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August 3: Psalm 84:5
Key Verse: Psalm 84:5
Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
Devotion:
Depending on which interpretation of the bible you read, you may get very different ideas from this psalm, so I have purposely just taken a single verse. Why? In the hopes you will choose to read through the full psalm in your own time.
I think this psalm was written by someone who was content to meditate in the house of the Lord, watching what was happening and thinking about what God could have been thinking. That to me is a place we should all try to put ourselves in each day – spending time taking our minds out of the busy world and allowing it to commune with God in a special place.
We have looked at relationships in the past and surmised they need to be worked on by both parties where we work toward consolidating and building up the relationship together. When we think about our relationship with God it is different to our earthly relationships because we are always looking forward to the time when we can finally be with God. Everything we do before then is done in preparation for that time; a time when we will enjoy eternity with Him.
This means we need to focus on what is ahead and not just the quickest way of getting there. When we focus on what we think God wants of us, we will probably change our earthly lives to look after His people and live as a disciple reaching out to make more disciples. We think we cannot do anything like that in the beginning but as soon as we accept Christ into our lives we are bringing in a new strength to live a different life for Him. A life which will look forward to the journey with Him for eternity!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you stop and commune with God?
Can you take a few minutes today to stop your busy life and just think?
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August 2: Matthew 13:44-46
Key Verse: Matthew 13:44
‘The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
Devotion:
Who doesn’t want more of a good thing when they get introduced to it! We only have to look at our modern world to see how things like this can go terribly wrong when the human perception of a ‘good thing’ is taken into account. Too many things in life are touted as being good when they work against everything we need in life. One of the biggest things I always look back on is the wide spread introduction of smoking as being in some way good!
We can look throughout history and see many things like this where we jumped on board some new thing or habit only to find out years down the line it was doing us more harm than anything. This can be seen as a weakness in life or it can be viewed as something which binds us humans together. Some will use this to scam others whilst others will band together as make it something to bind us together.
Whatever way we look at it, the truth always makes it to the surface after time passes. Those things we find out are bad get recognised as such and laws come in to protect others from them. Those things which prove to be good stay and gain recognition. Then there are the early adopters who risk everything to choose whether it will be good or bad and have to live with their choices.
The truth about God and His love for us has stood the test of time and continues to prove it is good and righteous; though many still doubt it because they may have been burned by bad choices in the past. But once you recognise everything which is good about God, you don’t want to let it go; instead, making choices to make Him a bigger part of your life!
Points to Ponder:
How important is God in your life?
Are you choosing earthly things over God?
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August 1: Exodus 34:5-9
Key Verse: Exodus 34:7
maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.
Devotion:
I have been asked a few times about these words with people being worried about what their children get up to or what their parents had done in the past with the main complaint being ‘how do I control what my children/parents do/did?’ The short answer is you can’t! The long answer is actually quite simple as well… Each one of us is personally accountable for the actions we take; the most important action being us choosing to believe in God!
We cannot and should not try to say what Christ did on the cross falls short for paying for the debt we owe due to our sins. When Christ said He will forgive all who come to Him it was a promise, not a suggestion. If we impose a restriction on how much He can and does forgive, we are imposing earthly limits of our Heavenly Almighty God!
So the phrase I like to use is ‘the buck stops here!’ When we believe and trust in Christ to forgive us of our sins, we are forgiven in totality, which means nothing anyone else has done wrong is going to affect our level of forgiveness from Christ. The provisor being ‘what are we going to do about the great commission?’
Christ will forgive us. The buck stops there. What we then do as a new disciple of Christ will affect how our grandchildren, children or parents live their lives. If we are not willing to show them there is hope for a total forgiveness, then we are falling short of the mark in our relationship with Christ. A big part of living with Christ is taking on the task of spreading the gospel through the way we live.
Points to Ponder:
Do you believe God’s love is all encompassing?
How does your love stack up?
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July 31: Matthew 13:31-35
Key Verse: Matthew 13:34
Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable.
Devotion:
Sometimes the best way to reach someone is to tell them a story which they can relate to identifying the content you wish them to hear. Jesus knew if He stood there and recounted the scriptures the people would soon stop listening because they had probably had that done to them over and over again. Instead He told them stories which would make them think about God’s Word in new ways.
