Devotionals

11 Jan Devotional Thought – The Father’s Anger Over Our Sin

"But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul..." Prov. 8:36 This isn't normally why we think God responds in anger over our sin.  Normally we see God's anger over our sin resulting from what it does to Him. Yet, here the writer of Proverbs says that contrary to our common thought, God's greatest horror comes from the fact that my sin most injures me. It's much like a father saying to his child, "Stay away from the fire. If you don't stay away from the fire, I'm going to be angry with you." The child may think the reason his father says he'll be angry is because of his disobedience to his father's command, but that's not the real reason the father says he will be angry. The father is most concerned that by his child's act of disobedience he might hurt himself and as a result of the child's injury the father will become angry thereby causing himself pain.

04 Jan Devotional Thought – Our Earliest Aim

"I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me." Prov. 8:17 It is the boldest, greatest aim that any marksman could ever take - to seek God. But to tell the marksman to take his earliest aim at his greatest object is surely one of the most paradoxical statements ever uttered as well. We certainly don't teach a beginner to take his first aim at the object that is farthest away. No. We put a large target up close, well within the his reach. We operate under the principle that it is better to begin with that which is closer, easier, and then move to the more distant, difficult object.

02 Jan Devotional Thought – Adam’s Naming Of The Animals

"Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name." Genesis 2:19 Why didn't God give the animals their names? After all, wasn't all of creation formed by the word of His will? God had said, "Let there be light," and there was light. He had said, "Let there be a firmament," and there was a firmament. All of the acts of His marvelous creation were done as the decrees of a monarch - until He came to the creation of man.

28 Dec Devotional Thought – Why Is Love The Greatest?

"Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away." 1 Corinthians 13:8  As we approach the beginning of a new year many preachers, teachers and hometown philosophers will no doubt say that this should remind us that all earthly things are perishing and passing away. I see it differently. To me the passing of the old and the beginning of the new are actually reminders of those things which are not perishing, that are not passing away. In fact, what is so wonderful about the passing years is not what they take away, but rather what they leave behind.

26 Dec Devotional Thought – The Path To The Spiritual Peace

"And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit." John 20:22  What had Jesus said? The Savior's statement is found in the previous verse. "Peace to you! As the Father has sent me, I also send you." It wasn't until after Jesus made this statement that He breathed on them. You see, before He gave them the great gift of the Spirit's peace Jesus had to tell them exactly what kind of peace they could expect. If not, they would likely have been disappointed. He had to explain to them that His peace is what the world considers to be the opposite of peace - sacrificial surrender, "As the Father has sent me, I also send you."

14 Dec Devotional Thought – Bethlehem’s Way

"by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh..." Hebrews 10:20 Why is His way a "new" way? Because it is a "living way." You see, until the night of His coming, man's religion was nothing more than a dying way.  Until then religion was only something that was helpful when a human soul had to cross the valley of death's shadow. They never thought of worship as being helpful to human souls in the supporting of the shadows of this life. But on that starry night in the little town of Bethlehem, when Jesus came into the world, He constructed and consecrated a brand new road to God. His coming said that I no longer had to wait until the last hour of my life in order to find eternity. In fact, because of His coming I can find, and enjoy, eternal life now. His birth - and even His name, "Immanuel" - tells me that God's presence can be enjoyed without dying, that the greatest of all deaths is in reality the life of love, and that the most holy and acceptable service a man can render is in presenting his body as a living sacrifice to God.