- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 699
August 23: Judges 9:6-15
Key Verse: Judges 9:15
‘The thorn-bush said to the trees, “If you really want to anoint me king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, then let fire come out of the thorn-bush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!”
Devotion:
At first, when I read this section of scripture, my first thought was ‘what was that about?’ But as you get to sit and think on the words, new things come to mind. God does not want us to blindly accept all things and just do whatever is said we should do. Jotham confronted the people to try and make them stop and think about what they were doing. One of the things we seem to need in society is a leader who is willing to lead; but not only that, a leader who will take responsibility.
Unfortunately many leaders will hype up their position and their willingness to do all things to improve our communities, but most of them cannot hope to fulfil their promises they are making because they have not though things through. Even when one stands up and tells the truth people may be less likely to follow them because their path seems a bit tough to go through!
God has not promised us the easiest path in our lives, just the right path. If we look around and choose the easy parts and go with them, we are likely to miss out on the true path God has given us to tread. It is not always right to choose what we think everyone is following or to choose the popular path; sometimes we have to stand up for the truth and follow whatever that takes us through.
Most of all God wants us to stop and think about what we are doing and where we are going. Yes, sometimes it will be sitting in the shade of a thorn tree where we will get all manner of scratches when the wind blows or when people jostle us about; but when that is the path God is directing us on, we should follow. Not blindly, but with His guidance and through obedience.
Points to Ponder:
Are you going through a troubling time in your life?
God may not have chosen your immediate path, but He still wants to guide you!
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 718
August 22: Matthew 19:23-26
Key Verse: Matthew 19:26
Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’
Devotion:
There is much debate at to what the significance of the camel and the eye of the needle refer to in this passage, needless to say it is seemingly impossible for the task to be done whether it is referring to an actual camel or an actual needle… Jesus was making a point which would stop and make the disciples think! There is nothing like an impossible task being set for you which will make you stop and think!
What Jesus wanted to do was to change the disciples’ minds about what God can do. They knew the scriptures and knew the stories of their ancestors’ journey through the desert after being freed from slavery. They knew the stories of how God did miracles and they were beginning to see how Jesus did miracles in front of them. So what was different about this time?
Jesus was introducing them to the idea something miraculous would have to be done in order for them to be able to join Him in Heaven after they had lived their lives. The path for what had to be done was already laid out and Jesus was walking that path already – the impossible had already begun and they would have to understand the steps to be taken so they could pass on this good news to everyone else.
Do not fret you are asking God to do things which you cannot do. Do not concern yourself how it can physically be accomplished. Just know you are asking God for something He has already promised can be done simply because you are asking it in the name of Jesus Christ who has taken away all your sins already!
Points to Ponder:
Do you get worried God will not do something for you?
Have you asked Him lately?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 738
August 21: Judges 2:11-19
Key Verse: Judges 2:19
But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their ancestors, following other gods and serving and worshipping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.
Devotion:
How many times did you get into trouble as a young person because you were left on your own? I know I did some pretty horrifying things when I was a young boy left to my own devices; things which my parents did not always find out about until many years later. But there lies the difference between our birth parents and our Father in Heaven! He gets to see everything you do all the time!
We really should look back on the history of the people of God in the bible and take some notes about how not to live! Even though God was the one who got them out of the slavery they were trapped in serving the people of Egypt, they would not always follow God. Much the same can be said about our own lives where we are directed by so many people to do what is right, but as soon as we think nobody is looking we run off and do strange things!
We see this pattern from the very beginning when God left Adam and Eve to their own devices; just a little temptation and they did strange things! We will continue to see this same pattern in the world because people are always going to be tempted to do what they desire instead of doing what is right.
God will always continue to put the right people in our lives to try and remind us of the righteous path we should be following. If we do not stop and listen to those people God puts in our lives, we may well see things go wrong. This does not mean we live a boring mundane life! God wants us to be happy and have fun – just within the bounds of righteousness where we can be safe with Him!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you get into trouble?
How often do you listen to God?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 742
August 20: Isaiah 56:1-8
Key Verse: Isaiah 56:3
Let no foreigner who is bound to the Lord say, ‘The Lord will surely exclude me from his people.’ And let no eunuch complain, ‘I am only a dry tree.’
Devotion:
The stereotypical view of the bible is the Old Testament was all about the Jews and excluding other people from their race, but as we see here in these verses, it was all about a relationship with God. It is true we see so many places where the Jews were told not to mix with other people but there is good reason for this. Other races had other gods in which they believed. God knew His people and knew they would be easily side-tracked by other people’s beliefs because they were a loving people.
