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September 12: Colossians 2:6-10
Key Verse: Colossians 2:8
See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.
Devotion:
Once you make the choice to believe in Christ the first few days/weeks can go either way… you may love the new found happiness and peace you have and thrive in it, or you may find it hard going because of your old life calling you back. Then, after a while, maybe even years, you get people around you trying to encourage you back into your old ways just because they don’t believe.
Life as a Christians is not going to be plain sailing. The evil one is going to plan all manner of things which will trip you up and he will encourage others to distract you from your faith in Christ. He will bring people into your life who will have arguments which sound like they could have ground; but they will be against God’s Word.
That is the one thing we have in our lives by which we can identify whether someone else is for or against God – whether what they do and say agree with God’s Word or not. We have so many traditions and habits in our lives which can go against God simply by looking at them another way and the evil one will use little things like that to try and dissuade your from following Christ.
The best way forward is to have Christ as the centre of your life because it is not us who have true power and authority over everything, but God through the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Points to Ponder:
Do you struggle with your Christians life at times?
Have you tried depending on Him more during those times?
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September 11: Luke 6:6-11
Key Verse: Luke 6:11
But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.
Devotion:
This sort of thing makes me mad even when I read about it so many years after it happened; but still, this seems to happen in our modern churches around the world nowadays. Sadly some church leaders will do whatever they can to uphold the letter of the law about what their ‘church’ stands for instead of following the love of Christ as He asked us to.
Yes I deliberately put ‘church’ in quotes because we have to ask ourselves the question – are we the church of Christ if we are more concerned about the local rules and regulations than we are about following what our Church Leader has asked of us? Because this is what I see happening in this recount from Luke.
We may not think we are to blame because we are doing whatever we have done for many years now and nobody has complained (much) so why should we change? Jesus Christ does not change, but He certainly used very different ways to reach all the different people He reached with the gospel. If we are not willing to accommodate the different people in our community then we are not really part of the community!
We have to trust God He will continue to guide us in appropriate ways to reach out to the people He has put in our lives. He has used a vast variety of people to reach an even wider variety of people. He has not asked us to become introverts who only do the things we are comfortable with doing. He is asking us to be disciples who go out and make disciples...
Points to Ponder:
Do you stick to tried ans tested ways of being church?
Are you willing to try something different to encourage someone new in?
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September 10: Romans 13:8-10
Key Verse: Romans 13:10
Love does no harm to a neighbour. Therefore love is the fulfilment of the law.
Devotion:
One of the biggest sources of all arguments is debt whether is it a monetary debt or a promise not kept; debt brings on arguments or hopelessness. We all should know the basic rules of life like not getting involved with adultery, murder, stealing and even coveting, but one things we do often overlook is sharing love where it is due.
Jesus reminded us love is the pivotal thing around which all other rules of life should revolve. If we are not keeping love fresh and in the middle of our lives, then we are falling short in our debt to the people around us. One of the things we need to accept and cherish is love, the love for our own selves and the love for the people around us.
I know in our modern world we find all manner of excuses not to do things: blaming stuff like the internet, electricity, work and so many more things; but most of those really do come down to not exercising the love Christ has given us for others. God made us to be able to love one another, but because of all these distractions in life we make excuses not to fulfil that love – because it just doesn't fit with our life-style!
One thing I have learn about being a Christian is we have to make sure we take this God-given love and share it with the people around us. When we do that we are encouraging others to do the same. When we all start moving toward that goal, we can see the benefits of this love in our lives.
Points to Ponder:
How often do you show your love to your partner?
How often do you share God’s love with others?
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September 9: Colossians 1:21-23
Key Verse: Colossians 1:21
Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behaviour.
Devotion:
As a non-believer, one of the hardest things to get your head round is the forgiveness of Christ, but when you get to know Christ your whole world changes! When you are faced with rules which you do not want to agree with, the temptation to break those rules is ever present and something we often give in to. But what happens when those rules do not agree with simple human survival?
