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November 30: Romans 10:12-15
Key Verse: Romans 10:14
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?
Devotion:
Paul was given the task of going out to tell the gentiles about Jesus and to give them the same opportunity the Jews were being given to get to know Jesus. Today the gospel is going out to everyone around the world, and every one of us is given the same chance at calling on the name of the Lord to be saved… Saved from what? Saved from the destination each one of us has chosen without knowing it…
Does it sound like a catch 22 situation to you? How can we be saved from something we don’t know we have got ourselves into unless someone tells us about the situation in the first place! This is why we are given the task of going out into the world and telling people about Jesus. He promised every one of us would get the chance at hearing about Him and each one would be given the choice to believe in Him or to reject Him. How are people going to know they have a choice until they are given the choice?
This is why Jesus gave out the call for everyone to go and tell someone else the gospel story. As we start heading toward Christmas time, we often get too caught up in the celebrations the world has put in place; we forget the real reason why we have Christmas. Our time is here now to step forward and tell someone else the true story of Christmas and to give people the choice we were given!
Not all the Jew made the right choice. Not all of us will make the right choice. But we do need to be given the right to make that choice by being told the truth. We made our choices because someone spent time telling us about our choice. Who are you going to tell the truth to this year?
Points to Ponder:
Will you spend time listening to the true Christmas Story?
Will you give someone a chance by telling them the true Christmas story this year?
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November 29: Isaiah 2:1-5
Key Verse: Isaiah 2:4
He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war any more.
Devotion:
These verses tell of the promise coming true – the day when the people of Jerusalem are going to be living out the result of the promises they got from God; the day they see their promises for themselves. I don’t know if you have ever been able to experience a promise coming true in such a way as to give you more joy that you have had in a long time!
This time being talked about is a time when Jerusalem will prosper in many ways, not just a time when they will experience freedom, but a time when other nations are going to come to them for many reasons. When things go wrong in your life, where do you turn to? Is there a person, group or place where you can go and be guaranteed of getting the help you need? Most of us will not have that place where it is guaranteed, but most will have a place where we can be sure we will get some form of help!
The prophet is talking about a time when the Lord will be the one in charge, helping those who need help, guiding those who need guidance and supporting those who need support. This is going to be the time when people will realise God’s promises are true – but it will also be a time when many will come forward for help because they will realise the world has not given them what they need.
If we continue our walk close to God, then we will get the help, guidance and support we need to move forward. If we take heed of that help and guidance, the support we get will be so much more meaningful! We will be rejoicing in the Lord – or as the prophet writes, we will be walking in the light of the Lord!
Points to Ponder:
Where does you help and support come from?
Will you try to focus on what God is trying to do in your life?
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November 28: Jeremiah 33:14-16
Key Verse: Jeremiah 33:14
“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will fulfil the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah.
Devotion:
Jeremiah had many dire prophecies which the people had every reason to be afraid of; they were facing a dire period during which the armies of Nebuchadnezzar were descending on Jerusalem and many people were going to be captive to the Babylonians. But these few verses show the people some hope, not for the immediate future which is most certainly death for many, but for the future when a Saviour is going to come!
How sure was Jeremiah? He bought a plot of land right before the Babylonians were invading; not because he had hope it may be safe on his own land, but as a demonstration of the hope for the future of the Judeans. This was like a demonstration by him for the people to see how sure the hope in the future was!
Just as Isaiah had prophesied, this prophecy was to say someone would come who was of the lineage of David. People must have been distraught during the Babylonian Exile because they saw the end of the Davidic dynasty – they thought it was the end of the line of David. But God’s promises are built on the truth which would eventually come out at the end of the time of exile.
These words are often hard to hear for us at this time of year, not just because we have much shorter days and winter is fast approaching, but because of the many losses people do face at this time of the year. But the hope these words give us can still give us hope for today too. We too are called to share words of hope at this time more than normal – we too need to give people hope of a good future with God!
Points to Ponder:
What hope do you find in your bible?
Will you share that hope with someone?
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November 27: Psalm 145:17-20
Key Verse: Psalm 145:18
The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
Devotion:
I love the Psalms because of the personal messages delivered through them; these are messages which come from the heart and are real! This Psalm continues to tell us of the goodness, righteousness and faithfulness of our Lord. No matter what is happening in life, no matter how far we go or how upset we get, God is always there and always looking out for us.
We may have to face some extraordinary things in our lives, not because God has caused them, but because human beings have chosen to make bad choices and we all end up paying for those bad choices. We may not know some of them are bad choices at the time, but still we end up in bad places or having a really bad day! Have you noticed how all the people around you also go through those same times – you have not been selected out of a crowd for things to go wrong – stuff just happens!
