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November 30: Romans 10:16-18
Key Verse: Romans 10:17
Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.
Devotion:
God does not force any of us to believe in Him or to follow what He says; He has given us the choice. Our choices have consequences! Jesus came to demonstrate the fullness of our reward if we choose to believe in Him and trust His words. He gives this same choice to everyone in the world, whether we are of His chosen race or otherwise...
How did you get to hear about Jesus and what He had done for you? I can remember going to Sunday School at a very early age, but none of that made much sense to me at the time; my parents attended a church which was fairly set in their ways – all I remember from that side is people dressing up and acting polite to one another. When I was in high school I started to attend a church which put me forward for confirmation after I attended classes… again, not much of that stuck because it all seemed like school at the time.
But when one of the seniors in school sat down and explained what Jesus had done and why He did it, I chose to follow Christ! I was finally given the choice to follow Christ and to believe what I wanted to believe given the truth; it was no longer just a scholastic lesson I had to complete!
We get to hear God’s Word from many different angles in our lives and we get to choose what we do with those truths. If they are not fully explained to us, we fall short in our understanding of the situation and we may not make the right choices. This is why God calls each one of us to come forward and retell the story in our own words – that is what will make others choose to follow Christ or not. It makes all the difference!
Points to Ponder:
Do you understand what Christ has done for you?
Have you chosen to believe He did it for you?
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November 29: Isaiah 11:1-5
Key Verse: Isaiah 11:2
The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him – the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord
Devotion:
I love reading parts of the Old Testament like these where the prophets were told of what was going to happen – maybe in words which they did not fully grasp or understand – but they faithfully scribed what they were told! We now look back, knowing what happened during the time Jesus was here on earth, and see just what these words meant and how accurate they were too!
God wanted us to know what was going to happen, but many people did not want to know the truth. The truth would force them to evaluate what they were doing in their lives. Just like today, people don’t want to hear the truth when it shows them up in any way!
These words predicted a person who was related to king David’s father, Jesse, would come to live amongst us in a very special way. This person would not be like any other person of the times. Their lives would be firmly anchored in the Word of God. The Spirit would be with them and they would show us signs of great wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge and the fear of the Lord!
While we can attribute some of these attributes to people who lived, none could say they covered all bases! This was going to be our Messiah, Jesus Christ who would fulfil all of the above and more. He would show us what could be achieved through following and obeying God in everything we do and say. This should be our aim!
Points to Ponder:
Do you feint at the thought of having to fulfil all of this?
Will you allow the Holy Spirit to bring you closer?
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November 28: Matthew 8:5-11
Key Verse: Matthew 8:8
The centurion replied, ‘Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.
Devotion:
There are some parables in our bibles which are both simple and short but offer a very deep insight into faith and belief. This is one of them and is told in a few places by the disciples. I like Matthews account because he records the Lord as asking the centurion if he wants Him to come and visit the servant (knowing full well what the answer is going to be anyway.)
I have shown how we often have to ask multiple times in prayer, not so God will eventually hear us, but so we understand it is our asking which God answers – asking which is in earnest, humble and repetitive. God wants us to understand it is our faith which will move mountains and not just a single prayer thrown up to get something we want at the time!
This is along the same lines because Jesus is showing the centurion it is his own faith which is going to get the servant healed and not the fact he is a centurion, Jew or whatever! This prayer is being answered because the centurion showed absolute faith in Christ. He knew whatever Jesus commanded would get done because that is what he was used to as well – being a centurion in the Roman army!
Don’t base your faith on what people have said before you. Don’t base it on what others tell you to do. Base your faith squarely on Christ being the cornerstone of your life; the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the “I am” and with whom nothing is impossible. Trust Christ to do what He has said He would do!
Points to Ponder:
Do you give Christ the authority?
Will you show more faith by giving Christ authority?
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November 27: Romans 13:11-14
Key Verse: Romans 13:12
The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armour of light.
Devotion:
How many times have you got tired of waiting for someone to show up after they told you they would? How many times have you been surprised when someone showed up earlier than you thought they would? Have you had a sleepless night, tossed and turned because you were thinking of something, and then finally dropped off to sleep maybe an hour before the alarm goes off? All of these happen because we don’t know the exact time everything is going to happen – people let you down, things happen which let you down… this is what life is all about, coping with unexpected things.
