The Church that Paul established in Philippi was probably the first in all of Europe…and it started when Paul and Silas went out of the city on the Sabbath and met Lydia near the river bank. (Acts 16:11-15) But one of the differences between the Church in Philippi and other Churches Paul established was that they supplied him with financial assistance several times as he traveled and even when he was in prison, (Philippians 4:18) for Paul usually refused assistance… relying on his tent-making skills as to not be a burden on the people. This close fellowship…this Koinonia, showed how the early Church in Philippi not only heard the Gospel Message and believed, but put it into practical practice.
Category: Daily Inspirational Devotional
John 6:40 ” For My Father’s Will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life…”
The gift of eternal life is extended to all. Anyone, everyone, all mankind with no exception is included to partake in this wonderful free gift. But it’s your decision to make…to either accept or reject this gift. But if you will just take a moment to behold Jesus Christ…listen to the Gospel Message in order to fully understand…you will experience and undergo true change of heart. As Jesus said in John 12:44-46, ” When a man believes in Me, he does not believe in Me only, but in the One Who sent Me. When he looks at Me, he sees the One Who sent Me. I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in Me should stay in darkness.” God’s Will for you today is to come out of the darkness into the glorious light of His Son, Jesus Christ.
Ezekiel 33:7 ” Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the Word I speak and give them warning for Me.”
Let’s say you have a houseguest come for an extended stay. At first everything runs smoothly and cordially. But after a few days your guest becomes very comfortable in their surroundings…they sleep the morning away, finally wandering into the kitchen around Noon looking for a big breakfast after trashing the bathroom and leaving all their things lying around. You say nothing, wanting to be hospitable and not wanting to cause a fuss. As the days go on though your guest becomes even more brazen…belittling your faith, arguing against the truth of the Gospel, and questioning all you believe in. Finally, one morning you find yourself crying out to God, “Help me! What has happened to my quiet, peaceful house?” But the bigger question should be…”What have I allowed it to become?” Wake up Church and take back the House. “Has this house, which bears My Name, become a den of robbers to you?” (Jeremiah 7:11) Wake up Church and take back the House. For the sake of political correctness you have put aside basic truths and committed apostasy by neglecting the house of our Lord. Wake up Church and take back the house…”For My house will be called a house of prayer for all Nations.” (Isaiah 56:7) Wake up Church and take back the house, for “Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life as I dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” (Psalm 23:6)
Proverbs 15:1 ” A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”
It grieves my heart when I see fellow Believers returning angry words for something they don’t agree with. Especially this crazy year with the pandemic and the disunity and discord across our nation concerning the Presidential Election… Social Media is full of brother against brother trashing each other’s posts… emboldened by the fact they’re typing their poisonous words rather than speaking to each other face to face. We don’t fully know the power of harsh words, but Proverbs 25:15 illustrates the power of kind words well, “Through patience a ruler can be persuaded, and a gentle tongue can break a bone.”
Ephesians 3:8-9 ” Although I am less than the least of all God’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, Who created all things.”
Paul knew acutely where he had come from and all he had done. He was very open when he wrote, “I persecuted the Church…I don’t deserve to be called an apostle.” (I Corinthians 15:9) For it was with great zeal Paul persecuted and harassed the early Church…But then God’s Will came into play. Or as the Lord told Ananias, “This man is My chosen instrument to carry My Name before the Gentiles…” (Acts 9:15) God could of chosen one of the other disciples to carry the Good News of the Gospel Message to the Gentiles…but He didn’t. Rather, He chose an enemy of the Church…so radically changed, but yet keenly aware of God’s kindness, tolerance, and patience that had been extended to himself.
II Chronicles 36:22-23 ” In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing: This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and He has appointed me to build a temple for Him at Jerusalem in Judah. Anyone of His people among you – may the Lord his God be with him, and let him go up.’ “
Jeremiah had predicted the 70 year captivity of the Jewish people in Babylon, but it was Isaiah who 150 years before he was even born predicted Cyrus, a Medo-Persian king would be the instrument used of God to not only free the Jewish exiles and send them home, but to spearhead the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. Isaiah wrote of Cyrus, “He became a helper of Israel.” (Isaiah 41:2) and “This is what the Lord says to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of…” (Isaiah 45:1) Time and time again we see in the Bible where God uses unlikely people to do His Will. That’s because our all powerful and always in control God can employ anyone to accomplish the results He desires for His people…Believer, non-believer, lukewarm Christian, or atheist…He has and will use anyone He chooses.
II Corinthians 5:14-15 ” For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that One died for all, and therefore all died. And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him Who died for them and was raised again.”
Paul, or as he was known Saul, was one of the most ardent persecutors of the early Church…but then he had an encounter on the road to Damascus with the risen Lord and he was radically changed. (Acts 9:1-18) In the verses here you can recognize Paul’s drive, motivation, and compulsion is out of love and gratitude for what Jesus had done for him…the stark realization that Christ suffered on behalf of him…died on that cross for him…and finally, was raised from the dead, making atonement for his sins. And for those of us who share in being radically saved…that deep humbling insight of who we were and who we are now can only be explained as overwhelming thanks and gratitude to a Savior who cared enough to pursue us.
Job 25:1-6 ” Dominion and awe belong to God; He establishes order in the heights of heaven. Can His forces be numbered? Upon whom does His light not rise? How then can a man be righteous before God? How can one born of woman be pure? If even the moon is not bright and the stars are not pure in His eyes, how much less man, who is but a maggot – a son of man, who is only a worm!”
Most of Job is composed of dissertations from his three friends that have come to comfort him during his time of profound loss. Here we find Bildad, a Shuhite, speaking…his position based on the traditions of his forefathers…that God is just, bringing punishment to the wicked and blessing to the righteous. But because Job had maintained his innocence, not only Bildad, but all three friends, had hammered Job with self-righteous questions. “Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can a man be more pure than his Master?” (Job 4:17) “Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than the heavens…” (Job 11:8) All three men had judged Job from their very legalistic and ridged view-point of God…and all three were terribly wrong.
I Thessalonians 1:7-8 ” And so you became a model to all Believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia – your faith in God has become known everywhere.”
Oh that as Believers we would all resonate with the Gospel Message wherever and whenever called…to the point our faith was proclaimed all over the world as Paul talks about here. But how does this happen? We are to set an example for the world…not conforming to its ways but rather boldly leading by example. How? As Paul exhorted the young Timothy, “Set an example for the Believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.” (I Timothy 4:12) As Believers, we are to model Jesus to the dying world… so as we lead by example, we are not only imitating Jesus but honoring the Gospel Message.
Isaiah 33:2 ” O Lord, be gracious to us; we long for You. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress.”
For many of us this year has been anything but kind. Some of you have lost jobs, some have lost loved ones, and all of us have learned to live with the anxiety of this unknown virus. Back in March, God showed me Isaiah 51:12-16 as kind of the antidote for the COVID 19 pandemic…and I urge you to take a few minutes today to read it, for it’s just as timely today, if not more, than it was back in March. We need to be leaning on the graciousness of God more than ever today…knowing that it is His help and deliverance that will pull us through. We may not have any power over the circumstances, events, and things that will occur over the course of the next few months…but we do know Who’s still in control and showing His gracious kindness to all who call upon His name. “I trust in Your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in Your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, for He has been good to me.” (Psalm 13:5)
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