I know my family is a loving family and we welcome all sorts of people into our lives. We have had God-fearing people in each generation who have continued to teach the next generation to have a relationship with Christ. It is this sort of close-knit family which God wants us all to be, loving God and loving each other, and this is what Isaiah was trying to impress on the people at this time.
I does not matter what walk in life you are from, you have the right to have a loving relationship with God. At the time Isaiah was teaching others the people would still make sacrifices and offerings to God. He wanted them all to know that the deeper you get into a relationship with God, the more He will be able to bless you!
All sorts of things happen in our lives which are out of our control. We live in the same world as the people around us so are affected by the same events which effect others; but what we have which separates us from others is our relationship with God through Christ. Jesus opened the doors for everyone to be able to have a loving eternal relationship with God – all we have to do is to believe it and trust Him!
Points to Ponder:
Do you have a good relationship with others?
Do you have a good relationship with God?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 762
August 19: Matthew 19:13-15
Key Verse: Matthew 19:14
Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.’
Devotion:
The more I read through these few verses the more convinced I was Jesus was not just talking about the young children who had come to make a fuss around Jesus. Children will always get excited about crowds or something different which is happening. Our modern society frown upon children getting involved because of child safety issues, but as long as there are responsible adults involved who are impartial, things can be done safely!
I say it was more than just the children because we see people being shunned by churches because they do not fit in, or do not come from the right area. This is as bad as the Pharisees policing the people instead of allowing God to work. God wants the gospel to be accessible by everyone, which means allowing people from all walks of life to be able to come and join in with worshipping God.
Our places of worship must be safe places where anyone can come to be safe and to share in finding out more about God. We should encourage people to come in and not discourage them. If we set up rules and expectations we may well be excluding people without realising it; and by the time we do find out it is already too late because they have the wrong opinion about church life already!
Some societies actually encourage people to be themselves and work together to make sure everyone feels included. If our churches are not like that, then we are excluding people from the gospel and from meeting with Jesus. If we are too stiff-necked about the type of people we expect in church, we shouldn’t expect to see many people joining us in worshipping God because we are more likely worshipping our ideas instead of God!
Points to Ponder:
How inclusive do you think your church is?
Are you willing to talk to anyone today?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 770
August 18: Joshua 21:1-18
Key Verse: Joshua 21:7
The descendants of Merari, according to their clans, received twelve towns from the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Zebulun.
Devotion:
I find the portioning of the land after Joshua had led the people over the river to settle in the ‘land of milk and honey’ to be a strange affair. Why strange? Maybe because we live in such a corrupt and diverse society the way in which it was all done with such agreement is quite unfamiliar. In our modern world the politicians fight it out all the time not always thinking of the people but their own gain instead. We have countries warring and sending young people to fight a battle they do not understand…
Yet these people obeyed God and did this whole section peaceably. Over the past few chapter we read all about what land was elected to which tribes, why it was so and even the setting up of cities of refuge where people in trouble could flee to until things were sorted out in law. Now we have the tribe of the Levites who had always looked after the temple who had not amassed earthly wealth in livestock or land but had listened to and obeyed God throughout the journey through the desert.
Now was the time for the people to step forward and give back to the Levites for all the work they had done. Each tribe apportioned parts of their land to the Levites, some for farming, some for living and even parts for safety refuge too. These were not given to the people who were first chosen to be Levites, but to their descendants.
God does not forget what we have done and although we may not always get to see the earthly wealth for our Godly works, He is always fair and makes sure we, or our families get rewarded. God is good, all the time! This was not a case of the people giving what they didn’t want to people they didn’t like, it was a case of people obeying God and giving part of what they treasured to people who had obeyed God!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you do things because of earthly wealth?
How often do you do things because of Heavenly wealth?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 736
August 17: Joshua 3:7-17
Key Verse: Joshua 3:8
Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: “When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go and stand in the river.”
Devotion:
How often do you implicitly trust a friend when they tell you to do something in a particular way? Maybe you have to build up trust in that friend before you listen to everything they say? When you do have enough trust in someone you are willing to listen to them even when they tell you to do something which at first seems counter-intuitive!
If we are able to give Christ the faith we have in some of our friends, then, just maybe, we will get to see Him do marvellous things in our lives! We often forget just how capable God is at doing everything in our lives and we listen to the world a bit too much. Just like Peter stepping out of the boat to walk to Jesus on the water; he started out fine until he allowed himself to be swayed by the world around him, then he sank!
