Devotional Thoughts

Psalm 25:4-5     "Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths.  (5)  Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day." We may spend a few more days in this 25th Psalm. There is much to be learned about our relationship with the Lord. David began by saying, "I am stretching out by trusting you, O Lord." The Lord then responds by showing David, and us, how He interacts with us each day. We see in today's verses that the Lord shows us His ways (which always are the right ways) and He teaches us in those paths. He leads us and we read down in verse 9, "The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way." So we read in verses 4,5, and 9 that the Lord teaches us by actively dealing with us each day. I confess that I have much to learn. I want to think about the Lord's personal interaction with us. Several years ago, I was in Northern Virginia for a Ministers' Meeting. I ha...

Romans 4:1-3     “What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath   whereof   to glory; but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” Many of us are glad for our heritage. We enjoy coming from a lineage of people who have a good reputation in the community. Perhaps some of us have ancestors of note historically. However, our human ancestry should never be looked on as a claim to fame. Abraham was the father of the Jewish people by human lineage. It was to him that God came and instructed him to take his family, leave his father’s house and his father’s gods, and go into a land that God would show him. It was to Abraham that the token of circumcision was first given. Abraham was a leader chosen of God. Paul has already established that no man is justified by works. Yet the Jews often pointed to...

Psalm 25:1-2    A Psalm of David.   "Unto thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul.  (2)  O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me." We love to talk about God's mercy and grace - and rightfully so!  Without God's grace, I am nothing. Without God's mercy, I would fall every single day. I praise His Holy Name for bestowing His grace upon me. I did nothing to deserve it and it is by God's faithfulness that His mercies are new every morning. There should be a response from us when grace is properly understood. Though David was not a perfect man, he set out to establish that response unto the Lord. We see it in verse 1: "Unto thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul." We see David declaring in these words, "Lord, you have extended yourself to me and I stretch myself toward you. I do not desire the things of the world more than I desire YOU." The words, "lift up," carries the meaning of being married. W...

Romans 3:27-31    “Where   is   boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.  Is he   the God of the Jews only?   is he   not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also: Seeing   it is   one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith. Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.” Paul begins with a very pointed rhetorical question: what do we have to boast about? The scripture has already established that there is no one who is righteous on their own account. We have all sinned and are inferior to the glory of God. Therefore, there is absolutely no room for us to boast of ourselves. Although we have failed to keep the law of Moses, this is not the crux of the matter. Boasting is excluded by the principle (law) of fait...