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October 22: Matthew 22:15-22
Key Verse: Matthew 22:15
Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words.
Devotion:
If you think you are the only one who has to face people asking you awkward question to get you to say something wrong, think again. This has been a tactic used by people virtually since the beginning of humanity. Here the Pharisees were trying to get Jesus to say something wrong so they could discredit Him and continue ruling the people as they wanted to.
Jesus saw right through them and turned the tables on them very quickly. This is not always obvious to us when we are faced with others asking us difficult questions. We do not have the foresight to see when people mean what they ask or if they are just trying to get you to say something wrong.
Jesus always relied on the Holy Spirit to guide Him and to allow Him to see who meant what they said. We can do the same because we do have full access to the Holy Spirit – we just don’t tend to think of that when we get flustered. We give in to emptions and we blurt out words we don’t mean or which can be heard to go against what we mean.
We live in a world which is governed by people and rules set by people. Legally and socially we should follow the rules to live a life which should not upset others; but sometimes people have already made up their minds to work against the truth and then we definitely need guidance from the Holy Spirit to get us through those times.
Points to Ponder:
Do you go with the flow and follow people?
Will you try to listen to the Holy Spirit and follow God?
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October 21: Luke 12:8-12
Key Verse: Luke 12:9
But whoever disowns me before others will be disowned before the angels of God.
Devotion:
God is very serious about the relationship He has with you; He does not take it lightly, and neither should we. His promise to us is He will acknowledge us before angels if we acknowledge Him before other people. But it goes further than that because He also promises to be our advocate and deliver us blameless before God if we trust Him.
When Jesus was telling the disciples they would have to face all manner of opposition just because they wanted to tell others about Him, He also reminded them they should trust in the Holy Spirit to guide them whenever they faced trials. The Holy Spirit will guide us forward into saying the right things and being able to tell of the truth. We don’t have to go to school to figure out what we have to say!
This does suppose you are willing to listen to the Holy Spirit for your guidance and not rely on what you have been taught to say by other people. If we only rely on what we learn through schools and universities, we will only go as far as the world will allow us to go through what we have learned. But if we are willing to be taught by higher powers, we will go further!
God wants us to continually rely on Him in every walk of life. This means our relationship with Him has to be ongoing and always at the front, not hidden behind the scenes. God wants us to be able to trust Him in any position we find ourselves in and not to only trust Him when we have exhausted our own ways!
Points to Ponder:
Do you try every which way to succeed before turning to God?
Will you turn to God before you try your own ways?
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October 20: Romans 4:1-8
Key Verse: Romans 4:8
Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them.
Devotion:
When you are in a salaried position, you are getting paid because your employer is obligated to pay you for the work you do. Depending on your position and how your salary is paid, you may have to work harder to earn more. But just because you have been working at your position for a long time, you are not guaranteed of being promoted…
Fortunately our relationship with God means we do not have to do all the right things at the right time to make sure we get to Heaven. God wants to know you love Him and you trust Him; this is the measure of your faith. And, like in a position of an employee, you will get rewarded even if you do the minimum! But this does not mean we have to work for our place in heaven!
Our place with God is only dependant on our belief in Him and our faith He will do what He has said He will do. Abraham did not have to father many children to make sure his prophecy came to pass. He simply had to trust God to make it come to pass.
David saw this truth and wanted others to know. We can see this throughout the bible and so we should be willing to tell others of this faith we have in Christ; the faith in trusting Him to forgive our sins no matter what they are, just because we believe He can and will do it.
Points to Ponder:
Are you trying to make things happen?
Will you trust God and allow them to happen?
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October 19: Romans 3:21-30
Key Verse: Romans 3:23
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
Devotion:
One of the things we often forget is we have all sinned against God at some stage in our lives. Now, as humans, we like to measure how much we have sinned and go according to some sort of scale, but according to the law God has given us, when we sin we are guilty. So if we have all sinned and are all guilty, how will any of us not have to pay for our sin debt.