I don’t know if you have ever been able to watch how bread is made in a factory or bakery; they do not work in terms of cups and teaspoons but in bucket loads and sacks of flour. But the principle remains the same, the yeast is activated in some manner and then has to be mixed all throughout the flour mixture in order for the dough to raise in a uniform manner.
We can think of God’s Word in this same manner. The flour is useless by itself because it will not rise and become a fluffy loaf of bread without the yeast and other ingredients. I have made the mistake of putting all the ingredients into the bread machine and forgetting the yeast… what comes out is more akin to a brick than a loaf of bread!
Jesus tries new ways of talking to people so they would listen and think about what was being said. If we want to reach other people with the Gospel then introducing them to it in new ways which will make them think about the words is always going to help!
Points to Ponder:
Do you get bored in church sometimes?
How would you make things more interesting for others?
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July 30: 1 Kings 3:5-12
Key Verse: 1 Kings 3:9
Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil; for who can govern this your great people?
Devotion:
This always seems to remind me of stories we hear as children about a genie being released from a bottle and giving the person 3 wishes; the number of different ways the people choose their wishes seems to be never ending! But this is no genie and this is no ordinary person! Solomon had grown to learn many things but in his humble way he recognises he is nothing in comparison to the great prophets who had come before him.
So his answer the God when God asks what he wants is enlightening for all of us, not whimsical as in the fairy stories we get to hear as children! Solomon simply wanted to be able to do more for the people in a way which would not just please God, but a way which would be honouring and praiseworthy for and to God. He wanted wisdom to be able to carry this all off!
If we look at our lives we could boast about our earthly wares and ways, or we could look at the world as a whole and recognise we are just one tiny part of what we call human existence! God alone knows all the details and we should always be looking for guidance from Him to cater for the things around us and especially the people around us.
There is no way we can know what is in people’s hearts and minds – but God can and does. We don’t know what makes people do what they do – but God can and does. We don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow and the next day – but God does. Our knowledge and wisdom is like a tiny mustard seed in comparison to God’s knowledge and wisdom. Choose to be more like Solomon and ask God for your daily guidance!
Points to Ponder:
Have you been successful in school?
Have you been successful in your relationship with God?
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July 29: Exodus 24:3-8
Key Verse: Exodus 24:7
Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, ‘We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.’
Devotion:
When you look back at how much the people of Israel went through in the desert and how many of them never got to see the promised land, you may think God was cruel or you may feel sorry for them for everything they had to put up with. This section of passage is the time when Moses had been given all the rules the people would have to follow, had written them down and recounted them to the people. In other words they had heard the laws twice over and now they are making a blood covenant with God concerning them.
This was a promise to God, set in blood, that they would follow God’s rules and do everything God wanted them to do. This was the highest promise they could make at the time. Though nowadays we may look at it as being barbaric…
What I’m trying to show is the two sides of this relationship we have with God. On one side He has promised us things and those things will happen no matter what. On the other side we see man’s promises which last a while but many get broken because we grow weary or change our minds…
God would love us to be in a stable relationship with Him where we continue to make sure we keep Him and His ways in our lives and where He is able to talk back to us because we are willing to listen. We know we can talk to Him at any time through our prayers, but to know He is listening and will answer our prayers takes some commitment from us too.
Points to Ponder:
How is your relationship with God?
How many promises have you made to God?
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July 28: James 1:2-8
Key Verse: James 1:6
But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
Devotion:
One of the things I used to struggle with was having bad things happen to me and wondering whether God is looking after me or not – after all that is what the church leaders had told me… But as I continued to grow in my faith and study God’s Word, I grew to see bad things can happen to all people because it is more about circumstance and behaviour!
No, I am not blaming anyone for bad things happening to themselves otherwise we would all be in very deep water! Putting it simply, God cannot abide sin; how much worse can it get! But we also have a God who is full of compassion and willing to teach, love and forgive in so many cases. But the one thing He cannot forgive is unbelief. Does that mean we are all doomed? No! For when our unbelief turns to belief, no matter how small, He forgives and changes our lives!
When bad things happen we can surely say we are living in the same world as everyone else. This gives us the right to share our belief in God and to allow people to see there is hope and a great reward for anyone who is willing to believe. Our bible is full of stories of how the people of Israel would do strange things like make up their own gods only to see the error of their ways and turn back to our God. Then their lives changed!
God loves us – to matter what! God wants to share wisdom with us – even when we are too proud to accept wisdom! God gives generously to His children – even if we have everything we want. God wants us to have no doubt and will show us great things when we believe!
