Daily Devotional 10-7-2021
Jas 4:2-3 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. (3) When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. The sad fact is that there are wars and fights among Christians. To suggest that this paragraph does not apply to believers is unrealistic, and it robs the passage of all its value for us. What causes all this fighting? It arises from the strong desires within us which are constantly struggling to be satisfied. There is the lust to accumulate material possessions. There is the drive for prestige. There is the craving for pleasure, for the gratification of bodily appetites. These powerful forces are at work within us. We are…
Daily Devotional 9-26-2021
1Co 15:45 So it is written, The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. Some have suggested that Paul reserved this chapter on the Resurrection till last because he thought that a firm belief in it would help solve many of the Corinthians’ problems. Certainly if the message of Christ crucified were foolishness to the Greek mind, the corollary doctrine of the Resurrection was no less so. The implicit denial of the Resurrection on the part of some may be seen in the Corinthian conviction that the present era represented the consummation of God’s material blessings and sexual immorality was a matter of no lasting consequence.
Daily Devotional 8-14-2021
Jas 1:6-8 But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind. (7) That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord, (8) being double-minded and unstable in all his ways. However, God’s provision has some prerequisites. To receive God’s wisdom in trials, the believer must be wise in asking. First, he must ask in faith. He must believe and not doubt. He dare not come to God like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. God is not pleased with a double-minded man who is unstable in all he does, like an unsteady, staggering drunk. The answer from God depends on assurance in God.
Daily Devotional 8-12-2021
Pro 16:17 The highway of the upright avoids evil; the one who guards his way protects his life. The upright person seeks to avoid evil. Guarding his way (i.e., maintaining upright conduct) is a means of guarding one’s soul (inner life with its drives, appetites, and desires) from sin.
Daily Devotional 6-29-2021
Exo 20:20 Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.” One who fears God should avoid the two extremes, namely, depending on one’s own righteousness (being self-righteous or legalistic) on the one hand and becoming loose in one’s living (being licentious) on the other.
Daily Devotional, 6-24-2021
Ecc 1:16-18 I said to myself, “Look, I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.” (17) Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind. (18) For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief. Solomon’s pursuit of worldly wisdom was as frustrating as chasing after the wind, and its acquisition, far from alleviating the depression created by his somber verdict, merely increased his mental anguish (sorrow) and sadness of heart (grief). Only spiritual understanding and wisdom wrought by the Holy Spirit in the hearts of true believers can lead to contentment, righteousness, love, joy, peace and transformed lives.
Daily Devotional June 20, 2021
Hos 14:8b I am [God is] like a green cypress tree; Your fruit is found in Me. Returning to God and remaining in fellowship with Him is to claim His promises for future grace. Repentance must be followed by restoration. We need to know that God has accepted our broken hearts and now wants to give us a new life. Jesus is our Tree (Vine), we are His branches, apart from Him we can do nothing. It is our purpose to bear His fruits for Him. He is the source of all good works.
Daily Devotional June 14, 2021
Ecc 1:18 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief. Ecc 10:1-3 As dead flies give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honour. (2) The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left. (3) Even as fools walk along the road, they lack sense and show everyone how stupid they are. Meanwhile, Solomon said in Proverbs Pro 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. In Eccl 1:18 Solomon refers to worldly wisdom, while Prov 1:7 Solomon refers to Godly Knowledge and Wisdom. Eccl 10:1-3 contrasts between Godly Wisdom against foolishness of worldly wisdom. The tie between “wisdom,” “knowledge,” and the “fear of the LORD” suggests that “knowledge” is more than mere information but centers in the comprehension of God’s will and…
Daily Devotional June 12, 2021
John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. In Christ, we live an abiding life, whereby the Holy Spirit dwells in us, and we in Him, by grace through faith and obedience in the Word of God In Christ, there no longer exists an impediment to entering the presence of God if one goes through Jesus Christ. His flesh, slain and risen, becomes the way or entrance into the Most Holy Place. In Christ. the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.