God has watched mankind over the years and knows when we are going to give in and break the laws. It is not that He just accepts you break the rules and sin now and again, but He does know us and knows our limits. We are just human beings whether we are Christians or not and we will give in to temptations from time to time. When we do, we should be brave enough to admit them to God and ask for forgiveness and not try sweep them under the rug!
It is because of what Jesus did for us by giving His own life as the perfect sacrifice we needed, we are able to commune with God. It is knowing of our failings and bringing them to Jesus we are able to gain absolute forgiveness. We cannot put anything behind us or hide anything from God because He sees all; but we are able to give them to Christ to have them covered by His sacrifice.
But to do any of this we need faith in believing what Jesus has done and trust Him to deliver us blameless before God!
Points to Ponder:
Do you admit your faults to Christ?
Will you trust in what He has done for you?
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September 8: Colossians 1:15-20
Key Verse: Colossians 1:17
He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Devotion:
By reading through each of the letters the apostle wrote to the various churches we can find very different communities which needed different approaches to the same gospel. I would say from the words written to the church in Colossae, they were quite well versed in their philosophy and all things Phrygian. They seemed to take society strictly and the apostle had to reach them at their own level.
Each of our communities and the churches within them are different. We have quite different views on things and how they should be done in the village where I live. We can all agree on the fact Jesus Christ came in human form to offer salvation to everyone through shedding His blood on the cross. But, even in our church we have people who think differently to others.
I come from an engineering and scientific background so I try to make things well defined and work with the parameters offered. This does not always agree with others who would rather live life on the edge. But we are all under the same God and under the same offer of salvation from Christ!
Jesus was an is there from the beginning and will be, always. Our lives may come and go, governments and royalty change over time, but our God remains constant and always ready to listen and guide each one of us in our different ways we live. We don’t all have to be the same, just accept the one true God – simple!
Points to Ponder:
Who is your “boss”?
Do you always try to listen to God?
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September 7: Luke 5:4-7
Key Verse: Luke 5:5
Simon answered, ‘Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.’
Devotion:
What would it take for you to decide a life with Christ is all you need? Simon and his crew had just come in from fishing unsuccessfully all night. I think it is bad enough when I can’t catch a fish with a rod, so being a commercial fisherman and not catching anything must have been a blow! After sitting and listening to Jesus teaching the crowd his outlook changed a bit.
When Jesus told them to go back out into deeper water and try again, their first thought must have been the time was not right because they always fished at a certain time. Now they are being told to go out and fish after they have failed already. But something convinced Simon and they went out again only to catch the largest haul of fish they could imagine!
God know the right time and place for everything in our lives and if we are willing to listen and obey we will see how good our lives can be. This is not to say Christ will give you all the riches you have ever dreamed of, but He will guide you towards a more fulfilling life if you are willing.
I am a computer geek and I constantly try new things with computers; indeed my house has many computers and electronics. But the things which please me the most are the things I can do for God. Listening to God and obeying makes my life much fuller than it can ever be with the latest and greatest computer components!
Points to Ponder:
Do you try to listen to God?
Will you simply try to obey?
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September 6: Colossians 1:3-8
Key Verse: Colossians 1:4
because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people
Devotion:
How often do you try to encourage people who already believe in God? We all have our good days and our bad days and during those bad days it is very good to hear from others and be encouraged by simply talking. Social media is used as a venting station for many people and can be quite depressing at times because of that. But without being able to vent some will not be able to survive the onslaught of emotions they are facing.
Our Lord has reminded us on many occasions to love our neighbours; this also means loving those who are reaching out through whatever means they can. A physical shout out for help is answered whenever anyone hears it, but a more silent scream for help through other means is not always answered. We can stand up and stretch out our arms to those who call for help – God will be able to guide you in what help is needed.
The point here is we have to be willing to answer God’s call for help for someone else; He puts these times in our lives when others need help and will put things out in other people’s lives when we need help. But unless we are willing to listen out for those silent calls for help, we will not get very far.
