Devotional Thoughts

Psalm 144:1-4     "Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight:  (2)  My goodness, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer; my shield, and he in whom I trust; who subdueth my people under me.  (3)  LORD, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him!  (4)  Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away." Psalm 144:15    "Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD." David was considered to be a great warrior king. We remember him slaying a bear and a lion in order to protect his sheep. We definitely remember him going against the giant, Goliath, with only his sling in hand. David was looked up to by his followers. Enemies admired his prowess. It would have been easy to get built up in himself and think more highly of himself than he should. BUT, he realized...

1 Corinthians 16:1-4    “Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come. And when I come, whomsoever ye shall approve by your letters, them will I send to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem. And if it be meet that I go also, they shall go with me.” In Paul’s letter to the Galatians, there are two instances that stand out to me regarding how we are to treat the saints of God. Galatians 6:2 says we should take up each other’s load. In verse ten, we are told not to grow weak in doing well.  Our concern for the saints of God should be such that when they are burdened, we feel ourselves to be under the same weight. At the close of chapter fifteen of First Corinthians, Paul admonishes us to abound in the work of the Lord. He immediately turns to seeing to the needs of t...

1 Corinthians 15:57-58    “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” It is important to always know who to thank for our blessings. Ultimately, whatever our situation and whatever help we may have along the way, the thanks belongs to God. The victorious life we live is lived because of God’s great grace and love. He is worthy of our thanksgiving every day of our lives. Notice that Paul did not we should be thankful that God allows us to be victorious. He did not say we should be thankful that we were able to help God make us victorious. He did not indicate in any fashion that we were in involved in this victory at all, other than to be recipients. We are victorious in life because it has please God to give us the victory! This wonderful victory that is already ours (noti...

1 Corinthians 15:54-56    “So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.” How glorious it is to consider the morning when it was discovered that the tomb was empty! Just as He said He would, Jesus had laid down His life and had taken it up again (Joh 10:18). This authority was given Him by His Father, and there was no power anywhere that could prevent this from happening. The mortal body of Jesus had put on immortality and incorruption as displayed by the fact that it was no longer bound by the natural law. Yet, Paul tells us that although Jesus had risen from the dead that all enemies were not yet destroyed (1Co 15:26). Death was overcome in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but it is not yet destroy...