SING PRAISES FOREVER

Psalm 61:8 So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever, that I may daily perform my vows.

This is a tough one.  I will sing praises unto His name forever. 

 Singing praises in church while you are surrounded by other Christians is not very hard at all.  Singing them in the car with your family as you ride along the interstate is not so hard either.

It is a lot harder to sing them while you are having a bad day at work, a family squabble, financial trouble or when you are attacked by Satan.  These are the times we really do need to praise God.  Life is sometimes hard on us.  Situations are sometimes not pleasant.  The task before us is sometimes greater than we think we can handle.  The one thing in our lives that is constant is God.  He is always worthy of our praise.

If we praise God then and only then can we really fulfil His purpose in our lives.

Praise Him...He is always the same and He is full of love and grace for those who accept His Son.

Please feel free to contact me by email at

shilohkosciusko@gmail.com with questions, comments or even suggestions for further devotional studies.

If you know of someone new to the Kosciusko area and would like for our church to visit them please let us know.  Our prayers are that this devotional ministry will be an outreach to bring people into a closer relationship with Jesus.  I do appreciate you taking the time to read these devotionals and please keep us in your prayers.

HEAR MY CRY

Psalm 61:1 To the chief Musician upon Neginah, A Psalm of David. Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer.

I'll admit it, I'm a grown man and sometimes I cry.  I don't mean just when I raise up too fast in a low place and bump my head on a two by four. (Although I have shed a few tears then too.)  Sometimes I cry at the loss of a loved one, or over the condition of someone.  Sometimes I cry because I have been hurt or because I have been misunderstood.  Sometimes and not often enough I cry because I have sinned and am convicted of it.

There are times when I want God to hear my cry and there are times when I hope He doesn't (though I know there are never times when He doesn't).  In any case I should not just be crying to make others feel worse or to make myself feel better.  I should be crying out to God to help me, to teach me, and to guide me.

Many times we should continue to pray until we know that God has attended to our prayer.  I would love to be able to tell you when that is but sometimes I am not sure myself.  I do know that when my prayers have been answered, when my hurt has been healed, God sends me peace and assurance of His continued presence.

Please feel free to contact me by email at

shilohkosciusko@gmail.com with questions, comments or even suggestions for further devotional studies.

If you know of someone new to the Kosciusko area and would like for our church to visit them please let us know.  Our prayers are that this devotional ministry will be an outreach to bring people into a closer relationship with Jesus.  I do appreciate you taking the time to read these devotionals and please keep us in your prayers.

FIGHT OR FLEE

Psalm 31:3 For thou art my rock and my FORTRESS; therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me.

Most animals have God given instincts to either fight or flee when they are in danger.  An animal such as a bobcat will fight when it is cornered.  Most animals will fight if they can't flee but some don't have the ability to do much fighting.

Thankfully most of them have the instincts to do whichever is most suitable for the situation.

We were almost home today, when we saw a deer standing by the fence.  My wife was driving and was afraid that it would panic and run out into the road in front of her and stop.  The deer turned and ran and right behind it we saw the smallest fawn we had ever seen running behind the mother.  It only ran about twenty yards and fell and just lay there.  The mother stopped but then took off again.  My wife had stopped the vehicle by this time and we watched and as the doe kept running I told my wife, "Hurry and drive off so that the mother doesn't keep running."

I  knew the mother would return but I didn't want it to have to run any farther before finding it's way back.  Neither of the deer were ever in any danger from us but their instincts caused them to flee.

God did not give us such instincts. He gave us understanding and the ability to reason.  Sometimes we have to reason whether to flee from danger or stand and face it.  When it comes to sin we must always fear it as the doe feared us. Just as deer do not mix well with people, Christians do not mix well with sin.  We need to flee to God, or rock and our fortress and know that he will protect us eternally from danger.

Please feel free to contact me by email at

shilohkosciusko@gmail.com with questions, comments or even suggestions for further devotional studies.

If you know of someone new to the Kosciusko area and would like for our church to visit them please let us know.  Our prayers are that this devotional ministry will be an outreach to bring people into a closer relationship with Jesus.  I do appreciate you taking the time to read these devotionals and please keep us in your prayers.

