in the top ten worst estates just a decade ago! But God’s timing and His will can give us the strength to do many things if we are willing. There is no one like our God and we need to remember that every day!
OK, so it may have been meeting the local people and finding out how great the takeaways were which finally persuaded me – but God knew what would make me happy and He already had everything in place before I got here. He had even sent me on mission trips with others working in very deprived and unloved areas to prepare me for what was ahead. He taught me there is still love here despite what everyone else talks about!
God may well ask you to do something which you don’t like the sound of, but being patient and listening to Him each step of the way will allow you to do things which you never would have dreamed of doing before… It is God who can do amazing things and has done so much before us to try and convince us. We just need to take that first step and trust Him!
Points to Ponder:
Do you get scared when you do something new?
How willing are you to fully trust God?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 1055
July 19: Exodus 3:1-6
Key Verse: Exodus 3:3
So Moses thought, ‘I will go over and see this strange sight – why the bush does not burn up.’
Devotion:
After his escapade with killing the Egyptian and judging others, Moses went into hiding from Pharaoh and stayed there until after Pharaoh had died and things looked like they were calming down again. In the mean time he had to find work and was now looking after the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro. Whilst looking after the sheep near Horeb, the mountain of God, an angel of the Lord appeared as a fire in the midst of a bush. The fire was burning but it was not burning the bush or consuming it as we would expect.
Moses, in his inquisitiveness, wanted to go up to the bush and see why the fire was nor burning it up… But God called out to him from within the bush! He called him by name so there was no doubt who God was calling. I’m not sure what I would have done in this instance other than wanting to go and touch the fire to see why it was not burning the bush!
God may not appear to you from within a burning bush or even in a great wind or earthquake, or whatever! God may be calling you by name but because you are not listening out for any call, you are not hearing it. That is one of our problems living in this noisy and crowded world we live in – there are far too many distractions for us to just sit still and listen to see if God is calling us by name…
I must say I do like the fact there is not a constant stream of planes flying overhead any more. It was something we got used to because it was there, virtually non-stop. But when it stops, you hear the difference and realise how much noise you have just accepted. Noise which is distracting and may be stopping you from hearing God. God called Moses when he was all alone, near Horeb and tending sheep. There was nobody else to take notes and guide Moses as to what to do next, he just had to put the world on pause and listen to God...
Points to Ponder:
How busy is your life?
Are you willing to pause your life and listen out for God?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 1146
July 18: Exodus 2:11-14
Key Verse: Exodus 2:14
The man said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “What I did must have become known.”
Devotion:
How many times have you ‘conveniently forgotten’ something you have done wrong? You knew it was wrong when you were doing it, but thought nobody would find out and it would be ok… God is watching us every step of the day and I’m sure does not like what He has to watch much of the day from people all around the world!
I would like us to think about the standards we have in our lives and how we apply them. Consider this… you see a friend of yours do something wrong. Do you report them for doing this? Do you point out their misgiving and ask them not to do it again? Do you forgive them and ignore what they have done? Or do you pretend you never saw anything in the first place?
We would probably answer this differently depending on who is doing wrong. We may well report someone who we don’t like or don’t even know because they have no relationship with us, but when it comes down to best friends, the answer goes the other way… Our overall standards differ according to where we are in life and who we are with. Moses was no different at this time. He did not think much of killing the Egyptian for doing wrong, but only warned his fellow Hebrews!
When Jesus came to tell us the most important commandment was to love one another, it was to make sure we change our ways and stop putting some people before others just because they are the same race or colour as us! God loves every one of us a His children and expects us to do our best to follow on in this same light. The historical records of the Western world have tended to be very biased toward those who are considered to be loyal or from the same part of the world as us. God wants this to change to be more in line with how Jesus showed love toward all mankind!
Points to Ponder:
Have you been given false history lessons because your government deemed is so?
Are you willing to follow Christ’s example and love all human beings?