Reading your Bible for today December 21

December 21: John 15:18-20

KJV Key Verse: John 15:18
18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

Devotion:
One of the best things about our relationship with Christ is that He has gone through it already! Whatever we have to face in our lives, He has already done so. Whatever hardships we have to face; He knows about them before we do. Whatever befalls us, we must know He has already given us a way out of it!

There are going to be people who just do not want to know about God. They will do anything they can to disrupt the things Christians do – simply because they do not know Him, for if they did, they would not be acting like they do. There are going to be people who will try to do what they can to make sure you do not tell the Gospel to their so called friends – the same people who they would quite happily stab in the back to help themselves!

We do live in a world which is full of hatred, full of deceit, full of itself! I am not saying that there can only be successful Christians in life...far from it, because the world will look after its own... If you have someone who is willing to bend over backwards to please others even though they will be breaking laws, harming others, telling lies and deceiving all; they will most likely have a very successful life up to the point they are found out! If they are 'lucky' they will never be found out, but I pity them when they have to face Christ in the end!

I can walk round the village where I live and meet people. Some will recognise me, others will not. Those who do recognise me may ignore me. Some may greet me and tell me of the 'great' work I do, but I may never see them come to share in that work. Some will smile pleasantly but work against me later because of what I do. Some will face up to me for the work I do ad try to tell me that it is a waste of time. But one thing I can be sure of is that this is not all done against me! They are doing this because they do not like what God stands for! They do not like to be told that they have it wrong... because they like hiding in their own lives.

Points to Ponder:
Does it get you down when others work against your beliefs?

Who is the one who created everything?