Devotional Thoughts

Ephesians 1:1-2   “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace   be   to you, and peace, from God our Father, and   from   the Lord Jesus Christ.” Are you afraid to declare that God has a will and purpose for your life? Are you concerned that someone might think you are boasting if you declare that you are His servant according to His will? Whatever God has called you to do, please take a moment to consider Paul’s example in his opening statement to the church at Ephesus. Paul was certain that God had called him. Paul was certain that God had given him an apostleship. He was not afraid to declare the mighty work of God in his personal life. It is easy to think that Paul’s experience was so powerful that he could not deny it and perhaps to feel that our experience was not like Paul’s. Was your experience like Peter’s? Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of G...

Isaiah 50:6-7      "I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.  (7)  For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed." "I gave." Aren't those two precious and beautiful words? Especially when you think of who is doing the talking.  The Father gave. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son...."  The Son gave. "I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair..."  He did not try to hide at the time appointed for Him to die.  "I have set my face like a flint." There was no turning back. Some might ask, "But what about His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane?" Didn't He ask for the cup to be removed? Yes, He did, but we must understand what cup was of concern to Him. Was He afraid to die? Absol...

Exodus 40:33-38     "And he reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the hanging of the court gate. So Moses finished the work. Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward in all their journeys: But if the cloud were not taken up, then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the LORD was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys."   Moses had received the testimony of God in mount Sinai a second time. When he came down from the mount, his face shone with such a light from the presence of God that he had to wear a vail over his f...

Isaiah 50:4-5     "The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.  (5)  The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back." I think we all have our favorite verses that we refer back to from time to time. Often when preaching, I will read a verse of Scripture and say, "This is my favorite verse in the Bible -- today." With that in mind, our text verses for today are my favorite verses in the Bible. We might not readily recognize the fact, but we often read the words of Jesus even in the Old Testament. They aren't printed in red, nevertheless, we can know it is Jesus speaking through the prophets. Today's verses are such words. They could easily have been printed in red; for, Jesus is speaking to us. Yes, it's 700 years before His birth, but Jesus speaks of what was t...

Exodus 34:12-16     "Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee: But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves: For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God: Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice; And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods." The LORD had just declared to Moses that He would make a covenant. The LORD would do miraculous things the world had never seen before. Speaking to Moses as the intercessor of the people under the law covenant, He promised that all the people of whom the intercessor was in the midst would see the work of the LO...

Isaiah 49:15-16      "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.  (16)  Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me." I begin with this question set forth by God, "Can a woman forget her sucking child?"  Is it possible? I find it hard to believe it is possible, but I also know the depths of human depravity could bring it about. But with God, it is an impossibility for Him to forget one of His little ones. I find great comfort to know my Heavenly Father will never forget me. Though I have given Him reason to do so, He has promised. HE has promised! "I will not forget thee."  Not only will He not forget me, but He will never stop loving me. Let me bring in two other passages of Scripture to cement that thought into our hearts and minds. "The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved th...

Exodus 34:1-7     "And the LORD said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest. And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me in the top of the mount. And no man shall come up with thee, neither let any man be seen throughout all the mount; neither let the flocks nor herds feed before that mount. And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone. And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgressi...

Isaiah 48:9-11     "For my name's sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off.  (10)  Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.  (11)  For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another." May I say at the onset that everything God does in our lives is for His glory, not necessarily for our ease. We sometimes want to think God is just waiting for us to give Him instructions as to how to make our lives better in order to be more at comfort and ease. If I understand Scripture, that is not the case. Though Jesus came to this earth and humbled Himself as a servant, He is not sitting and waiting to come running to us when we ring our little bell. He came to this earth that we might have eternal life and have it more abundantly. That abundant life does not consist of a...

Exodus 33:17-23     "And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name. And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy. And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen."   The “thing” the LORD told Moses He would do was to go up to the land of promise with him and His people. Still speaking as friend to friend, God...

Matthew 28:16-20   (16) Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. (17) When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted. (18) And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. (19) Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (20) teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.  I read a story about an atheist who was visiting an Indian tribe deep in the jungles. He spoke to an elderly chief and said, “ I am so sorry you have been taken in by the Christians who came to you with the foolish story of Jesus Christ. You know people don’t believe that anymore.” The chief pointed to a huge rock and said, “You see that rock? That is where we bashed in the heads of our enemies. And You see tha...

Isaiah 46:9-11      "Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,  (10)  Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:  (11)  Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it." In the beginning of this chapter, God inspired Isaiah to write concerning the idols that have been made and how men bow down to it. I probably have written this before, but I can't understand how anyone could bow down to something that is completely dependent upon the man. A man forms it. He fashions it. He makes the pedestal upon which it stands. He carries it and places it on that pedestal and then he bows down to it, confessing it to be god. My goodness! How can that ha...

Exodus 33:11-16     "And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle. And Moses said unto the LORD, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people. And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon...

Isaiah 45:16-18     "They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols.  (17)  But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end.  (18)  For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else." It seems that humans are forgetful people. Children soon forget that their parents told them no. Why do I say that? Because five minutes after being told no, they come back with the same request. But children are not the only ones who are bothered by that malady. We oftentimes ask God the very same question even after we know He has denied the request. But there are some things that are too important to forget. God continues to remind us many times over of certai...