When we are honest with our feelings and honest toward God, then we will begin to see the honest and caring responses He gives us. When we are fooling ourselves or being selfish about things, we don’t get to see the real truth because we are too caught up in our issues to see the truth!
The Old Testament is full of stories about how God destroyed wicked people and that is the major picture we get from reading the scriptures – if we close our minds off to reality. You see, God has been trying to show people the right ways for many many years, but we get so caught up in the issues we only remember the bad parts or the things which make for exciting reading or hearing about! God tries to protect us through various means – if we listen, we know He is there guiding us. If we don’t know God, we get caught up in the tragedies and lose sight of the truth showing how He cares for us – all we remember is people being harmed or destroyed… we end up thinking God is destroying people...
Points to Ponder:
What do you remember from the latest news you listened to?
Have you tried to think how God was guiding people at that time?
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November 26: Luke 21:29-33
Key Verse: Luke 21:33
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
Devotion:
Have you been watching the leave change colour around you lately? In my flat I have one tree out the front on which the leaves turned yellow and seem to all fall off in a couple of days, and yet one at the back which seems to be waiting for something else before it sheds it’s leaves! We can, in general, look at the trees and bushes and know roughly what season it is from the colour of leaves or how fast they are growing…
We can watch various things happening in our lives and and lives of people around us and, again in general, make educated guesses as to what generation those people are or even what part of the world they come from… These are all things we learn by constant observation year after year, or we are taught about them in school and grow to remember those facts.
How many facts do you remember from God’s Word? I used to think I was pretty useless at remembering facts because I would always do badly in exams. I started to think there was something different about my mind! But when I started reading through God’s Word and studying it, I started to remember all sorts of things. I have gained a lot of confidence in my life because I was able to remember things and apply them into my life and even tell others about them too!
Jesus wanted people to know many truths which they had corrupted over time and so He would teach people in various ways so they would remember the truth. We now have so much of what He taught written down in many different languages in our bibles. We can study what He taught and pass on that information to others. Some words tell us of the good things which happened, some tell us of the bad things, whilst others tell us of things which are yet to happen. Take head of those words because they remain unchanged!
Points to Ponder:
How much do you read your bible?
Will you make a plan to read through the bible next year?
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November 25: Matthew 10:34-42
Key Verse: Matthew 10:38
Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
Devotion:
When you read through these verses you may well be worried about the words used here; especially when it talks about being rejected for loving our families more than we love God! Let’s take a bit of time to think about what is being said and not jump to conclusions… When we talk about our faith, our belief in God, how far are we willing to go to say we do love God?
As long as we don’t come from a very broken family, we may well say we love our families more than anything and also say we are willing to do anything for our families. When push comes to shove we actually do go far to ensure our families are safe and protected. How far are we willing to go to ensure God’s Word is trusted, or God’s name is not abused?
This is what is being said here… If we say we love God and believe in Him, then we should be willing to put our faith to the test. We should be willing to uphold God’s word when others mock or ridicule it. We should be willing to stand up for God and show others we are proud to be called Christians. These are all the things we probably take for granted in our families. God invited us into His family and calls us His children. We should be willing to say He is our Father!
When Jesus said He was not bringing peace, but a sword, it was a statement meant to shake up the people around Him. It was His way of saying we need to stand up for the gospel, the word He was proclaiming, and we need to defend it just as we defend our families. If we are willing to do this, then He is willing to make sure we are never rejected and never left alone. He is willing to support us!
Points to Ponder:
Do you uphold God’s Word?
Will you demonstrate your love for God without fear?
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November 24: Luke 21:17-19
Key Verse: Luke 21:19
Stand firm, and you will win life.
Devotion:
Jesus does not promise us we are going to have a great life, nor does He promise everyone will love us because we are Christians – after all why shouldn’t everyone love us when we say we love everyone!
Jesus commands us to love one another as much as we love ourselves – which assumes we do love ourselves, after all, what would be the point of loving others the way we love ourselves if we don’t love ourselves! To do that we must accept who we are and begin to realise no matter what, Christ is going to love us and has promised to be here for us. What He does say is the world will probably hate us because we are Christians and dare to tell the truth when the world around us is spreading lies!
He does say we will survive though. But, because there is evil in this world, the evil may well overflow and reach us in physical ways; like we will be affected by a virus in the same way as others are affected by it, we will face the same dangers from volcanoes and earthquakes as the people around us do; but we will survive. We may think of death as not surviving, but life goes on a lot further than our physical lives because our souls are not bound by this life we live physically.
