September 12
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THE FUTILITY OF WEALTH
A poem by ILMA
Don’t be surprised if you see someone being oppressed by the powerful
Or if justice is being miscarried throughout the land
All officials takes orders from the higher up
Matters of justice get lost in red tape and bureaucracy.
Even the king milks the land for his own profit
Those who love money will never have enough
How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness!
The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it.
So, what good is wealth—except perhaps to watch it slip through your fingers!
People who work hard sleep well, whether they eat little or much
But the rich seldom get a good night’s sleep; hoarding riches harms the saver
Money is put into risky investments that turn sour, and everything is lost.
In the end, there is nothing left to pass on to one’s children
We all come to the end of our lives as naked as on the day we were born
People leave this world no better off than when they came
All their hard work is for nothing—like working for the wind.
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Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness! The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it. So, what good is wealth—except perhaps to watch it slip through your fingers.
– Ecclesiastes 5:10-11
Read: Ecclesiastes 5:8-15
The world has twisted our value system by putting so much emphasis on wealth. Many people desire to be rich so they can have the respect of others. Many people chase money and they don’t realize the danger of this obsession.
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REFLECTION
• What happens to people who is in pursuit of money?
• Why does the book of Ecclesiastes think that wealth is meaningless?
Tag Archives: spoken word
HONOR YOUR SPOKEN PROMISES Poem Devotional
September 11
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HONOR YOUR SPOKEN PROMISES
A poem by ILMA
As you enter the house of God, keep your ears open and your mouth shut
It is evil to make mindless offerings that are dishonorable to our Lord
Don’t make rash promises, and don’t be hasty in bringing matters before him
After all, God is in heaven, and you are here on earth; let your words be few.
Too much activity gives you restless dreams; too many words make you a fool
When you make a promise to God, don’t delay in following through
God takes no pleasure in fools so keep all the promises you make to him
It is better to say nothing than to make a promise and not keep it.
Don’t sin by defending yourself that the promise you made was a mistake
That would make God angry, and wipe out everything you have achieved
Talk is cheap, like daydreams and other useless activities
Fear God instead and make sure you honor your commitments.
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MEMORY VERSE
It is better to say nothing than to make a promise and not keep it. – Ecclesiastes 5:5
Read: Ecclesiastes 5:1-7
Many of us who have experienced being a victim of broken promises would be glad to hear this verse from Ecclesiastes. When you hear people commit to something and not do it, it compromises their integrity and makes others distrust them when they don’t follow through with their commitments. God is a promise keeper so he wants us all to be like him when it comes to following through our vows.
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REFLECTION
• Why is it important to honor what you promise?
• Who is the best promise keeper?
• Why does God want us not to promise anything we can’t keep?
• How does a broken promise affect the one who gave the promise and the one who receives it?
• How are broken promises different to lying and dishonesty?
POWER OF MORE THAN ONE Poem Devotional
September 10
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POWER OF MORE THAN ONE
A poem by ILMA
Another example of something meaningless under the sun is being all alone
He is without a child or a brother but works hard to be as rich as he can
He asks himself, “Who am I working for? Why do I give up pleasures?
It doesn’t make sense; It is all so meaningless and depressing.
Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed
If one person falls, someone is there to help the other
But someone who falls alone is in real trouble, they can’t get help
They end up suffering more since there is no one to support them.
Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm
But how can one be warm alone? They will find it hard to stay heated
A person standing alone can be defeated but two can stand back-to-back
Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.
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MEMORY VERSE
Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed.
– Ecclesiastes 4:9
Read: Ecclesiastes 4:7-12
In these following verses, we see another futile and meaningless thing to do. Being alone and isolated is worthless. There is nothing more pathetic than to be all alone and not connect or be able to reach out and be with others. Isolation is the tool of the enemy to keep us away from others so that we will become more self-focused and self-absorbed and indulgent. God didn’t design us to be alone. When we do this, we are destroying the image that he created us to be.
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REFLECTION
• How do you know if you are isolating yourself from others? What might be the reason behind such decision to keep yourself away from others?
• Why do you think many mental and psychological illnesses associated with isolation?
• What are the effects of being with others as opposed to being isolated?
THE INJUSTICES OF LIFE Poem Devotional
September 9
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THE INJUSTICES OF LIFE
A poem by ILMA
I noticed that under the sun there is evil and corruption in the courtroom “In due season God will judge everyone, both good and bad, for all their deeds.”
I also thought about how God proves to people that they are like animals
For people and animals share the same fate, both breathe and both must die.
