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August 10: Ezekiel 9:1-7
Key Verse: Ezekiel 9:4
and said to him, ‘Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it.’
Devotion:
Often when we read the words of the prophets like Ezekiel we lose sight of the compassion and mercy of God and simply look at the death and destruction which is portrayed in the words instead. But we have to read the words of the Old Testament fully and understand what is written. The New Testament words are often more straight forward and we find them more digestible...
In amongst all the death and destruction we read about, we must remember the words of verse 4 where the holiness of God is revealed showing His compassion and mercy. We must also understand the judgment on the idolaters would probably carried out by angels and not by men; God would not leave the final judgment of His people to be done by other men.
Even amongst this judgement God had appointed someone who would visit each person and see whether they were sorry for the things which were being done by others – this is not by asking them in person but by looking into their hearts for the truth. This would not be able to be done by mere humans unless God was instructing them!
We also need to see the holiness of God as fully encompassing all mankind and not just the people from certain areas. As humans we often pass judgment on people just because they live in a different area or because they go to the right or wrong church! This is not what God does. He looks into the hearts of all people all over the world, in every corner, and makes His decision based on what He sees in our hearts.
Points to Ponder:
Do you think of some churches as being better than others?
Will you trust God to be the judge?
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August 9: Matthew 18:10-14
Key Verse: Matthew 18:13
And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off.
Devotion:
When Jesus was talking to the disciples about the relationship they should have with God the Father, He would describe them as being His children. At the beginning of this chapter Jesus called over a child and sat the child between them using this picture of the trust of a child to show how they should trust God; trust without questioning! He said here the angels who look after the children will always have a direct connection to God in Heaven – we should always remember that!
If we are to get through to people and convince them about our God, we should remember the children because they are closer to Heaven in their relationships than we realise. Setting the right spark to ignite their passion for God at this stage in their lives is what we should be aiming for. Jesus reminds them He is here to look for the lost and to tell them the truth – what we should be aiming at doing too!
The parable Jesus uses here is of a man who owns a hundred sheep; if one of them should wander off, the man would go out of his way to go and look for the lost sheep to bring it back to the fold. We should be aiming at looking for the lost children of God too & encouraging them to come and seek out Christ in their own lives.
The joy of finding one lost soul and bringing it back to safety is much more than the joy of keeping souls which are not lost. When we go out to tell people about Christ, should we not be telling people who do not know Christ so they have the chance to get to know Him. If we simply continue telling people who do know Christ, what good is that other than strengthening their resolve?
Points to Ponder:
Who do you want to talk to about Christ?
Will you try speaking to someone new?
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August 8: Matthew 17:24-27
Key Verse: Matthew 17:27
‘But so that we may not cause offence, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.’
Devotion:
When Jesus and His disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collector of the temple tax confronted them demanding the tax for entering the temple. This was something of a historic act which had been done for many years and was used for the upkeep of the temple and all who served in it. Jesus’ answer to whether they should pay the tax was to compare them as being children of God and showing how children are not normally asked for anything from the parents.
But, because this had been the normal, for everyone to pay the tax, Jesus sent Peter to throw a fishing line into the lake and catch a fish – from the mouth of that fish would be enough to pay the temple tax for him and Jesus! He did this, not to admit He had to pay the tax, but to appease the collector of the taxes; to appease the humans who were demanding the tax!
This tax is not the same as tithes we give to support the churches in our communities because tithes are voluntary and are given by us knowing we are helping to keep the church together and have a safe place to worship God. The people from the temples were demanding the taxes because it was what they had always done. It was a set amount and everyone was expected to pay!
Christ wants us to do our best to promote and keep the church going. This means giving willingly toward the upkeep of the church building and helping the teachers, priests and workers to keep going as they willingly give of their time and possessions. God likes it when we give willingly and cheerfully...
Points to Ponder:
Would you object to having to pay to enter your church building?
How much are you willing to give to God?
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August 7: Hebrews 11:8-12
Key Verse: Hebrews 11:11
And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise.
Devotion:
This chapter from the letter to the Hebrew people reminds us of the faith of many people in our history. We can look back and read about how these people showed great faith and we can also read about how they made mistakes and had to correct things. We are human and we will probably make mistakes too, but it is our faith in the unseen which will make all the difference in our lives with Christ.
Abraham is seen as an example of a man with great faith, but he questioned God in the beginning. He also listened to Sarah who said to go and try something by themselves because God was taking too long! But God was still faithful and delivered on the original promise just as He was going to in the beginning.
