Devotional Thoughts

Isaiah 66:1-2 – Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. Where has the reverence gone? Too often today, people not only question the existence of God, but they mock those who sincerely seek Him. Proper reverence demonstrates respect and faith both of God and His creatures. Can we call ourselves faithful without reverence? Can we be serious about repentance without being contrite? There will always be those that scorn and disrespect the Lord and His followers, but Christians should lead the way to a culture of respect and dignity for God and all His creatures. The psalmist wrote, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, n

John 6:9    "There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?" A great multitude of people had followed Jesus because they had seen the miracles which He performed. As Jesus looked upon the multitude, He asked Philip, "Where will we get enough bread for these people to eat?" Jesus knew exactly what He was going to do, but He said this to prove Philip. Philip answered Jesus, "If we had a year's supply of bread, we could not feed all these people." Then Andrew came to Jesus and said, "There is a lad here with five loaves of bread and two small fishes." Ah, if only Andrew had just stopped there and placed trust in the answer that Jesus would give, but instead he added to that statement, "But what are they among so many?"  Jesus said to His disciples, "Make the men sit down." There are times in our lives the Lord allows situations to occur so we will see His glory an

John 5:39    "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me." Jesus is still speaking to the elite of the Jews, the Scribes, Priests, and Pharisees. They had placed their trust in their own knowledge of the Scripture. They boasted of their knowledge and their confidence was in their ability to "quote" Scripture. The Pharisees wore a box on their forearm into which they would place passages of Scripture which they had committed to memory. The idea was to have the Word of God always before their eyes, but they had allowed that to become a source of boasting. In Matthew 23:5, Jesus spoke of them making "broad their phylacteries." This was not a commendation; rather a part of the woes pronounced upon them. Their dependence was upon their own ability to make themselves righteous before God. This sounds good, except for one thing. Isaiah told us the problem with our own works: "All our righteousnes

 John 5:24-25    "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.  (25)  Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live." I realize daily devotions normally are nice sayings that encourage and give some direction as to how we can live our lives to honour God. I also realize it is an impossibility to study through any book of the Bible without getting into the doctrinal issues. Today's verses bring us to such a place. The Jews, in their way of thinking, had just made an accusation against Jesus. He had said God is His Father. They accused Him of making Himself to be the Son of God. This accusation will come up again when Pilate brings Jesus before the multitude. I'm sure I will repeat at that time this same thought: Jesus did not

John 5:8-11    "Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.  (9)  And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.  (10)  The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.  (11)  He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk." In Jerusalem, there is a pool named Bethesda. At certain seasons, an angel would go into the pool and stir the water. The first person to enter the water after it was stirred would be healed. A man with a terrible weakness for thirty eight years had been at the pool waiting to enter the water. Someone would step into the water before him each time the angel stirrred the waters. Can you imagine what was going through this man's mind? I have to ask myself if I would be as diligent to go there as long as he had been going. Would I have given up and given in to the weakness

Malachi 3:6 – For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Have you ever backed out of a promise or failed to deliver on an obligation? I think we all have. We make promises we cannot keep, and our limited power and ability makes it even harder for us aside from any lack of the will to see things through. God is not so. When He makes a promise, He keeps it. It seems that one of the clearest reasons that God established the nation of Israel in ancient times was to show how the word of His covenant is kept. From Adam and Eve to Noah to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob on down to Moses and even David and the other prophets, God made assurances that He is still fulfilling today. Jesus fulfilled the Old Covenant on behalf of His people and established a New Covenant written in His blood. Because of God’s unchanging consistency, we rejoice today in the hope once known only to a few (Ephesians 3:1-7). Praise God the Father and His Son for love that changes not. Though

John 4:49-50    "The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die.  (50)  Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way." After Jesus left Samaria, He went to Jerusalem, back to Galilee, and now He is in Cana once again. As He was walking along, a nobleman approached him. This man was apparently a part of the king's court. He had some authority in the office of which he served. He told Jesus that his son was about to die and asked Jesus to come heal him. We are told that he had heard of the other miracles that Jesus had done and came with great hope that Jesus would follow him to his house. Instead, Jesus looked at him and said, "Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe." The man urged Jesus even more diligently. This is when Jesus said, "Go thy way; thy son liveth." The nobleman believed the words of Jesus and started back home. As he was w

