Devotional Thoughts

1 Corinthians 4:5-7     “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God. And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and   to   Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think   of men   above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another. For who maketh thee to differ   from another?   and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive   it,   why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received   it? ” We make a lot of mistakes in life because we are impatient. My grandfather used to tell me “Boy, don’t try crossing that bridge until you get there.” It seems we have just as much trouble waiting on the Lord and His judgement. We should never judge anything b...

1 Corinthians 4:3-4     “But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self. For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord.” The Lord of glory gives to us great grace. We know that it is not in man to be unconcerned with what others think. We often dress in a way that will gain the approval of our peers. Our conversation is often tailored to gain us the respect of our audience. It makes us feel good about ourselves to hear that others have complimented us in one way or another. Because of our human nature, it is a big deal for Paul to declare it a small thing to be judged by his brethren at Corinth. This was not a boast on Paul’s part that he could not care less what people thought of him. Paul was confessing his understanding that he did not belong to men but to God. Obviously there were some at Corinth that judged Paul to be something special. There w...

Psalm 91:1-2    "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.  (2)  I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust." "I will say of the LORD, He is...."  How would you finish that sentence? As I read that this morning, it hit me similarly to the sentence that Paul wrote in  Philippians 1:21, "For to me to live is..." Paul finished that statement by saying that Christ holds all the meaning of living for him. My answer to finishing today's sentence should be, "I will say of the Lord, He is 'my everything.'"  When the disciples of John Baptist asked Jesus, "Where do you live?" His answer was, "Come and see." My first sentences today may seem like I'm rambling around, but I think there are questions that come into our lives that confront us for answers. Another question asked by Jesus was, "Who do  you say I am?" ...

1 Corinthians 4:1-2     “Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.” We are often concerned about what people think of us. It is only natural that we want to make a good impression. Even when we declare that we do not care what others think of us, that is not usually what we mean. Most of the time, we are saying that we are decided on a course, and we will pursue it even if others do not agree. That is not really the same thing as not caring what others think. It mattered to Paul what men thought about him but not for his own sake. Neither did he want to just put on a good front. He was inviting an examination of himself when he said “Let a man so account of us.” The Greek word  logizomai  (translated here as “account”) means “to take an inventory” (see Strong’s). As ministers of Christ, we should welcome men to “take inventory” of our sp...

Psalm 90:10-12    "The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.  (11)  Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath.  (12)  So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom." This is the third day that we have looked at these verses. They are packed full of wisdom and knowledge for us. We finished yesterday with the thought of our days being numbered and we should use each day in such a manner that we show forth the glory of God in our lives.  I wrote the first day about the "dash" between the dates on a tombstone. We have a date of birth and we have a date when life on this earth will cease. There was a time in my life when that thought scared me. I didn't want to talk about it or even think about it. But since I have passed the "threescore years," I ...