Devotional Thoughts

Isaiah 56:6-8      "Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD,  to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant;  (7)  Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.  (8)  The Lord GOD which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him." We looked at a portion of these verses recently, but there is a thought contained here that I want us to think about.  God said in verse 7, "I will make them joyful in my house of prayer." He went on to say, "... mine house shall be called a house of prayer... " We never hear the House of God being referred to in the Bible as a house of...

Ephesians 4:13-16    “Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we   henceforth   be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men,   and   cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head,   even   Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.” In the verses prior to verse thirteen, we have been reading about the gifts that Jesus gave to the church. These gifts were given for the perfection (complete furnishing) of the saints, for the work of the ministry, and the edifyin...

So far in this series, we have observed:  (1) This is prophecy. It is the Word of the LORD that came to Joel. This author’s name means Jehovah is God. His father’s name is Pethuel, and his name means persuaded by God. The first verse declared that it is the word of Jehovah. Immediately, we know that it is trustworthy, and we are to give proper reverence to it. It is the word of God, not the word of a man. It is not a myth, nor a fable, nor a fairy tale. Prophets were given visions by God, which they then delivered to the people. Sometimes the visions were such that the prophets themselves may not have fully understood them, or the images in their visions were such that words failed to fully describe what they saw. Sometimes prophecies foretold of future events, and sometimes prophecies were forth-telling of current events, given as an explanation of what had happened and w...

Isaiah 56:6-8      "Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant;  (7)  Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.  (8)  The Lord GOD which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him." We have such a wonderful promise that is given in these verses to the child of God who commits himself unto the things of the Lord.  So, I ask myself this morning certain questions concerning this promise.  Do I get joy from serving the Lord? Do I truly love the name of the Lord, or is it just a "run to" place when I get in trouble? Do I...