John 4:4-7    "And he must needs go through Samaria.  (5)  Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.  (6)  Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.  (7)  There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink." Do you believe in divine appointments? God does not direct every step we make, but there are certain things that God appoints to happen. Be assured if God says something will happen, it's going to happen. I start today's writing in this manner because verse 4 tells us that Jesus needed to go through Samaria. I understand the geographical implications of this verse. I understand the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. I understand to go from Judea to Galilee (as Jesus was traveling), He had to go through Samaria. But I also believe the

John 3:30    "He must increase, but I must decrease." John the Baptist made this beautiful statement when some of the Jews came to him with questions concerning the efficiency of baptism. We can know they really were not interested in efficiency; rather, they were trying to create confusion and division. They first questioned John about purification. Which is better, John? baptism or the purifying according to the law?  What do you think about the fact that "all men" are going to Jesus and His disciples to be baptized? One of Satan's greatest tools is trying to separate children of God through confusion and jealousy. They were hoping John would be jealous that more people were going to Jesus. But in reality, we will see in chapter 4 that Jesus did not actually baptize. His disciples were baptizing those who came to Him. Let's look at John's replies to the words of the Jews who came to him. His answer can apply to the question concerning purification an

John 3:16    "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Recently, we saw the parable of the Prodigal son who was perishing because he sought the world rather than the things of the father. Notice something, he was a son before he left. He was a son while he was in the far country. And he was a son when he returned home. What changed about him? Did the father leave him? No, he turned and walked away from the father. He cared for the things of the world more than the things of the father. as a result, he was perishing. The father's love never wavered for this young man. God's love for us never wavers even though we are imperfect beings. Aren't you thankful for that? I again bring into the writing the prodigal for the reason that he said he was perishing while out in the world. Only people who have life can perish. Not to be morbid, but those whose life has ceased h

John 3:14-16    "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:  (15)  That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.  (16)  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." I begin the writing this morning with something that might seem completely off subject. Jesus told a parable of a young man who was lured away from home by the "bright lights of the big city." We call it the parable of the Prodigal Son. I refer to this parable because of one statement that the young man makes while he is away from his father's house. He had sunk to the depths of despair because no one in that "world to which he had escaped" cared for him. He finally found a man who gave him a job feeding swine. He ate the same feed that the pigs ate in order to keep from sobbing. One day,  "he came to himself

  Daniel 9:9-10 – To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him; It is interesting to think about forgiveness from the Lord. Today we usually think that we need forgiveness from other people not the Lord. Certainly our actions impact others, but if we cause them harm, why do we seek forgiveness from them? What does God have to do with it? Remember when you were a child in your parents’ home or in the classroom. Whose rules were you supposed to follow? Did you have a strict moral code of your own or was one forced upon you by a greater authority? Anyone who has watched little children would admit that they know no rules. Left to their own, children will act selfishly and lash out at others who dare touch their favorite toy. No, children (like adults) need law from a higher authority, and there is no greater authority than the Lord our God. You may forgive me for hurting you, and I should forgive you likewise. However, we can only forgive the s

John 3:3-7    "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.  (4)  Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?  (5)  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.  (6)  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  (7)  Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again." In the last devotional, we touched lightly on the subject of being born again. What does Jesus mean by this term? Nicodemus certainly wanted to know more about the subject.  We determined previously this process of being born again is the sole work of the Holy Spirit. The child of God is born again when the Holy Spirit enters and brings eternal life to the individual. It is entirely the work of the

John 3:3-7    "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.  (4)  Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?  (5)  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.  (6)  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  (7)  Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again." I make a confession as I begin this writing. In my mind, I had said that my devotionals maybe were becoming too much like messages from the pulpit rather than a morning devotional. I had determined that I was going to shorten each one and just get to a central point and then move on to the next portion of Scripture. That was my determination. Then I read the first two words of today's verses:

John 2:23    "Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did." At the end of this book, John will tell us that he did not record all the miracles which Jesus performed. He emphatically stated: "And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen." (John 21:25) I bring this in at this point because our verse tells us the people had seen "the miracles" which Jesus had done. We have only been told about one at this point. That is a sidepoint, my focus today is on the portion of this verse that states, "many believed on his name, when they saw..." The world says, "Seeing is believing." Thomas was caught in that mindset after the resurrection of Jesus when he said, "Except I shall see in his hands the print of

