Devotional Thoughts

"In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him” (Acts 10:34, 35). These words were written by Luke as he witnessed the encounter of Peter with Cornelius. You might recall that in this event in Acts chapter 10, is the fulfilling of the commandment given by Jesus before his ascension into heaven. He said, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8,).  Notice, the emphasis is on “fulfilling.” It is not “fulfilled.” That is, the work of evangelism is a work that shall never end while time continues on. More about this later. But here in the Judean city of Caesarea is a Gentile man who “fears God; a man of prayer and also of great charitable works (10:2). He was also a man lacking in the one thing that would make him truly and finally accepted...

Exodus 20:22-26    "And the LORD said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold. An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon."   Just as coming into God’s presence is always “going up” for us, we realize that the LORD’s word comes from above. Whether they come with of chastisement or joy, we know that we have encountered something lofty and high. There is nothing in this world that deserves to stand b...

Exodus 20:18-21     "And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was."   It is impossible to understand anything about the depths of God’s love until we have a glimpse of His righteous power. Conversely, it may be difficult for us to imagine that God could possibly love us when we are first blessed to see His righteous power. Once we have been made to see our sinful nature, God’s righteous law and judgement is like seeing thunderings, lightnings, the smoking mountain, and hearing the noise of the trumpet. It is a fe...

Isaiah 40:13-14      "Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him?  (14)  With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding?" There have been many times when I would begin a project and have to restart it more than once. The problem was that I did not think that project through all the way to the end. Something would present itself as an obstacle, or I would forget to place a screw in the right place, only to have to remove some part and begin again. I admit that I am not the very best at following instructions. I like to look at the picture of the finished project and then hope mine looks like that when I get finished. But then there is the problem of it working correctly once I have finished it. What does that have to do with today's verses of Scripture? I have admitted my fallacy of being able to put things toge...

Exodus 20:13-17     "Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's."   It has been said that the first four commandments (Exodus 20:1-11) deal with how we relate to God and the last six (including verse 12) deal with how relate to each other. However, we need to be careful about taking this distinction too literally. Remember that Jesus taught us that the treatment we show to the least of His we have done unto Him. The LORD our God is the author of all these commandments. We are often quick to point out things we have not done. We say we have never killed anybody, but have we ever been guilty of hating our brother (1John 3:15)? We say that we have never committed adultery, but have we ever fo...

Isaiah 40:9-11     "O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!  (10)  Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.  (11)  He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young." We used these verses recently, but there is something about them that warrants our further attention. "Behold your God!"  How does that statement hit us this morning? Do we ever take time to just simply behold our God? What does it mean to behold? Years ago, I was a meter reader. I often would turn into a driveway and see a sign that said, "Beware of dog!"  Sometimes the sign would be there, but no ...