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May 28: Romans 8:37-39
Key Verse: Romans 8:39
neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Devotion:
When we look at the love we have or have had for other people, we may question what love is because so many relationships and friendships end with cruel break-ups which have nothing to do with love. I know I have looked back on past relationships and wondered how I could have thought I was in love knowing what has happened since then, but then I also look back and see how easy it is to look past grievances and uphold love in stressful times!
The writer here expresses his opinion of how the love which God shows toward us should never end, but he does so in a way which makes us stop and think. There is nothing he can imagine which could stop the love God has for us. Nothing here on earth and nothing up there in Heaven or anywhere in between! This is not the same as our earthly ‘loves’ because we can imagine what would happen if we broke up and we do have such imaginations even in the greatest relationships we have.
I continue to marvel at this love God has for us and I continue to be astounded by it after seeing how He has loved me during my ups and downs in my relationship with Him. His love has never wavered but mine has been a bit of a roller-coaster at times! For anyone to be able to love me knowing my faults and knowing the things I do wrong is so very special to me and keeps me going in my rough times.
Because of this love we are ‘more than conquerors’ as described in these verses. The power and strength we get from this love and relationship with God means we can achieve so much more than we could if we were not in a relationship with God. The encouragement and strength I have received means I am able to stand up and pass on that love to the people around me – even though I know I don’t deserve the love, it continues to rain down on me!
Points to Ponder:
Name one thing you have done wrong in an earthly relationship!
God still loves you even though you have done more to Him!
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May 27: 1 John 3:16-18
Key Verse: 1 John 3:16
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
Devotion:
What sort of things do you do because you love someone? Do you pray for them? Do you give them food when they need it? Do you care for them when they are ill? Do you go out of your way to be there for them when they are anxious? All these things are actions which we can do to show our love toward others and this should not be limited to the people we hold nearest and dearest only – God wants us to do these things for our neighbours!
What is love if there are no actions to follow it up with? I know it is very difficult to show our love in ways we used to a few short months ago, but this should not withhold us from showing love in other ways. Prayer is one of those ways we can reach out to others in love, not because they can hear you praying, see you praying or be with you praying, but because you know God will answer your prayers and uphold them toward those you pray for!
One of the biggest ‘actions’ we can offer in love is to tell the truth, no matter what! I have learned the hard way that telling a lie will not end well and will bring down you soul as well as the people who hear that lie. This can be a lie spoken out loud, or even a lie kept to yourself – people are still affected by your lie even when you do not say it out loud. The people who are going to be most affected by your lies are the people who are closest to you, the very people you do not want to lie to!
We can all see the enormous affects of lie which governments tell, the lies penetrate the lives of every person in those countries! Those lies seep the energy out of souls who would otherwise be fed by the truth and by encouragement. It is little wonder lawlessness breaks out when lies are told… God always tells us the truth. Jesus came to fulfil the truth and allow us to see the power of truth. He stepped forward and took action when others were just talking about it. I love the slogan of the charity I work with “Be the change!”
Points to Ponder:
How do you like showing people you care for them?
Will you put aside your wants for someone else’s needs today?
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May 26: John 17:11-12
Key Verse: John 17:11
I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.
Devotion:
In recent weeks we have talked about the love Christ has for us and previous to that we looked at how God has asked us to love one another; so one more about the love Jesus had and knew that He had to uphold above everything! When Jesus prayed before He was to be taken away and punished in such a horrible way, He lifted up those around Him in prayer. He knew God had given Him charge over the disciples and He knew He must protect them in order to for the correct outcome to be fulfilled.
Whilst Jesus was with the disciples, He was able to protect them from harm, but He also had to make sure Judas Iscariot would be allowed to betray Him. He was doing this out of love, love for the people around Him and love for the whole world as He put into place everything required to cover the sin of the rest of us!
It is this love He wants us to extend toward other as well, a love which will take love first in order to uphold what is righteous and what needs to be done. This was not a political statement or move, but a prayer out of love for all of us. He wanted to make doubly sure the people He had been able to mix with were going to be protected by God from this point onward. Jesus had been able to see the power of a personal relationship with another person, one which promoted love.
This prayer was to extend that personal relationship between God and everyone. To define the love God has for us. Previous to this we had not had such a public and open display of His love on a personal level; we had seen God protecting the people of Israel over and over again, but now it was for the relationship between Him and every person on earth – you and I included!
Points to Ponder:
Do you now see the love Jesus has for us all?
Will you extend that love to the people around you?
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May 25: Matthew 18:12-14
Key Verse: Matthew 18:13
And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off.
Devotion:
How many of your friends are always there for you and how many of them just seem to come and go when it suits them? I know this is a harsh thing to say and I know there are so many reasons why we all ‘come and go’ in friendship circles, so generalising is not encouraged! But there is a friend who will never leave your friend circle and who will always come and find you when you go off and get lost! That friend is Christ!
In our societies we often look at the profit margin rather than in our hearts when it comes to business decisions – but people’s souls have nothing to do with business decisions, or at least they should not have! God does not weigh up things and see where and when the most profitable time and place will be to gain the most souls! God seeks out every single soul, leaving none alone!
