Category Archives: Devos

Oct 01 2016
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Devos

A suggestion: Follow warnings with expressed confidence

I’m sure you’ve experienced it sometime in your life… Someone gives you a warning or a rebuke and follows it up with, “but I am confident you’ll do what is right and won’t let that happen to you!” There it is – A warning or rebuke followed up by expressed confidence and yet a word of caution.
In my Bible reading this morning I came across a passage in Hebrews that does just that… The writer of Hebrews gives a serious, straightforward, even severe warning to those he is writing to (and contrary to some interpreters of Scripture, it is NOT simply rhetorical!)…
He warned them, “It is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.” The point? You turn your back on Jesus and there is no hope for you!
But then he expresses confidence in them, but adds just a word of caution…
“Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” (From Hebrews 6:9-12)
Two things came to mind as I read that passage this morning…
First, whenever I have to deal with a person or situation in a direct manner as a leader (or parent), I want to follow the example of the writer of Hebrews – follow it up with a sincere expression of confidence (but also with just a word of caution).
But secondly, in my walk with the Lord, I never want to presume on my salvation! The writer of Hebrews warning is to be taken seriously! But also the confidence that he expressed in these believers (with just an added word of caution). Hey, in this Christian journey, I want to be “all in – all the way!”
Sep 30 2016
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Devos

Becoming “a man (or woman) of God!”

elisha

This morning my Bible reading included II Kings 4… One miraculous event after another in quick succession through the ministry of Elisha!  And it starts in the chapters preceding chapter 4 and continues in the chapters following!  Bam!  Bam! Bam!  Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!  One incredible miracle after another!  Wow!!!

But what really caught my eye this morning – beyond simply the miracles – was how the Bible refers to Elisha…  He’s called “the man of God.”  In chapter 4 alone he’s referred to in that way eleven times (and then there are the chapters before and after where he is referred to that way)!  Now, my Roman Catholic friends would refer to a guy like that as a “saint!”  We Pentecostals would talk of him in terms of “signs and wonders”… The Bible’s terminology is better, I think:  “Man of God!”

I gotta tell you, I want to be “a man of God!”  So I jotted down a few characteristics of the “man of God” – Elisha, in my journal.  Here they are…

  • He knew God personally
  • He heard from God
  • He was God’s agent with a unique, special anointing
  • He acted along with – in cooperation with – God
  • He spoke God’s will

I’ve gotta tell you, I don’t believe it’s gender specific either!  It’s possible to be “a woman of God!” Here’s what the Bible says…

“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.  Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit!”  (Joel 2:28-29)

Shall I say it one more time?  OH, I WANT TO BE KNOWN AS “A MAN OF GOD!”

Sep 29 2016
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Devos

He left us with more than a cell phone and a credit card!

off-to-college

Every parent with a child headed off to college knows the feeling… You rejoiced at the birth of a wonderful baby; you nurtured, provided, protected, and most of all loved them. You cried when they entered kindergarten and elementary school. Then it was high school and graduation. But you really felt it when “your baby” left for college! You prayed a lot, cried a lot, and then you did what you felt you had to do in order to protect and provide for them… you sent them off with a cell phone and a credit card (and instructions)!

Well, when Jesus left us and returned to heaven, he left us with more than just a “cell phone and a credit card (and instructions)”… He left us with the continual, abiding presence of the Holy Spirit (“the Helper”) and the privilege of prayer “in His Name!” I read about it this morning during “coffee with the Lord” and rejoiced!!! Here’s what He said…

“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you… I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper to be with you forever! … I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you!” (From John 14:15-18)

“I tell you the truth: It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you…

“So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. In that day you will ask nothing of me! Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, He will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask and you will receive, that your joy may be full!” (From John 15:5-24)

And my friend, I’m telling you, that’s better than “a cell phone and a credit card!”

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