Devotionals

Here is an interesting fact about me: I don’t like clothes shopping.  For some odd reason, I don’t like shopping around for clothes.  Then I found out about a company that would send clothes to you to try on and would keep what you want to keep and send back what you want to send back.  This company is called Stitch Fix.  It truly is a blessing for sure because you are not forced to purchase anything if you don’t want to buy anything and it is not a subscription service.  That company is successful because people have the same issues.  While I am discussing about physical clothing, we wear spiritual clothing.  We ought to be clothed with the grace and love of God. 

In today’s passage, Paul writes to the church in Colassae about how we ourselves must clothe ourselves with different characteristics: mercy, kindness, humility, patience, gentleness.  He mentions that we must wear love.  Love is something that we, as a society, are lacking every day because of what we see and hear through our television screens and our phones.  Matthew 5:16 says to let our lights shine before others in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.  In other words, we need to let others see Jesus through our words and our actions.  I want to challenge you to put on the characteristics that will resemble Christ.  Much like how we put on the armor of God everyday, we need to wear these traits everyday.  

Colossians 3:12-17 (NLT Translation)

“12. Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. 14. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. 15. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful. 16. Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. 17. And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.”

When I was in college, I was enrolled at both the University of Tampa and the Crossing Bible College.  I did two schools simultaneously for four years to earn my bachelor degree in philosophy and ministry.  During my time at UT, I had taken many different courses on philosophy and religion and ethics and logic.  One of the things that we have discussed in almost every single class was the idea of God’s existence.  Time after time, this topic is brought up because this argument or debate has been carried on for centuries since the time of Aristotle. Majority of the time, I was the only Christian sitting in those classrooms while other were antagonizing at the fact that God does not exist.  In 2014, there was a movie that was released titled “God’s Not Dead.”  To this day, it is still within my all time favorite movies.  Not just because I could relate to it, but because of the message that it presents.  

In today’s passage from Psalm 14, it talks about how there are people who believe that God does not exist.  There are some who acknowledge His existence, however, they do not necessarily have a relationship with Him.  What we need to understand is that God is always active and is always there for us.  I challenge you to take a look around and see God through the small things.  People only think of God through the major things but not necessarily in the small things.  God is active through all things.  

Psalm 14

“1. Only fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.”  They are corrupt, and their actions are evil; not one of them does good!  2. The Lord looks down from heaven on the entire human race; he looks to see if anyone is truly wise, if anyone seeks God.  3. But no, all have turned away; all have become corrupt.  No one does good, not a single one!  4. Will those who do evil never learn?  They eat up my people like bread and wouldn’t think of praying to the Lord.  5. Terror will grip them, for God is with those who obey him.  6. The wicked frustrate the plans of the oppressed, but the Lord will protect his people.  7. Who will come from Mount Zion to rescue Israel?  When the Lord restores his people, Jacob will shout for joy, and Israel will rejoice.”  

I don’t know about you, but I do not like the idea of being lost.  In other words, I don’t like being in a fog and not knowing what I am going to do next.  For one thing, it is a scary thing and it is something that a lot of people tend to deal with on a regular basis.  When people tend to go on a hiking trip or an excursion, there are some incidents where they become lost and they don’t know where to go or what to do next.  Time has passed and eventually they receive the help from the proper authorities to help from being lost to being found.  

While people can be lost in terms of their physical and human nature, how about people who are lost in the spiritual sense?  What is unfortunate is that people would turn to psychics or anyone else like that to bring them a sense of spirituality to their lives.  Psychics don’t know what is best for you.  Only God knows what is best for you.  He brings us out from being lost to being found.  Much like how the father rejoiced over the unification of him and his son (Luke 15:11-32), God wants us to be found and He rejoices over the fact that we are found and brought into His kingdom and His family (Philippians 3:20).  

In today’s passage from Luke 15:1-7, it speaks about Jesus telling a parable.  A parable is a story with a deeper meaning.  He tells a parable of the lost sheep.  He states that a shepherd has 100 sheep but yet he only had 99 in his flock.  So instead of forgetting about the one and leaving it behind, the shepherd decides to pursue after the one and bring it back to their flock.  When are feeling lost, we can have the assurance that God will always bring us home.  Are there times where we do get distracted and start to slip from God?  Sure there is, however, we cannot continue to slip further away from God.  As James 4:7-8 says, we need to submit to God.  When we submit to God, we must resist the devil.  How can we resist the devil when we are still drawing closer to him?  It is so important that we draw closer and closer to God.  

