Month: November 2024

“Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift.” 2 Cor.‬ ‭9‬:‭15‬ ‭KJV‬‬. As Paul is encouraging the believers to generous giving, he concludes this chapter by giving thanks unto God. He reminds us that all of our giving is the result of the incredible gift which God has given to us. There is no question that this ‘Unspeakable Gift’ Paul refers to is Jesus Christ, our blessed Lord and Saviour. The Father gave Him for our unworthy souls because He so loved us. Here we see the very foundation of our command to give thanks to God. Here we have the most incredible gift ever given to the most unworthy recipients. Let this be an example of how we should give thanks. Too often our giving of thanks is lacking because we are focusing on the wrong things. We get our attention so much on the things of this material world which are always changing. When they are good, we are thankful. But then they change we are no longer thankful. Instead, let us focus our giving of thanks on those things which are eternal and unchangeable! Let us thank God every day for the Unspeakable Gift of His Son. For every true believer, this precious Gift is a reason to give thanks every day. By God’s grace, let us not fail to give thanks for Jesus.

“We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers;” 1 Thess. 1:2 KJV. As we consider things to be thankful for we should be reminded to always give thanks for the family of God. One of the great joys of Christian life in this world is that we have spiritual brothers and sisters who are on this journey with us. We pray for one another and help bear each other’s burdens. We are workers together in the greatest cause in this world, which is to promote the kingdom of our God. Too many miss out on this blessing and are not thankful for God’s family because they continually think of them with a critical spirit. Instead of seeing through eyes of love and compassion, they see only shortcomings in others. But may we realize, every one of them are facing challenges and struggles like we are. Every one of us is in the same spiritual battle. No, they are not perfect, but they are our family. They are loved by our Father with an everlasting love. And they are a blessing to us in many ways. As we think of them in the proper way, we will give thanks to God for them. Let us determine, that we will give thanks for the family of God.

“In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” 1 Thes. ‭5‬:‭18‬ ‭KJV‬‬. As we celebrate another Thanksgiving Day, we should pause to consider why God has commanded us to give thanks. Paul makes very clear in this verse that ‘giving thanks’ is God’s will for all of His children. 44 times in the Word of God we are commanded to give thanks. We know that God gives us commands for our good and so that our lives can bring glory to Him. In the scientific community, there have been many studies made of the heath benefits of being thankful. Simple obedience to this command improves our mental health, our emotional health and even our physical health. But disobedience brings misery into our lives. And the greatest benefit is that being thankful strengthens our spiritual life. It opens the door for God’s blessings to flow into our lives in a greater way. It brings gladness into our souls as we focus on giving thanks. On the other hand, the Bible tells us that being unthankful causes us to be unholy. Perhaps the most miserable people are those who do not give thanks to God. But our greatest motivation should be, to give thanks because we love God and desire to please Him. We should want Him to know that we are thankful for all of His goodness and mercies to us. By God’s grace, let us give thanks to our gracious Heavenly Father.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love…” Galatians‬ ‭5:22‬ ‭KJV‬‬. In this verse Paul is writing about THE fruit of the Spirit. It is not ‘fruits’ as most imagine. It is THE fruit of divine love, which the Holy Spirit sheds abroad in our hearts. The reality is, that every virtue, every good gift, every desirable quality, has its origin and value in love. Paul describes in 1 Corin. 13, how even the most desirable spiritual gifts are nothing without love. He reminds us that all of our good works are nothing without love. Nothing we do has any merit or value apart from love. God’s divine love in us is the root, the very cause and life of all that is good, because His love is the greatest and most important thing of all! If we have God’s love in our hearts, we have the one thing that matters above all. But if we have everything else and lack love, then we have nothing. This is the great need in the Body of Christ today, to have God’s love working in us and flowing through our lives. Our human love will never be sufficient. May we humble ourselves and confess, this is the love we need. This is the spiritual fruit God seeks in His children. By His grace, let us live a life of love.

“…by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” Galatians 5:13-14 KJV. Every part of God’s moral law, in regards to how we treat our fellow man, is fulfilled when we truly love as we are called to do. This is true because love only does what is right and best. Love does not settle for what is good or decent, but seeks for what is best. Love does not lower itself to what is fun or easy, but always seeks for the spiritual and eternal best for those we love. Love is not selfish, putting our own desires ahead of other’s needs and spiritual well being. And so, when we truly love others with the love of God, we never do anything to harm them. We don’t lie to them, steal from them or gossip about them. We treat them how we want to be treated. We don’t pull them away from the things of God for lesser things. When God’s love is in our hearts we have the attitude of servants, desiring to please Him as we serve others in love. We do not think ourselves better than others. We don’t set out to prove our superiority. Love is humble. This life of love is the life every child of God is called to. Without this divine love working in us our life and the things we do will all be in vain. By God’s grace, let us serve Him and others with a heart of love.