Exodus 33:1-6     "And the LORD said unto Moses, Depart, and go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it: And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite: Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way. And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned: and no man did put on him his ornaments. For the LORD had said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiffnecked people: I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee. And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the mount H...

Isaiah 45:11-13      "Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me.  (12)  I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.  (13)  I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward, saith the LORD of hosts." These three verses  are speaking of a specific work to come: the finished work of redemption. I sit here pondering these verses and words escape me as I think of Jesus leaving heaven to come to this earth. "He came unto His own and His own received Him not." He "endured such a contradiction against Himself." He was mocked, scourged, betrayed, and denied even by His own.  The action of leaving heaven is an action, or work, that I cannot begin to ...

Exodus 32:19-24     "And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it. And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them? And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief. For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf." Moses had come down from mount Sinai to the sound of...

Isaiah 45:5-7     "I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:  (6)  That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.  (7)  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things." I will begin by confessing there are things in these verses that I do not fully understand; yet, the truth in them demands our attention. This chapter begins with the name of the man that God would use to bring the people back to Judah after being in bondage for 70 years. It is my understanding that Cyrus had not even been born at that time, yet God named him to be the one he would use. You can read the book of Daniel and Ezra to see how their release was brought about. There is no other explanation than God's hand was upon the people. God said about Cyrus, "I girded thee, thoug...

Exodus 32:15-16     "And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables." God had been communing with Moses for forty days and nights when the children of Israel decided to make for themselves an idol. Aaron declared the day after the golden calf’s casting to be a feast day to the LORD. It was not a feast that the LORD was pleased with. He told Moses to get down from the mountain because the people had corrupted themselves. Moses did not come away from communing with God empty-handed. In his hands were two tables (tablets) of finished stone, polished and prepared by God. These were the two tables of the testimony which God had given and put in Moses’ hands. Upon these tables were written the law of God. Why were there two tables...

Isaiah 44:21-22     "Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou art my servant: I have formed thee; thou art my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me.  (22)  I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee." It is good to remember the things we study in the Word of God, but in today's verses we are told to remember something. It is spoken to Israel and Judah, but it also applies somewhat to us. God reminds the people that He has formed them. We spoke of that a few days ago when we saw that God can and does use circumstances in life to form us. We might feel pressure at times, which to me, is the action of God bringing us to the place where He would have us. The pressure may not feel comfortable at the time, but God is using it to form and fashion us. We are to remember these things. God says these things in our lives will not be forgotten by Him. But the greatest thi...

Exodus 32:6-8     "And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt."   As Aaron had proclaimed, the day after he fashioned the golden calf the people held a feast. They tried to cover the idolatry of it by calling it a feast to the LORD (Exodus 32:5). Just because they tried to associate the LORD’s name with their doing did not make it acceptable to Him. God’s people are seen still making that same mistaken assumption today: our sins do not become less sinful because we c...

Recently, we began an expository study in the book of Joel. Very little is known about this prophet. His name means Jehovah is God. His father’s name means Persuaded by God. The word that Joel has is not his own. It is the word of Jehovah, and it has come to Joel. He is fulfilling his calling by delivering the word of Jehovah.  Joel 1:2-4   "Hear this, you elders, And give ear, all you inhabitants of the land! Has anything like this happened in your days, Or even in the days of your fathers? Tell your children about it, Let your children tell their children, And their children another generation. What the chewing locust left, the swarming locust has eaten; What the swarming locust left, the crawling locust has eaten; And what the crawling locust left, the consuming locust has eaten."            The Israelites were not strangers to locusts in their everyday life, and they re...

Isaiah 44:6-8     "Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.  (7)  And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them shew unto them.  (8)  Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any." "Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel and His redeemer the LORD of hosts." I remember, as a young preacher, hearing the older preachers stressing adamantly, "It is a matter of 'thus saith the Lord'."  They meant that there was no other way nor any other truth. I remember the bumper sticker that was popular back in the 90's, "God said it. I believe it. That settles it."  I always amended that saying ...

Exodus 32:1-6     "And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD. And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought pea...

Isaiah 43:8-12      "Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears.  (9)  Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled: who among them can declare this, and shew us former things? let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them hear, and say, It is truth.  (10)  Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.  (11)  I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.  (12)  I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I am God." We still are under the direction of Isaiah 42:1 which says, "Behold my servant..."  The more we see Jesus, we should be brought into a state of humility. Peter w...

Exodus 31:18     "And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God."   Moses had been up on Mount Sinai for forty days and nights. During this time, God gave Moses His commandments and His judgements for the children of Israel to live by. God reiterated His love for, and faithfulness to, His chosen people whom He had delivered with a mighty hand. He spoke all these things to Moses for Moses to tell Israel. God also put into Moses hands tangible proof of His communion with His servant Moses. He gave Him two stone tables upon which the laws of God were written. These were not just some old pieces of rock that Moses had picked up off the mountain. These tables (tablets) were a finished work. The word translated as tables means to glisten or have a polished appearance.  Nothing about this was the work of Moses. It was God who fashioned the tables of testim...