Challenge 

I challenge you to always draw closer to God.  He will always be there for you and He knows what is best for you.  

Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, 

I thank You for always being there for us.  Thank You for always pursuing after us and bringing us into Your family.  We recognize that this world is trying to bring us further away from You.  Help us to submit to You and what You have for us.  Open our eyes to see You and our ears to hear You.  Help us to be obedient to You and Your instructions.  May we all be blessed by what You have for us.  In Jesus name, amen

Luke 15:1-7

“1. Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach.  2. This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people-even eating with them!  3. So Jesus told them this story: 4. ‘If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do?  Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it?  5. And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders.  6. When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’  7. In the same way, there is Moore joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine other who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!’”  

One of the things that I like to do is to sing.  While I do like some songs off of Broadway or country or even a wide variety of Christian songs, I enjoy it and it is fun.  Not just because I had participated in different plays and production growing up, but I do enjoy it.  Whether I am in the car driving or if I am working on something at home, I just like to sing.  When I sing, it brings a sense of joy and a sense of peace.  On Sunday mornings, I enjoy it when the whole congregation sings collectively and praise the Lord.  

If there is one thing that we tend to not do a whole lot is the concept of worship.  Worship is not just for a Sunday morning nor is it meant for when we meet collectively.  Worship is something that we get to do, not what we have to do.  In today’s passage, Psalm 100, the psalmist reminds us about shouting praises unto the Lord.  The writer acknowledges that we are all His people.  Much like how the apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 3:20 that we are citizens of heaven, the psalmist says that are His people.  Not only does the writer acknowledge the idea of praising God, but he states that we need to enter His gates with “thanksgiving” and to “enter His courts with praise.”  He ends the psalm by saying that the Lord is good and that His love will continue forever.  While it is true that we are sinners, we need to realize that God is always going to love us.  While we are not perfect by any means, but we still to let His light shine through us so that they can see Christ.  As stated, worship. Is something that we get to do rather than something that we have to do. 

Challenge

I want to challenge you to take some time to worship God.  Whether it is listening to worship music, reading the Bible, reading these devotionals, or anything else of that nature, take some time and worship the One who makes all things possible.  

Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank You for all the You do. Thank You for always loving us and forgiving us for when we do wrong in Your eyes. Father, we know that this world is contagious with the disease known as sin. Help us to shine Your light in this dark world. Help us to bring those who are spiritually sick into Your loving and miraculous hands. You know the direction for us and we ask that You continue to strengthen us and to help guide us along the path that You have for us. In Jesus name, amen.

Psalm 100

“1. Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!  2. Worship the Lord with gladness.  Come before him, singing with joy.  3. Acknowledge that the Lord is God!  He made us, and we are his.  We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.  4. Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise.  Give thanks to him and praise his name.  5.  For the Lord is good.  His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.”  

July 19, 2024

In 2012, I went with forty-one Asbury seminarians to Athens, Greece.  We explored the ancient building remains of the acropolis [citadel] above the city of Athens—the historical center for Greek culture, philosophy, and education.  Our professors taught about the Apostle Paul and how he left Thessalonica and traveled to Athens with the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Paul had been asked to speak to the philosophers at a meeting of the Areopagus—aristocratic council—who met on a stone hill and sat on stone seats.  They had heard Paul was teaching about a new form of Wisdom—salvation.  Prominent men [Epicureans and Stoics] considered “deep thinkers” came to debate spiritual and cultural issues at Mars Hill. The Epicureans believed pleasure was the goal of life; while the Stoics believed the goal of life was growing in wisdom and to care for nature. Both groups really came to debate and defend the idols and gods they had created and worshiped.  Paul graciously and wisely led them to examine the truth and come to the only possible conclusion—Jesus.  I stood on Mars Hill and looked out across this famous location knowing the wisdom of Christ was revealed there through the Apostle Paul. 

