Devotional Thoughts

1  Corinthians 3:5-7     “Who then is Paul, and who   is   Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.” Paul poses the question of his and Apollos’ identity to cause the church at Corinth to closely examine the division that existed among them. While we do not have as much background on Apollos as we do on Paul, they were both men; not supernatural beings. This was one of the things Paul wanted the brethren to understand. He did not want nor deserve a pedestal to be placed upon; he was not interested in establishing a religion based on Paul. We have been blessed with some very able ministers over the years, and thank God, He is still blessing us with men to ably share the gospel. Those of us who have that privilege today may look back with fond mem...

Psalm 89:15-18    "Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance.  (16)  In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.  (17)  For thou art the glory of their strength: and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted.  (18)  For the LORD is our defence; and the Holy One of Israel is our king." "Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound." I'm certain that with just those words, you are thinking of "the joyful sound."  It depends on our mindset as to what that joyful sound would be. In the natural realm, I'm thinking of the baby's first cry, the sound of rain on the dry earth, the cheer of victory in a ballgame. As I'm typing, I hear the sound of pans being brought out for the preparation of breakfast. That's a joyful sound to a hungry stomach. As I said, it depends on our mindset as to what we think the joyful sound might be. But ...

Corinthians 3:1-4     “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal,   even   as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able   to bear it,   neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas   there is   among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I   am   of Apollos; are ye not carnal?” Paul was not addressing his comments to those who had no spiritual life, but he was admonishing them that they lacked spiritual maturity. He recognizes that those he speaks to are babes in Christ and therefore carnal in their thinking about the church. At no time was Paul guilty of trying to make unregenerate sinners into children of God. How often have we been found in a condition where we were not ready to have spiritual meat? We are often prone to...

Psalm 89:1-4  Maschil of Ethan the Ezrahite  "I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.  (2)  For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.  (3)  I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant,  (4)  Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah." Yesterday's Psalm was a little bleak, wasn't it? But truth be known, we feel discouraged and downhearted from time to time. It is at those times that we need to "keep reading." We can't stop at Psalm 88; rather, we need to press on. As the saying back in the 80's - "keep on a keepin' on." Good times are coming. Better days are ahead. How can I say that? Because of verse 3 in today's passage: "I have made a covenant with my chosen." God made a covenant, a promise. And if God ma...

1  Corinthians 2:14-16     “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know   them,   because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.” It was important to Paul that we understand the natural man’s inability to grasp spiritual things. The natural man does not consider the things of the Spirit of God and then reject them: he does not receive the things of the Spirit to begin with. The word translated as “not” here is defined as the “absolutely negative adverb (see Strong’s).” Not even one little particle of spiritual understanding belongs to the natural man. Most of us have had the experience of someone asking why we did not reply to an email or invitation and realize that we did not reply because we did not...