Category Archives: Devos

Apr 30 2016
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Devos

Problems! Predicaments! Panic! – Prayer! Provision! Praise!

Problems! Predicaments! Panic! Prayer! Provision! Praise!

 
That’s what Psalm 69 is filled with! If you’ve experienced any of those things (and usually in that order) … Or if you’re only somewhere in the first three… Psalm 69 is a worthy read! More than that, it provides a worthy paradigm for our movement from the first three toward the last three items! My advice? Give it a try! Here is some of what it says…
 
“Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God… O God, you know my folly; the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you! Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me, O Lord GOD of hosts; let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me, O God of Israel! … But as for me, my prayer is to you, O LORD. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness. Deliver me from sinking in the mire; let me be delivered from my enemies and from the deep waters. Let not the flood sweep over me, or the deep swallow me up, or the pit close its mouth over me. Answer me, O LORD, for your steadfast love is good; according to your abundant mercy, turn to me! Hide not your face from your servant; for I am in distress; make haste to answer me! … But I am afflicted and in pain; let your salvation, O God, set me on high! I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving… When the humble see it they will be glad; you who seek God, let your hearts revive. For the LORD hears the needy and does not despise his own people who are prisoners. Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and everything that moves in them.” (From Psalm 69 ESV)
Apr 29 2016
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Devos

One day, not far off, I’m moving… From an old tent to my heavenly home!

Thinking about heaven this morning as an “earthly pilgrim” – my “heavenly home” one day, not far off… Going to be amazing!

I read these wonderful words about heaven from 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 this morning during my time of “Coffee with the Lord”…
 
“For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling… so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please Him.”
 
So “this old tent” has some years on it… Some aches and pains, got to take a medication or two to deal with some physical issues, knees ache a little from yesterday’s run, wear glasses to read my Bible… Don’t know how you feel today… But enough talk about “the old tent!” Praise the Lord, I’m looking forward to “the building from God – a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens – my heavenly dwelling!” In the meantime? Because of Jesus I have “good courage!” Gonna, “walk by faith, not by sight!” And my aim? “to please Him!”
 
How does the old gospel song put it?
 
“My Father is rich in houses and lands,
He holdeth the wealth of the world in His hands!
Of rubies and diamonds, of silver and gold,
His coffers are full, He has riches untold.
 
“A tent or a cottage, why should I care?
They’re building a palace for me over there;
Though exiled from home, yet still may I sing:
All glory to God, I’m a child of the King.
 
Refrain
 
“I’m a child of the King,
A child of the King:
With Jesus my Savior,
I’m a child of the King!”
 
–Harriet E. Buell, 1877
 
Yup, thinking about heaven – my heavenly home – this morning!
Apr 28 2016
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Devos

Oh the power of the Gospel! It can transform any life… even that of Ephraim Robert Bartel!

Ronan Assmbly Early YearsOh the power of the Gospel to transform lives! Right now, a flood of names are running through my mind, lives that have been revolutionized – dramatically changed – through the message of the Gospel! One such name I was reminded of this morning was my own grandfather, Ephraim Robert Bartel, a German immigrant, known for being “a hard man” – hard, mean, demanding to his wife, his children and others who knew him. I’ve heard the stories – my father shared some of them with me, there were rumors in our community, my aunt struggled to forgive him… But one day he responded to the gospel and my pastor as a boy, Leon Mitchell, testified, “I’ve never seen such a dramatic change in a person’s life!” From “hard” to tender, from scowling and frightening to children to kind and generous with them! What a change! (See the picture of Ronan Assembly of God with Grandpa Bartel, after his conversion, circled… There are some Bartel boys in the picture too. :-))

No wonder Apostle Paul exclaimed in Romans 1, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to EVERYONE who believes!” (1:16)

That powerful message – the message of God’s provision to forgive our sins and transform our lives through what Jesus accomplished through His death on the cross and His resurrection – must be treated with integrity! It must never be compromised, distorted or diluted! In fact, this morning I read a passage that emphasized precisely that point… Here’s what the Apostle Paul said about His personal ethics and integrity in sharing the Gospel…

“Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. We have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways! We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled (or hidden), it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world (Satan) has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness!” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (From 2 Corinthians 4:1–6 ESV)

So this morning after reading that passage – and reflecting on it’s truth – I found myself saying, “Oh Lord, may what Apostle Paul had to say personally always be true of me! May I always communicate and share the Gospel with integrity!” I have to admit, I also felt concern for those who claim to share the Gospel but distort it, dilute it, compromise it, and use it for personal advantage! Shame on anyone who does that – God, Himself will hold them accountable!

Oh the power of the gospel! The same power and Person who spoke light into existence at creation, through the Gospel speaks “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God” into the lives of people today and they are TRANSFORMED! A “new creation” in Christ Jesus – “the old has passed away – behold the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17) Oh the power of the Gospel!

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