John 2:18-21    "Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?  (19)  Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.  (20)  Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?  (21)  But he spake of the temple of his body." Jesus and His disciples had gone into the temple at Jerusalem only to find merchants had moved into the temple. They were selling oxen, sheep, and doves. These were the animals that were to be used in sacrificing. There were problems with this scene on different levels. The merchants were making a profit off the people of God. But the biggest problem (in my opinion) was this was not the order God had determined to complete sacrifices. The people were to make sure the animals were without blemish and without spot. According to the pattern established at the original Passover, they were to p

What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?  – Luke 15:4 I reckon that none of you is likely a shepherd.  However, I think you can relate the parable of the lost sheep to something in your life.  Maybe you have several children or teach a classroom full of them.  Perhaps you own a successful company with prosperous clients.  Or perhaps you are a pastor with a congregation that looks to you for guidance.  In any case, we can imagine ourselves in the place of the shepherd counting the sheep in his flock only to find one missing. Sheep are the livelihood of the shepherd.  Sheep are his passion, his charges, and his profession.  The good shepherd feels a duty to the care and feeding of the sheep.  If even one goes missing, it is not like a lost hairpin or stale leftovers.  The shepherd’s sheep must be found and recovered. Jesus says that He came to earth to find th

John 2:6-8    "And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.  (7)  Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.  (8)  And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it." Mary had come to Jesus and stated the governor of the feast had run out of wine. She simply stated the situation and then turned to the servants to say, "Do whatever He tells you to do." This is the first of the many miracles performed by Jesus. Mary has observed Jesus for 30 years. He has not performed any miracles to this point; yet, she had the utmost confidence that her Son was fully capable of remedying this situation. I admit to you that I would love to know the interactions in the household during those 30 years. What did Jesus share with Mary? Had He told her about "In the beginning"? Did He share with

John 2:3-5    "And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. (4)  Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. (5)  His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it." Jesus and His disciples were called to a wedding in Cana three days after He was baptized. It is here that He performs His first miracle. We know that miracle to be the turning of water into wine, but for today, I want us to think about the three verses that I have included. Mary came to Jesus with a declaration. Notice the manner in which she approaches Him. She simply stated, "They have no wine."  We will see a very similar approach to Jesus when we get to chapter 9 when Mary and Martha sent for Jesus. Their approach to Him was simply, "He, whom thou lovest, is sick."  Neither of these attempted to tell Jesus what to do or how to remedy the situation. They simply stated the circumstance to

John 1:45-46    "Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.  (46)  And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see." In today's passage, Philip (the second of the two disciples of John Baptist) went to tell Nathanael of Jesus. He was very expressive in his words: "We have found HIM, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write." There was no doubt whatsoever in the heart and mind of Philip that this Jesus was the Messiah. In his further description, Philip went on to say, He is "Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."  Philip would soon come to a better understanding concerning this Jesus. He is not the son of Joseph; rather, He is the Son of God. As soon as Nathanael heard the word, Nazareth, his mind went in a negative direction. "Can any good thing come out

John 1:39-42    "He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour." Today's thoughts are taken from the answer given by Jesus when the two disciples of John the Baptist asked, "Where dwellest thou?" Notice this is a two way conversation between the Lord and these two men.  Jesus: "What seek ye?"  Disciples: "Where dwellest thou?" Jesus: "Come and see." As I break down the conversation in this manner, I can see the prompting of the Lord when I pray and the interaction between the two parties. Jesus prompted the men to make their request by asking, "What are you looking for?" Would they have responded with their question if He had not initiated the conversation? I'm not sure. But I'm thankful that our Lord did draw them to seek. 'We want to know more about you, where you dwell, how you think, how you respond, how you deal with othe

  John 1:35-37    "Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples;  (36)  And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!  (37)  And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus." John was using this time to be about the business for which he was sent.  This is the day after Jesus was baptized of John. He and two of his followers are observing Jesus and no doubt listening to Him. He once again made the declaration: "Behold the Lamb of God!"  It seems there was much more intended by these words than simply to watch and observe Jesus. John's assignment was to turn the hearts of the people back to God. When John (the Baptizer) was born, his father sang a song concerning the relationship that would exist between John and the Messiah. A portion of the song reads with these words: "To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." (Luke 1:79)