This is where our faith in what Christ has done for us comes in. If we do believe Christ came to pay for our sin debt and we believe He is faithful and merciful to forgive us when we admit to our sins, then we will be forgiven just as He said we will. There is no law which excludes us from forgiveness and righteousness if we believe in what Christ has done.
Christ demonstrated His righteousness by allowing Himself to go to the cross even though He knew He had done nothing wrong. Through shedding His righteous blood He was able to pay for our sin debt once and for all. Now all we have to do is to have faith He did this for us. Why? If we do truly believe in what he did, then we should trust He is telling us the truth and will forgive us; this is the basis of faith.
If we start boasting about “our church” or how well we are doing we may well be starting to lift ourselves up instead of God. It is because of everything Christ has done we have what we have. Our faith is what makes the church and will help others to see there is hope when they cannot see any.
Points to Ponder:
Have you ever looked for a better church?
What can be more important that Christ?
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October 18: Isaiah 35:3-6
Key Verse: Isaiah 35:4
say to those with fearful hearts, ‘Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.’
Devotion:
How many times have you been asked for something from someone who doesn’t really mean it? We do this all the time to friends and the people around us, so when we do really mean it sometimes we don’t get the answer we expect. If we are doing this with the people around us, then what are we doing with our relationship with God!
God wants us to be in a good relationship with Him and that means being committed to it and to Him. This does not mean normal and personal life should ever get in the way because any good relationship has space for other issues and other relationships. God know this and He encourages us to take Him with us into every relationship in our lives.
When we do begin to see how much we get out of a good relationship with Him, we begin to see how we can help others by showing them this communion we have with God. When the Bible talks about fearing God, it is not talking about trembling with fear because God is watching you… it is talking about having the uttermost respect for Him because He is willing and able to do anything in your life. If you are willing to take Him with you wherever you go and whatever you are doing, then He will be with you and He will show you the benefits of this communion with Him.
I have learned, especially over the last couple of decades, He is walking with me wherever I go and supporting me in so many ways and through so many people too. He makes sure I have the right people around me to get things done which will help me to glorify Him,
Points to Ponder:
Do you feel at wits end sometimes?
Will you take God with you, even to your wits end?
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October 17: Luke 11:37-41
Key Verse: Luke 11:39
Then the Lord said to him, ‘Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.
Devotion:
Carrying on from yesterday, it is one thing to act like a Christian but a whole different story to BE a Christian! If we go around acting like Christians but carrying out all of the things God calls us to do, then we are no different from any sales person trying to peddle items they do not want themselves. Now some people can lie and tell a big sales story just to get people to buy their goods, but I can’t – believe me I tried!
When Jesus sat down to eat with this Pharisee He chose not to wash His hands before the meal. This was not because He had bad habits (like my parents used to tell me) but because He wanted the Pharisee to see the difference between a habit and a sign of dedication! The Pharisee was used to doing things in a particular manner and making sure the rules were always followed – but what he did not realise he was doing was to forget why those acts, such as cleaning of hands, were being done in the first place!
The same goes for our lives with Christ. We must not get used to doing things because that is what our service sheet says or because that is what we have always done. We must be doing things because they are meaningful to our relationship with Christ at the time we are doing them!
Jesus berated the Pharisee for cleaning the outside but not the inside. We should be remembering we must not just do things but do them because we love Christ first and foremost!
Points to Ponder:
What things do you do in church because you have always done it?
Will you stop and think about what you do today?
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October 16: Romans 1:1-7
Key Verse: Romans 1:5
Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake.
Devotion:
I love the way Paul starts with the words he is called to be an apostle and set apart FOR the gospel of God. When we think about what we are and what we are called to do, how would we describe our positions as being. I did not accept I would be called to share the gospel with others in the beginning – indeed I ran away from God for quite a while, but He caught up to me!
Paul must have had second thoughts when he first realise he was called to reach out to the ‘Gentiles’ or the Romans with the gospel… why should they be singled out for God’s wonderful gospel which the people of Israel had been singled out for in the beginning.