We have been told many times that Jesus will return. We have also been told we will not know when He is going to return. We have also been told we should make our lives ready so we are ready for His return. One day that time will be here… will you be ready?
We can look at the world around us and think how easy it would be to get involved with the things happening close to us. We can think along the lines of “it won’t really matter if I do this one thing wrong because I’ll do it right again tomorrow.” But what happens if the Lord returns today just after you have made the decision to go off and be worldly in your life – what happens if He returns on the day you turn your back on Him?
This is why Jesus tried to make sure the Disciples understood how important it was to be ready at all times. Jesus told parables which reminded the disciples of the importance of being ready. He warned them to their faces He would return at an undetermined time… but people still think it is ok to go off and do something today because He might not return today...
Points to Ponder:
How ready are you to go off and try something worldly?
How ready are you for Christ’s return?
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November 26: Luke 21:34-36
Key Verse: Luke 21:34
Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap.
Devotion:
Have you noticed how easy it is to give in to the world and all the things going on around you? Even when you think you are strong enough to avoid the temptations you find yourself in the middle of things before you know it! The world around us is full of people who want to do their own thing and not want to have to listen to authorities, and seeing them go their own way and do their own thing makes you think it is safe to follow them...
God warned the people of Israel about getting involved with the locals because He knew they would be tempted to follow the ways the locals were going – and those ways were not following Gods ways! Jesus warned the disciples of similar things because He too could see the disciples giving in to the local ways.
We now have these words written in our bibles to continue to remind us of the temptations which we don’t see coming. Jesus wants us to follow His ways and the most simple way of starting out on that path is to read your bibles and commune with God every day – that means stopping doing what the world around you is doing and having a good and honest talk with God!
The way is described here as being vigilant by watching what is actually going on – comparing it with Gods ways so you don’t run off in the wrong direction. Praying all the time – talking with God and listening too! If you feel overwhelmed at all then its way past time you had a chat with God!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you commune with God?
How often do you commune with the world?
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November 25: Matthew 11:7-15
Key Verse: Matthew 11:8
If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces.
Devotion:
Where do you go to get your spiritual food? Do you go to the biggest and best church buildings? Do you go to the one which is publicised the most or talk about the most? Do you try to find out which one has the biggest number of people being saved or added to the church? Or do you try to seek out a person who is willing and able to tell you the truth about Jesus?
I can remember going to a big church with a friend when I was in high school, and being horrified at what was happening during the service. People used to speak about this church as being alive and where many people were being saved. They used to talk about the people who talked in tongues and the many things which happened each week. What I felt when I went to the church for the first time made me question whether the people there were worshipping God or making a scene to promoted themselves!
Jesus was talking to the crowd about why they wanted to go to where John the Baptist was teaching and baptising people. Looking into their hearts He recognised they did not go there to see the beauty of nature, nor to see men dressed in impressive clothes; He saw they went to meet with a very special prophet who was teaching the truth and preparing the way for the Messiah!
Jesus is not going to be found because the church is big, popular, glamorous, loud, light up like a Christmas tree… Jesus is going to be where the people meet to find out more about Him and where they share the truth with love and respect. He is going to be where the people are giving Him the glory and not taking it for themselves!
Points to Ponder:
Do you go to church for the right reasons?
What are your reasons for going to church?
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November 24: Isaiah 41:11-13
Key Verse: Isaiah 41:12
Though you search for your enemies, you will not find them. Those who wage war against you will be as nothing at all.
Devotion:
If you had asked me “what is the hardest thing to do as a Christian” when I first became a Christian, I would have answered it is to fully trust God and rely on Him for everything. Nowadays I do find it a whole lot easier to do after having to do exactly that over the past few years. God is Good!
It may not seem like these words are coming true when we are faced with an enemy who is getting the better of us… Why do they continue to succeed when our world seems to be falling apart! Again a question which is much easier to ask than to answer. I now answer this question with patience. Often we are too impatient and we expect God to do everything before we get into deep water; sometimes it is the deep water which will teach us to trust in Him more and to devote our lives to His will and His ways.
Sometimes we just want to find out who our enemies are so we can avoid them, or worse, do something to them! This is not God’s way. His way is to allow them to see their own folly but not to judge them. If we judge them, then surely they are allowed to judge us and we know we have done things wrong so we know we are going to get into trouble!
