Devotional Thoughts

Ephesians 4:17-20     "This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,  (18)  Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:  (19)  Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.  (20)  But ye have not so learned Christ..." We see Paul (by the inspiration of God) is now changing gears in that to this point, he has written about doctrine and the preaching of the Gospel. Now he turns to the application of the Word of God in our lives. He speaks to the Ephesians, and to us, that "ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind." It is easy sometimes to read right over a word and think that you know what it means when in reality it goes much deeper than a surface meaning. Pa...

Matthew 6:5-8     " And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.  But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.  But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.  Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him."  In yesterday’s lesson, we were instructed to do good deeds in a manner that gives honor to God. Today, we see that we are to pray in that same manner. Just like doing good deeds, praying in a manner that we think will impress others is not truly prayer. It becomes self-serving and hypocrit...

Ephesians 4:11-16     "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;  (12)  For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:  (13)  Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:  (14)  That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;  (15)  But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:  (16)  From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself ...

Matthew 6:1-4     " Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.  Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.  But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:  That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly."   Let me begin by reminding us all that Jesus is still addressing His disciples. This is still within His discourse that we call the Sermon on the Mount. He lays out what true blessings look like. He gives us a spiritual aspect to the keeping of the law. He gives us instruction on how, as His disciples, our behavior and attitude should differ from others. Here we are instructed to pay attention to the manne...

Ephesians 4:7-10     "But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.  (8)  Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.  (9)  (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?  (10)  He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)" "He led captivity captive." We were held in the clutches of sin and could not free ourselves. Let me quote the Apostle Paul in the Roman letter. "For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter." (Romans 7:5-6)  We saw in Ephesians 2, those beautiful words "But God..." N...

Matthew 5:46-48     " For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?  And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?  Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." As we consider these verses of scripture this morning, one thing stood out to me in a way that it had not before. When Jesus asked the question, “what do ye more than others?” there is an implied expectation of those who are His disciples. Remember that He is still addressing His disciples from the mount. The implication is that we should do more (love better) than those who do not follow Him. The publicans of Jesus’s day were tax collectors. In that day, being a tax collector was a license to steal. You had to collect whatever the government required, and then you could extort an extra amount to put in your pocket. These men were despised by the public. However, there was ...

Ephesians 4:1-3     "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,  (2)  With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;  (3)  Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." "Walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called." Walk worthy. How many times do we think about those two words? The first three chapters speak of God's grace and mercy that has been bestowed upon us. We are reminded of the shed blood of Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit in applying that blood of redemption to our lives. In Chapter 3, we are reminded that we are part of the family of God. As I typed those words just now, I could hear our father saying to me, "Remember who you are." He was telling me that my actions reflect, not only on me, but all my family. Remember who you belong to. God, our Heavenly Father, says to us, "Walk worthy of ...

Matthew 5:43-45     " Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;  That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."   Some of the things we have heard said seem to make good sense to the natural mind. It seems perfectly logical to love those that are close to us (either spatially or in feeling). We often go through life without giving much thought to people in other states or on other continents. We can easily develop a strong and active dislike for those who we perceive as having wronged us in some way. The thing that is not so easy for us is to love those that are enemies. They may stand against us physically, morally, social...

Introduction   This article will begin a brief series of messages from the letter of Philemon. If you need some help finding Philemon, that may be because it is a short book. It is the shortest work from the Apostle Paul that we have in Scripture. Philemon is situated between Titus and Hebrews. It may be easiest for you to start in Revelation and begin turning back toward the middle. It is easy to flip past Philemon. There are no chapter divisions, and there are only twenty-five verses. Most of you could read the whole thing in just few minutes. There are some Greek names that are not so easy to pronounce, but otherwise this letter is rather simple and straight forward.  This book of Philemon is a personal epistle. Philemon is a personal letter from the Apostle Paul. We must understand that this letter is addressing us through a specific, narrow appeal.  If you have read Philemon, or heard messages from this letter, you may recall that it centers around a run away slave b...

Matthew 5:38-42     " Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:  But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.  And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.  And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.  Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away."  One thing should be abundantly clear to us by now. We need to be careful about acting on things or forming opinions because of what we have heard someone say. Regardless of what we have heard, we need to look to the Lord to guide us in our actions and reactions. If our behavior is contrary to God’s word, it does not matter who else may sanction our course. I remember years ago a situation arising that really upset a younger me. It made me incredibly angry at the time. My...

Ephesians 3:20-21     "Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,  (21)  Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." We love these verses, don't we? God is able to do EXCEEDING ABUNDANTLY above all that we ask or think.  Wow! We love these verses, but do we believe them? More than that, do we believe that God is not only able, but that HE WILL do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think? You might say, "Steve, of course I believe that." And I would tell you the same thing. But why then do I battle with valley experiences of dejection and unforgiveness? Why do I have trouble believing that God has forgiven me of all my sins? Why do I battle those imaginative thoughts that come crashing into my brain? Why do I lack sufficiency? Rather, why do I feel like I lack sufficiency? Did not God promise to provide all our ne...

