Saturday, February 28, 2009

ONE WAY

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

I wouldn't even venture to guess how many people have been ticketed going the wrong way on a one way street even after explaining, "But I didn't see the sign."
It is not the policeman's responsibility to point out the sign. It is the responsibility of the motorist to pay attention and know the rules of the road, after all they are for our own benefit and for our safety. The Bible contains the rules of the road for those of us on our way through this life to a home in heaven. If you are trying to get to heaven any other way than through Jesus Christ you are headed the wrong way.
There will be many excuses given. "I was religious", "I was a good person", "I was a church member", "I was baptized", "I was generous," are just a few. None of that matters if you have not gone the right way. Jesus insisted that, "no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." It is only through accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior that you can be going the right way.
Imagine again that policeman on the one-way street as you try to convince him not to give you a ticket. "I don't know why I should get a ticket," you explain, "I have on my seat belt, I gave a signal before I turned in here, I wasn't going over the speed limit, I have not been drinking, I am watching for pedestrians."
The policeman would probably say, "That would all be in your favor if you weren't going the wrong way."
Are you going the right way? There is only one right way and that is Jesus Christ.

Friday, February 27, 2009

GRASSHOPPERS

Numbers 13:33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.

Moses had sent the twelve spies to bring a report of what they found in the promised land. Joshua and Caleb returned and told them that it was just as God said it was, "A land flowing with milk and honey." It was a land of abundance with clusters of grapes that took to men to carry. They were looking for God's promises and they saw that they were true.
The other ten spies were not impressed with the richness of the land. They were afraid of the inhabitants even though God had promised them that he would give them victory over them. They were as grasshoppers in their own eyes.
Because of the report of the ten they had to wander in the wilderness for 40 years and the only two who ever got to inhabit the promised land were Joshua and Caleb.
Many people think of the Promised Land as being representative of heaven but I don't believe it is. I believe it represents the abundant life spoken of in John 10:10. So many of us spend years wandering in the wilderness just because we are afraid of the obstacles to an abundant life. We must bravely go forward to that life in order to posess our possessions.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

NOTHING BUT THIS

2Kings 4:1-2 Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen. (2) And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil.

If you are not familiar with this story in the Bible I reccommend that you look it up and read it.
The woman was in a terrible fix. She was about to lose everything including having her sons sold into slavery. When the prophet asked her what she had it didn't seem like much. Actually it was probably a little container of annointing oil that her husband the prophet had used in his ministry. To her it was just a keepsake, not worth very much monetarily.
She borrowed and collected all the pots she could find and shut herself up with her sons and began to pour oil out of the little pot. The oil never stopped flowing until she ran out of something to receive it in, just as the prophet had told her.
So often when we are in dire straits we think, "I just don't have anything that will help."
Give all of you, and what you have to God and let Him bless it. Let Him multiply it. "Nothing but this" turned out to be a veritable oil well in the widow's kitchen and would still be running if she hadn't run out of room to receive it.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

NO KING

Judges 21:25 In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

The book of Judges is a very turbulent book. The people would turn away from God and wind up in captivity. They would then turn again to God and he would send a Judge to deliver them from their captivity and they would have peace for awhile.
I think the biggest problem was that they forgot who they were really supposed to be serving. Every man did what he thought was right.
It really sounds much like our society today. People are trying to make decisions based upon their own ideas and upon their own feelings. People have elevated themselves to the position of king in their own little domain.
We must never forget that Jesus Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords to the Glory of God the father. It is not what we think or how we feel about something. What matters is what God's Word says about it. When we serve the true King we will serve according to His commands and they can only be found in the Bible.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

TELL THEM

Mark 5:19 Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.

An Ant's Example A man once laid a piece of chocolate candy on a table. Then, picking up an ant, he put it near the delicious bon-bon. He was surprised to see it take a single bite and then hurry off to inform the rest of the colony. Soon the little creature returned, followed by a long train of other ants who enjoyed the treat with him. Many Christians who have tasted that the Lord is good can learn a lesson from that little insect. Having found God's rich supply of grace, they ought to spread the glad tidings to others.(COPIED)

God has been so good to us it is a shame that we fail to share those blessings with others. A person does not have to be a Bible scholar or a great speaker to tell others about Jesus. All we have to do is share how God's grace has enriched our lives. I guess that is much easier to do when we are thankful for all He has done for us.