God wants us to have a willingness to stand up and say “do you need help?” Some will not ask but wait for someone to offer. Others will shout out at the least problem. Being willing to wait for any call and answer calls is what God would like us to do in our communities.
Points to Ponder:
How often do you help others?
How often do you silently call for help?
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September 5: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
Key Verse: 1 Thessalonians 5:11
Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
Devotion:
How many times have you read a part of the bible and said to yourself “I’m already doing that…” As Christians we are taught to read our bibles, though some fall behind on that. We are taught to pray all the time, though some fall behind on that. We are taught to love one another, to love God and to do many things… But how many of those things do we let slide because we are too busy with something else?
We do not know when Jesus is going to return and have been given no indication when that exact date will be; but we have warnings about how the world will be before He comes. Needless to say it has been like that for a while and yet many still ignore the warnings “because it hasn’t happened yet!”
Many things in the world still continue to tempt us and we do give in to things all the time. We can use excuses about how weary we are or how we lack strength but each time we are admitting to weaknesses in ourselves. Don’t worry, God knows those weaknesses and has already placed the people around us who will make a difference.
Our task as disciples is to encourage each other and to build each other up so when we are faced with adverse times, events or even people, we can gain strength from the people around us to face up to those times, events and people. We just have to open our eyes to all God has already given us!
Points to Ponder:
Do you sometimes feel alone?
Will you help someone close to you to have courage today?
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September 4: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Key Verse: 1 Thessalonians 4:18
Therefore encourage one another with these words.
Devotion:
One of the hardest things to go through is the death of a family member or of a loved one but each time I have gone through this I have remembered these words and they have comforted me more than anything. I have been to many funerals and have seen how some cannot cope with the loss; how they are affected for many years afterward and maybe continue to be affected now.
I do go through days when I remember those loved ones I have had to say goodbye to, but, equally I have been able to take comfort with these words knowing so many of them have known God and trusted in Him. As Christians we do believe we are going to join Christ in heaven after we die, and whilst some will disagree when they will get to Heaven, the comfort is still there.
We are also reminded in many places in the bible we have a right to mourn, not just to accept what is happening and say everything is fine, but to mourn properly. As humans we know our lives will come to an end at some stage and how we live them will give us comfort or stress in the end. If we live with Christ every step of the way, we will know the comfort He alone will give us at the end, and so will those around us.
I do look forward to the day that I am able to see all my friends and family once again but I am in no rush to get there soon. I know God has given me time to confront and comfort many more people before they have to mourn my passing; I step forward and I say “here am I Lord, use me!” each day I wake up.
Points to Ponder:
Are you mourning for a recent loss?
Will you wake up today and join me in saying “Here I am, use me”?
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September 3: Romans 12:17-21
Key Verse: Romans 12:19
Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord.
Devotion:
Whenever I read anything where someone is saying we should separate ourselves from the wayward people, the evil people and the worldly ways I always cringe a little; God tells us to go out and spread the gospel. How are we going to go out and spread the gospel unless we go to people who do not yet know Him and are in worldly positions and doing worldly things?
Whilst I do understand we should be separate from evil because we may well give in to temptation (indeed we do from time to time) we should also be willing to face the world but with one provisor: we take God with us! There is no way we should be facing the world and its people by ourselves because we are sinful by nature.
So when people point out the Old Testament passages which preclude Israel from mixing with the foreigners, I like to remind them what Jesus taught the disciples. The apostle writes here how we should be willing to feed our enemy when they are hungry and to give them water to drink when they are thirsty. This is not saying we should side with the enemy, simply saying we should be willing to treat them as human beings!
When we are able to show kindness to our enemies, they will start to think twice about why they are our enemies. When we do not exclude non-believers from our churches we will show them there must be something they are missing. Disciples go out into the world with Christ by their sides, but it’s also OK to stay indoor with Christ because you need a rest!
Points to Ponder:
Do you get angry with others who don’t do what you do?
Will you try to include someone who needs the truth?