So, people have no real advantage over the animals; how meaningless
Both go to the same place—they came from dust and they return to dust
For who can prove that the human spirit goes up and animals goes down
So, I saw that there is nothing better for people than to be happy in their work.
That is our lot in life; no one can bring us back to see what happens after we die
Again, I observed all the oppression that takes place under the sun
I saw the tears of the oppressed, with no one to comfort them
The oppressors have great power, and their victims are helpless.
So I concluded that the dead are better off than the living
But most fortunate of all are those who are not yet born
For they have not seen all the evil that is done under the sun
Then I saw most people want success because they envy others.
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MEMORY VERSE
Then I observed that most people are motivated to success because they envy their neighbors. But this, too, is meaningless—like chasing the wind. – Ecclesiastes 4:4
Read: Ecclesiastes 3:16- 4:6
As long as we are alive, we will be witnesses to the many injustices in this world. This chapter of Ecclesiastes tells us how meaningless life can be and how chasing success is futile and worthless.
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REFLECTION
• Why do people chase success in this life?
• Why do you think God allows injustices to happen even in the lives of good people?
• What should be the focus of a believer’s life?
A TIME FOR EVERYTHING Poem Devotional
September 8
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A TIME FOR EVERYTHING
A poem by ILMA
For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven
A time to be born and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to harvest
A time to kill and a time to heal; a time to tear down and a time to build up
A time to cry and a time to laugh; a time to grieve and a time to dance.
A time to scatter and to gather stones; a time to embrace and turn away
A time to search and to quit searching; a time to keep and to throw away
A time to tear and a time to mend; a time to be quiet and a time to speak
A time to love and a time to hate; a time for war and a time for peace.
What do people really get for all their hard work?
God has made everything beautiful for its own time
He has planted eternity in the human heart
But people can’t see the scope of God’s work from start to end.
So I concluded there’s nothing better than to be happy and enjoy life
And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor
For these are gifts from God and his purpose is that people should fear him
What happens in the future has happened before for God makes the same things.
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MEMORY VERSE
And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God. – Ecclesiastes 3:13
Read: Ecclesiastes 3:1-14
Timing is essential in our lives. The book of Ecclesiastes stresses the importance of this. There’s a time for everything and so we need to be able to respect such boundaries. There is no reason to hold on to a season since God wants us to move back to the next season he has opened for us.
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REFLECTION
• Why is it important for us to be able to live in the timing that we are brought into?
• Why do some people hold on to a time in their life and get stuck?
• Why do we need to enjoy life and fear God as well?
THE WISE AND FOOLISH AND FUTILITY OF WORK Poem Devotional
September 7
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THE WISE AND FOOLISH AND FUTILITY OF WORK
A poem by ILMA
I said “Wisdom is better than foolishness, just as light is better than darkness
For the wise can see where they are going, but fools walk in the dark”
Yet I saw that the wise and the foolish share the same fate
Both will die. So, I said to myself, what’s the value of all my wisdom?
This is all so meaningless”; the wise and the foolish both die
The wise will not be remembered any longer than the fool
In the days to come, both will be forgotten, so I came to hate life
Because everything is meaningless—like chasing the wind.
I learned to hate my hard work here for I must leave everything I’ve earned
And who can tell whether my successors will be wise or foolish?
Yet they will control everything I have gained by my skill and hard work
How meaningless! So, I gave up questioning the value of hard work in this world.
I decided there is nothing better than to enjoy life and be satisfied with work
Then I realized that these pleasures are from the hand of God
For who can eat or enjoy anything apart from him?
God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy to those who please him
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MEMORY VERSE
So, I decided there is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction in work. Then I realized that these pleasures are from the hand of God. – Ecclesiastes 2:24
Read: Ecclesiastes 2
King Solomon presents nothing different between the wise and the foolish. They both end the same. He also emphasizes the futility of work and how important it is for us to enjoy life and our work for everything comes from the Lord and he is the one who gives wisdom and blessings to those who please him.
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REFLECTION
• Why does the world think that wise people are better of than those who are foolish? What do you think is God’s perspective on this?
THE FUTILITY OF PLEASURE Poem Devotional
September 6
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THE FUTILY OF PLEASURE
A poem by ILMA
I said to myself, “Come on, let’s try pleasure
Let’s look for the ‘good things’ in life.”
But I found that this was meaningless
“Laughter is silly so what good is it to seek pleasure?”
I also tried to find meaning by building huge homes for myself
I made gardens and parks, filling them with all kinds of fruit trees
I built reservoirs to collect the water to irrigate flourishing groves
I bought slaves, both men and women, and others were born into my household.
