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November 2: Romans 8:31-39
Key Verse: Romans 8:34
Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died – more than that, who was raised to life – is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
Devotion:
I love the way Paul writes about Christ being everything to and for us. He starts off by asking who can ever be against us if God is for us, continues to remind us He gave His own Son up for us. Jesus, the one given up for us, willingly stepped forward then and even now steps forward to be our witness to God so we are presented not guilty!
Who is the one to condemn us then? It certainly isn’t Christ who did all of those things so we would be blameless. It certainly isn’t God who sees us as innocent because Jesus took on the debt instead… It’s those people around us who don’t know what Christ has done for us!
So can they prevent us from accepting the love Christ has for us? Can they separate us from God? No! No person on earth can keep us from Christ because He is making sure every one of us is given the opportunity to see Christ for what He is and what He has done for us!
Each of us makes the choice as to whether we do listen to the Gospel or whether we stick our heads in the sand and pretend Jesus did not do all of that for us! The world around us does not want to hear the truth for fear of having to admit they have done something wrong – but once we admit our mistakes and ask Christ to be in our lives, nothing can ever separate us from God again!
Points to Ponder:
Do you get swayed by what people do around you?
Will you try to listen to what Christ did for you?
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November 1: Matthew 5:1-12
Key Verse: Matthew 5:9
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Devotion:
After all this talk about trying to do what is right, Jesus lays down things here with a different view in mind. We often think of the Ten Commandments when we try to tell people how they should live – yes we do tend to judge people by telling them what to do! But Jesus uses a different approach by encouraging the disciples rather than enforcing rules and regulations on them.
When we want to help spread the gospel we should not be discouraging people by pointing out what they are doing wrong but telling them what a different life can be like. Jesus was doing exactly that by telling them of all the blessing they can receive no matter what is going on in their lives.
We often think of the bad things that can happen and wonder why God allows things like that to happen; but this is not God dishing out bad things, more like the evil one trying to discourage us by using whatever means he can! What Jesus says here is that He is with us even in the bad times and the hard times. If we are willing to stop and listen to Him rather than the worldly things happening around us, we will be comforted and maybe even guided to avoid more bad things.
But each of these things Jesus highlights are everyday things for each of us. Sometimes we feel down, sometimes we have to mourn the loss of friends or family. If we are willing to accept His comforting and act in a Christian manner, we can also encourage those around us. Jesus wants us to turn our lives around...
Points to Ponder:
How often do you get despondent with the world?
How often do you wait on God?
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October 31: Luke 13:18-21
Key Verse: Luke 13:19
It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches.
Devotion:
One of the great things about being a Christian is the joy we get when we are able to help people when least expected. We saw this yesterday when Jesus healed the woman on the Sabbath, but today we get a hint of why He did so much healing and spread so much joy. Jesus was sharing the gospel, sharing the joy of being able to worship a God who cares for us and who loves us no matter what!
When we are able to do a little, others get to see and they in turn will be able to share the love and joy we find when they try to do something for others too. The more we are able to share this love with God to the people, the more we are able to allow others to see just how awesome our God is!
Sometimes it is the smallest things in our lives which hold us together as community. Sometimes it is the smallest expression of love which will change a community. It is not something you can stand on the outside with and throw in to see if it works; it has got to come from the inside which means joining in with the community to show it from the inside!
Jesus came into all sorts of villages, communities and groups of people. Leaders scolded Him to daring to go into the sinners circles… But how was He supposed to change people’s hearts unless He was willing to stand amongst them and show His love?
Points to Ponder:
Do you try to change people by telling them what to do?
Will you try to help someone instead of telling them what to do?
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October 30: Luke 13:10-17
Key Verse: Luke 13:17
When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.
Devotion:
Sorry for the sporadic appearances of the devotions, but I’ve been off sick for most of the week and just now beginning to think straight again. Having a story about healing seems somewhat appropriate. This is another case of Jesus showing mercy over and above the rules of the synagogue and showing us that there is always time to do good, no matter what day it is!
