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July 7: Nehemiah 8:7-8
Key Verse: Nehemiah 8:8
They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read.
Devotion:
After the walls of the city had been rebuilt the people came together to be reminded of the law, the scriptures, given to the people by God, through Moses. These were the rules by which they should have been living and now realised they had lost so much by going off and doing their own thing. Now they sat and listen intently to the leaders as they read the law once again in the city.
The Levites went one step further and they interpreted the law for the people so everyone was in no doubt what the law said – no excuses this time round. If we want to be able to help the people in our communities then we have to be willing to go through similar steps to what Nehemiah went through and to go those few step further for the community.
Our first task is to go into the communities and to start by doing the physical works. Start by rebuilding things which have fallen apart. Start by organising relief for those in need and expertise for those who need it. What is a community if it is still falling apart? Once we have got things moving in the right direction again, we can continue helping those who need help and helping them to start helping each other again. Communities used to all club together and get things done – we need that spirit back!
When the community is at rest again they will make time to listen to God’s Word. When it is still knee deep in pain they will continue to ignore everything else, including God’s Word. This is when we can start explaining God’s Words in ways the community can understand. Jesus showed us how important this is by talking in parables for people to understand. When people begin to understand, they are more willing to spend a bit more time listening and so the cycle of learning about God continues!
Points to Ponder:
Who was the first person to explain the bible in simple terms for you?
Are you ready to simply the bible for someone else now?
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July 6: Jonah 4:5-11
Key Verse: Jonah 4:10
But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight.
Devotion:
How many times have you got angry with God – note I ask how many times, not if! We all do get angry with God at times because we want to see things done according to our own times and places, yet what do we do about all the other times and places the Lord allows us to be alive with and at?
Jonah sat outside of Tarshish to see what God was going to do to them because they were not obeying God or listening to Him. This was obviously a desert town because it was hot and no shade around anywhere, but God provided a small plant which grew up beside him to give Jonah a little bit of cover. Jonah did not give much attention to this plant other than being thankful for it being there. So it came and gave him shade and it went and died just as easily…
What lessons do we take from this? We need to not just be thankful for the things God gives us, but to take care of them too. Without us taking care of anything we are simply taking God for granted and living according to our own wants and needs. God is still with us and still cares for us, but when we ignore the very things He is placing around us, we are beginning to ignore God in our lives too.
Take a bit of time to stop and think about the things God is placing around your life. Take a bit of time not just to be thankful but to care for them too. This does not just include the plants around us, but the buildings, places, environment, and of course the people too. Stop taking them for granted and start offering a helping hand to the things and people which God places around you every day! Be thankful for more and care just that little bit more by showing you care!
Points to Ponder:
Do you get angry with God for not giving you what you want?
How much do you care for the things He gives you without you asking for them?
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July 5: John 5:31-40
Key Verse: John 5:39
You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me
Devotion:
Talking all about yourself can be harmful for your image – the more we build ourselves up the more people will think we are not telling the truth because we are talking about ourselves! Jesus knew He would face this and that is why John was sent before Him to tell people of a truth which was coming, one which was going to change the world. This was what the scriptures had recorded in them and something the people should have already been prepared for… but the closer the time came, the more people ignored the signs.
We have seen this in action over the first half of this year and we will continue to see more of this as people ignore the warnings just because they want to go back to doing their own thing! We can look forward and say “we won’t get involved!” but after a very short while of not having our own ways we tend to give in to temptation and do silly things! We even start believing our own lies and tell those same lies to others expecting them to believe us…
Let us never forget we are those lights Jesus is talking about here, just as John was a light coming before Jesus, we are lights declaring the way before the Lord returns once again. We don’t know when it will be and we have no idea how other than this is because Jesus said it would be so. You may think we have a bit of an uphill struggle here because we don’t know enough details – that is where our faith comes in.
If we are willing to have faith and trust Christ will do as He has promised, then we can shine that light just as John did and people will believe us just as they believed John. The crowning glory will be when Jesus does come again and we can live out our faith! Ours is to simple tell it how it is, but Jesus has the task of fulfilling what has been said, no matter what!
Points to Ponder:
Do you shudder at the thought of having to tell people about Jesus?
Imagine having to tell them there is no longer any hope...
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July 4: Mark 12:28-33
Key Verse: Mark 12:30
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.
Devotion:
I wonder how frustrating it was for Jesus to go round telling people the truth about Heaven and for them to all question His every word. Many of the people who were not learned scholars of the Torah were willing to listen to Jesus and to learn – almost like they had not been given the chance to learn before… Sometimes we do get carried away with the intricacies of the details and we forget about the simple truth. So when Jesus brought it down to just these two commandments, it was about as simple as He could make it!
