Devotional Thoughts

Psalm 95:1    "O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation." "O Come, let us sing unto the LORD." I'll jump ahead a few Psalms to include with these words "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD." (Psalm 122:1)  I love to try to sing. I'm so thankful that God placed music within us when He created man. David loved music. I can picture him on the hillsides, looking out across God's creation, and the music flowing from his heart as he would begin to praise the Lord. I think of the manner in which music would calm the soul of King Saul when he would go into one of his raging fits. There have been times in my life when I wanted complete silence. I needed that time to be still before the Lord and allow my mind to think upon good things. There are other times when I want to hear the radio playing while I'm driving down the highway. I enjoy "most types" of mu...

1 Corinthians 5:3-5     “For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, To deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” Although necessity had dictated that Paul physically move on from Corinth, the church there was obviously still much in his thoughts and prayers. Even as pastors today, when the Lord sees fit to move us from one congregation to another we never completely lose some feeling of attachment and spiritual responsibility for each congregation. By God’s grace, Paul was still sufficiently attuned to the Corinthian brethren that he was confident in the matter before him. Paul’s judgement was not only aimed at the man guilty of fornication. He was very concerned wit...

1 Corinthians 5:1     “It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife. And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.” Up until this point, Paul has been dealing with a division among the brethren. This division is one that comes from putting men before God. It does not matter that the men themselves were godly and called of God to minister. Men are never to be honored for that which comes from God: the glory is His alone. While on the one hand they had all this division going on, there was something else taking place in which there seemed to be no great division. Not only was there no division, but there was no real concern over the situation. The situation was a matter of fornication, and fornication to an extent that was unheard of among those that were considered unbelievers an...

Psalm 94:22   "But the LORD is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge." Life is filled with struggles from the time of birth until the last breath that we take on this earth. Sometimes we struggle physically whether it be arthritis, bursitis, or one of the other "itis" brothers. Sometimes we struggle emotionally whether it be because of our own weakness or something that another has done to us. Sometimes we struggle spiritually because of sin in our lives. But the truth of the matter is that we all have our struggles with which we must deal. Psalm 94 is an example of the writer expressing himself from the depth of his struggle. Earlier in the Psalm, we see him asking the question, "How long, O Lord?" Then we see him being specific in some of the things that troubled him and when we read them, we can identify with his questions. "LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph? How long shall they utter and speak hard things...

1 Corinthians 4:18-21     “Now some are puffed up, as though I would not come to you. But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power. For the kingdom of God   is   not in word, but in power. What will ye? shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love, and   in   the spirit of meekness?” Paul demonstrated an intimate knowledge of the children he had begotten through the gospel. Apparently, those that laid claim to Apollos or Peter felt a certain vindication that Paul had written this letter and sent it with Timothy, but had not come himself. They were boastful in their conceit that Paul was not really concerned with them and would not come to exercise any authority. Here Paul lays that notion to rest. As at other times, Paul makes recognition of the fact that his will in this matter was not primary. We never want to fall into a pattern of saying “the Lord willing” ...