Devotional thought 5-6-2015

Isaiah 32:6-8 NASB

For a fool speaks nonsense, And his heart inclines toward wickedness: To practice ungodliness and to speak error against the Lord , To keep the hungry person unsatisfied And to withhold drink from the thirsty. As for a rogue, his weapons are evil; He devises wicked schemes To destroy the afflicted with slander, Even though the needy one speaks what is right. But the noble man devises noble plans; And by noble plans he stands.

This morning I read this passage and was just thinking about how appropriate this passage is for the time we live in. Today we have oppression and people trying to get over on people and backstabbing and it just goes on. But the noble man devises noble plans. The noble man is trying to help people. The noble man is concerned with the welfare of others. The noble man believes we can all prosper.

Sounds to me like the noble man is a God fearing man. Someone who understands that it is not sufficient to prosper by himself. He understands that God cares for all.

I’m trying real hard to be a noble man.

Devotional thought 5-4-2015

Proverbs 3:6 NASB

In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.

“Direction not intention determines your destination” – Michael Kelly

It’s hard to get lost on a straight path. Think about it. Where would you go wrong? There are no turns to mess with, no complicated landmarks to watch out for. Just you keep straight and stay on the path and you’ll get there.
If and when we give everything to God, He takes our intention of following Him and puts us in the right direction so that we are following Him. But unless we do that it doesn’t matter how much we want to serve Him we are going the wrong way. We are not on a straight path and therefore in danger of being lost.
Let’s give everything to Him today.

Devotional thought 5-1-2015

Galatians 5:14 NASB

For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself .”

Someone once said that you will never be able to love somebody else if you don’t first love yourself. Perhaps that is why we treat people the way we do because we don’t love ourselves. We don’t understand how much Christ gave up for us nor do we appreciate the sacrifice.  So how are we going to love our neighbors as ourselves?
The only answer is to let Christ in. Then His perfect love will begin to dwell in us and we can love our neighbors.

Devotional thought 4-30-2015

Romans 15:7 NASB

Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.

Its the first part of this text that has me thinking.  Accept one another. I mean why do we not accept each other? I really think its because we judge sin, rather we put different degrees on them. Liar? Eh its bad but not as bad as….. God looks at all sins, save one, as the same. They are all covered under the blood of Christ. Yet we forget that ALL sins are covered under Christ. Doesn’t matter what it is, unless its not accepting salvation, God has it covered for you.
And because of that we should be accepting each other. So lets pray to God that He helps us to accept each other for who we belong to.

Devotional thought 4-27-2015

Luke 19:10 NASB

For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

We really don’t pay attention to what scripture actually says. Take this text here. The Son of Man came to seek AND save the lost. We all know about the saving part but what about the seeking part. Think about that. Christ was on the lookout for sinners. (I just gotta pause right there and thank Him). Unlike the adversary who goes about like a lion seeking whom he may devour,  Christ is actively looking for you so that He may set you free from that which enslaves you. And He continues to call to us today asking us, dare I say begging us to answer His voice so that we may be set free. So today if you hear Him, harden not your heart. Answer His call with a yes and watch Him change your life.

Devotional Thought 4-26-2015

Proverbs 16:9 ⁹ The mind of man plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.

Mike Tyson once famously said that everyone has a plan until they get hit. Don’t know why that quote came to me as I read the text above but it did make me think about how God directs our steps. Because the truth is, we all have plans. No one comes into this life and says that they do not want to be successful. No one expects that they will become a Christian and not have success. But see like Iron Mike said….you have a plan until you get hit.  And what do we do the first time a good shot is leveled against us? We run, we start claiming how God is unfair and basically forget that without His protection and providence that initial blow would have taken us out.

Instead we need to realize that the righteous man has the Lord leading and guiding his steps. And as the Lord leads we should all be so willing to follow. Because the destination where He is going is to His home. That He has also prepared for us.

Devotional thought 4-23-2015

My grandmother often drops wisdom nuggets when we talk each week. Last week she said that as humans we can draw strength and hope from those that have come before us.
So as I’m looking at this passage her words ring true in my ears

Romans 15:4 NASB

For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

That we might have hope. Scripture contains all sorts of stories and they are there to let you know that God is real. And when you start from that basis of knowing that He is real you will have a hope that cannot be destroyed.

Devotional thoughts 4-21-2015

Psalms 91:1 NASB

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

Man this verse today got me all sorts of excited. And it really should because there is so much in this text. For starters the Almighty provides shelter for us. He makes it possible to be protected from that which comes your way. That deliverance from what is coming down on you is available.  Second its not just any shelter its His shelter. His house that He built. With all the comforts you would expect from a God designed house. Peace, love, compassion and more are all overflowing in abundance in His shelter. Finally you are in His shelter in His shadow. In order to be in someone’s shadow you must be in their presence. They must be close enough to you (y’all are not feeling this thing with me) so that their shadow covers you entirely.

So you are in a shelter that God built with His hands and in His presence?  He that dwells in THAT place truly has nothing to worry about.

Devotional Thought 4-12-2015

Luke 9:49 John answered and said, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name; and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow along with us.” 50 But Jesus said to him, “Do not hinder him; for he who is not against you is for you.”

There is so much information in this passage of scripture. Truthfully this text should bother us all on some level. Really think about what this text is saying. John (JOHN of all people) says that we saw someone casting out demons in Your name and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow along with us. Far too often we have this type of attitude that no one can do good for the Master unless they are doing it like we are doing it. God gives each person a talent and some of those talents are different than yours. Who are you to try to prevent someone from working for God simply because they don’t do it as you do it.

But the encouraging part of this passage is found right there as well.  We tried to prevent him. Man if that don’t cause you to shout a little bit…I don’t know man. They tried to stop him. Now when you are talking to someone and you say that we tried to stop him, it means that ultimately you didn’t stop him. And that is the encouragement for us in that the work of God will not be hindered by man. Even by those men who are walking with Him.

Devotional Thought 11-13-2014

Non-discrimination

Luke 15:2 Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

I just read something about a lawmaker trying to get something passed that makes it legal to discriminate based on your religious convictions. Now based on the person that I saw that they are saying is promoting this bill I’m going to say they are Christian.  The problem with this is that this persons actions are very un-Christ like.  Look at the text for today.

Discrimination is so far from the character of Christ that one can only be left with the thought that discrimination comes from the adversary.  I mean think about it for a second, Christ interacted with all sorts of people.  Christ did not discriminate, so why are people running around claiming His name, but not doing what He did?

If you are going to choose to discriminate (and lets be real, it is a choice that you are making) please don’t call yourself a Christian.  You are taking the name in vain…..