This woman had been crippled for eighteen years, not just through some birth defect, but by the evil one who does not care for anyone but itself. Jesus called the woman forward and released her from the grip of the evil spirit which had done this to her for so very long; immediately she was released and was able to stand properly once again!
The synagogue leader reprimanded Jesus because He dared to do some work on the Sabbath. Jesus in return reprimanded him for not caring about the people on the Sabbath! God has given us times to work and times to rest and times to praise Him. He has done this to give us a better life, one where we will not lose focus on what is important and still have time to manage things.
When we take rules and regulations too far and turn our backs on people, we are turning our backs on God’s people and hence on God Himself! This is one of the reasons why Jesus said the most important rules are to love God and to love one another!
Points to Ponder:
Do you stop work just because the rules say so?
When was the last time you went above and beyond to help someone?
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October 28: John 15:17-27
Key Verse: John 15:22
If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.
Devotion:
When you found out for the first time something you were doing was wrong, did you stop doing it? Sometimes we do things because we don’t know they are wrong – we do this a lot as young people because we are still learning the ways of the world. If we were good imitators we may be able to do things right; but that depends on the person we are imitating doing things right to start with!
Jesus warned the disciples the world would simply hate them because they were doing what Jesus said they should do; not because they were doing anything wrong, but because the world was doing things wrong and did not want to be shown up! We cannot be guilty of doing wrong if we do not know it is wrong, but as soon as we know it is wrong, we have no excuse for doing it wrong again.
As our church grows into the world the world is not going to like the way we point out what is wrong because that means they no longer have the excuse of “we did not know it was wrong!” God gave us the Bible so we could help people (and ourselves) to see what is wrong.
The Holy Spirit comes to show us what is right and wrong. He does this no matter where we are or what we believe. This means nobody really has the excuse of saying they did not know it was wrong any more.
Points to Ponder:
Who teaches you right from wrong?
How well do you listen to the Holy Spirit?
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October 27: Romans 7:18-25
Key Verse: Romans 7:23
but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.
Devotion:
I am sure we all try to be good at times, and I am sure we also get into trouble at times because we are not good. As hard as we try to be good at everything we do, we will always fall short of the standard we set for ourselves and the standard God set for mankind! So what makes us go off the rails and do bad things, or things we should not do?
We could blame it on the temptations or the others around us who lead us off into those sinful acts, but what it comes down to in the end is we have a sinful nature which takes over at times and makes us do things we know are not right. We have the knowledge to stop ourselves but we don’t seem to have the strength to stop.
As this letter to the Romans puts it, we have a war raging inside us where our minds say it’s alright to do things so we go ahead and do them. We may know before hand, during or after the fact these things are wrong and work against God, but our minds say it’s going to be ok this time: this is our sinful nature taking over.
We can thank God Jesus came to give us a way out of this sinful trap we find ourselves in. He came to deliver us from those sins so we do not have to be a slave to this sinful nature which lives inside us. Instead we can draw on the strength Christ gives us through the Holy Spirit to avoid those situations and turn our backs on the sin. Through His blood we have been forgiven!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you do things you know are not right?
How often do you call out to Christ to help you avoid those times?
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October 26: Romans 6:19-23
Key Verse: Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Devotion:
One of the things you never get to see when you are encamped in sin is how destructive your life and behaviour is to your soul. The more you get involved with the sin the more you lose sight on the righteousness in life and the more you are convinced you have to do certain things to survive. You lose sight of real life and you become a slave to sin.
What Jesus came to teach people was we can, with His help, turn our lives around so we no longer feel entrapped by the sinful life we used to live. He wants us to be free from the sin and all the traps of the sinful life because they lead to nothing but destruction, both to yourself and to the people around you.
The more we turn our backs on sin and focus on righteousness the more we are able to show ourselves and others there is a better way of living; one which not only invites righteousness, but one which involves Christ in every step of life. When we grow closer to Christ in our lives we do see the shortcomings of this world and the sin which traps people from all walks in life.
