Devotional Thoughts

1 Corinthians 12:26-28    “And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.” Our bodies are designed for our members to have sympathy for the various parts. When our little toe finds that table leg, we do not have to stop and think “my hand ought to hold that foot until the pain subsides.” We automatically find the nearest place to sit down and our hands are holding the aching member without any conscious direction on our part. Why should our hands care that we stubbed our little toe? It did not affect our fingers in any way. However, being able to rub our foot seems to help lessen the pain our toe is feeling. We are designed so that the suffering of any one member aff...

Psalm 122:1-2    "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.  (2)  Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem." I admit that I am a people watcher. Back in the days of the malls, you might have seen me sitting on one of the benches outside of a store. I would look at the faces of the people and it seemed that all too many times, their faces were not gleesome; rather, they would be stern or sad. Not being a shopper, I could understand why the men would not have on their happy faces, but this seemed to grow more and more to be the case. The cares and stresses of life seem to have taken a toll on people to the point that their joy was fading very quickly. For the writer of this Psalm, the thought of going into the house of the Lord caused him to brighten and cheer up. One of the definition words was "gleesome." When was the last time you were gleeful? I just wrote about one scenario, but now I look at the faces of the people as I...

1 Corinthians 12:22-25    “Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked: That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.” There are many members of our physical body that we take so much for granted that we never consider the impact they have. We seldom give our big toe any thought as to its having any particular significance to the body. However, I have known a couple of dear brothers over the years that had to have their big toe surgically removed. The impact on their physical body was such that they had to relearn how to walk. There are parts of the body that we consi...

Psalm 121:1-2    "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. (2) My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth." "I will lift up mine eyes." This Psalm seems to come from the starting position of eyes, heart, and mind being cast down. David's life seemed to be filled with ups and downs, highs and lows. But isn't that life for most of us? We have times when it seems we are on the very top of the mountain in our spiritual walk. Then it seems that at times, without warning, everything comes crashing down around us.  This is the reason for maintaining our posture before God in a prayerful manner filled with the Word of God. "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance." (Psalm 42:5) We just finished several days of looking at the importance of staying in the Word. Even on the mountaintop, there is a calling to l...

1 Corinthians 12:19-21    “And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.” In verse eighteen, Paul has affirmed that God places each member in the body according to His own will and purpose. In verse nineteen, he demonstrates God’s wisdom in doing so. There must be a diversity of gifts (functions) for an entity to properly be called a body. A male quartet is made up of four men with varying voice ranges. One is gifted to sing in a high range and provide the melody. Another is gifted to sing higher still and provide the tenor part. One is gifted to sing in a moderate range and provide the baritone. The final member usually has a very deep voice and sings in a very low range providing the bass. Each part is a gift. The four parts together can do wonderful things with a song. They fill the air with the sou...