This is so aptly told in the parable of the lost sheep where the shepherd is looking after 100 sheep, notices one of them has wandered off, leaves the 99 safer sheep and goes off to find that one lost sheep. He knows those 99 are going to be safe because He knows each one of them. Often as Christians we get down-hearted because we think God is not listening or we think He has wandered off to do something else… These times are when He has faith in us, knowing we are strong enough to continue going while He makes a detour to find another lost sheep!
God does not want to see any one of us wander off and get lost. As Christians we need to stick together to keep each other safe from the world; we need to encourage each other knowing we are in the fold where we are safe. God is not leaving us alone and He certainly is not turning our backs on us; just maybe He has made a detour to find the single lost person and wants you to be strong and loving to welcome them in when He returns with them!
Points to Ponder:
Do you get tired of just being a Christian?
DO you know God is trusting you with Christianity to be ready for the next one?
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May 24: Romans 5:6-8
Key Verse: Romans 5:6
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
Devotion:
This is probably the most important part of God’s love which we need to be reminded of – especially when our lives are being turned upside-down with the pandemic situation! This is how God loved us even before we got to know Him! Have you ever ‘fallen in love instantly?’ Not that this can be compared to the love of God, but you know how it changes your life and eventually the life of the other person if you get together. It’s that point I want to focus on – how your life will change when you reciprocate a bit of that love God showed you first of all!
It’s not like we had to do anything to get God to love us – something I see so much of around me and something I find a bit disturbing. We may be able to fool other humans into believing we care for them for a while, but the truth eventually comes out. We cannot really hide from the love of God because He has shown His love for us from the beginning and has done some pretty amazing things to try and convince us of His love… even before we got to know Him!
God knows what we are like. He knows all the bad things we get up to and He knows what is going on in our hearts and minds; yet His love for us knows no bounds and continues to be poured out on us. We don’t have to sort ourselves out before He can love us. We don’t have to make sacrifices before He loves us… He loved us from the beginning and that was when we were powerless to do anything about that love! Jesus died for us even though we were doing things against Him!
We may think we would protect our nearest and dearest even by giving our lives for them, but would we do that for our enemies? Would you willingly give your life so your worst enemy could live? That is what Jesus did for us! That is the awesomeness and faithfulness of Christ’s love for us!
Points to Ponder:
What do you do for the people you love?
Do you know how much Christ has done for you already?
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May 23: 1 John 4:7-11
Key Verse: 1 John 4:11
Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
Devotion:
Having looked into God’s definition of love albeit in layman's terms for our sakes, we can now look at what God is asking us to do with this love. He is asking us to love one another, which again raises the doubts we have of being able to love our enemies; but as long as we keep hold of our own definition of love we will probably never be able to love our enemies!
So how do we do it? Well, we start with the love God is giving us and not what we claim to have ourselves! True love comes from God and has been shown to us through His actions. God showed His love to the Israelites by taking them out of slavery and into a land where they could thrive. God showed the love He has for all of us by allowing His one and only Son to give His own life up on the cross in our stead!
It is through Jesus’ action on the cross we have access to eternal life, not because we deserve it but because He loved us enough to provide a way for us to join Him in Heaven despite us having sin in our lives which excludes us from being with Him! His love far out-weighs the sins we have done and Jesus’ blood covers them all allowing us to come out as if we had not sinned – this is the only way we can be with God the Father!
We don’t get a free pass to Heaven just because we declare our love for God, nor for saying we love Jesus or for saying we have the Holy Spirit. We gain access to Heaven because of what Jesus has done and because He is willing to inter seed on our behalves – He is the only one who can do this because He alone shed His blood to cover our sins. This is God’s love for us embodied… so our choice is to either reject that love or to grasp it fully and follow God’s wishes; to take this love He gives us and share it with the people around us, friends and enemies alike!
Points to Ponder:
What is the most you have done for love?
Do you realise how much God has done because of His love?
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May 22: 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 13:6
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
Devotion:
We spoke of God’s love yesterday and how much He cares for the whole world, but what is this love? By human standards we have all sorts of ifs and buts which we apply to love just to get us out of tight spots or ‘little lies.’ None of that is the true definition of God’s love, but these verse help us to understand some of the aspects of God’s love and enough to inspire us to aim toward something which is achievable!
To be honest, one of the hardest things to accept is when God tells us we have to love our enemies, because, well, they are our enemies! But if we take these verses to heart we begin to see how we can love our enemies through something quite different to our normal feelings we ascribe to love.
How often do you get sick and tired of waiting for someone to respond in a way you like? How often do you get envious of the love a friend has for another person? How often do you overstate your ‘love’ for someone to try and get something out of it? How often does our so-called love put others down, anger others or keep record of any little thing someone does wrong? This is not the love God wants us to have, but what we call love in this world.