Monday, February 23, 2009

ONE MORE NIGHT WITH THE FROGS

Exodus 8:9-10 And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Glory over me: when shall I entreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, to destroy the frogs from thee and thy houses, that they may remain in the river only? (10) And he said, To morrow. And he said, Be it according to thy word: that thou mayest know that there is none like unto the LORD our God.

Can you imagine the discomfort of living with frogs everywhere. Reach in the cubbard and there is a frog. Look in the closet and there is a frog.
We are all familiar with the Plague of Frogs that God sent to Egypt. When you first look at it it doesn't seem like it would be that bad but when you really think about it, then it seems awful. One thing that has always puzzled me is when Moses asked Pharoah when he wanted to get rid of the frogs Pharoah said "tomorrow". Why didn't he say right now. Why in the world would Pharoah want to spend one more night with the frogs?
It doesn't make anymore sense for us to ask God to remove an obstacle from our life some day. Why not ask Him to remove it right now? So many times we are almost like Pharoah, we are perfectly willing to spend one more night with the Frogs.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

ROAD CLOSED



1ST Corinthians 16:7-9 For I will not see you now by the way; but I trust to tarry a while with you, if the Lord permit. (8) But I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost. (9) For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries.
Have you ever made plans for your life and just as you thought that you were headed in the right direction you found that the way was closed. Sometimes we think we know exactly what we want to do with our lives and find out that there are roadblocks along the way.
Even as Paul had a desire to go to the people of Corinth he knew that it had to be on the Lord's time and according to His plan. Sometimes God blesses us in the greatest way by not letting us have everything we ask for. He knows what is best for us even if we sometimes get frustrated and impatient.
Paul knew that God did not want him to go to Corinth yet, but he also knew that God had opened a door of service to him right where he was. I think one of the greatest lessons we can learn is that God knows what He is doing when he opens and closes doors or roads or paths in our lives. The important thing is that we learn to do our very best to serve him right where we are.

CHECK YOUR BRAKES

Jas 1:19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
Have you checked your brakes lately. Sometimes we can cause ourself a lot of trouble if we are not able to slow down or stop quickly enough.
One of the things I have noticed when people want counseling or advice is that they are a lot quicker to speak than they are to listen. Sometimes you will be telling them what the Bible says about a certain situation and they will be nodding and you can tell that they are not listening. They are just waiting until you finish so that they can talk. We are to be swift to hear not swift to speak.
Sometimes we need to put the brakes on our speaking. Once you have said something you can not unsay it. Trying to take something back that you have already said is like trying to unshoot a gun, you can't do it and the damage is already done. I could not possibly count the times that I have put my foot in my mouth and wished that I had not said something. It would have been much better if I had put on the brakes and slowed down long enough think through what I was saying.
A man once was staying at a Bed and Breakfast Inn somewhere in rural New England. He sat out on the porch with several guests and the owner of the inn. They just sat in the old rockers and didn't say a word. The man finally asked, "Don't ya'll ever say anything up here?"
The owner of the inn just said, "Not unless we can improve upon the silence."
Another instance where we should put on our brakes is when it comes to our temper. Sometimes we explode like a firecracker and when it is all over we realize we became too angry too fast.Anger very seldom accomplishes anything other than making us feel worse. Maybe if we would be a little slower to get angry we might find that we don't have quite as much to be angry about as we thought we did.
Have you checked your brakes lately?

Saturday, February 21, 2009

MAKING THE RIGHT CHOICES

Jos 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

Sometimes you come to an intersection in life and you have to make a choice. Choices aren't always easy. One of the lessons I learned long ago is that whatever situation I find myself in, whether good or bad, is pretty much the result of my own choices. I often joke and tell people that if I had known I was going to live this long I would have taken better care of myself when I was younger. I say that in a joking way but there is a whole lot of truth in it.
I can look back on my younger days when I made the choice to gratify myself instead of serving the Lord and what I mostly see is lost time and lost blessings. I am not so blind that I don't realize that there are a lot of things beyond our control and we can find ourselves in bad situations that are not of our own making. Even in those times of adversity though we have a choice in how we handle them.
Sometimes I see people and wonder why they choose to live the way they do. I know it is by choice and it seems that everyone around them knows they are making bad choices but they just continue on, usually blaming the world and everyone in it for their bad luck.
I look forward to everyday, for the joy and pleasure it might bring. Sometimes it doesn't work out like I want it to or thought it would but I certainly have a better day when I expect one than when I don't. I choose to enjoy life.
The greatest choice I ever made was the same choice that Joshua made. The choice to accept Jesus Christ and then the choice to serve him.
When you make your choices make sure that you take serving the Lord into consideration.