(Note: I am leaving on a mission trip today and will not be able to send devos the next week) “For I came down from heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me.” John‬ ‭6:38‬ ‭KJV‬‬. Jesus is stating here that His life as a Man, was not lived to do whatever His human body desired. He did not live to please Himself as other men do. He left the glories of Heaven, to come here for the purpose of doing His Father’s will in all things. But let us ask ourselves, whose will and purpose are we accomplishing? Are we living to please ourselves or to do the will of God in all things? While Jesus came from Heaven to do His Father’s will, it seems that most church members are set on doing their own will. In fact, most professing believers today do not even come to God’s house, usually because they are more interested in doing their own will than the Father’s. But we should realize, this is one of the distinguishing marks of a real Christian. We live to do God’s will! This is proof of the life and Spirit of Christ in us. We don’t try to obey God occasionally, but we seek to do His will all the time and in all things. May God help us, to leave the life of self will, so we can do our Father’s will. Only in His will can we find the joy and peace our souls need.

“For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, Now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him.” Psalm‬ ‭12:5‬ ‭KJV‬‬. These words remind us of God’s merciful attitude towards the poor and needy, as well as His attitude against those who are their adversaries. However, most of the blessing from these words is lost because we don’t like to acknowledge that spiritually, these words describe us. We are supposed to be those who are poor in spirit! We are supposed to be those who recognize our condition as needy souls. And it’s only when we humble ourselves like this that God will become our Protector and Defender. Most in religion today have become like the church at Laodicea. In their minds, they see themselves spiritually as, ‘rich and increased in goods and have need of nothing’. (Rev. 3:17) They despise the thought of being either ‘poor or needy’. But this is everyone of us when we are awakened to see our true spiritual condition. On our own, we are spiritual paupers and in constant need of God’s help. But thank God, when we humble ourselves to admit our need, He will rise up in our defense and keep our souls safe from those who would harm and try to destroy us. By God’s grace, let us acknowledge our condition and constant need of Him.

“LORD, Thou hast heard the desire of the humble: Thou wilt prepare their heart, Thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:” Psalm‬ ‭10:17‬ ‭KJV‬‬. What great blessings God has in store for the humble souls who love and seek Him. In this world, the thought of humility is usually despised. Many children are taught from young ages that they should be proud, independent and not afraid to let others know about it. Sadly, that same attitude follows many into religion. In their pride they believe that God owes them good things. But the Bible makes it very clear, God will only hear the cry of the humble. Pride always places a barrier between us and God. But what a joy it is to know His ear is always open to the humble soul. So often in this life, the humble are ignored because they are not loud and pushy. It seems like a disadvantage on a human level to remain humble. People tell us, if we are humble we won’t be noticed or heard. But how different things are with God. While He turns away the proud, His eye is always on His humble children. He hears our cries and He knows the desires of our heart for Him. By God’s grace, let us walk humbly before Him.

“Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up Thine hand: Forget not the humble.” Psalm‬ ‭10:12‬ ‭KJV‬‬. As the psalmist David considered the apparent prosperity of wicked and prideful men, his prayer rises up for the humble souls who trust and seek God. He asks God not to forget them, because it often seems, on a human level, that they do not prosper as men of this world do. He sees that the prideful abuse and take advantage of the humble. But as God’s children, we can be very confident, our merciful Father will never forget His humble children! We should realize that many of the things we see now, are only an illusion. Prideful men are not truly prospering in the ways that matter. Their ill-gotten wealth and influence among men in this world, is only heaping to themselves greater punishment in the world to come. All of their boasting is ultimately in vain, because God said that He will resist the proud. But thank God, He never forgets the humble! James 4:6 reminds us, “He giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble”. Let us be those humble souls who God always watches over. He will not forget His own.

“When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, He saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?” John‬ ‭5:6‬ ‭KJV‬‬. As Jesus looked at the paralytic man by the pool of Bethesda, He asked this question, which on one level, seems very strange. Why would He ask a sick man if he wanted to be well, or a weak man if he wanted strength? But Jesus asked this question because He knew what was in man. He knows that many people have become so accustomed to being sick and weak, that they do not truly want the responsibilities that come with having normal health and strength. He knows that we become entrenched in certain behaviors and become unwilling to change. So the question comes to each of us today, “Do we truly desire the spiritual wholeness that Jesus offers?” Do we want to be one of those who enjoy the spiritual power and victory that He offers, or do we want to remain one of those who are the victim and an object of pity? Do we want the joy and peace that wholeness brings, or will we wallow in the misery of that old condition? This is a very searching question that Jesus asks each of us. May our glad response be, “Yes Lord, by Your power and grace I desire to be made whole!” Because only then, will His power move in our lives as we need. By God’s grace, let us open our hearts to His power which can make us whole.