God has made these promises to us and He is going to keep them. He does not back down from promises just because we have doubts or because we are too weak to keep to our promises. God wants us to look back on these stories and see how His faithfulness is not in question. He wants us to keep our faith even when we have doubts. If we are able to stand up and make our faith true, He will deliver on His promises.
When our faith is weak and we think we cannot go on, God’s promises are still going to come true. They do not require us to keep our faithfulness or to keep our own word. His word is sure! But when we do keep our faith and show mercy and love as He has asked us to, God will be more pleased with us and we will be able to see how much He is willing to do. When we don’t trust our faith, our doubts overcome our feelings and we cannot see what God is doing – even when He is doing things for us!
Points to Ponder:
Do you think God’s promises depend on what you can do?
God’s promises do not need anything from us to come true!
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August 6: 2 Peter 1:16-19
Key Verse: 2 Peter 1:19
We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
Devotion:
After Jesus had opened up about His death to the disciples, I think the air would have changed as the disciples started worrying about what was going to happen; but, throughout this time Jesus continued to pour out His love to everyone and even made a point to taking Peter and James up onto a mountain to pray. This was not new for Jesus because He would take whatever time He could to separate himself from the crowds and pray to God in private.
But this time something very different happened as God the Father poured out His glory upon Jesus the man. The disciples heard God’s voice declaring “this is my Son, whom I love…” This was at the same time as the disciples saw two other men appear and talk with Jesus. The disciples wanted to stop and build 3 shelters as a reminder of what happened and how God gave glory to Jesus.
The disciples had to remember this and repeat what had happened to others so they would know just How important Jesus was to God. They remained the only eye witnesses of this event and so had to remember it and retell it to others as carefully as they could. Why? Because this was a very important thing happening here – this was the scriptures coming to life. These stories had been foretold in earlier times and now it was coming true.
We have the words of these disciples as eye witnesses. Eye witnesses are the most important witnesses because they are the ones who saw the truth happening right in front of them. This is what our laws on earth are based upon – eye witness testimonies. This is just another reason why we can and should believe our bibles, not a novels but as eye witness accounts!
Points to Ponder:
How many witnesses do you need before you believe something?
We have many witnesses in our bibles!
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August 5: Matthew 16:24-28
Key Verse: Matthew 16:25
For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.
Devotion:
When Jesus was saying these words to the disciples, I bet they could not get their heads round it at the time, not just because He had just talked about His death, but because what He was saying here was probably not how they were brought up. So many people say things like “you only live once” or “live life to the full” because they can’t get their heads round the price of life!
Jesus was saying in order to live a fuller life, the disciples would have to put their own lives aside and focus on the lives of others, including God! What He was saying was people who set aside their own lives and do everything to please Christ will find they lives a fuller life than if they tried to live the best life they could for themselves.
When we focus on ourselves we tend to get tied up in the world and lose focus on what is important. We focus more and more on the trappings and temptations in life and less and less n getting the most out of what we do. Getting the most out of life is not all about taking everything you can from the world, but more like how much you can put back into the lives of those around you, including the world.
God gave us this world for us to manage and maintain. He did not give us a sweet shop and tell us to eat as much as we could until we were sick. He gave us a plot of land and everything we need to tend to the land to give us the best crops we can get. He wants us to work together and with others rather than focusing on what we can get out of life!
Points to Ponder:
Do you live life to the most?
How much of your life contains Christ?
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August 4: Matthew 16:21-23
Key Verse: Matthew 16:21
From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
Devotion:
One of the hardest things for the disciples to grasp must have been the words Jesus started teaching them from this point onward; about how He would have to face much suffering and eventually be killed. The disciples would not accept this at first because He was their Messiah, and as far as that goes their Messiah should not be able to die!
But Jesus was trying to prepare them for what was going to happen to His physical body knowing full well He would not stay dead and would have to endure this all in order to save us from our sinful ways. How else would a perfect sacrifice be able to be made for our sins. For far too long the people had to sacrifice whatever animals they could get their hands on, trying to ensure they would be free from and damage when the time came to offer them as the sacrifice.
Jesus was without sin and the only perfect sacrifice which could ever be made to cover all of our sins once and for all. He was going to get this done so there would not have to be the continual sacrificing of animals. He was going to the cross so we would not have to!
