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October 21: Ephesians 4:1-6
Key Verse: Ephesians 4:3
Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
Devotion:
I know I have used these verses on more than one occasion; its because they are worth going over again and again! God gave us His word, what we know as our bibles nowadays, so that we can get to know Him more and start to live our lives more in line with how He wants us to live. It is no surprise the bible continues to be one of the best selling books in the whole world!
Through His Word we continue to learn more about how to live and how to love. Yes, not just living our lives but filling them with love. We don’t get a second chance at living our lives on earth, so we should try to live them as close as we can to how Christ wants us to live. This means getting to know what He wants in our lives and trying to do our best. This means reading our bibles and taking in all the instructions Christ has given us.
It may be hard for us to get to grips with the scriptures of old, because we live such different lives to the people who lived back then. But God wants us to learn these scriptures so we can get to understand just how holy and powerful He is! We should humble ourselves before Him because He is our Creator and our Saviour!
Christ told us to love our neighbours as ourselves; meaning we should go out and try to keep the peace above all. There is no real place for petty arguments in our lives because they chip away at the very core God made within us and take us away from the lives He wants us to live. There is only one body we have which can be indwelt by the Holy Spirit whom the one Jesus Christ gave us because His only Father allowed this all to happen so we could be saved from the wrath of the evil one...
Points to Ponder:
Have you ever wondered where you get love from?
Will you allow God’s love to grow in you?
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October 20: Ephesians 3:14-21
Key Verse: Ephesians 3:18
may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
Devotion:
When the apostle wrote this letter to the Ephesians he wanted them to make sure they knew the gravity of the things he was saying to them. Not only is God a God to be feared, but He is the only true God from whom all life on earth came to be. It was because of what He did we are alive and are here today. It is because He contains the earth in His hands we continue to live spinning in the mostly blank universe.
The apostle prays for strength for the people of Ephesus to stand up against the powers who try to take God away from them. He prays for inner strength that they may stand up to the spiritual battles which lay ahead, not just the physical battles against principalities and people in power!
The power God has far out-sizes and overcomes any power mankind can imagine; this is why we say nothing is impossible with God. It is this power the Holy Spirit shares with us so we can know God’s power over all the heavens – not just the earth! It is this power which will show us the goodness and mercy God has toward us all.
Imagine what someone would do for you when they love you without reserve, and multiply that by a factor or greatness we can only imagine. This is the power God instils on us all so we can get to know Him more in our lives. This power comes to us through Jesus Christ and continues to be with us generation after generation – without end!
Points to Ponder:
Who do you think looks after you?
God looks after them and you!
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October 19: Ephesians 3:2-6
Key Verse: Ephesians 3:6
This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.
Devotion:
One thing Christ made sure the disciples knew was the gift of God’s grace was not just for the Jews but for the whole world! Jesus made it very clear, and it is written in the gospels, nobody was to be left out just because they were the wrong race, colour, shape, age or whatever! The only reason for anyone to be left out is if they choose to be left out for themselves!
Why would anyone choose to be left out? Well that is an answer we have to ask God about when we get to be with Him in heaven. We may wonder how anyone could make the decision to be away from God, but people do that every day. People choose not to have God in their lives…
We need to be more like the apostles and actively tell people this choice is theirs to make. They can choose to have God in their lives, or they can choose to walk away from Him… But there is another “choice” which many make without knowing: the choice of doing nothing! This choice, unfortunately, separates us from God because it is not the same as choosing to believe in what Christ has done for you!
When we turn toward Jesus, no matter what circle of life we are in, we choose to be children of God. He has promised us we will be called His children if we trust in and believe in what Christ has done for us. It is a simple choice, but it has far reaching repercussions. When we choose to believe in Christ, we should also be choosing to leave our old life behind and walk forward in a new life in Christ!
Points to Ponder:
What are you doing about having Christ in your life?
Will you choose to trust in Him?
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October 18: Isaiah 35:3-6
Key Verse: Isaiah 35:5
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
Devotion:
I wonder how the prophets felt when they received words like these from God? They were human just as we are and yet we can feel the joy and wonder they felt when we read the words given them by God. This is why He gave them to very special people – so we could know Him better and know just how special each one of us is to Him!
