Devotional Thoughts

Matthew 5:43-45     " Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;  That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."   Some of the things we have heard said seem to make good sense to the natural mind. It seems perfectly logical to love those that are close to us (either spatially or in feeling). We often go through life without giving much thought to people in other states or on other continents. We can easily develop a strong and active dislike for those who we perceive as having wronged us in some way. The thing that is not so easy for us is to love those that are enemies. They may stand against us physically, morally, social...

Introduction   This article will begin a brief series of messages from the letter of Philemon. If you need some help finding Philemon, that may be because it is a short book. It is the shortest work from the Apostle Paul that we have in Scripture. Philemon is situated between Titus and Hebrews. It may be easiest for you to start in Revelation and begin turning back toward the middle. It is easy to flip past Philemon. There are no chapter divisions, and there are only twenty-five verses. Most of you could read the whole thing in just few minutes. There are some Greek names that are not so easy to pronounce, but otherwise this letter is rather simple and straight forward.  This book of Philemon is a personal epistle. Philemon is a personal letter from the Apostle Paul. We must understand that this letter is addressing us through a specific, narrow appeal.  If you have read Philemon, or heard messages from this letter, you may recall that it centers around a run away slave b...

Matthew 5:38-42     " Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:  But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.  And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.  And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.  Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away."  One thing should be abundantly clear to us by now. We need to be careful about acting on things or forming opinions because of what we have heard someone say. Regardless of what we have heard, we need to look to the Lord to guide us in our actions and reactions. If our behavior is contrary to God’s word, it does not matter who else may sanction our course. I remember years ago a situation arising that really upset a younger me. It made me incredibly angry at the time. My...

Ephesians 3:20-21     "Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,  (21)  Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." We love these verses, don't we? God is able to do EXCEEDING ABUNDANTLY above all that we ask or think.  Wow! We love these verses, but do we believe them? More than that, do we believe that God is not only able, but that HE WILL do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think? You might say, "Steve, of course I believe that." And I would tell you the same thing. But why then do I battle with valley experiences of dejection and unforgiveness? Why do I have trouble believing that God has forgiven me of all my sins? Why do I battle those imaginative thoughts that come crashing into my brain? Why do I lack sufficiency? Rather, why do I feel like I lack sufficiency? Did not God promise to provide all our ne...

Matthew 5:33-37     " Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:   But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:   Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.   Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.   But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil."   As I read these verses again this morning, I thought of a few passages in the Old Testament. Deuteronomy 23:21 tells us if we make a vow to the LORD, He will surely require that fulfillment of that vow. If we fail to keep the vow, it is sin in us. Ecclesiastes 5:5 tells us it is better to not make a vow than to make a vow and not keep it. In Jonah 2:9, we find him declaring that he would pay his vow unto t...