Devotional Thoughts

Ephesians 5:17-21     "Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.  (18)  And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;  (19)  Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;  (20)  Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;  (21)  Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God." In today's verses we find two things that we are NOT to be. "Be not unwise... And be not drunk with wine." It is a lack of wisdom that leads to drunkenness. Strong drink says, "I will make you forget all your problems." When actually it is unwise to try to forget all our problems because they do not just disappear. Wisdom is required to solve the daily struggles in which we find ourselves. What is the true answer? We saw part of it yesterday in that we are to seek...

Matthew 7:1-2    " Judge not, that ye be not judged.  For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." The scriptures give us clear instruction concerning the things we should judge. In John 7:24 Jesus tells us to not judge by appearance, but to judge righteously. In Romans 14:13, Paul tells us that we should not judge one another anymore, but instead to judge that no man deters another in their efforts to walk with God. One thing this admonishment is not is a blank check for everybody to do as they please. What we cannot judge is the heart of others. While we may be able to tell by a person’s walk whether they are a disciple (follower) of Jesus, we do not have the ability to see or know the work that God is doing (or will do) the heart of another. We who are kept by the grace of God have a difficult time with the concept of how truly sinful we are by nature. Consider the very worst individual that...

Ephesians 5:7-10    "Be not ye therefore partakers with them. (8) For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (9) (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) (10) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord." These verses describe an exercise in self discipline. Paul speaks to us of what we were and what we are now by the working of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This seems to be the theme throughout the entire book of Ephesians. We were dead in trespasses and sin. Now we are alive in Christ Jesus. We were without God, having no hope. Now we have Christ Jesus who is our peace.  We were children of darkness. Now we are children of light.  So the Lord, through the Apostle Paul, is reminding us that we are to walk in that light showing the work of Christ in us. We are to "prove what is acceptable unto the Lord." How can we do that? I may sound like a broken record, but to me that i...

Matthew 6:24-25     " No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.  Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?"  Matthew 6:31-34     " Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?  (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.  Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." We often read verse twe...