This is the wonderful world which God has presented to us and in which we live. Nobody must be left out just because they were born in a different place or because they were brought up to worship anything else others than God! The best thing we can ever do is to continue spreading the gospel of Christ out to everyone. This does not have to be done by us standing on soap boxes and shouting out the Word of God to all passing people… it could just be us doing things which Christians do in front of other so they start asking ‘why?’
God is the one who can change people’s hearts and He alone is responsible for them. We just need to open the scene to show things can be different. We just have to show the different way of living and open up our lives for others to come and enjoy Christ with us. Be yourself with Christ!
Points to Ponder:
Do you shy away from sharing the gospel?
Do you not see the gospel is the way we live?
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October 15: Philippians 4:1-9
Key Verse: Philippians 4:7
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Devotion:
I like to think the writer was thinking about the people who actually do the work behind the scenes in the churches when they started to write this portion of scripture. There are many people who do work endlessly doing the cleaning, organising and other seemingly small tasks behind the scenes and keep our churches running. I would personally like to lift up the wonderful volunteers we have who come in after hours to make sure our church is a welcoming and wonderful place of worship.
God is the one who is behind these people, the one who gives them the love and encouragement when many who go to church do not recognise all they do. We should be making sure we all look after these wonderful servants of Christ who willingly do so much hidden work.
When we do listen to Christ and learn of the love we should have for one another we will be the ones stepping forward and thanking these wonderful workers. We may even be one of the wonderful helpers when we see we are doing this for Christ and not as a ‘requirement.’
Christ is the one who will be looking out for those who give selflessly, help without measure and expect nothing in return. We know what we are going to have in Heaven so nothing on earth can ever measure up to that!
Points to Ponder:
How much do you contribute to your local church?
How much of that is time given doing things?
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October 14: Luke 11:27-28
Key Verse: Luke 11:28
He replied, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.’
Devotion:
sometimes we cling to the wrong things to find comfort or strength, only to see things fall apart when we realise we have been grasping at straws instead of safety. When this woman blessed Mary the mother of Jesus, His reply was probably not expected: blessed are those who obey God!
When we look back on the earlier life of Mary we do see a young woman who listened to God and obeyed God; and we know she was blessed. We can see so many occurrences throughout the bible where we see people being blessed because they have listened to God and still more when the people have faced hardships because they have not listened to God. These words are there to teach and warn us just as these words from Jesus.
It is no good just hearing the Word of God. It is no good just listening to Jesus. It is no good just being a righteous person. We have to live with Christ and obey what He is trying to teach us. Only then can we truly move forward with Him in or lives.
When we are willing to read our bibles, listen to what God tells us, act on what we learn and obey Him, then we can find out so much more about the living kindness God has for us. We should not be doing this all for the reward but doing it because we grow to love God the same as He loves us. A true communion with God will see the blessing poured down on us: more than we can count.
Points to Ponder:
Do you expect a reward from God for following Him?
Will you try just giving and obeying?
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October 13: Luke 11:24-26
Key Verse: Luke 11:25
When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order.
Devotion:
Sometimes we let our guard down because we are not expecting any trouble or issues, so when we do find an issue we are not prepared for it and things seem to fall apart. This could be seen as the same after a long-term illness when you have finally been given the go-ahead to leave the hospital and as soon as you go back into the world you seem to go down-hill again, but more so than before.
Our bodies need time to recover and become strong after an illness before we can get about what we used to see as our normal lives. The same is with our spiritual selves. If we have been struggling for a while and begin to understand things, it is no good racing forward thinking you can take on anything the evil one throws at you because your spiritual self has not had time to bolster itself against attacks.
God is the one who will lead us to the path of righteousness, but unless we are willing to stay on the path He has given us to become spiritually strong with Him then we may well ‘fall off the path.’ God wants us to be strong enough to help others too, but it takes time to identify the ways the evil one attacks us all before we can be fully prepared.
Spend time with God learning what He has to teach you so you can face to trial which are ahead; the evil one will not like you getting the better of his ways so you need to be fully prepared with Christ.
Points to Ponder:
Are you finding it difficult to move forward with Christ?
Will you allow Him to lead you instead of rushing ahead?