In our passage today, we dig into the Scripture that tells about Paul’s time in Athens at the Areopagus.  His purpose was to awaken both Jews and Gentiles to the God who saves. Paul inspired the men and “enlightened” even the stoics who felt they already knew everything about life and worship. Paul delivered a dynamic evangelistic message that revealed the truth of God and his plan to redeem the world.  Remember, humanity has an inclination to misrepresent God. Make sure you have the wisdom in Christ to know He is the One True God!

Acts 17:16-31 NLT Paul Preaches in Athens

16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply troubled by all the idols he saw everywhere in the city. 17 He went to the synagogue to reason with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and he spoke daily in the public square to all who happened to be there.

18 He also had a debate with some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. When he told them about Jesus and his resurrection, they said, “What’s this babbler trying to say with these strange ideas he’s picked up?” Others said, “He seems to be preaching about some foreign gods.”

19 Then they took him to the high council of the city. “Come and tell us about this new teaching,” they said. 20 “You are saying some rather strange things, and we want to know what it’s all about.” 21 (It should be explained that all the Athenians as well as the foreigners in Athens seemed to spend all their time discussing the latest ideas.)

22 So Paul, standing before the council, addressed them as follows: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, 23 for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about.

24 “He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples, 25 and human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. 26 From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.

27 “His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. 28 For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ 29 And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone.

30 “God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him. 31 For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.”

Prayer:  Lord, thank you for our lesson from the Apostle Paul, today.  We believe you are the One True God and the Creator of all things.  Thank you for your mercy and guiding love when we fail to understand, listen, or demand our own way.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen. 

Things like uncertainty, hardship, change, and sorrow bring overwhelming pressure to the human soul—mind, will, and emotions. These things are a part of living in a fallen world. We must seek an accurate perspective of the whole truth [God’s perspective], so we can gain gracious wisdom in order to navigate through these things while still hanging onto to our faith, trust, and joy in the Lord. It is clear we always need the Lord—our Shepherd—a role of great responsibility and pure leadership.

The biblical concept of a shepherd serves as a metaphor for the kind of loving leadership God provides to bless his people: A holy, humble, benevolent, caring, soul-lifting Leader. God expected his shepherds to follow the Lord while leading his people into a right relationship where they could experience his blessings [moving out of exile and bondage to sin and into the Promised Land flowing with God’s goodness]. Therefore, as we understand from David, shepherds need to follow the gracious Good Shepherd!

In our passage, today, the Lord wants his followers to understand we can live without fear, because he has promised to provide for us. Our souls can know refreshment, because he is the Living Water. Our souls can know peace, because he is the Prince of Peace/Wholeness. Our souls can know the will of God, because he is our Righteous Way. Our souls can know comfort, because he is the Comforter. So, if you need to catch your breath, today, because the issues of life are trying to overwhelm you, remember the Lord wants you to follow him, because goodness is found in his care. He will revive every drooping soul!

Psalm 23 NLV The Lord—Our Shepherd
1 The Lord is my Shepherd. I will have everything I need. 2 He lets me rest in fields of green grass. He leads me beside the quiet waters. 3 He makes me strong again. He leads me in the way of living right with Himself which brings honor to His name. 4 Yes, even if I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will not be afraid of anything, because You are with me. You have a walking stick with which to guide and one with which to help. These comfort me. 5 You are making a table of food ready for me in front of those who hate me. You have poured oil on my head. I have everything I need. 6 For sure, You will give me goodness and loving-kindness all the days of my life. Then I will live with You in Your house forever.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for being true to your Word. You will always fulfill your promises when we are willing to follow you and your purpose for our lives. Thank you for the anointed and glorious grace and character you provide; it is your way to mark those who belong to you. When we feel overwhelmed, thank you for always being there when we call upon your name. Blessed be the name of the Lord and in your name we pray! Amen.

Hypocrisy loves to hide in human hearts [the core of one’s being], because the Truth brings it out in the open. People may be quick to criticize what they do not understand, but a spirit of hypocrisy is godless and filled with inconsistencies. When a person becomes a hypocrite he or she are self-deluded and do not see in himself or herself what everyone else can see; divided loyalty. Hypocrisy causes a person to fail at discerning Truth; it becomes impossible to practice what one professes and boasts about.

