A Daily Devotional – Sacrifice – The Eternal Word (5)

A Daily Devotional – Sacrifice – The Eternal Word (5)

Comment: Over the recent days gone by I have exhorted myself and the readers of these devotionals to be alert of the current trend of worship in churches in our nation. There is little need to identify any specific church or denomination since there are no perfect churches. Jesus Himself is aware of every church throughout the world; see Revelation 2 and 3. While there is NO perfect church, there remains but ONE opportunity to purify and make holy our services of worship and that would be ‘fervent PRAYER’, James 5:13-18 this will identify and cleanse our meeting houses of today.

Devotional: In the gospel of John, the fourth chapter, John recalls the Words of Jesus/Messiah while He is talking to the Samaritan woman. In the conversation Jesus, knowing the woman’s past, her religion and her future; directs her attention to WORSHIP and He says – “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the FATHER. You worship what you do not KNOW: we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. GOD is a Spirit, and those that worship Him MUST worship in spirit and truth – verse 21-24.

Jesus is concerned for His church, just as He cleansed the temple in Jerusalem (John 2:13-22), He finds the modern-day church in the similar condition of the temple of His day. We do not have a proper sacrifice when our celebrations mean more to us than the ‘whole counsel of God, Acts 20:27’. Churches spend valuable hours in worship and praise services that have little to do with worshipping God in the context of John 4:21-26; Messiah is coming again and He will speak to us again.

Today, many churches are ‘mountains of emotionalism’ these celebrations do not glorify God, but they do elevate man to heights of self-gratification and this is an abomination to God. Sadly, these churches reflect the secular trends of entertainment and commercialism found in the world, not in the Spirit. Like the temple of Jesus’s day many churches are involved with selling and promoting the entertainer and the leadership calls this a sacrifice of worship and praise.

Like Isaiah, I say that our tables and altars are filled with vomit, no place of worship is clean. See Isaiah 28:7-10 and if you feel the need pray in faith that God will allow this nation and it’s churches an opportunity to repent, do so. Even so “COME LORD, Jesus/Messiah”.

A Daily Devotional – Trustworthy – The Eternal Word (4)

A Daily Devotional – Trustworthy – The Eternal Word

Comment: Throughout time, people concern themselves about the times they live in. In the book written by Solomon called Ecclesiastes, he recalls in the third chapter that there is a time for everything under the sun, not just throughout the history of time, but in the life of every soul that lives. All of us individually experience the effects of living in the light and darkness recorded in verses 1-8. I would like for us to understand that for those of us who are saved by God’s Grace through personal faith in the Jesus Christ/Messiah that even the darkness can be turned to light by faith in Jesus who is the LIGHT of the world, see John 8:12 and the context, (1-12) from the point of view that world wastes away in the darkness of sin, for all have sinned; see also John 1:6-13.

Devotional: In Times Like These Lyrics: The lyrics of this hymn explain plainly that in times like these we need TO WALK BY FAITH in the ONLY ONE that holds the FUTURE!

In times like these you need a Savior,
In times like these you need an anchor;
Be very sure, be very sure,
Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!

This Rock is Jesus, Yes He's the One,
This Rock is Jesus, the only One;
Be very sure, be very sure,
Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!

In times like these you need the Bible,
In times like these, O be not idle;
Be very sure, be very sure,
Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!

This Rock is Jesus, Yes He's the One,
This Rock is Jesus, the only One;
Be very sure, be very sure,
Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!

In times like these I have a Savior,
In times like these I have an anchor;
I'm very sure, I'm very sure
My anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!

This Rock is Jesus, Yes He's the One,
This Rock is Jesus, the only One;
Be very sure, be very sure,
Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!

A Daily Devotional – Pure Milk – The Eternal Word

A Daily Devotional – Pure Milk – The Eternal Word (3)

Comment: Ever have that longing to have a fresh glass of pure milk. Like many of us, I often have a specific time of day to enjoy such a time. Apart from the satisfaction of meeting our physical need by nourishment, milk also has a very pleasant taste to our palate. The Word of God meets and exceeds the temporal satisfaction of a daily glass of milk so let’s observe a few tidbits of grace from Peter’s first epistle in chapters one and two.

Devotional: Our soul belongs to God and when we were saved our SOUL was purified because we obeyed the TRUTH through the conviction of the Holy spirit. For the first time, we met the love of God, ‘soul to Spirit’ and our worship of God who is Spirit began (John 4:24) and our soul rejoiced. We, having been ‘born again’ not of corruptible seed (perishable) but incorruptible (imperishable) through the Word of God which lives and abides forever.

The analogy that Peter uses is clear, grass, flowers and shrubs grow from seed that perishes in time, but the Word preached to us regarding salvation, that word that was implanted in our soul is not perishable (James 1:21), it has the Power to save and deliver our soul through time and into eternity. This is God’s Will for every soul. It is the Word preached to all of us.

Therefore, laying aside the deeds of our past fleshly activities; we must, as newborn babes, have a specific time (DAILY) to desire the ‘pure milk of the Word’ so that implanted seed may continue to thrive and grow, to be sanctified thereby. If we have tasted that the LORD is gracious, and He is, then why would we want to return to the rudimentary activities of the flesh? Yet many do because they fail to feed daily on the Word of God. Today while it is today, be watchful of how you react to the world around you, you cannot be watchful if you are not feeding on the pure milk of the Word.