I also owned large herds and flocks, more than any of the kings in Jerusalem
I collected great sums of silver and gold, the treasure of many kings and provinces
I hired wonderful singers, both men and women, and had concubines
I had everything a man could desire and yet it all seemed meaningless.
So, I became greater than all who had lived in Jerusalem
Anything I wanted, I would take; I denied myself no pleasure
But as I looked at everything, it was all so meaningless
Like chasing the wind, there was nothing really worthwhile anywhere
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MEMORY VERSE
But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless—like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere.
– Ecclesiastes 2:11
Read: Ecclesiastes 2:1-11
In this book of Ecclesiastes, we hear the wisest man on earth, Solomon discount the fact that pleasures are futile. Everything we crave and do in this world seems meaningless for him. Isn’t it crazy how we long to have many things and yet does it really have meaning?
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REFLECTION
• Why do you think many of us do all kinds of things to pleasure ourselves?
• Is it good for a Christian to want to long for many things? What does it do to them?
EVERYTHING IS MEANINGLESS
September 6
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EVERYTHING IS MEANINGLESS
A poem by ILMA
“Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!”
What do people get for all their hard work under the sun?
Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes
The sun rises and the sun sets, then hurries around to rise again.
The wind blows south, and then turns north, blowing in circles
Rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full
Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows out to the sea
Everything is wearisome beyond description.
No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied
No matter how much we hear, we are not content
History merely repeats itself; It has all been done before
Nothing under the sun is truly new; some people don’t realize they’re old.
Sometimes people say, “Here is something new!”
But it is actually old; nothing is ever truly new
We don’t remember what happened in the past
In future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now.
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MEMORY VERSE
Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!”
– Ecclesiastes 1:2
Read: Ecclesiastes 1:1-11
What is important to you? Many people go through life valuing many different things but Solomon discusses that nothing in this life is really meaningful. Of course, in the later part of his book of Proverbs, he said that only when you make God first will it make a difference
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REFLECTION
• Why does the wisest person say that all things in life is meaningless? Do you agree with that statement? Why or Why not?
• What is meaningful in your life at this point of your life?
BOAST ONLY ABOUT THE LORD Poem Devotional
September 4
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BOAST ONLY ABOUT THE LORD
A poem by ILMA
We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do
We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down strongholds
We don’t engage in human reasoning but destroy false arguments
We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God.
We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ
Those who say they belong to Christ must recognize that we belong to Christ
I may seem to be boasting too much about the authority given to us by the Lord
But our authority builds you up; it doesn’t tear you down, so I’ll use my authority.
We will not boast about things done outside our area of authority
We will boast only about what has happened within the boundaries of the God’s work
We don’t boast and claim credit for the work someone else has done
We hope your faith will grow so the boundaries or our work will be extended.
Then we will be able to go and preach the Good News in other places far beyond you
We hope to go where no one else is working
Then there will be no question of boasting done in someone else’s territory
As the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the LORD.”
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MEMORY VERSE
We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. – 2 Corinthians 10:4-5
Read: 2 Corinthians 10
Paul reminds us of the only thing we can boast about if we are believers. That is to boast only about the Lord. We are never to show off anything we do for him, but only about his glory and power.
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REFLECTION
• Why is it important to give up our rebellious thought and hold it captive to Christ?
ON GIVING GENEROUSLY Poem Devotional
September 3
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ON GIVING GENEROUSLY
A poem by ILMA
A farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop
But the one who plants generously will get a generous yield
You must each decide in your heart how much to give
Don’t give reluctantly or as if it is a burden
For God loves a person who gives cheerfully
And our Lord will generously provide all that you need
You will always have your essentials met
And still plenty left over to share with others.
As the Scriptures say, “They share freely and give generously to the poor
Their good deeds will be remembered and He provides seed for the farmers
He gives them bread to eat and increase their resources
The Heavenly Father then produce a great harvest of generosity in you
Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous
And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God
Two good things will result from this ministry of giving—the needs of the believers in Jerusalem will be met, and they will joyfully express gratitude to God.
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MEMORY VERSE
Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully. – 2 Corinthians 9:6
Read: 2 Corinthians 9
In this chapter, Paul gives us the secret of generosity. Sadly some Christians do not follow this principle. The more we give, the more blessings are poured on us. The stingier we are with giving, the more we won’t have an abundance.
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REFLECTION
• Why does God want us to be stingy with our money and resources?
• Why do we need to be cheerful when we give?