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- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
- Hits: 1973
2 Chronicles 33:3 He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had demolished; he also erected altars to the Baals and made Asherah poles. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them.
When Manasseh became king, he was only 12 years old. I don’t think he had much chance against the people guiding him at the time, and that was the people around him and not God!
He seemed to go out of his way to rebuild all the evil his father had got rid of; that really does sound like a lot of people wanting to do their own things instead of doing God’s will.
Sound pretty much like what many people of this world are like today – they are going after their own desires instead of listening to truth and wisdom from God.
He will be angered!
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- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
- Hits: 1910
1 Corinthians 15:41 The sun has one kind of splendour, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendour.
How do we know who to follow in life? There are so many stars and so many who say we should follow them!
Well, we can follow earthly stars because they do often give us something to look up to and aim for in our lives, but we don’t have to worship them!
God alone requires and deserves our true worship; others on earth are asking you to worship them to lift themselves up.
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- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
- Hits: 1944
Matthew 2:2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
We like to uphold stars in our lives, whether they be entrepreneurs, sports people, artists or even stylists.
A star has become synonymous with something to follow…
But the reasons why we follow certain stars in our lives should be brought into question. Are we following them because of what they do, what we would like in our lives or what they stand for?
God wants us to follow Him because it is the right thing to do and so we can be safe in His arms; He does His best for us when we are closest to Him!
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- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
- Hits: 1858
Luke 8:14 The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.
I still find it amazing how Jesus talked so much about the things in life which trap us into false security and tempt us away from Him, and yet we all still do it!
This life is the only life we do have on earth and if we do not spend it wisely, we may well start to regret things and get trapped into a spiral of worrying more than we can raise our heads above.
That is similar to these words used here by Jesus; we need to allow His words to guide us no matter where we are in our lives.
Don’t allow the world to take God out of your life because you are in control of Him in your life.
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- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
- Hits: 1807
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.
When Jesus was warning people of the time when He would return He made sure they understood it would be like a thief coming in the night – totally unexpected!
We tend to get involved with the world around us and often lose sight on what is important because of the pressures of events and others in our lives.
Don’t lose focus on God, because He wants us to be ready for that day when it comes so we will not be left behind to clear up a mess.
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- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
- Hits: 1828
Luke 21:16 You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death.
When Jesus was talking about the end of times, He used fairly strong words warning of betrayal and fighting on all fronts.
What He is trying to get over is that we cannot depend on this earth to give us the truth; the truth only comes from God.
Our earthly friends and family will probably let us down at some stage in our lives, but God is not going to. Yes, we may let Him down, but He will never let us down!
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- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
- Hits: 1862
Philippians 1:17 The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains.
How do you use the gospel? Is it a weapon, a pacifier, a rule book or a bit of a guideline? Well, it’s kind of all of that and more! But it is not a single one of them! It’s a combination…
Our bibles have so much in them which we need to know about in order to understand our God; without the gospel we are just passing on our own take of the story.
It is important to go back to what is written down and use it to tell people about God and help them to understand Him so they too can love Him.
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- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
- Hits: 1822
Philippians 1:15 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill.
How did you first hear about Jesus? Did someone tell you of this God who would destroy things if they were wrong, or did someone tell you about a God who loves absolutely everything?
Well, we all have our own personal opinions of God, but His word actually holds the truth – not us.
How we go about telling others is going to reflect on us and on God. We could go around blaming everyone who is doing anything wrong, or we could go around telling people to do absolutely anything because God still loves them… neither are what God tells us!
God does love everyone; He also expects others who say they love Him to behave like it!
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- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
- Hits: 1932
1 Corinthians 13:8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
But let us never forget we do need love to make things happen in our lives. We could be abounding in faith, but, without love, we would not know what to do with it!
Love is the thing Jesus focused on too, telling people it was the most important thing in their lives; without it, people are just separate people.
But, with love, people become communities and communities become congregations and that is how the church is expanded!
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- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
- Hits: 1905
Matthew 17:20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
The question from the disciples was “why couldn’t we do that?”
Jesus’ response was simple – because you thought it was too difficult, you didn’t believe it could be done!
But Jesus had no problem relying fully on God to take away the evil spirit within the boy. We need to show more faith and belief in God just as Jesus did before all people.