Friday, February 20, 2009

IT CAME TO PASS

Genesis 8:6 And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:
I can only imagine how Noah and his family were experiencing cabin fever after 40 days. They were shut up in that Ark with all those animals without even a window open. It doesn't take but a few rainy days shut inside with my wife and just one dog that I am about ready to climb the walls so I guess Job wasn't the only one in the Bible with a lot of patience.
It must have seemed like a long time to Noah. Whenever we are going through something frightening or stressful it seems like we may never see sunlight again. I am reminded of a lady who was asked what her favorite Bible verse was. She answered, "Actually it is a part of many verses.. it is a phrase, It Came To Pass. When I see those words I always have hope. Nothing comes to stay, it comes to pass and it will eventually pass."
The phrase occurs 250 times in the Bible, "It came to pass..."
Whether good times or bad remember that it doesn't last. It came to pass.When you are on the Mountain top and enjoying the great blessings of God make sure you don't take it for granted. Enjoy it, cherish it, and be thankful for it, it will pass. When trials and troubles come your way look at them with hope and with faith because this too shall pass.
I agree with the lady, "It came to pass..." fills me with hope.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

BROKEN CISTERNS

Jer 2:13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

Water is a symbol of life, both carnal and eternal. In this verse of scripture God speaks to Israel and declares that they have forsaken Him, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns.
When I was young we had a cistern at our house. I remember that we had gutters to catch the rain running off the tin roof and it would be caught in the cistern, (a big concrete storage tank shaped like a jug). In later years I have come to learn that along with the rain water all the dirt and anything else that might be on the roof was washed into the cistern too. I used to drink that water.
Spiritually people should be just as appalled at what they are depending on to satisfy their needs. Instead of depending on God and drawing from the well withing us, in the person of the Holy Spirit, we are seeking satisfaction from outside sources.
We have forsaken the Word of God in favor of philosophies and political causes. No wonder people are so confused.
We have forsaken miracles in favor of science and technology. There are some things that only God can do for us. No matter how advanced technology is it can not match the majesty and power of our Creator.
We have forsaken moral truths in favor of public opinion. Sin is still sin no matter how many practice it. Wrong is still wrong no matter how convenient it is.
We have stopped depending on God in favor of dependence on the Government. The Government can not care for everyone. We are the government and when we become dependent on it we become enslaved by it.
People have forsaken Jesus in favor of humanism and so many other isms.
Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none OTHER NAME under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
(This is a rerun of an older post. I thought I had enough already uploaded to make the week but I guess I made a mistake.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

WHOSE FAULT IS IT

John 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

A preacher and an atheistic barber were once walking through the rough part of the city. The barber remarked, "This is why I cannot believe in a God of love. If God was as kind as you say, He would not permit all this poverty, disease, and crime. He would not allow these poor bums to be addicted to dope, alcohol and other destructive habits. No I cannot believe in a God who permits these things." The minister was silent until they met a man who was especially unkempt and filthy. His hair was hanging down his back and he had not shaved in weeks. The minister said,"You must not be a very good barber or you wouldn't permit a man like that to continue living in this neighborhood without a haircut or shave." The barber became indignant, "Why are you blaming me for that man's condition. He has never come to my shop; I could fix him up and make him look like a gentleman if he would just come to me." The preacher gave the man a hard look and said, "Then don't blame God for allowing these people to continue in their evil ways. He is constantly inviting them to come and be saved. The reason these people are slaves to sin and evil habits is that they refuse the One who died to save and deliver them." The barber got the point, "Do you?" (copied)
God is always ready and always waiting to receive those who would come to Him. Too often they would rather stay in the darkness than come to the light.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

GOOD WORDS

Proverbs 15:23 A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it!

It is amazing how much joy you can bring to someone by saying the right thing at the right time. Sometimes just asking someone about a specific trouble they have had or problem will let them know you are concerned and it helps them to bear their burdens.
Sometimes a compliment will bring a smile to someone's face that will make their entire day go better.

The opposite is true also. I encountered a particularly uncooperative public official this week and I was talking to someone in another county who held the same elected office about the situation. He said something that made a lot of sense, "I'm new in this position so I don't know a lot of things but I know it doesn't cost me anything to be nice. That's the easiest part of my job" I thought maybe he should have a seminar to teach that to some of the more experienced people in his position.