When we see or hear about anyone who is down-hearted or in trouble in any way, we should be the ones who step forward and remind them of the great things which await them when God comes. We should be the ones who give them hope once again so they can gain the strength God is trying to give them during their times of weakness. If we can do that, then we have done a great job just like the prophets did so many years ago.
These words are written down for us so we can continue to share them with everyone… What part of the bible has given you the most hope or joy? Have you shared that with anyone in your life yet? Just a few words can give someone hope, a hope which is tangible and a hope which God can make grow into something spectacular in their hearts too!
When we share a little of the love God has shared with us, we will allow the blind to see again and the deaf to hear. People are not always physically afflicted; sometimes it is a few words which can give them the spiritual hope they need to get to the next level in their relationship with God. The bible is the source of that hope and God can use it to make people grow – if we are willing to open it to them...
Points to Ponder:
What is special about your bible?
Will you share it with someone you know?
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October 17: Ephesians 2:1-10
Key Verse: Ephesians 2:3
All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.
Devotion:
Many people are put off of religion when they see a statement like this which calls us sinners and makes us feel bad. But this is the end result of reading the Word of God. The scriptures were given to us so we may know what we are doing wrong. Again, many people thinks it stops there because they are ‘bad people’ but what Christ has done for us has set us free from the blame and the punishment we deserve from our sins.
If we try to live our lives without God, we begin to see the things in life which look good because they make some others happy. If we continue to watch those people we will see that happiness does not last too long because they begin to see the error of their ways and sink into a pit of despair.
God saw we were not able to get out of this rut by ourselves and so allowed Jesus to come down to earth and pay for the sins we have done with His own life. Because Jesus had done nothing wrong and was blameless, He was offered up as a perfect sacrifice for our wrongdoings. Just as God had demanded sacrifices without blemish, Jesus stepped forward as the sacrifice without a blemish once and for all!
It is not anything we are able to do which will make us ‘not guilty’ for our sins. It is what Jesus did for us in our stead. It is because of the grace of our Lord we are able to stand up and say we are not guilty!
Points to Ponder:
How many laws have you broken in the bible?
Jesus made it so you are not guilty for every single one of them!
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October 16: Luke 18:1-8
Key Verse: Luke 18:7
And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?
Devotion:
Can you remember how you used to ask for things when you were younger? I have been told on many occasions how I would bother my parents time and time again when I wanted something – repeatedly asking until I either got into trouble or got what I was asking for!
Jesus tells us here how we should be willing to continue asking for things – not in an unjust or greedy way, but in a righteous manner. This widow made a point of continuing to beg for justice from the judge. Time and time again she would come back and make a point of asking for justice to the point where the judge thought she would become angry in the end and may even threaten him – so he gave in to the widow.
Now God has told us we should be able to ask anything of Him and Jesus reminded us when He was amongst us on earth. This promise to answer us and to give justice continues to stand for us. This is a promise from God. He wants us to be willing to continually ask for justice in our lives. When we give up asking, are we giving up on His promise to answer us with justice?
Trust God is going to answer your calls for justice & continue asking for it through the power of Jesus’ name. This is what Jesus told us and continues to remind us through His Word and through the Holy Spirit. If we are willing to do this, He is more willing to give us justice than this judge was for the widow. Ask and you shall receive.
Points to Ponder:
How often do you ask for things through prayer?
Will you trust He will answer and keep on asking?
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October 15: Luke 12:8-12
Key Verse: Luke 8:12
for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.’
Devotion:
One of the big worries I had when I was in high school and in university was standing up in front of loads of people and having to talk about something; something we had to do both in high school and in university! This is also something a lot of Christians worry about – how do I tell other people about God...
Jesus started out by reminding us of our need to acknowledge Him in front of others. This does not necessarily mean standing up in front of a full church building and talking about God; it can mean simply going to church. By going to church you are acknowledging you believe in God. Others will see you go to church and will know you have some sort of belief or relationship with God. By letting them know you have a relationship and not just going to church gives them a more positive understanding.
If you are going to sneak out and go to church without telling your friends because you don’t want to get laughed at or mocked, then you are actively denying God in your life. Not a choice you would probably make knowing what you are actually doing! God wants us to share the truth with others so they can have something to look forward to.
Then Jesus reminds us He has left the Holy Spirit with us so we will not be left to fend for ourselves when someone asks us about God. I learned this whilst going to Christians camps as a leader – trusting the Holy Spirit to give you the right things to say always worked for me. If I got into a tight corner and didn’t know what to say, I would say so and take the young people to see a more senior leader who may have the answers or would at least point me in the right direction so I would trust the Holy Spirit again to find out the truth!