With Christ’s help we can walk away from those traps rather than giving in and falling into the pit of despair which sin digs for us. It is not ourselves who cause the sin but the evil one making the temptation of false promises look real; then we fall into his trap and cannot find a way out.
Points to Ponder:
How much of your life is Christ invited into?
Will you make Him an honoured guest?
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October 25: Roman 6:12-14
Key Verse: Romans 6:14
For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.
Devotion:
One of our biggest downfalls is we think we are greater than sin or that we can overcome it by ourselves. Once we allow sin into our lives the battle to turn away from sin becomes greater and greater until we have no hope of being able to stop by ourselves. The only way is to allow someone else to help us. I say allow because there is a difference between being forced to stop sin and allowing someone to help you stop it.
When we are forced to stop sin we don’t really understand the power of sin because someone else has taken it away for us. But if we are part of the stopping of the sin, then we understand how destructive it can be and are less likely to allow it back into our lives. Now there are sins which you can get help with from friends or other people, but to make sure we turn our backs on it we need extra help.
A friend can only help you to manage it, but God can help you to turn your back on it all together. The sin can be identified by the law, be it the law of the land or Gods law. To understand sin and the affect it has on our lives we need Gods insight. The law of the land will allow you to see the sin and understand it is wrong, but Gods insight will allow you to see a whole lot more.
Because Jesus gave His life to cover our sin debt we owe, we no longer have to live under just the law and we no longer have to fight sin alone. Christ came to take the burden sin gives us and allow us to move forward with Him in our lives.
Points to Ponder:
Do you struggle with sin?
Will you allow Christ to help you?
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October 24: Luke 12:35-38
Key Verse: Luke 12:37
It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will make them recline at the table and will come and wait on them.
Devotion:
You could take this passage in almost any part of life and apply it, but here we should be thinking of the readiness of every Christian when our Lord does return. You may have noticed the harder you work, the more likely your employer is going to give you rewards… so do we apply this in our Christian lives?
A fair amount of Christians do subscribe to that philosophy and indeed our Bibles do tell us of greater rewards for some, but it is not for works. There are some who make a living out of doing work for the church even though they do not have faith in Christ. There are some who give their lives to serving Christ and expect nothing in return. Where do you stand? Maybe somewhere between the two?
Do our Christian lives need to be a balance between working for a living and serving Christ? I used to try to make sure I made enough money to be able to pay into church funds and help support the church. I never seemed to be able to do that as well as I wanted to because there was always something lacking. So I started trying to listen to God and find out what it was He wanted me to do…
When we do listen to direction from God, He will make sure we are in the right place at the right time to do the greatest for the kingdom of God. When we begin to rely on Him we find earthly things fall into place and we have our needs met one way or another. Just be ready to serve God when He calls!
Points to Ponder:
Do you serve God at all?
Are you ready to say yes when He calls?
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October 23: Romans 4:20-25
Key Verse: Romans 4:21
being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised
Devotion:
We don’t have too much to go on with regards to Abraham’s early life, but we do have a lot to go on with his later life because we know he was a man of faith. In these words he is described as being a man who knew God would deliver on His promises; even if he did falter a bit when Sarah questioned whether things were going the right way.
Sometimes we just have to rely more on our faith than we were initially prepared to do. When we are pushed to our limits or questioned hard about our faith, we may be tempted to give in to the ways or ideals of the world instead – because it kind of makes sense…
In the end Abraham did realise just how sure God’s promises were an we have the stories in our bibles to remind us of this. Now it is our turn to try to stand firmly in our faith and not to falter as the world sways this way and that way. When we feel tempted to give in to ‘worldly wisdom’ we should be reminded by what Abraham went through and rise above things to stand with God.
He has never let people down. Some may think so but it is only their desires and wants which drive them to those conclusions. If we check things against our needs we will see God delivering on every promise He has made. God raised Jesus from the dead to show us everything is possible with Him and He always keeps His promises!
Points to Ponder:
How often is your faith tested?
How often do you give in to the world?