Morning Devotional July 6, 2014

Colossians 2:8
 

“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.”

As a continuation from yesterday; we see here where Paul gives his warning to the church at Colosse about false teachers.

We see so many in the religious world who claim the name “Christian” who teach contrary to the Word of God. We hear them teaching doctrines that are far from the truth. Yet so many will follow after these false teachers and false doctrines as though they are truth. Even with all the warnings the Lord gave us in His Word we still find false teachers and false doctrine the main stay in religious circles today. It's as though no one is paying heed to the very Word of God.

Man will take a plain simple truth from the Holy scriptures and stretch it and twist it until he gets what he wants out of it. Then he will teach it to as many as who will lesson. If it sounds good, if it sounds pretty, and sweet then the people will fall for it every time.

As sinful men there are times when we grow weary of hearing our sins preach on. It is in those times of weakness that the ole devil puts those thoughts in our head that our sin is no worse than anyone else. It is in those times that we are most venerable to kind, soft, pretty words from the false teacher. It is those times that the traditions of men seem to sound good, even when we know better. We follow after the crowd and fall right off the cliff into the doctrines of devils.

And this is why I constantly stress that all God's children turn to His Word when in these times of weakness. If you are hearing preached things that are contrary to what the Word of God says or you are hearing things taught that are not what you have heard in the past. Do as the Bereans, study DAILY the things that you hear preached and taught. Make sure the preacher you are setting under is preaching the whole of God's Word and not half truths and false doctrines.

Beware of those who preach a health, wealth, and feel good gospel rather than the true Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Beware of those who preach the philosophies of the man with the intent to deceive the people. Beware of those who teach the traditions of man as though they are truth. Follow Christ and Christ alone!!!

 

Praise ye the Lord!!!  

Morning Devotional July 5, 2014

Ecclesiastes 12:9 & 10

 

“And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs. The preacher sought to find out acceptable word: and that which was written was upright, even the words of truth.”

 

Oh that the preachers today would use the wisdom given them by God to teach the people knowledge. How many preachers do we know out there who are giving into the wants of the people and not to the truths of God's Word? How many people are seeking a preacher who will teach the milk of the Word but shy away from the meat of the Word? How many have persuaded the preacher to not preach on sin but to preach only love, joy, and peace?

We see in the religious world today a people who demand to wear the name “Christian” who have no right to that name. We see a people who have a strong desire to go to church and hear about what Jesus can do for them but will swell up and burst if they are asked to do something for Jesus. We see a people who are gluttonous, greedy, and selfish. Demanding others forgive them of their sins but refusing to forgive others of theirs.

 But, the preacher stands by with the wisdom God has given him and plays right along with the worldliness of the people. Shame on the preacher who has traded the teaching of the proverbs and the commandments of our Lord for fun and games and joke telling. Shame on the preacher who has substituted the truth of God's Word for fairy tales and play acting. Shame on the preacher who has traded Bible study time for a feast of food and drink.

So many have fallen into the trap of modern religion. So many are experimenting even now with different plans and schemes to draw in the people of the world into what used to be a church of God.

But let us not forget to examine ourselves. Where do we stand? Are preaching the Word of truth or the words the people want to hear?

 

Praise ye the Lord!!!

  

Morning Devotional June 7, 2014

Jeremiah 23:23,24

“Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? Saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord.”

What a wonderful God we serve! What a glorious thought to know He is everywhere we go. Even when we seek to hide ourselves from Him, He is there.

When we run from Him trying to hide our sin, He is there.

When we think all is lost and there is no hope for whatever our situation may be, He is there.

Sometimes we forget how much our God is everywhere. Sometimes we forget that while we sin against Him no one sees. But He sees. Because He is there.

When our lives seem to be crashing down around us and our loved ones seem to not care and all we have longed for seems to escape us. He is there.

And yet it is in these times we seem to most forget that He is there.

Our Great Heavenly Father is there when His most sinful child needs Him.

When we feel all alone and feel no one cares. He is there.

Through our grief and pain. Through our joys and happiness. He is there.

Always remember our Lord is there!

 

Praise ye the Lord!!!  He is there!!!

Morning Devotional May 2, 2014

Jeremiah 6:16

“Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.”

 

Oh how we have strayed from the old paths today. For the sake of technology or culture or trying to keep up with the live style of our friends and neighbors we have forsaken not only the old paths of our society but of our religious believes and of the Holy Word of God. In chapter 6 of Jeremiah God was warning the inhabitants of Jerusalem of the coming destruction. But they continued on with their worldly ways and refused to heed the warnings of God.

So we see ourselves today. In His Word, God has warned us of what is to come and we are not heeding His warnings. As a nation we have turned our backs on God. We have voted in every evil politician that comes along and then we whine because they do not do what they promised. We have allowed those of all kinds of sinful thoughts and deed to over taken the land and change the very laws that were set up by our forefathers who originally based our laws on the moral laws of God's Word. Yet, we as God's people set back and bask in the rays of a financially prosperous time where we can have much more than we need. We have become spoiled by the blessings the Lord has given us and now we are beginning to pay for our laziness.

When we think back on the old paths, most especially where the Lord's churches are concerned, we think of a time when preaching the Word, the whole Word of God was what the people wanted and that was what they got from the messenger. But today for the sake of the new paths many have substituted games and motivational speeches and comedians and various programs. Entertainment has taken over for the preaching of the Word. We sit back and we see the children of the last twenty years or so grow up and to be rebellious to their families and to the Lord's Word and all the while we continue the same old cycle that put them there. Instead of offending them with true Gospel message we give them a watered down version. Instead of feeding the Lord's sheep we tell jokes to keep their attention or we bring in the latest entertaining singers or speakers to tickle their ears.