When the disciples objected, Jesus rebuked them in a very strong manner! Peter wanted none of this to happen because He thought it would not be fair; but Jesus knew this was the only way things could be done. He was willing to step forward and accept this all because of His love for us. This was God’s call and not the call of any human being. This had to be done for us!
Points to Ponder:
Do you ever think about why Jesus did what He did?
Will you remember Jesus today and thank Him for what He did?
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August 3: Matthew 15:21-28
Key Verse: Matthew 15:27
“Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”
Devotion:
This Canaanite woman showed her faith in Christ to everyone, but it was Jesus who picked up on it and brought it to the surface. How solid is your faith? Not an easy question to answer truthfully because our faith will not show itself fully until it is tested in some way. I learned this just over twenty years ago when my faith too over when I literally did not know what to do.
This woman came forward and pleaded with Christ to rid her daughter of a demon because she was suffering terribly. The mother trusted in the power of the Lord even though she was not a Jew. Jesus turned round to her and said He was sent to cater for the lost sheep of Israel and not for the other people who were not the ‘chosen race!’ It may sound like Jesus was being harsh at the time, but He knew what was on this woman’s heart and knew how things would turn out – He wanted the disciples to see the truth!
Jesus compared her to being a dog and the Jews as being the children of God; we would normally feed our own family before we feed stray dogs… But the woman replied saying that even the stray dogs would wait patiently for crumbs to be dropped from the table so they could eat.
This was like saying she would wait patiently for any good things to be dropped by the children of God so she could gain something, no mater how small or insignificant it seemed at the time. This was the faith Jesus was looking for and this is what made Jesus rid the daughter of the demon right there and then!
Points to Ponder:
How much do you depend on God for?
Will you trust Him a little more today?
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August 2: Matthew 15:1-11
Key Verse: Matthew 15:2
“Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”
Devotion:
The Pharisees and the other teachers of the law took every opportunity they could to try and trip Jesus up; trying to prove they were in some way better than Him so they could be seen to be the righteous people they so wanted to be! On this occasion they came to Jesus and tried to show Him up by saying how the disciples had not washed their hands before they ate their food… I’m sure we have all been there and not washed our hands before we ate something!
The Pharisees tried to take the law as written word for word and used that against Jesus to try and show Him up. But Jesus turned this round and pulled them up for what they were doing wrong. The Pharisees had made it an art form of taking the literal words they had come up with for the scriptural law and were using those words against the people. What they were not doing was trying to lift up the people – God’s children!
When Jesus reminded us to love one another it was with this sort of scenario in mind. If we do love our neighbours, then we are going to make sure they are included in things even when we think they are doing something wrong. We do not have the right to judge them for what they are doing; but what we can do is to tell them what we think the law actually means… this is being diligent and opening ourselves up to our neighbours.
What we can then do is discuss the law and invite God to explain it in our hearts so we can all know what should be done. What this shows us is not how we need to make sure our hands are washed before eating, but being diligent in what we do; it makes sense to wash your hands, but if you happen to not wash them, it should not be a capital crime for which we should be punished!
Points to Ponder:
Do you have habit you do just because you have always done it that way?
Will you try to focus on what Christ wants in your life?
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August 1: Psalm 119:89-92
Key Verse: Psalm 119:92
If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.
Devotion:
One of the greatest things we can have in life is something we can depend on no matter what! When we are very young, we believe we can always depend on our parents because they seem to be there all the time and get us out of trouble! But as we grow older and wiser we start to find out humans all have their weaknesses or their shortcomings and, just maybe, we lose faith in believing our parents can do anything!
These few verses in this Psalm tell us of the authors absolute belief and trust in God. God is the one who is eternal and is in Heaven – the place we aspire to be when we finish living our lives on earth. The author reminds us of the faithfulness of God which has been demonstrated year after year, generation after generation to so many people throughout history.
God’s laws were passed on to mankind many years ago and passed down generation after generation by people who spent their time learning the law and retelling the law to the next generations. These laws have not changed from what was given to mankind through the prophets so many years ago.
When we take these laws and make them the centre of our lives, we get to see a whole new life which has remained constant for many years. As we get to read about these laws and how people have followed these laws for many generations, we get to know them as something good and righteous to follow. As we learn that we get to make them a part of our lives and get to know God better each day, month or year!
Points to Ponder:
What laws stick out to you as being God’s important laws?
Will you try to pass these laws on to the next generation?