Trust in God, believe in Him and show the rest of the world you really do!
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- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
- Hits: 1998
Mark 9:25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”
After God showed them things were possible beyond their imaginations, Jesus showed them things here on earth are possible for anyone who believes so.
God is able to heal the sick, but we should be able to have faith He is able!
There is not use having a knife that is sharp enough to cut anything unless it is used to cut things with.
There are good things and bad things which can be done with a knife; but God wants us to use our faith for good and His glory!
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- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
- Hits: 1814
Mark 9:4 And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.
Not only was God able to make Jesus’ clothes whiter than anything on earth can, He also showed the possible friendship between now and then.
Elijah and Moses appeared with Him; which was a bit of a distraction for the disciples because they were very afraid – but they knew who they were!
God wants us all to be together, forever, with Him. He wants us to be able to commune together without barriers and without sin in our lives.
We know it is possible through something as simple as this vision…
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- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
- Hits: 1858
Mark 9:3 His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them.
We have all seen the adverts about how some washing powders will make your clothes dazzling white, but this goes beyond that.
This is just a little demonstration of how much God can do beyond what man can do – we could make something look very white by adding a tiny bit of blue, but we cannot get anything perfectly clean!
God washes us perfectly clean when we get to spend eternity with Him in heaven; not just because He does not like sin or dirt, but because He wants to show us just how much He loves us!
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- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
- Hits: 1877
Revelation 19:8 Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)
God has promised us a place in heaven when we do put our faith and trust in Christ. What can we expect?
Well, talking to different people will give you different opinions of what to expect! We all think of heaven as being different because we cannot truly understand it.
But, just as this passage expresses, we will be given what God has promised in whatever form it does come; expect the best and you will not be disappointed!
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- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
- Hits: 1982
Luke 15:22 But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
Showing someone how much they mean to you can come in various shapes and sizes, but this demonstration of a father’s love for his son is told many times.
God loves us more than this father loved his son, and yet we, much like the son, run off and do our own things instead of having Christ at the centre of our lives.
If we stay close to God, He will be able to continue looking out for us and taking care of us; but our running away makes things a lot more complicated!
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- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
- Hits: 1929
Isaiah 61:10 I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
I do love the symbolism used in the Old Testament where descriptions are given which bring our unseen relationship with God into the real world.
When we want to impress someone, we go out of our way to do things which we know they will like; our relationship with God should be no different.
We should go out of our ways to show God how much he means to us and how much we do love Him; yes, He knows, but showing Him is so much more meaningful!
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- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
- Hits: 1850
Mark 14:39 Once more he went away and prayed the same thing.
When Jesus knew His time had come, He spent the hours before that praying to His Father in heaven; not just once, but time after time.
Each of us may change because we are all different, but God continues to be the same.
When we come to Him in prayer, we should not expect Him to be different each time; He does not change.
When we ask God for things in prayer, we should remain constant in our prayers so God knows we are serious about our prayers.
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- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
- Hits: 1842
Genesis 41:11 Each of us had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own.
No matter how much we do things like others or how similar we think we are to others, we are all very different.
When God said we were made in His image, it was not that we would all be exactly the same! We are different; very different!
These words of Pharaoh’s cup-bearer explain it so well; the difference is in our minds, hearts and souls – the unseen things.
God may have made us all as humans, but we are very different in our deeds.
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- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
- Hits: 1695
Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
No matter how many times you hear it, you will probably ask God to change His mind at some stage or change the way of things!
God has a plan and continues to try and uphold that plan; we don’t know the full extent of that plan so continue to ask for help, guidance and even change.
If we put more of our faith and trust in Him and in His plan, we would probably end up with a life which goes more according to plan than all over the place!
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- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
- Hits: 1840
Proverbs 24:21 Fear the Lord and the king, my son, and do not join with rebellious officials
One thing to remember above all is that our God is a God who has remained the same forever!
People come and change, circumstances change and we get in and out of trouble because of what we follow in life – but we need to always remain focused on our unchanging God!
We have strange times here in the UK as politicians say one thing and seem to do another, promising they are doing what we want and yet doing their own things.
That is what people are like – Not God. Believe and trust in our unchanging God above all else.