In our passage today, Luke draws attention to the fact even tax collectors have repented and opened themselves up to the Truth and accepted God’s righteous way of living. However, the Pharisees continue to deny God’s righteous ways, pretend to be holy even though they have rejected God’s purpose for them as shepherds. So, they continue to justify their attitudes and lifestyles while criticizing Jesus for socializing with sinners. Jesus responds with what he knows to be the Truth about these religious leaders’ hearts. He shines the Light of Truth to expose their hearts. They hate him because of it, but Jesus is unafraid and determined to reveal the Truth through a short story.

Luke 7:31-35 Amplified Bible
31 “To what then shall I compare the people of this generation [who set aside God’s plan], and what are they like? 32 They are like children sitting in the market place and calling to one another, and saying, ‘We played the flute for you [pretending to be at a wedding], and you did not dance; we sang a dirge [pretending to be at a funeral], and you did not weep [so nothing we did appealed to you].’ 33 For John the Baptist has come neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’ 34 The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a man who is a glutton and a [heavy] wine-drinker, a friend of tax collectors and sinners [including non-observant Jews].’ 35 Yet wisdom is vindicated and shown to be right by all her children [by the lifestyle, moral character, and good deeds of her followers].”

Prayer: Lord, please help us guard our hearts against the ever-prevalent sin of hypocrisy. Instead, Lord, help us to approach each day with empathy and compassion for others, while still burning the flame of your consuming love. We have no idea how your grace has shielded our lives from evil, but we know we cannot invite evil into our beings by godless attitudes and living. So, we cast our hope on you to form us in your image, Jesus, and pray for our hearts to radiate your loving character when we encounter others each day. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Acts of hatred are always the work of evil. The psalmist reminds us, “The fear of the Lord [respect and awe] is actually hatred of evil” (Proverbs 8:13). These acts of hatred began in the Garden of Eden and continue to rise up in our present world. Evil wants dominion of the world, but everything in heaven and on earth belongs to the Lord (Ps 24:1). Even though it is a fruitless effort against God’s power, haters still seeks to persecute Christ’s followers. Scripture teaches us Jesus was hated without a cause, but clearly the reason was because he was the perfect representation of the Truth (John 15:25). Evil hates that which is pure [like God’s love] and works to kill the Truth!

In our passage today, as a follower of Christ the Living Truth, the Apostle Paul is now hated by his fellow Jews. He was once a part of their hatred, but Christ delivered him to see the persecution he was inflicting on the work of God’s true Kingdom. Paul faces a mob of very misinformed people who now decide to make it their mission to destroy and kill him. He is innocent of their accusations and charges. Yet, they hate him, because the Light of Truth in him shines a light on the evil motives within their hearts. Truth, can be a bitter pill to swallow if we fight the transforming work of God’s gracious love within.

Yet, God brings wisdom and makes holy connections to spare Paul’s life. The Jews are so steep in their hatred, they are blind to the Truth. The Romans are motivated by an unquenchable grab for power and they just want peace at all costs. Paul is in the middle of a political nightmare, but God uses it to reveal all hearts involved including his own.

Acts 21:27-36 NLT
27 The seven days were almost ended when some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul in the Temple and roused a mob against him. They grabbed him, 28 yelling, “Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who preaches against our people everywhere and tells everybody to disobey the Jewish laws. He speaks against the Temple—and even defiles this holy place by bringing in Gentiles.” 29 (For earlier that day they had seen him in the city with Trophimus, a Gentile from Ephesus, and they assumed Paul had taken him into the Temple.)

30 The whole city was rocked by these accusations, and a great riot followed. Paul was grabbed and dragged out of the Temple, and immediately the gates were closed behind him. 31 As they were trying to kill him, word reached the commander of the Roman regiment that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. 32 He immediately called out his soldiers and officers and ran down among the crowd. When the mob saw the commander and the troops coming, they stopped beating Paul.

33 Then the commander arrested him and ordered him bound with two chains. He asked the crowd who he was and what he had done. 34 Some shouted one thing and some another. Since he couldn’t find out the truth in all the uproar and confusion, he ordered that Paul be taken to the fortress. 35 As Paul reached the stairs, the mob grew so violent the soldiers had to lift him to their shoulders to protect him. 36 And the crowd followed behind, shouting, “Kill him, kill him!”