Points to Ponder:
Who do you turn to for knowledge or courage?
Will you stop and listen out for the Holy Spirit next time?
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October 14: Luke 12:1-7
Key Verse: Luke 12:4
‘I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more.
Devotion:
How many times have you heard someone say something which should sound profound but you end up being confused by what they say? I’m sure the people around Jesus had many times like this, not because Jesus wanted to confuse anyone but simply because they could not relate to what He was saying!
Jesus took this opportunity to say these things when the disciples were being surrounded by a pressing crowd who were beginning to trample on each other just so they could get close to Him. Jesus wanted to be able to allow people to understand what He was saying, but He also knew there were people in the crowd who had no intention of finding out the truth.
Jesus was warning the disciples of the devil who would do anything he could to get the people to turn against God in any way he could. The crowd of people pushing to get close to Jesus could well crush others and even the disciples, but that is all they could do! The devil and his minions can go a lot further and persuade us to walk away from Jesus and give up our lives for greed and other strange reasons.
God thinks a whole lot more of us than He does of the things in nature we see Him looking after all the time. We are more important to Him than the nature around us! He know every detail about each one of us because of His deep interest in us. He warns us that what we say in private may well get out into the public and ruin us if we are not careful – we see this happening far too much in the political world at the moment because people have become lax in the way they care for others as well as themselves.
Points to Ponder:
How much do you care about Christ?
Are you willing to be careful so others can find the truth?
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October 13: Luke 11:52-54
Key Verse: Luke 11:52
‘Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.’
Devotion:
When Jesus was talking to the scholars and teachers of the law He berated them for their way of having a strangle-hold on the people. He wants everyone to have free access to His Word so anyone and everyone can learn the truth. The teachers of the law placed high burdens on the people by reminding them of the law as often as they could, making them feel guilty and inadequate!
God does not want us to come away from the bible with that sort of feeling because Jesus has done so much more for us than the teachers of the law were doing with the scriptures. Jesus came to fulfil the law and in doing so opened up the truth so everyone could understand. For those who struggle He brings the Holy Spirit to intervene so they can understand just how caring and merciful He can be.
This does not mean He turn a blind eye to everything we do wrong – that is the whole point of the law, so we can identify what we do wrong. But He also wants us to know He has take the burden for our sins upon His own shoulders so we do not have to be under its pressure all the time.
God wants us to know the law and to try and obey the law; but He understand we do get things wrong and that is why He allowed Jesus to come and lift the debt we owe. Those people who take control or charge over others by using the bible are doing so for their own good and not for Gods glory. They want to have some sort of control over others whereas Jesus hands us control and wants us to come to Him for help instead.
Points to Ponder:
Do you abuse the bible?
Will you allow the Holy Spirit to guide you today?
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October 12: Galatians 5:16-18
Key Verse: Galatians 5:18
But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Devotion:
This single statement must have upset the Pharisees and other teachers of the law; they had promoted the law as being everything for so long that they had forgotten the true meaning of the law. God set down the law, not as a punishment or noose around anyone’s neck, but as a guidance for people to sort their lives out by. No, I don’t mean they were given it as something they had a choice as to whether they obeyed it or not, but more of a set of rules to show their bad sides so they could aim for something better!
God wants us to live better lives than we are used to. We do not have to live according to what everyone else says we should. We don’t have to live by doing whatever we like because we only live once! God wants us to draw closer to Him by identifying what we are doing wrong and trying to do better. This way we will not be so distracted by the evil in our lives and we should be able to draw closer to Him.
If we do listen to Him through the Spirit, we will be able to strengthen our relationship with Him because we will be able to hear Him more often and better – because we are not so distracted by the sin in our lives and the temptations which surround us.
By living according to the guidance from The Spirit we will be able to continue drawing closer to Him each day. We will be able to shun the things which go against God and against His ways. We will be able to stay away from everything which is contrary to His ways. Does this mean we can ignore the law? Certainly not! But we don’t have to have that as the be all and end all in our lives – we can listen to God and live better lives instead because those lives will be lived according to the law – His law!
Points to Ponder:
Do you live according to the world or God?
Will you try to stay away from earthly ways and live a more Godly life?