Oh how many times I have heard those who say they wish their pastor would teach them more of the Word. How many times I have heard those say they wish there was more Bible study time in their church. Pastors, Preachers, and Teachers; I encourage you preach/teach the whole Word of God. Don't just get hung up on current affairs or in the new paths. Preach/teach the doctrines of our forefathers. The doctrines our Lord taught when He walked the earth. The old doctrines. The unpopular doctrines. The Lord's sheep need to be feed and if we offend any with His Word then it is His business to convict them and not for us to worry whether they will visit the congregation again.

Warn the people of the coming destruction. Go to the scripture and show the people what happens when a Holy and Righteous God chastises His children for following after the world of sin.

Preach the Word. Preach the whole Word of God.

 

Praise ye the Lord!!!        

Morning Devotional April 10, 2014

John 6:63

“It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”

 

As the children of God there is nothing we can brag about in this old flesh. Matter of fact if it were not for the quickening of the Holy Spirit of God we would still be dead in our sins.

With out Jesus' blood being shed on the cross we would have no eternal inheritance. We would be doomed to an eternity in hell if left to our own fleshly way of live. If not for the grace, mercy, and love of our Heavenly Father, His Son, and His Holy Spirit we would be dead eternally.

There is nothing we could ever do to save ourselves or to stop our down slide to the pit of hell without the Grace of God our Heavenly Father who, before he even spoke the first word on day one of Creation, loved us and chose us to be His children.

What a glorious thought! To know that we are children of the King and Joint Heirs with the Son of God! Never forget whose you are and who He is that loved you so much He gave His only begotten Son to die for your sins.

Oh! what a Heavenly Father we have!

Oh! how  we ought to praise His name continually!

 

I Corinthians 1:30, 31

“But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.”

 

Praise ye the Lord!!!

 

Morning Devotional April 3, 2014

Romans 8:8

“So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.”

 

Oh what a shame to find ourselves living in the flesh. How often in our busy, everyday life do we find ourselves living in the flesh or rather living according to this world? In our modern society we are under attack from all sides by the devil and his minions. For the most part we are at our weakest point spiritually when we are out in the world. Whether on the job or out with friends or at home watching television or listening to the radio or maybe even reading a book or newspaper, we are under constant attack from the enemy of God.

So how do we please God while in our everyday life? In Ephesians 6:11 the Lord told us “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” Read the Word, pray constantly, sing unto the Lord in your mind, quote scripture to yourself throughout the day. Keep your mind on things of God and not on things of the world.

Praise the Lord, give God the glory for everything, turn all your trials and temptations over to the Lord. As His children we have a Comforter, the Holy Spirit of God, that lives within us. We have free 24/7 access to the throne of God, our Heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, His Son, through prayer.

So pray daily that God will keep you from the flesh so that you can rightly please Him. Also remember to pray for each other as well. Our brothers and sisters in Christ need our prayers. They are tempted and tried just as we are.

 

Praise ye the Lord!!!

Morning Devotional March 13, 2014

Luke 12:32

“Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

In many places in the New Testament we see small congregations of the Lord's people meeting to worship and to praise Him. Yet today the ever growing trend in the “religious world” is that the larger the “church” the more the Lord must be blessing them. But as in this verse in Luke and in several stories recorded in the book of Acts we see in the early days of Christianity, as the Apostles and other men were traveling around preaching the gospel and organizing churches that there were small groups meeting and worshiping and studying the Word of God. In most of the cases we are never told of the numbers, we just know they were small congregations.

Many of these were meeting in someones home or in some cases they were meeting out in the open at different places. But the fact is not all of the churches mentioned in the scripture were large in number like the church in Jerusalem or the church at Antioch.

This misconception of how a church is to be large in number has brought about many false professions and false conversions. All for the sake of growing the Lord's church.

Folks, the fact is our Lord never promised us the numbers would be great. He never promised us that there would be great numbers of people following after a man of God who was preaching the truth. Yet like the rest of the “religious world” many a good sound preacher/pastor has fallen into the train of thought that if the numbers are great the Lord must not be in it. What a shame! So many of God's true churches have been left without a pastor because of this very thing.

I know of men out there who would rather sit at home than to go work a small church. In several places in the four Gospels we see where Jesus often times was teaching only the twelve. We read in John 6:66 that after Jesus preached a hard hitting sermon that “From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.” Leaving just the twelve with Him.

A great concern I have is that there is a large number of true Landmark Sovereign Grace Baptist churches in this nation of ours who are without a pastor and, because each congregation is small in number, many pastors and churches have written them off as being “dead”. We should be ashamed of ourselves if we honestly believe a church is dead just because the Lord has not provided them a pastor at this time our the number attending is low. It is obvious the Lord still has a work in those areas were these small churches are. Are we not to show our faith by example to the world? What greater statement of faith for a church than to continue the Lord's work even when they have no pastor or even when the numbers are down.

Remember what our Lord said in Matthew 18:20? “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

As Landmark Sovereign Grace Baptist we should be very well aware that the truths we teach and preach are not going to draw the large crowds that so many are expecting today. Yes, there are large  Landmark Sovereign Grace Baptist churches out there, but for the most part the congregations are very small.

What I have found in my travels is that most of the time those very small congregations are more loving and more compassionate to their visitors and to each other and to those other churches they fellowship with. Because of their lack of a pastor many of them are starving for fellowship and teaching. Yet I see men who refuse to go preach and teach because of the small numbers.

I also recognize that the Lord does not seem to be raising up new preachers. Yes there are some out there but there are far more churches who are in need of a pastor than there are God called men to fill the positions.

We need to be in much prayer for these small churches. Pray the Lord strengthens them spiritually. Pray the Lord gives them the man they need or that this is another sign that our Lord's coming is soon. 

Praise ye the Lord!!!