When we try to explain the gospel to others we should not be trying to give them the law according the scholars and priests, we should be giving them what we have in our hearts and what we have learned to understand ourselves. If we think it is still difficult to be a child of God, then we surely are on the wrong end of the rope…
God wants us to know it is very simple to love Him and to dedicate our lives to worshipping Him. We don’t have to try and invent a million rules and regulations so we can prove in some way we are worthy! God simply wants us to love Him with our whole heart and to love the people around us so they too can get to know Him. I love being able to help others and sometimes spend far longer helping others than I probably should, but it is my way of showing people a bit of the love Christ showed me!
I want to be able to allow people to see the simplicity of the gospel and not to get caught up in the many laws mankind tried to follow in order to prove himself worthy. We have shown on so many occasions we are not worthy, but because of Christ’s love for us, we can be worthy because He has made it possible. It really is that simple.
Points to Ponder:
Do you think you have broken too many rules?
How many can God forgive?
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July 3: Mark 11:22-26
Key Verse: Mark 11:23
Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.
Devotion:
Do you have doubts when you pray? Doubts your prayers will be heard, doubts they will be answered, doubts they are what you need? All these doubts do not come from God but from the evil one who is trying desperately to make you doubt so your prayers will not be answered. Jesus was quite plain with the truth about prayer – if we ask and believe, He will answer!
Our problems come when we ask with that little bit of doubt hanging around in the corner of our minds – why, because we have probably asked before and nothing has happened yet… but that time we asked we had doubts anyway! Bit of a catch 22 situation and it will remain so until you are corned and ask our of desperation, knowing God is the only one who can answer your prayers, and then you find they are answered.
When Jesus sent out the disciples to go and teach, cure and support people, he did so knowing they knew the power of prayer. When we do know the power of prayer, we don’t, or shouldn’t, have any doubts about what we ask for because we should know Christ is listening and answering all the time.
Each time I write about this subject my mind goes back to a time when I literally fell on my knees with my son and daughter and begged God to help me. We all ended up in tears and our prayers were answered at that very moment; not years, days, hours or minutes later but at that very moment! Yet I still have that nagging doubt swimming round in my head because the evil one is always throwing things into my head and into my path. Lord, help me in my unbelief.
Points to Ponder:
How often do you pray from your heart?
Do you fully trust in your prayers?
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July 2: Matthew 16:1-4
Key Verse: Matthew 16:3
and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.
Devotion:
How many times have you checked up on sayings like “red sky at night, shepherds delight?” Sayings like these have been used and depended upon by many people over the past – and now we know there is scientific basis for some of these sayings. But we do not trust in and believe biblical sayings… I look at the arguments going on in churches about the Black Lives Matter movement and wonder what goes through people’s minds as they try to make sense of things for themselves.
There is no way on earth we can support the way in which black people have been treated in the past, and this is not just America but has roots in countries all over the world. I was born in a British colony and was taught lies in school based on what the British colonialists wanted me to know. The more I read about the work Christians were doing behind the scenes to try and get help for the under-class, the more I got involved and the more I was alienating myself from many of my ‘white friends.’
Jesus taught a ministry of full inclusion and not exclusivity. Too much of the modern world is built up on the lies of many generations and those lies need to be exposed. For much of my life I have wondered who is actually telling the truth because I have seen so many things which have been against Christ’s teaching in churches and governments. I don’t condone violence to support a cause, but when the governments themselves are covering up the truth there are going to be people who cannot take it any more, people who will have to use violence to get themselves heard.
Many countries will call this terrorism because it is so violent. What we need to do is to preach the gospel message Jesus brought to us, and if that means going against the very countries we have been brought up in, then Jesus’ ministry must be upheld. If we stick to our old ways we can never move forward to embrace Christ’s truth, we will be stuck with the old ways, ways which have been causing us problems for far too long.
Points to Ponder:
Do you really believe we are all God’s Children?
Will you open your heart and home to everyone?
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July 1: Matthew 13:47-50
Key Verse: Matthew 13:48
When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away.
Devotion:
I wonder what the people thought of Jesus when He compared them to various things, from animals to plants and more! I’m sure there were quite a few people who could not quite get their heads round what Jesus was saying at times – but each time this happened, He would sense it and offer some sort of explanation if it was required. I think the disciples got this one quite quickly because many were from a fishing background and understood what happens to the catch when it is sorted…
This may sound a bit harsh to us nowadays because we are so insulated from the reality of where food comes from and what is required to deliver that food from the source to our plates, or freezers! Jesus wanted them to understand the gravity and finality of what was going to happen, so He used their own lives to describe it.
When the gospel message goes out to the world, it does not get selected for the few who know Jesus at the time, it goes out to everyone who is near at the time. Some of those people are not going to want to hear it whilst others don’t know they need to hear it. The net goes down and scoops up everyone who is there at the time. But not everyone is going to be selected from that net load because some will still not believe and some will still not want to know.