God’s love does nothing described above because it is a love which covers all of those things we do wrong in our relationships. His love does not know evil but always remains in truth. His love always seeks to trust, protect, uphold, all of which gives us hope as it perseveres. This is the love God wants us to share amongst our communities and not just with the ‘one we love!’ God shares this love with us all and continue to share it no matter what happens in our lives. He does not stop loving us just because we fell off the rails and did something wrong. His love is forgiving and perpetual!
Points to Ponder:
How do you describe your love?
Will you try loving with God’s kind of love?
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May 21: John 3:16-18
Key Verse: John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Devotion:
I thought it time to visit some of my favourite verses in our Bible; these are the first verses I learned off by heart and they have stuck with me through all my time since coming to know Christ! I actually learned them because I had to, but did not understand the full gravity of these words until a few years after I had learned them...
This is, unfortunately, part of the way we live nowadays. We learn things and do things because we are told to. We learn how to reply to things because that way we will pass the test of being asked the question – but that is not real in a sense it is just like a machine learning to respond to pre-set questions. The more I get to know God, the more I want to explore different ways of being with Him and different ways in which we can relate to Him.
Life should not be a pre-learned response to a set of pre-set questions. Life just isn’t like that. We get to face issues we have not faced before and get to confront new ways of seeing things. We have to adapt to life as we live it. The wonderful thing about God’s word is it isn’t a text book we have to learn verbatim! We get to use it to guide us in life. God has given us this perfect set of scripture so we can face up to almost anything; and when we reach a point we don’t understand, we need to leave it up to God to guide us through the problems.
Jesus did not come to put us all to death for the sins we have done, are doing and will do… He came to set us free from those sins so we don’t have to live that way any more. If we choose to ignore this truth, then we are condemning ourselves to live by human laws which we know to be faulty and we will die confined by those laws; but if we choose to accept God’s Word as the truth, then it will set us free from this trap we set for ourselves – all because God knew what we needed!
Points to Ponder:
Do you ever despair at the way politicians try to bend the laws?
Do you know God’s law never changes?
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May 20: Colossians 3:5-10
Key Verse: Colossians 3:9
Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices
Devotion:
How often do you tell a white lie to get away from doing something or to get away from taking the blame for something you have done? I have always tried to make sure I tell the truth, but I know there are many times when I have not told the truth just because it was more suitable for me to not do so! This is the life we are trying to leave behind as we move forward with God in our lives – but it is not as easy as dropping off our dirty laundry at the cleaners and getting on with our lives!
Whenever I say something like that I stop and think about what I have said, not because it is profound or anything, but because of the gravity of what I have just dared to write down on paper! It also makes me think of the people who have jobs where they cannot help but get dirty during their work; my mind goes back to movies I have seen about people who have worked in coal mines and they have come home looking rather blackened with the coal dust. Nothing that a good wash cannot take away – but that image sticks in my mind!
God is so much more than the dirt we carry round in our lives. He is so much more than the residue we have on us because of the lives we live. Whether we live those lives by choice or just because we don’t have a choice, God is still there and still able to take ultimate care of us! There is no sin greater than the forgiveness and faithfulness of our God. There is nothing we can do which will prevent God from being here for us. Yes, we have a choice to ask God into our lives or not, but He is still there, waiting!
So let us put aside the lies of this world for as long as we can, starting here and now. I know this may not last too long for many of us because of the world we are surrounded by, but we can at least start again. Jesus was faithful to go to that cross so our sins could be forgiven once and for all. He has already done that so we do not have to continue on in our sins any longer. Be brave. Ask God to help you change.
Points to Ponder:
How often do you lie?
Will you try start afresh again?
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May 19: Psalm 66:10-12
Key Verse: Psalm 66:12
You let people ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance.
Devotion:
None of us like to think we have to go through tough times, but sometimes we do have to face challenges in order to grow stronger; just like we have to do exercise in order to get fitter, we have to do spiritual exercise in order to be spiritually stronger too. But then we also have to face hardships in life in order to know how to cope with them – something none of us want to do!
The Children of Israel had to go through a long period in the desert before they were able to reach the land God had promised them – but that was probably nothing compared to the time they spent in slavery in Egypt. God did not cause any of these things to happen. These all happened because of what man was doing. It could be said this current pandemic is all down to what mankind was doing… we are largely responsible for things like this because we are trying to understand the world a bit better – so we test things we ought not to be testing without proper protection… but we make mistakes and we all get to pay for those mistakes!
But, no matter how much we go through and no matter how much we do things wrong, God is always there. We may push Him into a corner because we want to get on and do something we ought not to be doing, but God is still there. He has every right to punish us for the things we experiment with, but He does not. He waits patiently for us to realise our mistakes and turn back to Him for he comfort and abundance He wants us to have.
There are times when I get so carried away with work and all things computerised that I forget to knuckle down and spend time with God. He does not punish me for those times but waits patiently for me to get round to it… This morning is the repercussion of one such time when I did not knuckle down to do my Bible study and devotionals – so this one comes out a bit later than normal! But I know God is still with me every day – because He is faithful, always!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you do things you ought not to?
Was God still there when you turned back to Him?