Devotional Thoughts

Ephesians 1:1-2   “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace   be   to you, and peace, from God our Father, and   from   the Lord Jesus Christ.” Are you afraid to declare that God has a will and purpose for your life? Are you concerned that someone might think you are boasting if you declare that you are His servant according to His will? Whatever God has called you to do, please take a moment to consider Paul’s example in his opening statement to the church at Ephesus. Paul was certain that God had called him. Paul was certain that God had given him an apostleship. He was not afraid to declare the mighty work of God in his personal life. It is easy to think that Paul’s experience was so powerful that he could not deny it and perhaps to feel that our experience was not like Paul’s. Was your experience like Peter’s? Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of G...

Isaiah 50:6-7      "I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.  (7)  For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed." "I gave." Aren't those two precious and beautiful words? Especially when you think of who is doing the talking.  The Father gave. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son...."  The Son gave. "I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair..."  He did not try to hide at the time appointed for Him to die.  "I have set my face like a flint." There was no turning back. Some might ask, "But what about His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane?" Didn't He ask for the cup to be removed? Yes, He did, but we must understand what cup was of concern to Him. Was He afraid to die? Absol...

Exodus 40:33-38     "And he reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the hanging of the court gate. So Moses finished the work. Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward in all their journeys: But if the cloud were not taken up, then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the LORD was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys."   Moses had received the testimony of God in mount Sinai a second time. When he came down from the mount, his face shone with such a light from the presence of God that he had to wear a vail over his f...

Isaiah 50:4-5     "The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.  (5)  The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back." I think we all have our favorite verses that we refer back to from time to time. Often when preaching, I will read a verse of Scripture and say, "This is my favorite verse in the Bible -- today." With that in mind, our text verses for today are my favorite verses in the Bible. We might not readily recognize the fact, but we often read the words of Jesus even in the Old Testament. They aren't printed in red, nevertheless, we can know it is Jesus speaking through the prophets. Today's verses are such words. They could easily have been printed in red; for, Jesus is speaking to us. Yes, it's 700 years before His birth, but Jesus speaks of what was t...

Exodus 34:12-16     "Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee: But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves: For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God: Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice; And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods." The LORD had just declared to Moses that He would make a covenant. The LORD would do miraculous things the world had never seen before. Speaking to Moses as the intercessor of the people under the law covenant, He promised that all the people of whom the intercessor was in the midst would see the work of the LO...