Matthew 5:33-37     " Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:   But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:   Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.   Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.   But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil."   As I read these verses again this morning, I thought of a few passages in the Old Testament. Deuteronomy 23:21 tells us if we make a vow to the LORD, He will surely require that fulfillment of that vow. If we fail to keep the vow, it is sin in us. Ecclesiastes 5:5 tells us it is better to not make a vow than to make a vow and not keep it. In Jonah 2:9, we find him declaring that he would pay his vow unto t...

Ephesians 3:14-19     "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,  (15)  Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,  (16)  That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;  (17)  That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,  (18)  May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;  (19)  And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." Here we find Paul's second prayer for the Ephesians. Both prayers contain his request for God's people to know Christ and the power that is within us through the Holy Spirit. In Chapter 1, Paul prayed that we would know that power and here he is praying that we would know the love of Christ which is the source of that power....

Matthew 5:31-32     " It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:  But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery."   I realize there are varying interpretations of divorcement and what comprises the grounds for it. It is an emotionally charged situation filled with heartache, sorrow, and anger. Whatever your view, one thing is clear by Jesus’s words here. Divorcement is not simply a legal proceeding to afford people an “easy way out.” Jesus tells us that there is no reason for putting away of the wife except for fornication. Fornication is defined in a variety of ways. One definition is sexual activity between unmarried parties, while another definition is sexual activity between two people not married to each other. The Greek word for fornication is also the...

Ephesians 3:8-13     "Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;  (9)  And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:  (10)  To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,  (11)  According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:  (12)  In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.  (13)  Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory." "That's too hard! I can't do that! There's not enough of us to be able to do that. Somebody else needs to do that."  How many times have we heard that, or maybe even been guilty of saying it or ...

Matthew 5:27-30     " Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:  But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.  And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.  And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell." Jesus continues to teach His disciples from the mountain. In earlier verses, He begins by telling us about the many ways in which we are blessed and what the fruit of those blessings is. He then begins to address man’s idea of righteousness as opposed to God’s idea of righteousness. The kingdom life is found in understanding and seeking the st...

Ephesians 3:1-7    "For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,  (2)  If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:  (3)  How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,  (4)  Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)  (5)  Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;  (6)  That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:  (7)  Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power." I used seven verses this morning because that is one complete sentence. Paul wrote long sentences. Just a side note here - I never thought 4th grade diagramming sentenc...

Matthew 5:21-24     " Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:  But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.  Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;  Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift."   Remember that the words we are reading were spoken by Jesus to His disciples. As His followers, we are held to a higher standard than simply what is acceptable from a legal standpoint. Jesus had just declared that our righteousness must exceed that of the lawyers and the self-righteous (Matthew 5:20). ...

Ephesians 2:18-22    "For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. (19) Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; (20) And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; (21) In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: (22) In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." Notice something that has been consistent since the first verse of the first chapter? That's right - everything is centered on and focused upon JESUS! He has preeminence in all matters concerning our Heavenly Father and heavenly matters. He is our redemption. He is our salvation. He is our forgiveness. We are accepted by God through the work of Jesus Christ. He is our peace. He is our resurrection. He is our strength. He is our everything. It is through Hom, and only...

Matthew 5:17-20    " Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.  For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.  Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." Romans 10:4 tells us that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes. The Greek word translated as “end” is defined by Strong’s as “the conclusion of an act or state.” Jesus tells us in our verses today that He is the conclusion of the state of the law and the prophets. He ...

Ephesians 2:11-17    "Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;  (12)  That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:  (13)  But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.  (14)  For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;  (15)  Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;  (16)  And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:  (17)  And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and t...

Matthew 5:13-16     "Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.  Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.  Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." These are the words of Jesus spoken to His disciples. I point that out so that we may clearly understand the audience to whom He was speaking. If we are disciples of Jesus Christ and seek to follow The Way, then these words are for us. These words give us a glimpse of how blessed we are and the responsibility that goes with that blessing. Jesus said we are the salt of the earth. We know from experience that salt contributes ...

Ephesians 2:10    "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." "For we are His workmanship." We are the product of God's planning and performing the work of grace upon our lives. Though that is true, we cannot blame God for our faults and failures. God is not the author of sin; therefore, it is our own doing when we fail to properly perform. I know for a fact anything good that is within me is the direct result of God's working in my life. And all goodness flows from us as the direct result of the finished work of redemption that was performed by our Lord Jesus Christ. And all goodness that flows from us is the direct result of the inward working of the Holy Spirit Who lives within us. So, in order for us to properly perform, we must understand that all power comes from our Heavenly Father. In Philippians 2:12-13, "... work out your own salvation with fear and tremblin...