When it is time for the net to get drawn in, when it is time for Jesus to come back to take us home, there are going to be people who are caught up in the net but do not believe or do not understand. Jesus has the task of sorting out the fish on that final day and He will go about His task with due diligence, without bending the rules and without making exceptions just because we kick off a bit!
Points to Ponder:
Have you told the people near you about Jesus?
Do they know it will be time soon for Him to return?
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June 30: John 21:15-19
Key Verse: John 21:16
Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”
Devotion:
How often does your loyalty get called into question? If you are like me then it is probably quite often because I seem to do silly things without thinking of the consequences and end up upsetting people without wanting to. But there are a couple of things these verses remind us of...
I think the first one is that our actions are going to have consequences. No matter how careful we are about doing things, there will always be someone who does not agree with the way we do things and points it out at some stage. Whether this is good or bad is going to depend on what we are doing! But, as Jesus was reminding Simon Peter here, so He reminds us every day as well. We say one thing, but are we following what we say up with what we do – are our actions the same as what we say they should be?
Jesus knows our hearts and knows what we are capable of. He asks us to stretch ourselves when we do things for Him, but He knows we are capable of doing those things before He asks – we may not think so… He has carefully selected each one of us for the things He has planned because He knows what has to be done. If we are going to be the ones saying ‘here I am, use me’ then we need to live up to that!
The second thing we are reminded of here is our own commitment to Jesus. We may say we believe. We may say we care. We may say we love… but how much of that bears fruit in our lives? How much of what we say does happen? Jesus made sure each promise which came out of His mouth came to pass and He continues to live up to those promises. He did not say “I promise to...” but simply spoke the words and we can take those words as promises. Why can’t we be more like that in our lives? Why can’t we just tell the truth and mean what we say?
Points to Ponder:
Do you bend the truth sometimes?
Do you know God sees the actual truth all the time?
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June 29: Ezekiel 34:11-16
Key Verse: Ezekiel 34:16
I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.
Devotion:
In the Western world we have all seen the results of people rejecting bad authority, fighting for justice and generally doing things their own way; there is a whole lot of chaos, disruption and even danger for the people involved just because they got carried away with their own thoughts and wants instead of sticking to the way of justice. Now I am not saying we need to obey our governments words if they are wrong, and believe me we have seen our fair share of governmental blunders this year… We need to strive toward real justice and real authority.
God continues to keep His promises! We read about some of those promises given to the prophets of old and I am personally amazed at how these continue to come true no matter what we get up to in our minds and hearts. Christ promised to be our Good Shepherd and we have seen how He can do this when people listen to His instructions. Sheep will listen to the shepherd because they have learned that is where the safety is… mankind doesn’t seem to get that!
In this passage our Lord promises to look for us in all the wrong places we get into, to rescue us from those dark times, deep pits and general confusion. He promises to watch over us and keep us safe. He promises to give us rest and a richer experience if we follow Him, just as sheep would follow a shepherd.
One of the aspects we often look over are the snippets we can draw from these prophets as they interpreted the word of God for us. One thing which caught my eye was how we are promised our own land, just as God delivered the Israelites into a new land, we too are promised a new land where we will be able to live in true justice and peace. I look forward to that day; in the mean time we work toward that goal!
Points to Ponder:
Do you expects things to be done for you?
Or will you work hard to help the Shepherd?
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June 28: John 9:13-23
Key Verse: John 9:16
Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others asked, “How can a sinner perform such signs?” So they were divided.
Devotion:
Jesus did cause quite a stir wherever He went, not just because He was performing miracles or because He was telling people the truth about God, but because He was doing so when and where the help was required. Too many times we get caught up in the when and where and lose focus on the what and the whom for. Jesus was always focused on the whom for and He was willing to do what it took when it was required!
Now, if we were to do things more in the way Jesus did them, we too would find a barrage of people willing to speak up against us because we dare to do what is right! People are too entrenched in the ways of their lives and lose focus on who they are serving; and yes, as Christians we too are guilty of this because we get too caught up in what our church should look like instead!
One other thing we tend to lose focus on when we focus on our church or our own lives is what Jesus can do! The Pharisees refused to believe Jesus was the Messiah and limited Him to being a prophet, this would give Him authority to do some things, but He would have to keep within their laws – something Jesus was not willing to do. We need to free ourselves from the restrictions of what we think should happen and allow Christ to show us what can happen when we give Him the proper authority due!
When we impose our ways and our limits, we are also imposing limits on the people we are trying to free. When we limit Jesus in ways we can understand, we are limiting the faith of the people around us to what we can explain in human limitations. God is not limited by what we can understand! We need to change to expect more from God so the people around us can see more of what God can do!
Points to Ponder:
Do you limit your belief?
Will you free your faith to grow to Jesus’ proportions instead?