What is going to be sure is the life Christ gives us because we choose to believe in Him. Nothing on earth will be able to take that away from us and nothing can put a chink in that life our souls are looking forward to. Because we chose to believe, He chose to save us from the physical realm and get ready a fantastic life in the spiritual realm with Him! This is the life we win!
Points to Ponder:
Are you working on loving yourself more?
Are you working on looking forward to your spiritual life with Christ?
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November 23: Luke 21:5-11
Key Verse: Luke 21:9
When you hear of wars and uprisings, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away.
Devotion:
When we look at the splendour of the temples, statues and various other things built as some sort of offering to God, we need to remember they are man-made and nothing more. No matter how much time we spend building something and dedicating it to God, it is still a man-made object. Over time these buildings and objects are going to break down and fall – but our God will continue to stand firm as our God throughout time!
I love going into churches and seeing what people have done to dedicate those places to God; how much time and effort they have put in to remember how much God means to them… but sometimes we forget who we are doing things for and we start to look for recognition from people instead of from God. When that happens, we will see our objects of self praise brought down, ignored and forgotten over time; maybe not in our life-time, but over time it happens.
We lose our way and follow the ways of the world as we get more and more tied up with gaining praise and recognition for ourselves instead of bringing all the glory to God. We lose focus on the object of our praise. Over time we get caught up in arguments which escalate to wars and eventually some end up nation fighting nation. Jesus was reminding us here that these things will happen over time because of the wicked ways we have in our hearts.
These things need to happen at time so we can refocus on God. But if we get too tied up in the wicked ways, we lose focus on God altogether – this is when He no longer gets the glory and we seek it ourselves instead. Who can we blame for the evil we let in but ourselves!
Points to Ponder:
Do you fear the end times are coming because of all the wars?
Will you simply turn back to worshipping God instead of mankind?
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November 22: Daniel 1:8-20
Key Verse: Daniel 1:17
To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.
Devotion:
We can look at this passage in various lights: as the resolve for Daniel to ensure they followed God’s guidance, as the guidance of God over people who do not yet know Him, or as the rewards God gives us when we do listen. It is not about how vegetarians are following God better than meat eaters!
Daniel wanted to make sure they followed God’s advice. He listened to where God was guiding him and he stood up to anyone who tried to lead them away from God. The food which was being dished up by the king was not good in Daniels eyes; it may well have been gained through ill-gotten ways and so Daniel refused to eat it. He knew God provided for him and by eating plain food he was ensuring he continued to rely on God and not man.
Even though the guard looking after them did not yet believe in God, God persuaded him to have have compassion on Daniel and the others. God does not need you to believe in Him before He can do things through you – He can work with anyone. If this were not so, many Christians today would not have become Christians because they did not start out believing!
When we do listen to God and obey His requests and guidance, we will find doors being opened for us in many ways. When Daniel and the others listened to God, they found their health was better (probably because of less unhealthy food stuffs) and they began to learn quicker than normal – not because the food was doing it, but because God was doing it! They because much more learned than the kings magicians and enchanters.
Points to Ponder:
Do you listen to God or take the easiest ways?
Will you try to obey God even when things get a bit tougher?
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November 21: John 18:33-37
Key Verse: John 18:35
“Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”
Devotion:
When Jesus faced Pilate after the Jewish leaders had convinced him Jesus was some sort of criminal who was after the throne, Pilate wanted a face to face conversation with Him to find out the truth. Jesus was a bit vague with His answers knowing what He would still have to go through for our sakes; knowing the task at hand was not yet complete!
This showed the vast difference between the kingdom of Heaven and the kingdom on earth! On earth people were encouraged or even forced to bow down before a leader who would treat everyone according to their own wishes and not really according to the law. This is because the kingdoms on earth are ruled by people who have lost sight of God and now are following their own desires and wants instead of the needs of the kingdom as a whole.
Jesus, on the other hand, was facing whatever came His way knowing He had to stand up for the kingdom of God instead of bowing down to earthly leaders. Jesus told Pilate His kingdom was not of this earth – in other words, He was talking about the kingdom of heaven and not on earth. He knew He must go through with the arrest, with the jailing, with all the beatings and eventually with the crucifixion on the cross.
Jesus knew the price He had to pay for the whole kingdom – for each one of us. Jesus knew He had to go through with it no matter what the cost, for it was the only way we would get to enter the kingdom of heaven! Jesus even told Pilate His job was to tell the truth before everyone. He also opened up to say the people who did believe the truth were always going to follow Jesus.
Points to Ponder:
Do you believe everything politicians tell you?
Who are the politicians serving; who should they be serving?