Devotional Thoughts

Psalm 83:1-2  A Song or Psalm of Asaph.   "Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God.  (2)  For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head." Psalm 83:18    "That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth." Both Psalm 82 and 83 are prayers for God to place His judgment on those who seek to destroy the people of God. There seems to be a theme throughout the Bible of individuals, or groups of individuals, who raise the question: "How long, O Lord?" When are you going to show yourself on behalf of those who are being persecuted? We live in a world today where there is still persecution of Christians. We might find ourselves asking that question also, "Lord, how long will this continue?" We hold the thoughts in our minds that the Psalmist expressed when he said, "Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not stil...

1  Corinthians 1:26     “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence.” We see our calling. The Greek word translated as “see” in this passage means, among other things, “to have (the power of) understanding” or “to know by experience” according to Thayer. It is a great blessing to understand that our calling is from God and not man. The longer we walk (know by experience) our calling, the more steadfast we become in our confidence that it is of God. In the world, we want people around us who are wise; men who are able to come up with good idea...

Psalm 81:1-3  To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm of Asaph.   "Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.  (2)  Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery.  (3)  Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day." I read through Psalm 80 and Psalm 81 this morning. I confess that I could not get a grip on the Scriptures as I read them. I have sat here struggling to get a message to share with you this morning and so far, nothing came to my heart and mind. I tried to come up with something out of my own thoughts and it came to a blank page in my mind. What was I to do? I just couldn't come up with a devotion that I felt gave a message of strength and encouragement. I thought about continuing to skip over the Psalms until something came to my mind. I thought about going to a familiar passage and going away from the Psalms this morning. Then I w...

1  Corinthians 1:22-25     “For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” The Jews require a sign (Mar 8:11, Joh 6:30). Even though Jesus fulfilled all the law and the prophets, God’s chosen people under the law were blinded to it. They had determined for themselves that the Messiah would certainly come in a manner that would elevate the Jews above other men. This carpenter’s son did not fit their ideal of what Israel’s King should look like or do. The Greeks were wrapped up in hearing new things (Act 17:21). They greatly desired the wisdom of men. The doctrine that Paul came preaching intrigued them. However, the notion of a man who had been ki...