Morning Devotional November 12, 2022

 

2 Timothy 3:16-17

“16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”

I would like us to look at a word this morning that I don't believe I have really never thought much about until recently. The word “Dogmatic” or “Dogmatical”.

Here is the definition according to Websters 1828 Dictionary:

“DOGMATIC, DOGMATICAL adjective

1. Pertaining to a dogma, or to settled opinion.

2. Positive; magisterial; asserting or disposed to assert with authority or with overbearing and arrogance; applied to persons; as a dogmatic schoolman or philosopher.

3. Positive; asserted with authority; authoritative; as a DOGMATICAL opinion.

4. Arrogant; overbearing in asserting and maintaining opinions.”

Over the years I have heard preachers use this word in the positive to tell how strong they believe something or use this word in the negative to tell why they may not be very strong in a certain teaching.

As God's children, we should be dogmatic in certain doctrines taught in God's Word. A few examples; We must be dogmatic on the teaching of the Gospel, the doctrines of election and predestination, the doctrine of the Lord's Church, Creation, etc. Anything God has made clear in His Word we must be and remain dogmatic about. Another words, a dogmatical opinion must be taught with authority from on High. The only way this is possible is if it is clearly taught in God's Word and is clearly understood by the man preaching the message.

However, there are doctrines or teachings we may not understand completely. These doctrines we must be careful about. These doctrines, which may not be made clear in God's Word, whether God has not opened them to us yet or in our rebellion we have refused to see the whole truth of the matter. The fact is there are times where the Lord does not reveal a certain teaching to us and so, in such cases we can not be dogmatic in our beliefs or opinions on the matter.

For example: some of the end times prophecy, what Heaven looks like, what life was like on earth between the fall of Adam and Noah, etc.

The fact of the matter is there are things mentioned in the scripture that we may never understand or know what really happened. We can guess but that is all it is, a guess.

The problem I see in all this is we have preachers who will not be dogmatic where God's Word is clear while at the same time they are dogmatic on things they have no knowledge of.

Another issue is when a preacher says he is not dogmatic about a certain teaching but continues to preach the topic as if he is dogmatic. It is like the old saying that says “if you preach something loud enough and often enough the people will begin to believe it.”. Brethren, that is dangerous. Very dangerous. If the scripture is not clear on something then why continue to bring it up? If you need Godly counsel to help understand it, that is one thing, but to continue to preach something that you, yourself are not sure about and God's Word is not openly clear about can make us out to be a false teacher.

Remember what Peter said in 2 Peter 1:20 “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.”

We will have our different opinions on matters. Certainly no two Christians are going to believe exactly the same on every single doctrine. But, there are certain doctrines we must be dogmatic about and preach with God given authority. Then there are things we may mention in passing or give our opinion about that we cannot be dogmatic about because God has not taught clearly in His Word. Those things we can study and ponder about but we must be very careful about if we preach them from the pulpit. If the scripture is silent then what right or authority do we have to be dogmatic about our opinion?

Praise ye the Lord!!!

Morning Devotional October 30, 2022

 

1 John 5:1-3

“1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.

2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.

3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.”

Have you been born again? Do you believe Jesus is the Christ? Do you love Him?

Do you love His children? Are you keeping His commandments?

Where is your desire to be with your brothers and sisters on the day our Lord has set aside for corporate worship? Do you love them enough to want sweet fellowship with the saints? Do you find it a grievous thing to be a part of the Church in which you are a member?

What about daily Bible reading? Do you love the Lord enough to want to learn more about Him? Or is Bible study getting in the way of the things in life you want? Do you find it a grievous thing to take time out of your busy schedule to study God's Word?

What about your prayer life? Are you in constant communion with your Heavenly Father? Are the petitions you bring before Him according to His will or yours? Do you find it a grievous thing to spend precious time with your Lord and Saviour?

Oftentimes when we read these verses we think of those who are openly rebelling against God and His commandments. But what about our secret sins? What about our own neglect of God's commandments? These are all questions we should be asking ourselves. We must examine ourselves before casting judgement upon others. Do we love the Lord enough to follow His commandments?

Praise ye the Lord!!!

Morning Devotional October 29, 2022

 

Isaiah 40:31

“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

Our text verse is very popular with “religious” folks today. Everyone likes to make the claim that they are waiting on the Lord in some aspect of their life. Yet, where do we really find ourselves? On a daily basis? Are we truly waiting on the Lord for what He has for us or are we trying to push things to fit our wants?

1 John 5:14-15 tells us if we have confidence in the Lord and “we ask any thing according to His will, He will hear us”. Maybe that is the problem? Do we have that confidence in the Lord? Do we have faith that He will answer our prayers? Are we asking according to His will or our own? Are we waiting on His answer to our prayers or are we pushing for what we want?

