Devotionals

07 Mar Devotional Thought – The Savior’s Glorious Love

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. " John 1:14 The fullness of grace and truth in the person of Jesus was indeed glorious. It was the coming together of two things that are so often opposites in the hearts of men. Some souls very easily display grace. There is a natural and easy forgiveness that they give to others, but they have a low view of the Divine truth that has been violated. Then there are those who have a very clear understanding of the majesty of Divine truth and an overwhelming sense of repulsion towards the sin that rebels against it, but so often these are unable to forgive the trespasser. There is more truth than grace. John tells us that in the person of Jesus, however, we find something altogether unexpected. We find in Him the perfect blending of two opposites. In Christ, we see the fullness of grace perfectly united with absolute truth.

05 Mar Devotional Thought – The Hands Of The Living God

"It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." Hebrews 10:31 Yes, it is a fearful thing to fall into God's hands. However, I think that it is an even more terrible thing not to fall into His hands. To fall into God's hands, no doubt, brings pain because the passage from death to life is always painful. The first sensation a newborn baby feels is pain because life has come and with it the battle with the old domain of death. There is naturally a fear that exists in life that does not live in those things that are lifeless. The essence of life is by nature an awful and fearful thing. However, would you rather there not be life? Would you rather be a dirt clod or a rock? I think I know your answer - Absolutely not! The power of the life you possess is part of your glory.

29 Feb Devotional Thought – When The Will Surrenders

"I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do." John 17:4 How could Jesus make such a statement? How could He say that He had finished the Father's work? Wasn't that more than a bit premature? Wasn't that in fact a statement of something that was indeed unfinished? Wasn't the triumph still ahead?  Wasn't the victory yet to be won? Had he not yet a great burden to bear up Golgotha? Didn't He still have a date with death on Calvary's hill? How then, under the trees of Gethsemane, could He say - could He even think - that His life's work had been "finished"? It is because Jesus knew something that many have yet to learn. He knew that it is when the will is fully surrendered that the battle is suddenly ended.

27 Feb Devotional Thought – When Christ Calls

"And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, "The Teacher has come and is calling for you." John 11:28 This seems to have been a strange time for Jesus to call for Martha.  It came when there was no longer any need for her common, workaday practicality and she was about to sit down. He called for her when the work that she was gifted and experienced to do had come to an end. The need for the work of her hands no longer existed and a time of waiting was about to begin. He called to her in a moment when it would have been very easy for Martha to say to herself, "I no longer have any work to do. The tables have all been served, the guests have all been seen, I don't have to tend my sick brother or take care of any further funeral arrangements - my work is done. It was at that moment that the call from Christ came to Martha. It was at the end of her day that the Lord's day for her began. It was just when the need for her unique gifting had become settled and still that Jesus knocked.

20 Feb Devotional Thought – Morning Prayers

"My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD; In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up." Psalm 5:3 Why does David say that "in the morning" he will "look up"?  Is it said in earnest expectation? Does he mean to say that he lifts his eyes in hopes of an answer from Heaven? I don't think so.  I think that what David is saying isn't that he looks up with expectation, but rather in confidence. He lifts his eyes with the assurance of a man who daily walks with God. He's saying that when he prays he can do so with an unrestrained confidence and an unashamed countenance. He can look into the perfectly pure face of God because he has nothing of which to be ashamed. He may not receive what he requests, but he doesn't have to be ashamed for asking.

13 Feb Devotional Thought – The Same Ten Again

"And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke; and you shall put them in the ark." Deuteronomy 10:2 At first this seemed to me to be a very strange, and even stingy, statement on the part of God. He said, "I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets..." "What? You're going to write the same thing - again? Is that all you're going to write?" Sure, the first tablets were destroyed and the revelation lost, but wouldn't that mean that God should give further revelation instead of just repeating the same revelation? Shouldn't there be something higher, better, greater?