We are living in difficult times. People are nervous about the future and the news always seem to be bad. The season is due for a few good words. Let's share them with others and try to help them have a better day.

Monday, February 16, 2009

NO MORE

Revelation 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

There are some things that it seems like you can never have enough of. Friends, good times, blessings are just a few I can name. I might throw in ice cream and a few other goodies too. There are some things that I have had plenty of and would just as soon not have any more.
I have seen sorrow in the hearts of others and felt the tears of loss enough in my life that I look forward to the time when God shall wipe away my tears for the last time. I have knelt by the graves of friends as I grasped for the right words to ask God to comfort their family and friends as well myself as we said our final goodbyes. I look forward to the time when there will be no more death.
I have known sorrow and crying enough to last the rest of my life, however long that might be. I've had pain and ministered to others in pain that I could not even imagine, both physical and mental anguish that is just as real and I can only imagine a time and place where there will be no more pain.
There is such a place and all the former things that have hurt us will pass away because God has a place for us that is free of sin. It certainly is exciting to think about that place and it should put a longing in our heart to be there, with our Creator and our Savior.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

PRAY WITHOUT CEASING

1st Thessolonians 5:17 Pray without ceasing. (18) In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

I noticed the sign by a gas station. Now you have to pay for air for your tires from these stations. There was a time when places that sold gas were called service stations and they lived up to the name. You could pull up to the gas pumps, and at least one person and sometimes several would come out to your car and pump your gas, clean your windshield and check the air pressure in your tires. If you needed air it was free.
It is still a little hard for me to accept the fact that people charge you for air. I know that air is precious. Without air we would suffocate and die.
This is not news to you. It is something that everyone knows. You have to breathe to stay alive. Did you ever think about what it takes to stay alive spiritually. Prayer to the spirit is like air to the body. When we fail to pray we fail begin to suffocate spiritually.
One of the worst memories I have is of having congestive heart failure and having to struggle to breath. Even though I was pretty well sedated I can remember the struggle and having to fight for every breath. It was a truly miserable feeling. I have also had times in my spiritual life where I had to struggle to pray. They were times when I had let my prayer life falter and was not as close to God as I should have been. I wanted to pray, I needed to pray, but I had to force myself to pray. It was even a more terrible experience than the congestive heart failure.
Prayer is something that comes much easier if we do it continuously. Sometimes we might not know how to pray or what to pray for but I think it is important for us to pray. We certainly want to breathe without ceasing, so we should want to pray without ceasing. And God doesn't charge us for either the air, or the prayer.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

BEWARE

(For awhile on weekends we will be posting some devotionals from the archives (re-runs). It is good to be reminded of things from time to time. This will also allow us to at least put something up every day.)

Lu 12:15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and BEWARE of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

Beware, or be aware, mean the same thing. When I was a young boy, (many, many years ago) we had someone from the railroad come and talk to the class about Railroad Crossing Safety. He said that there were three things we should always do, Stop, Look and Listen. That has always stuck with me. I never race trains at railroad crossings because a tie is still a loss.
There are things in life that can cause us as much spiritual damage as a fast train. In the verse of scripture above Jesus told us to beware of covetousness. I am sure we have all been guilty of seeing someone with something and wishing it was ours instead of theirs, after all, don't we deserve it as much or more than they do? If we are completely honest with ourselves we would have to admit that God has truly blessed us materially with more than we deserve.
Life seems to be an accumulation of things, of materials, of posessions. We seem to measure our success in life on how much stuff we can accumulate. I am beginning to learn that the more stuff I have, the more I have to maintain and keep up. If we invest our lives in others and in serving the Lord we can are truly rich beyond measure.
A group of men were talking at a party once when a very prominent and wealthy man entered the room. One of the men mentioned wealthy he was and how industrious he was and that he just kept getting richer all the time. One of the men commented that he had something that the rich man would probably never have. The men in the group looked at him questionably and he smiled and said, "I have enough."
The greatest wealth in the world is being thankful for the blessings we have. Stop and think about how God has blessed you. Look to Him to supply your needs according to His riches in Glory. Listen to His word and His promises concerning the blessings that are yet to come that we can not even imagine.

Friday, February 13, 2009

ASK DIRECTIONS

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.(6) In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.