Points to Ponder:
Do you feel hard done by?
Will you allow your hope and faith to conquer that doubt?
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July 27: 2 Corinthians 13:1-10
Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 13:5
Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realise that Christ Jesus is in you – unless, of course, you fail the test?
Devotion:
I’m not really sure what I would do if I got a letter from a church leader with these words in it! The church in Corinth must have been going through some tough times with people throwing doubt into the congregation and others questioning themselves just because they had been left to largely get on with things by themselves.
Sometimes we crave recognition as a church by wanting well known church leaders to visit us as if that is going to make some sort of difference to our belief or to our congregations. Yes, there are some people who follow the church leaders around and like to be seen with the leaders; but their want for recognition is not heavenly but of this earth. The only reward they will receive is from this earth.
We should be aiming at gaining Heavenly rewards from our God and Saviour. We should be praising God for all He has already done and standing firm on our faith in Him. When the people come to mock us because we believe in something which they cannot see, or because we are relying on something else instead of our own fortitude. What they do not see is we get our strength and fortitude from God because we have faith in Him.
The truth will always come out and we should be upholding the truth above all else. Don’t doubt yourself because other people say you should. Have faith in God because He alone has said we should – He made us a promise to be here for us at all times.
Points to Ponder:
How often do you look at the way you live?
How often do you think about how God wants you to live?
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July 26: Psalm 78:17-20
Key Verse: Psalm 78:18
They wilfully put God to the test by demanding the food they craved.
Devotion:
Yesterday we heard Jeremiah giving warnings to the people of God against testing God and I mentioned the people of Israel and their antics in the desert. Today we read a Psalm which was recounting God’s goodness to the people and Israel’s ingratitude. This is to remind us the prophets came to show the way and the promises of God, promises He always keeps and what we have to endure if we do not trust those promises.
Jesus came to expand on everything the prophets had said and to make sure people stopped and listened once and for all; yet we have so many people who continue to act in ingratitude and some in ignorance. Ingratitude from the people who know what God has said and done but continue to ignore Him in their lives or expect Him to do everything for them all of the time, and ignorance from the people who do not yet know the meaning of the gospel.
God wants us to be like the psalmist here, recounting the things from the past to show people God keeps His promises and they are important in our lives. This is why He has made sure we have our bibles and we should continue to be good students and disciples of this Word taking it out to others through what we say and do. This does not only show others there is a God but also reminds us and shows God we care!
Knowing these truths, we should not continue to sin against God but should be working towards righteousness and sharing of the gospel just as He has asked of us. Then there is the doubts we harbour… We continue to doubt God’s promises when we come up against life’s hardships. Instead we should be praying to ask for strength and guidance to get us through these hardships and then acting on what He show us.
Points to Ponder:
Are you inadvertently putting God to the test?
Will you read a little more, listen a little more and do a little more for God?
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July 25: Jeremiah 45:1-5
Key Verse: Jeremiah 45:4
But the Lord has told me to say to you, “This is what the Lord says: I will overthrow what I have built and uproot what I have planted, throughout the earth.
Devotion:
Sometimes it is hard to hear what God is saying to you, not because you don’t hear anything but because you don’t want to hear what He is saying! There are going to be times in your life where God has said something will happen and you really do not want it to happen. We have echoes of this throughout the bible so don’t feel like you are being hard done by!
When the children of Israel were guided out of Egypt by God through Moses they never dreamed they would live out their lives in the desert when Moses had told them they would be going to a land of ‘milk and honey’ but because they disobeyed God it was their descendants who would be able to settle in that land rather than them.
There are so many times throughout history where people have faced all manner of disasters from unimaginable war-ending bombs to famines caused by human greed; and these are just the ones which are caused by human deeds. We all have to face the natural disasters together because they are the way of nature; some of which are caused by human error, but some which ‘just happen’ because we live in a world which is ever changing.
They key is how we listen to God and how we react to the things God tries to say to us. Can you hear a person whispering something when you go into a place where there is loud music playing? Can you focus on reading your book in the middle of a thunder storm? We get distracted by the biggest distractions and often lose focus on the things we should be watching and listening to. God may not speak to you through a rumbling thunder but a simple whisper during that thunder.
Points to Ponder:
Do you find it hard to hear God in your life?
What sort of environment are you living in?