The Devotional – 1438 – God is Love!

The Devotional – 1438 – God is Love!

Proverbs 21:1 – The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as rivers of water; He turneth it whithersoever He will. (KJV)

Comments and challenges

When I trusted God in 1975 I became born again by His promise of grace through that trusting faith. In those days the various versions of the Holy Bible were limited to just a few and the main one was of course the KJV. I remember the RSV as the next in line and another one that I am having trouble remembering; but I think it was the “Darby Translation (I just looked at Bible tools.com) so I cheated a bit.

This morning while reading from the NKJV and by memory I quoted the KJV of Proverbs 21:1 and this began my devotional for today. On Monday at Bible Study I had the opportunity to reflect on 1975 and a husband and wife team; two people who were used of God to bring me through a couple of tough years. 

In choking back the emotions that often take hold of me even to this day; I explained to the group that those days were the living testimony of Philippians 2:1-4. Today our churches are nothing more than dim glows of what “consolation in Christ and comfort of love” used to be in the “church”. But “cheer up my brothers and sisters” I believe the future of the Church of Jesus Christ in this nation is on the way back. 

But first, let us read together the passage in Philippians 2: If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels (affection or emotion) and mercies. Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife, or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other(s) better that themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others, KJV.

If you are like me, your heart must ache for corporate consolation in Christ, corporate comfort of love and corporate fellowship of the Spirit of God in our assemblies. In our churches today we are actually observing a false resemblance of what I am seeking to share this A.M. Today through emotional movements we see that eventually people fall away from faith; as soon as the emotion wears away there is nothing left to carry one above the real world around them, so they return to the world as described in Ecclesiastes “under the sun”.

 

The popular church service today is forty to forty-five minutes of worship songs that insult God, but send people on an emotional high. Then the pastor comes on stage for the next twenty minutes with a “praise God and thank you Jesus” message. For me this is nothing more than the selfish ambitions of men and women who like to gratify the human flesh and ignore the sanctifying work of God the Holy Spirit.

Therefore for me, there is only ONE Word of God and it is the One that the Holy Spirit uses while He guides us into ALL Truth; John 16:13-15, but if you have the time… John 14 through 16 is a very good read concerning comfort, love and fellowship with the One who saves and the One who lives. Jesus Christ says: I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you, abide in the Comforter and not in some emotion that fades away; John 14:16-18.