Devotional Thoughts

Psalm 4:5     "Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD."  Psalm 4:8     "I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety."   I selected these two verses out of this fourth Psalm to show the extent of what we are able to do at the end of the day. The writer speaks of calling upon the Lord when in distress. I pray that I do not take this privilege for granted. Just think about this, at any time of day or night, we have complete open access to the very throne of heaven where our Heavenly Father sits in full authority and judgment. I don't have to take a number and wait my turn. I don't have to leave a voice message and hope that He checks His messages on a regular basis. I don't have to worry whether He is too busy doing other things. No matter the day or hour, I can call upon the name of the Lord and know that I have His full attention.  God has given us the ability to...

James 4:1-4    “From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” We often point to external influences in our lives as the cause for quarrels and conflicts. If the cause for the disturbance is external, then we can claim that the situation is out of our control. We need to remember that there is always one person that we have some control over in any conflict. I may not have control of the conflict, but I have God’s grace to control my actions. When there is warfare among the beloved brethren, James declares that the source is our own conf...

Psalm 3:1-4    "LORD, how are they increased that trouble me! many are they that rise up against me.  (2)  Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. Selah.  (3)  But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.  (4)  I cried unto the LORD with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah." There are two points in these four verses where David stops and tells himself, (Selah) "Think about this." If we aren't careful, we will get caught in the trap of listening to the wrong voices. We tease sometimes about hearing all those voices in our heads, but the reality is that there are times in our lives when we listen to the voice of sadness, anger, jealousy, disappointment, discouragement, and such like. We have to be careful and, if necessary, stop to analyze what our minds are saying. For a period of time, evidently David had been listening to the wrong voices even to the point of despa...

James 3:16-18     “For where envying and strife   is,   there   is   confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle,   and   easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.” There is great harm in human malice (envying) and division (strife). We see the proof of it on every front. Envy and a desire to divide people are often at the root of bullying. Our governments are running over with jealousy and divisiveness. We often find this in the work place when there are two people (or groups of people) who are seeking to gain preeminence in some way. Worse than that, our churches fall prey to this great malady of envying and strife. When we look to God first, areas where there is envy and strife are easily located. If you have a situation where there is constant co...