Devotional Thoughts

Psalm 121:1-2    "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. (2) My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth." "I will lift up mine eyes." This Psalm seems to come from the starting position of eyes, heart, and mind being cast down. David's life seemed to be filled with ups and downs, highs and lows. But isn't that life for most of us? We have times when it seems we are on the very top of the mountain in our spiritual walk. Then it seems that at times, without warning, everything comes crashing down around us.  This is the reason for maintaining our posture before God in a prayerful manner filled with the Word of God. "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance." (Psalm 42:5) We just finished several days of looking at the importance of staying in the Word. Even on the mountaintop, there is a calling to l...

1 Corinthians 12:19-21    “And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.” In verse eighteen, Paul has affirmed that God places each member in the body according to His own will and purpose. In verse nineteen, he demonstrates God’s wisdom in doing so. There must be a diversity of gifts (functions) for an entity to properly be called a body. A male quartet is made up of four men with varying voice ranges. One is gifted to sing in a high range and provide the melody. Another is gifted to sing higher still and provide the tenor part. One is gifted to sing in a moderate range and provide the baritone. The final member usually has a very deep voice and sings in a very low range providing the bass. Each part is a gift. The four parts together can do wonderful things with a song. They fill the air with the sou...

Psalm 119:145-148     "I cried with my whole heart; hear me, O LORD: I will keep thy statutes.  (146)  I cried unto thee; save me, and I shall keep thy testimonies.  (147)  I prevented the dawning of the morning, and cried: I hoped in thy word.  (148)  Mine eyes prevent the night watches, that I might meditate in thy word." We have no way of knowing what was troubling the writer when he penned these words, but evidently something was keeping him awake at night. Can you identify? Have you ever spent a night tossing and turning because your eyes could not find sleep? I see a few things happening in these verses. First, he was troubled. Then it seems he was making promises. And third, he was soaking in the words of God in an attempt to find peace and comfort in the night. Have you ever felt like God was not listening to your prayers? "Hear me, O LORD."  The word, cried, is used three times in these four verses. The first two times speak ...

1 Corinthians 12:15-18    “If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.” Have you ever felt useless or that your talents were so lowly and insignificant as to be unnecessary? The foot is the lowest part of the body. It is the part that gets to walk through the mud, bear the weight, and feel the initial pain of that coffee table leg in the darkened room. No one has ever written a love song about gazing at the foot. Yet, the body would be unable to move or to avoid danger or even to stand without the foot. While not the part most glorified in poetry or song, the foot is a vital member of the body. It may not seem as...

Psalm 119:137-138    "Righteous art thou, O LORD, and upright are thy judgments.  (138)  Thy testimonies that thou hast commanded are righteous and very faithful." "I know the Bible says..... But I believe....." How many times have we ever heard that? Quite honestly, the truth of the matter is that God's Word has the final authority and trumps what I believe. If my belief does not align with God's Word, then I am wrong. That's the absolute truth. "Righteous art thou, O LORD, and upright are thy judgments." How much more plainly can it be spoken? God is right in all matters of life and His Word is always correct. If I think there are some things in the Bible that are in disagreement, then the error is in my understanding, not God's Word. If I do not open my Bible with the understanding that God has great truths to reveal to me, then I may as well look at it as simply a history book. Even at that, people seem so very surprised that archeologi...