Devotionals

18 Jul

Posted at 11:09h in Devotionals, Uncategorized
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"And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him." Mark 1:13 "He was there in the wilderness...tempted by Satan." Many times we are tempted to believe that Satan is the strongest in the busiest and most crowded areas of our lives. Those areas where we find the greatest number of people and opportunities to sin. That is a fatal mistake. I believe that the greatest location of temptation is not in the hustle and bustle of a crowd, but in the stillness and quietness of the wilderness.

13 Jul

Posted at 10:38h in Devotionals, Uncategorized
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"And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure." 2 Corinthians 12:7 "A thorn...was given to me." So, was this thorn then a gift from God? I normally view as gifts from God those things in which the abundance of life is found. If something happens to diminish or dilute that abundance, I definitely don't consider it a gift. At best I consider it to be a distraction - at worst, a danger. But here in Paul's personal letter to the Christians at Corinth, he completely reverses that which was my understanding. He says that the danger is the gift - the thorn is the abundance.

06 Jul

Posted at 10:22h in Devotionals
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"... the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God." 1 Peter 3:4 Peter is drawing a contrast - a dinstiction between the things that are simply pretty to look at and the things that actually endure. He says that pretty, showy things such as silver and gold are corruptible, perishable - they won't last. If we desire something that is incorruptible, imperishable Peter tells us that we will have to seek for it among the things that are not showy or necessarily "pretty." In fact, he selects for us a most humble, simple and certainly unshowy example of that which is incorruptible and imperishable - "a gentle and quiet spirit."

04 Jul

Posted at 10:45h in Devotionals
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"Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." John 6:69 "We have come to believe and know..." A more strict reading would be, "We have believed and have known..." The thought that the Beloved Disciple is communicating is that there has been a development in his personal experience with Jesus. He began with just a simple faith, but has come to possess a confident knowledge. That's the way that it is in the Christian life. The order of our Christian experience is that we first believe and then we come to know.

22 Jun

Posted at 10:09h in Devotionals, Uncategorized
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“And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought.” Revelation 12:7 So, in spite of what we’re told and taught today, environment is not enough to make one happy or good. Many believe all that is needed for society to be peaceful and prosperous is for there to be a perfect place for man to reside – an adequate, abundant environment.

20 Jun

Posted at 10:03h in Devotionals, Uncategorized
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"Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am."  Genesis 22:1 "After these things..." After what things? After all the things of Abraham's life. Isn't that a strange place to assign such a sacrificial test? Normally we would expect that a man would be tested in the beginning of his life - in the years when the sun is rising. Why then is Abraham subjected to such a sacrificial test at sunset? Why has the sacrificial hour been placed at the close of his life? Isn't it normally expected that such test would come in the time when a man's power of sacrifice would be the most accurate measure of him? The simple answer is "No. No it's not."