Remember Abraham and Sarah? Remember the promise of a son that God made to them? They got tired of waiting for that promise to come so they tried to push things along. Sarah gave Abraham her handmaiden to bare him a son. How well did that turn out? Not only was that son not what God promised but the seed of that son would be a thorn in the side of God's people till the end of time.

God would eventually give Abraham and Sarah the son He promised and that son's seed would go on to be the Nation of Israel whom God himself favored over all the nations on the earth. And what a history we read of that great nation in the Old Testament. Look at all the times they tried not to follow God's plan for them. All down through their history we see where God brought trials and persecutions on them for not following Him.

Are we any better than the Nation of Israel? Do we think because we are a member of one of the Lord's true churches that our every prayer deserves the answer we want? Do we have the faith to wait upon the Lord for the answer to our prayers? Do we have the confidence in the Lord that we should have?

Why does the Lord make us wait? Could it be so we will take the time to study His Word and commune with Him, strengthening our faith even more in Him? How else do “we mount up with wings as eagles; run, and not be weary; and walk, and not faint.”

How often we forget Romans 8:28: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Praise ye the Lord!!!

Morning Devotional October 23, 2022

 

1 John 5:14-15

“14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:

15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.”

As God's children we often pray according to what we want and not according to God's will. This is why so often our prayers seemingly go unanswered. But just because we think God does not answer does not mean we did not get an answer. If our prayers are not according to His will the answer may be “NO”. Since “NO” is not the answer we want, we usually assume that God has not given an answer yet. “Maybe we need to be patient and wait for God's answer?”

How foolish we must look to our Heavenly Father in such cases.

When we come before our Heavenly Father with our petitions we must come with a confidence that we believe He will give us an answer and that the petitions we bring are according to His will. How do we know our petitions are according to His will? Just like everything else we do in this life. We must rely on the Holy Spirit that dwells within us to give us guidance in what we ask. We must put aside our earthly desires and wants and listen to the Holy Spirit for what we need and what our Heavenly Father's will is for us.

Yes, there will be times we know not what to ask. There will be times we don't know the words to say. But God knows our hearts and our thoughts. Remember He is Sovereign. He knows what's best for us and only He knows His plans for us.

Praise ye the Lord!!!

Morning Devotional October 9, 2022

 

John 15:9-17

“9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.

10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.

11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.”

Wow!!! What a glorious passage of scripture!!! From the Quarterly Fellowship Meeting at King's Addition Baptist Church in South Shore, KY last Saturday to the nightly Revival meeting at the same place this past week to the Fall Bible Conference at Grace Baptist Church in Mt. Vernon, OH yesterday, We have been greatly blessed by all the sermons we have heard preached on the love of our Lord and Savior. It has been an amazing week with the theme of every meeting being the same. It was never planned that way by us but only by the grace of Almighty God did He give His men the messages that so closely fit together.

Praise ye the Lord!!!

Morning Devotional October 2, 2022

 

1 Corinthians 16:14

“Let all your things be done with charity.”

We are commanded to 1^st love God and 2^nd to love our neighbor. Jesus said these were the greatest of all the commandments. If we do not love God first we cannot truly love our neighbor. We may show some kind of compassion or friendship toward our neighbor but we will not truly love them unless we love God first.

And how much do we love God? Do we love Him like He loves us? Do we love Him enough to follow His commandments like He commands us too? Often times we would like to think we do. But do we really?

We need to examine ourselves daily. Remove any sin that maybe in our lives. By reading and studying God's Word daily and being in constant prayer with our Heavenly Father, our love for Him will grow and strengthen.

It is only when we have loved God that the love for our neighbors will come. Not just our neighbors in this world, but also our brothers and sisters in Christ. By showing Godly love to our brethren we can be a witness to our worldly neighbors for the love of Christ. In hopes that if they are the elect of God He will use that witness to bring them to Himself.

Praise God for the love He has instilled within us for Him and our neighbors!!!

Praise ye the Lord!!!

Morning Devotional October 1, 2022

 

Philippians 4:4-5

“4 Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.

5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.”

As God's children we have plenty to rejoice about. We have been blessed way more than we deserve in this life. But what about our witness for the Lord? Do others know who we are and whose we are? Do others see us rejoice in the Lord? Or do we hide our joy from the world?

As the Lord's return is at hand, are we the witnesses for Christ we are supposed to be? Not just to the unsaved world but what about our brethren? Do our fellow church members see the joy we have in Christ? What about those from other churches we fellowship with?

Would we not be an encouragement to each other in these trying times if others saw us rejoicing in the Lord!!!

Praise ye the Lord!!!