Devotions
These are some devotions from the website word4u2today.com .

VINEYARDS…"
SONG OF SONGS 2:15 NIV

 

In the Old Testament Solomon discovered that it’s ‘the little foxes’ that ruin your vineyards. They seemed harmless enough but they were digging holes and generally wrecking the place. In the story of Esther, King Xerxes hires his best mate Haman to be Prime Minister and gives him serious power. Esther was a Jew and had been chosen to be Queen because of her beauty. Esther’s Uncle Mordecai worked in the palace and as a Jew he refused to bow to Haman like he wanted. Haman was so angry with he Mordecai he convinced Xerxes to kill all the Jews by pretending they were a threat. In the end Esther was able to save her people by showing the King what sort of monster Haman really was. Haman was a little fox in Xerxes, vineyard. Xerxes hadn’t realized it but Haman snook his way in and Xerxes didn’t even realize there was a problem.
There are little foxes in all our lives, small things that creep in and seem totally harmless but at the end of the day they can destroy you if you don’t deal with them. The foxes can be attitudes, habits, people, relationships, thoughts, feelings, places you shouldn’t go, TV you shouldn’t watch, websites you shouldn’t be on; all these can seem harmless. Ask God to show you today what foxes are in your life that need taking care of before it’s to late. Ask Him to give you the strength and wisdom to know how to deal with them in the right way.
 

 

THE LORD IS CLOSE TO EVERYONE WHO PRAYS TO HIM..."
PSALM 145:18 NCV

 

God’s help is always available, but it flows more strongly towards those who really go after it. You get nothing sat around watching TV all day. God loves radical, on the edge risk-taking faith. If you really want to see God at work take some chances for Him!
Listen: One day a couple of youth workers were chatting to some kids on the street about Jesus and the way He heals. Excited, the kids decided to give this healing thing a try and invited the youth workers to go with them to meet their ‘friend’. The youth workers were well up for it until they realised they had been taken to the scariest criminal on an inner-city estate who was struggling to walk. An audience of 50 or so local youth and criminals gathered to see the ‘show’ and whether God really could heal. Wondering how they ended up here the terrified workers cried out to God and He answered there and then. The man walked.
Maybe all you have today is a belief that God wants to help and a hope that He will. Maybe you feel like all you have to offer Jesus is your pain. Perhaps your past has kept you from coming to Him before. Wherever you are at, come to Him. God loves seeds of faith, no matter how small. Step out, trust him, take some action and get ready to give Him all the praise. He may not always respond the way you expect but you’re guaranteed a good answer!
 

 

Live a life filled with love for others, following the example of Christ… that sacrifice was like sweet perfume to him."
 Ephesians 5:2 NLT

 

You’ll never become ‘like sweet perfume’ to God without sacrifice; paying the price to love others. Loving others doesn’t mean a whole lot if we only love the people we pick, on our own terms, at a convenient time, place, occasion and in a cosy room with big cushions and a PlayStation. Loving people who are different to us; maybe they’re a bit weird, smelly, have funny hair, funny clothes, laugh at their own jokes, like Star Trek, but loving them despite all of this, now that’s the challenge! To love people the way Jesus did just goes right against the grain of how we’re made, it’s just not normal!
It’s easy to think that some people are naturals when it comes to loving. We think they’re just ‘nice’ and wish we could be more like them. Anyone who thinks along these lines is just using it as an excuse not to be loving. They think it’s ok and don’t need to change because ‘That’s just the way I am, can’t help it. Always have been, always will be.’ Rubbish. Jesus made it clear when it comes to how we’re supposed to love. ‘A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you...’ (John 13:34 NIV). Notice the words ‘As I have loved you’. Jesus loves us no matter who we are or what we’ve done or how much we look like a Klingon! He knows the worst about us and believes the best, and that’s how we should love one another.
 

 

"Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom."
PSALM 90:12 NLT

 

Often we get very distracted by things we have no control over. One worry is often the future but we do have some control. The Bible teaches us you reap what you sow which basically means if you work hard and think about what you’re doing, the future will reflect that. If you sit around and watch TV, don’t expect to do much with your life. Did you ever get given a presentation project in school? Take for example a model bridge. The idea is for your bridge to safely hold as much weight as possible. During the presentation you can guarantee the kids that messed around had two tubes and a piece of paper which could hold nothing. But, the kids who put the time in, carefully plan, think through the science and work hard, their bridge could always hold all the weights.
In order to plan for the future you need two things; Decisions and the Discipline to follow through on them. Decide what you want to achieve; what God has called you to achieve and work until you get there! Loads of us never admit that stuff goes wrong because we didn’t prepare properly in the first place. In fact loads of us actually decide not to do what’s right in the first place! We know we shouldn’t but we decide to drink or smoke or go out with that person anyway. Good decisions aren’t normally easy but they are essential if you want to be successful. So plan your bridge, make today a masterpiece.