Bread with Faith NKJV

1. Today

   October 3: Job 19:21-27
   
   NKJV Key Verse: Job 19:21
   “Have pity on me, have pity on me, O you my friends,For the hand of God has struck me!
   
   Devotion:
   Sometimes we need the people around us to affirm our trust and faith in God. What does that mean? Well, we are the ones who know what our faith means to us and we are the ones who know what God means to us; but sometimes that faith and belief can get eroded by what people around us say and do. It can be hard to keep up our faith and trust in God when those around us seem to be fighting against that faith and trust!
   
   When our friends and family support us or contribute to our faith, our faith becomes stronger and we grow in Christ. When they are fighting that we often falter in our walk with God because we cannot put up with them being against us as well as any things going wrong in our lives! But with their love and support we seem to have no problem relying on God when we need to because we know we have the backing of those around us.
   
   I know I have said this before, but when people start arguing within the church we often find those arguments reach out to more people than the two arguing. It often causes rifts within the whole church and certainly does not help people to keep their faith and love for God as strong as it should be! This is probably why Job was crying out – not because he lost faith in God, but because he did not want to have to put up with the nay-sayers as well as what was happening in his personal life.
   
   Love each other and support each other – always!
   
   Points to Ponder:
   Do you love and support all people in your church?
   
   Will you go out of your way to support someone new this week?
   
   

2. Day -1

   October 2: Luke 9:57-62
   
   NKJV Key Verse: Luke 9:62
   But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” Cross referencesLuke 9:62 : 2 Tim. 4:10
   
   Devotion:
   How many times have you heard someone say how much God loves you or how much we should love Him? How many of those times have they told you it would be such a wonderful life and times if you would follow Christ? How many times has someone stopped to tell you the truth about how much it will cost to follow Christ?
   
   I may live in a country where I am free to follow God and free to talk about Him in public – but there are so many places in our world today where we are not allow to openly say we follow Christ for fear of being imprisoned or breaking some sort of law! God does not want us to think following Him is going to be a piece of cake and everything will run smoothly as soon as we do follow Him.
   
   Jesus warned the disciples and others around Him they would have to put up with many things such as being persecuted if they chose to follow Him. They would have to face that because of the law of the land which mankind had created to suit themselves – not because it was the wrong thing to do!
   
   Here we are reminded of just some of the costs of following Christ. We risk alienating our friends and family at times because we choose to follow Christ. We may well come up against all manner of bad things just as we know Job faced. None of these things are created by God, but by man for mankind. God wants us to buck the trend and to submit to His ways and His will in our lives instead.
   
   Points to Ponder:
   Are you willing to stand up for Jesus?
   
   Are you willing to face persecution just because you love Jesus?