LAYING ASIDE MALICE

1st Peter 2:1 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,

Sometimes we read words in the Bible and we just casually pass them by without ever looking at them closely and examining them.  The word malice basicly means holding a grudge or wishing someone bad fortune.

When Peter wrote this verse it preceded:

1 Peter 2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.

Before we can grow spiritually we need to get rid of some things that hinder us.  Malice might just be one of the most destructive.

The word malice comes from the same root word as malignant.  When we wish ill toward others it is like a cancer to us spiritually just like a malignancy is to the body.  It will eat away at our spirituality.

Lay aside any ill feelings you have toward others.  You will be pleasantly surprised at how you will begin to grow in grace.

BE A PROMOTER

Romans 14:19 Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may EDIFY another.

 

STRONG'S CONCORDANCE defines the word edify as the act of one who promotes another's growth in Christian wisdom, piety, happiness, holiness.

            Someone once said that in society there are two types of people, the builders and the wreckers.  That is also true in the Church and the Christian community.  The wreckers are the ones who criticize, complain, and become barriers to those who are trying to accomplish something.

            Wouldn't it be much better to be a builder.  One critical or insulting remark can wreck a persons day, disrupt a meeting, break up a friendship, and alienate people.  It is certainly true that everyone doesn't always do things the way we would like them too.  Without a doubt most of us can stand a lot of improvement.  It is hard to improve something by tearing it down.

            If you are looking for ways to build up yourself and to grow in your Christian life why not start by building up someone else.  Share a blessing with a friend.  Compliment someone who is not expecting one from you.  Let someone know how much you admire something about them.  Encourage someone who is trying something new or difficult.

            You will be surprised how much difference it will make in your own life.  You will be more positive.  You will gain strength from those you strengthen.  You will feel better when you build someone else up.  Let us edify one another.           

DELIVERED ME FROM FEARS

DELIVERED ME FROM FEARS

 Psalms 34:4 I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

I can remember that as a young boy I used to fear going to sleep at night and dying in my sleep.  The child's prayer that had the line "If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take" was a frightening choice of words to me. Because of sin somehow I realized that if God took my soul in my sleep that it would be so rotten that he would cast it away.

I never shared those fears with anyone.  I didn't want anyone to know how worthless I really was.  I was the only one in the world who really knew me and I think I even fooled myself sometimes.

When I finally realized that there was nothing I could do about it on my own I gave my worthless soul to Jesus and trusted Him to do what I could not.  "He washed it white as snow."

At that time God delivered me from the terrible fear of what He would do with my soul.  He cleaned it up and made it worthy of spending eternity with Him.  That is something I could have never done myself.  Only Jesus can do that.

Rescue The Perishing

RESCUE THE PERISHING

            An artist, seeking to depict on canvas the meaning of evangelism, painted a storm at sea. Black clouds filled the sky. Illuminated by a flash of lightning, a little boat could be seen disintegrating under the pounding of the ocean. Men were struggling in the swirling waters, their anguished faces crying out for help. The only glimmer of hope appeared in the foreground of the painting, where a large rock protruded out of the water. There, clutching desperately with both hands, was one lone seaman.

            It was a moving scene. Looking at the painting, one could see in the tempest a symbol of mankind's hopeless condition. And, true to the Gospel, the only hope of salvation was "the Rock of Ages", a shelter in the time of storm.

            But as the artist reflected upon his work, he realized that the painting did not accurately portray his subject. So he discarded the canvas, and painted another. It was very similar to the first: the black clouds, the flashing lightning, the angry waters, the little boat crushed by the pounding waves, and the crew vainly struggling in the water. In the foreground the seaman was clutching the large rock for salvation. But the artist made one change: the survivor was holding on with only one hand, and with the other hand he was reaching down to pull up a drowning friend.

            That is the New Testament picture of evangelism--that hand reaching down to rescue the perishing. Until that hand is extended, there is no Gospel--and there is no hope for the world. (Copied)

We should take some of our Christian Hymns seriously. "Rescue the perishing, care for the dying, Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save."