If we are willing and we fully trust in Christ our King, then we will get to see w whole new side of life where justice does prevail. God may want us to wait for the justice because our vision is clogged with ill feelings and judgement. God may want us to see how bad things can get before they get better so we will not be afraid of those things; remember, He is with us!
Points to Ponder:
Do you give in because things are not going your way?
Will you be a bit more patient with God today?
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November 23: Luke 21:12-19
Key Verse: Luke 21:13
And so you will bear testimony to me.
Devotion:
When Jesus was telling the disciples about the end times when He would return, He also warned them of the times before then, those leading up to that time. One of the biggest things we (Christians) will have to face is the persecution we are going to face just because we are Christians. The world will learn to hate us because we stand up for all which is right and just. With the continued corruption we see growing in the world nowadays, we will come to odds with people simply because we don’t want to give in to the temptation of doing wrong against others!
Christ wants us to continue to stand up for righteousness and continue to try and follow His ways… why? Because that will give Him the glory as people see we are different from the world and will want to find out why. This is just one way in which we can bear testimony about God!
One of the questions I get asked a lot is how are we going to defend ourselves against the world. The answer is to fully rely on Christ for guidance and support and not to try and do things by ourselves. This is probably the biggest lesson I learned over the past few years of being in and out of hospital. I could not make myself better and the doctors were guessing at some stages because they admitted they did not know the answers – but as long as I continued to rely on God and trust Him to get the right doctors and nurses around me at the right times – then things continued to go smoothly!
We may well have to face family and friends who either work against us or stop wanting to be with us just because we are Christians. If that is the case then they are the ones choosing to go the way of the world instead of God’s way. It is not for us to judge them though. We need to continue to show them Christian love and support and allow God to work in their hearts...
Points to Ponder:
Do you worry about what people think of you?
Do you follow God’s guidance?
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November 22: Luke 21:5-11
Key Verse: Luke 21:8
He replied: ‘Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, “I am he,” and, “The time is near.” Do not follow them.
Devotion:
One of the biggest temptations we face every day is the worldly treasures which surround us all the time. We tend to compare things by worldly standards and worldly riches – that way we can have what we think is a firm foundation from which to compare things from! Unfortunately that foundation is not all it seems to be. We think of things in this world as being firm and immovable, like buildings and mountains; to God these are just things which can be changed at any time...
I do like to see some of the wonders we have in our church buildings around the world, but the things which impress me most is the connection to God rather than the jewels or building parts. I would much rather see a small church whose walls are covered with scripture and pictures of how Jesus loves the world than a huge temple which stands firm because of it’s stone foundations.
Jesus wants to see the growth of the church through relationships with people instead of bigger and better buildings. Are those big buildings really a sign of the people’s love for God, or are they just bragging rights about how much people have done to impress others.
We are easily led by riches and worldly treasures because we live in this world which compares everything to everything else in physical ways. God does not want to compare us with each other – simply to compare what we are with what we could be – that is the way He wants to encourage us forward: to be bigger and better versions of ourselves working with and for God!
Points to Ponder:
How do you measure your success?
Will you simply try to be a better you?
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November 21: Luke 21:1-4
Key Verse: Luke 21:3
‘Truly I tell you,’ he said, ‘this poor widow has put in more than all the others.
Devotion:
One of the things I used to get frustrated about was the lack of people who would come forward to help with youth work in church. Most of the time I would hear the excuse of “I’m too old, I can’t relate to teenagers…” My response would always be along the lines of “you’ll be amazed at what you can share with them…” which would mostly fall on deaf ears. Those same people would be more than willing to put a pound or two into the purse to help with the work, but not so eager to step up and do something.
Jesus watches each of us and sees what is in our hearts when we do anything for Him. He sees what we feel on the inside and knows why we are making the excuses we are. If we would listen to Him we would be able to do a whole lot more in the church!
Just like this poor widow who put in such a small amount of money, we don’t often think about the value of what we can do for God. If we were to step up and help out with an event, even if it was simply to hand someone a cup of tea or coffee, that could be the difference between someone opening up and them walking out the door without finding out the truth.
The skills we have may not seem like much to us, but to someone on the receiving end, it may well be all they need to reach out and find out more about Jesus. We do hit so many brick walls in our lives it seems like the little things won’t make any difference. But when we are on the receiving end, those small things may be the last straw we are able to grasp and the life-line we end up using to reach God!
Points to Ponder:
Are you shy about doing something in your church?
Will you try to do something small in church this week?