A Look at the Book #370

The Devotional

Papa “J” and his thoughts?

The one who carries a heavy heart will often make light of it. At face value he or she can be bright and cheerful, but in the darkness of their heart there will be a critical grief. Proverbs 14:13 Guilt is a heavy burden, release it before it destroys you Proverbs 10:12

Charles Wesley wrote: “O for a thousand tongues to sing My great Redeemer's praise, The glories of my God and King, The triumphs of His grace” The song “O for a thousand tongues to sing” like most all of the old hymns has a wonderful message of Truth. Someone might say that messages of truth are reserved for the preacher and the pulpit. Someone else might argue that the old hymns should be retired and new songs be brought forth to carry the messages of the truth. Even another might say that only the Bible is inspired, not the old hymns, so what is the point? Glad you asked! Jesus never changes, Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. I do not know about you, but I find great hope in Hebrews 13:8. In fact; I find great joy in knowing that the grace of God that binds all of the theological doctrines together is also, the defining attribute of God that binds man to the faith of Christ for salvation. Ephesians 2:8-10 explains clearly that grace and faith are provided by God as a gift to everyone who believes. This doctrine then is THE foundational element of God. If it were not, then the theological foundations of the entire bible would crumble. Crumble happens when men, well meaning or not, bend a theology to fit their human agenda to control people. We are living in such a sub-dispensation as this. 1 Peter 3:1-9.

CERTAIN PSALMS OF INTEREST

Psalm 37:5-6 There are days that life really seems to be a struggle. Usually after a spiritual battle where the enemy (Satan) has taken a severe hit there seems to be a lot of opposing things going on in ones life. This is one major reason to pray for one another. When Satan attacks the pastor of a church, his attack affects the whole church and the burden to remove the attack can be very difficult.

Notice that these two verses of scripture focus on trusting God. In the face of danger we might fail to do that because the heavy weight of the attack can seem to be more than one can handle. Pastors who carry the burden of feeding the flock of God have this written on their faces. Evidence of tears, of spiritual struggle, of pain for the lost and a host of other weights that seek to squeeze out the joy of living for Christ.

In the Psalm we see that we are to commit our way to the LORD, literally the word commit means to, “Roll off, or to roll onto” the weight of being responsible for God's saints is very heavy, the pastor needs his disciples, his elders and his deacons to role all of these burdens off their leader and onto the Supremacy of Christ, daily. His Rank, His Authoriy and His Power is the same yesterday, today and forever. Satan stands no chance of victory! This will reinforce trust for the pastor and his congregation, also it will establish righteousness within the flock of God and justice will prevail. The bottom line, God's people will ensure that they are receiving the pure milk of the word. 1 Peter 1:22 through 2 Peter 2:1-3