Some people don't like to ask directions and some people don't like to give directions. If you are on a trip and looking for some place explicit you are more likely to find it if you ask directions. When you ask directions you are better off if a person will just admit they don't know either than if they just act like they know where the place you are looking for is.
I once read of a man who stopped and asked a farmer "How far is it to (a certain city)?" The farmer looked at him and said, "In the direction your going I'd say about 25,000 miles." He was just like we are sometimes, going in the wrong direction."
Directions are not that hard now with the OnStar and other GPS instruments that you can put in a vehicle. You can just put in the destination and it gives you step by step directions.
In our spiritual walk we sometimes get turned around and are going completely in the wrong direction, or almost as bad we wander aimlessly. That is when we need to stop and ask directions. God knows when we are wandering and he will let us know by convicting us with His Spirit but when He does I believe He wants us to stop and ask Him for directions. He wants to direct our path.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

SOMEONE TO TALK TO

bY Jeremy Burkes

1John 4:11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

I saw a sign on the wall where I work that read:"Hello this is God. I will be handling all your problems today, and I will not need any help from you."
All of us have problems from time to time. Our friends and co-workers have problems too. When someone comes to us to talk about a problem ,many times we are too busy to listen. We make up excuses. We suddenly have somewhere to go or something we need to be doing. That's not being much of a friend. We need to remember that sometimes it is us who needs a friend.
Make an extra effort to listen to the problems of others. After you listen to their problem, keep it between the two of you. Everyone doesn't need to know everything.
Whether it is your problem or a friends you should take it to God first. He can give you wisdom to deal with your own problems or to help a friend with theirs. Remember that sometimes we all need a friend to talk to.
Another thing to remember is that God doesn't need our help. We need his.Listen to your friends and talk to your friends. You never can tell, you might be going through some of the same things.
Hopefully we will be back on our regular schedule of posting a devotional Monday through Friday. Thanks for all your prayers and concern the past couple of weeks.

Monday, February 9, 2009

GREAT INVESTMENTS

Joel 1:3 Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.
One of the greatest joys I have known in my life is teaching. I am not talking about standing before a class and giving a lecture, actually I'm probably not very good at that. I am talking about taking someone who is eager to learn about something I know and teaching them everything I can.
I think many older people miss a lot by not sharing their knowledge with those younger or less experienced. It can come as a kind of shock. I was at a pastor's retreat once and was sitting at a table with a lot of young preachers. I really just thought we were fellowshiping and carrying on a conversation when one of them said, "I hope you know how much we appreciate you older preachers taking time to share your experience with us." It was then that I realized two things. The first was that I was now one of the older preachers. The second was that the young are eager for someone to take an interest in them and help them along.
It doesn't have to be ministry related. If you have a skill or a talent you can share your knowledge and experience and it will mean a lot to someone. Teaching a child to fish is a great experience for both the teacher and the pupil. It opens the doors to share your spiritual experiences.
My grandson has been watching me do some drawing and illustrating and he borrows my pads, pencils and art books. (He can go through a $4 sketch pad in about an hour. I have started letting him use copy paper most of the time.) It thrills me that he is interested and I bought him a beginners book on drawing. Having something that we share an interest in is wonderful and it will give us time together to share spiritual things as well.
Find someone and share your knowledge with them. It is one of the best investments you will ever make.
Just a note to thank everyone for your prayers. I am doing well and hope to be back on a regular posting schedule on Thursday Feb. 12.

Monday, February 2, 2009

ALL THINGS

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

This is a difficult verse but it is one that I have depended on to get me over the rough spots of my life. It is a verse that you have to believe applies to the things in your own life before you really can sincerely share it with someone else going through a bad time.

Some years ago my daughter was in a head on collision and was in the hospital and I still wasn't sure exactly what her condition was. It happened on a Saturday afternoon and while still waiting to find out exactly how serious it was I preached a sermon from this verse. I had shared it with others when they were going through extreme difficulty and I felt if I really belived it (and I do) I had to preach it when it applied to me too. Thankfully my daughter recovered from the accident but I feel that I grew in faith as I depended on the Lord to get us through.

There have been many illnesses and difficulties in my life but I know that all things (not some things) work together for good to them that love God.That certainly must be true because life is really good.

There might be a break int the posting of these devotionals for awhile. I will be having surgery sometime soon (I should find out when tomorrow) and I haven't been able to make arrangements for anyone to upload my devotionals. Please keep checking and I will have them posted when I can, as often as I can. Thank you for your prayers and patience.