Devotional Thoughts

Genesis 7:5     "And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him." There are many things we could write about Noah. He found grace in the eyes of the Lord. He built the ark in a place where water was not an abundant resource.  He took his family into the boat as God brought the animals. He rode the storm inside that great vessel. He wasn't a perfect man, but he is listed in the "Hall of Faith" chapter of the book of Hebrews.  "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith." (Hebrews 11:7)   Yes, there are many great things to be said about this man, but our text verse came to maind as I thought about Noah this morning. He "did according unto all that the LORD commanded him." He did all that the Lord commanded him. Yes, I repeat it because that is a noble and wond...

Matthew 10:9-11     " Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses,   Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat.   And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, enquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence."   After having reminded His disciples that they had freely received the gifts of God and should impart them freely, Jesus continued that instruction. He had told them to go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. That was going to require them to travel through Jerusalem and the areas around it. Our first inclination would be to consider what we would need to make the trip. This would seem to be a Biblical principal since we are taught in Luke 14:28 that a man who is going to build a tower (or undertake a journey) would be wise to first sit down and consider the cost. He would want to be sure he could finish what he started. Unfortunately...

Genesis 3:15     "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." I am not moving away from the subject of "People of the Bible."  I will go ahead and reveal that this verse is speaking about Jesus, but this is not the first time He is mentioned in the Scriptures. We read, "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness..." (Genesis 1:26) Though they are not mentioned individually, we see the Trinity in this verse: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Today's subject is our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. The Father was speaking of Jesus the Christ when He mentioned the "seed of the woman" in Genesis 3:15. Only Jesus, the Son of God, has the power to "bruise" the head of Satan. It is a bad mistake to think that Jesus only came into existence at His birth in Bethlehem 2000 years ago. He is the eternal Son of God and in fact we rea...

Matthew 10:1    "And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease."  Matthew 10:5-8     " These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:   But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.   And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.   Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give."   Chapter ten of the book of Matthew opens with us being told who the twelve core disciples are. It also tells us that Jesus gave them the same power He had been manifesting to cast out unclean spirits and to heal. The last phrase gives us the name of the most infamous disciple, Judas Iscariot, and ends with the expression “who also betrayed him....

Matthew 9:35-38     " And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.  But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.  Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;   Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest."   Perhaps, like me, you have often heard this passage described as a plea for the Lord to send men to help His people attain eternal salvation. It is often portrayed as Jesus instructing a handful of disciples to pray for additional resources to get people into heaven. Let me say here that the only “help” that exists to get people into heaven was the man speaking to His disciples. His ear has never been deaf t...