God made a promise to Joshua he would be able to cross the river Jordan. At this time of the year the river was in flood, yet as soon as the people carrying the Ark listened fully to God, everyone witnessed something of a miracle! It took faith from Joshua to believe God. It took faith from the priests carrying to ark to listen to Joshua. It took faith from the people they would be able to follow the ark.
Nobody had to perform a miracle. Nobody had to have amazing powers. It was all down to faith in God and listening to the people God was talking to and through. If we are able to think less of the limitations of the world around us and more of our faith in God, we too will be able to see things God wants to do in our lives!
Points to Ponder:
What does it take for you to believe in something?
Will you try to allow God to do what He wants to do?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 698
August 16: Deuteronomy 34:1-5
Key Verse: Deuteronomy 34:4
Then the Lord said to him, ‘This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, “I will give it to your descendants.” I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it.’
Devotion:
How many times in your life have you done something, not for yourself but for others or for your family further down the generations? Too often we focus on the here and now and do not think about how what we do affects others around us or after us. The world is not in a good state at the moment because too many have driven for short term profit and have neglected the long term effects of what they do on the planet!
When God mad the promise to Abraham, it was a promise for generations to come, not for Abraham himself. This promise of giving the people a land which they can call home was to the people of Israel and not just to whomever was leading at the time. Moses was told in no uncertain terms here he would not be crossing into the lands, but the promise was being kept for his descendants, the descendants of Abraham, to possess the land as far as the eye could see!
So what is the lesson? It is not all about me or you. It is more about us, but further than that it is about the people who come after us. God has a long term view on everything and we need to understand that. We cannot keep looking at our own situations and forgetting about the long term effects of what we do. We need to think about how we affect the world around us, people, animals and ever living thing included!
God gave us dominion of the world in the very beginning; but that came with an instruction to treat the world properly as we should a very special gift being given to us. We need to be good stewards of everything around us and stop living life as if we are entitled to everything.
Points to Ponder:
What have you done today?
How much of that was for other people?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 719
August 15: Isaiah 61:10-11
Key Verse: Isaiah 61:10
I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Devotion:
I wonder, when was the time you have felt most handsome or beautiful? Perhaps it was on your wedding day or a special anniversary… Maybe you did not feel it but everyone around you was telling you your were! There are times when we feel on top of the world and times when we don’t because of the weight of the world, our health or even finances constricting us. But, no matter how we feel physically or mentally, we can stand proud knowing that spiritually we are perceived as a delight to the Lord when we place our faith and trust in Him!
When we can say we delight in the Lord no matter what the world is throwing at us, we can know He looks upon us as a groom looking at his bride on the day of the wedding. Because Jesus has taken away all our sins and presents us as perfect before our Father in Heaven, we are that special bride!
God is the one who is looking out for us and He is the one who will make sure we do have what it takes to complete our journey with Him. The world may be giving us grief, but with our hearts firmly set on Christ, we are special and unique in God’s eyes – someone to be proud of; and He is!
We see all manner of things going wrong in the world around us because of the way people have treated the world. We see wars and infighting everywhere because of the way people do not love their neighbours. If we want to see the beautiful bride just as God see us, then we have to make a difference by obeying His command – by being good stewards of the world around us and loving our neighbours just as He asked us from the beginning. Then we will be at that wedding feast with all the beauty and pageant!
Points to Ponder:
How are you feeling right now?
Do you know how fondly God is looking at you?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 797
August 14: Deuteronomy 10:12-13
Key Verse: Deuteronomy 10:12
And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul
Devotion:
These words are often quoted from the New Testament when the apostles and Jesus quote them for our remembrance. It is not too often I hear too many teachers quoting things from the scriptures which have been here for many thousands of years rather than quoting the words of Jesus or the disciples. One thing we must never overlook or forget is the Word of God has been around for a very long time and does not change.
Our understanding and translations will change over time as we get to know more or scholars get to understand the ancient languages more. But then the more the scholars learn the more they recognise how things have not changed. Jesus would quote the scripture all the time when He was not talking in parables; He did this to emphasise the scriptures are the truth and always will be the truth!
God does not require many thing of us, but the root of all of it is the love we should have for Him. If we say we love Him and refuse to follow what He has given to us in the scriptures and in person many years ago, then we should question our love for Him! The life He has given each one of us is unique and for a certain cause. If we do follow Him and obey Him we have the best chance at allowing the right people to hear the gospel at the right time!
God simply says we should love Him with a fervour which makes us question ourselves when we do something wrong. We should love Him enough to obey Him at all times. We should make Him the centre of our lives.
Points to Ponder:
Do you fear not listening to God?
Will you keep Him deep in your soul?