Prayer: Lord, please forgive us for allowing the enemy to stir any discord or hatred in our hearts. We may even say we love you, God, but if we cannot love other human beings, your Word tells us our love is a farce. We pray for our souls to have a life-changing encounter with you, Jesus. Help us to stop thinking the enemy is flesh and blood and start realizing hatred flows from being lied to by the enemy. Make us strong and resilient in the face of a fallen world. Keep us focused on the Truth of your character as we seek to prevail until you return. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

We know that David was a man after God’s own heart. From an early age, David placed his full trust in the Lord as he knew the Lord was his shepherd, and that with the Lord David had all that he needed (Ps. 23:1). As a young shepherd, David defended his flock against lions and bears and he also defeated Goliath, and he did these things with confident faith and trust in the Lord. As a result, Saul appointed David over the army. As jealousy towards David’s favor with the Lord filled King Saul, David knew his life was in danger and so he fled and he hid in a cave, and that is where he penned today’s psalm.

Friends, you and I can read today’s psalm and I believe that we can all agree that we have experienced the “dark cave”. We’ve had feelings of being trapped and in those dark places the enemy sought to fill us with loneliness, shame, guilt, worthlessness, anger, fear, anxiety, etc. When you and I cling to those feelings, the enemy will work to turn our attention to the world’s ways of “fixing those feelings”.

Truly listen, with your spiritual ears, to David’s prayer. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your spiritual heart to receive what it is that you need to receive. Here are just a few ways that David’s prayer has ministered to my own heart, and I pray that the Holy Spirit provides each one of us with many more eternal lessons:

David has an unbelievably close relationship with the Lord. His prayer is in first person, and he mentions “I, me, and my” over two dozen times. David knows that no one else is going to be responsible or uphold his faith with the Lord, rather his relationship with the Lord is his own personal treasure.

David is an honest prayer warrior, who cries out to the Lord and even pleads with Him. Yet, David understands that he must submit to God’s sovereign will for his life, and that takes a place of confident faith and full trust in God.

David knows that in his insufficiencies God is fully sufficient. He realizes that God is using this dark and lonely place, to grow his faith and trust in Him.

David is fully aware that the only One Who can deliver him from evil, so that he may be joyful again, is God; because God is his only refuge, his full portion, and David wants to be in a place of praising God’s Holy Name.

Psalm 142 (NLT)

A psalm of David, regarding his experience in the cave. A prayer.

1 I cry out to the Lord;
I plead for the Lord’s mercy.
2 I pour out my complaints before him
and tell him all my troubles.
3 When I am overwhelmed,
you alone know the way I should turn.
Wherever I go,
my enemies have set traps for me.
4 I look for someone to come and help me,
but no one gives me a passing thought!
No one will help me;
no one cares a bit what happens to me.
5 Then I pray to you, O Lord.
I say, “You are my place of refuge.
You are all I really want in life.
6 Hear my cry,
for I am very low.
Rescue me from my persecutors,
for they are too strong for me.
7 Bring me out of prison
so I can thank you.
The godly will crowd around me,
for you are good to me.”

Prayer: Holy Spirit, thank You for moving within each one of us to allow Your Word to minister Truth to our hearts. Jesus, forgive us when we have not placed You at the center of our lives or when we have placed other people or things ahead of You. Help to grow each of our relationships with You. Thank You for being with us all of the time, especially in the dark places. Help us to grab ahold of You, so You can be the Light that guides us out. We trust that You are using all things for our good, even the hard things, allow all things to draw us closer to You, Jesus. We pray all of this in Your Holy Name, Jesus. Amen.

Some folks just love to talk. Nothing wrong with talking as long as we are also practicing wisdom while growing good listening skills. Solomon, the wisdom writer teaches, “The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences” (Pro 18:21). Our words have the potential to build up or tear down another person (Eph 4:29). It’s a serious thing with God since he is the pure Word.

Scripture teaches our words have power; therefore, we should choose them wisely. God’s Word is Spirit and Life and our words should drip with thanksgiving for Father God in sending His Son to save us (John 6:63). In our LIFE lessons Wednesday night, we shared about the power of praying with a deep sense of gratitude to God—overflowing with life-filled words of thanksgiving for the love of God imparted to us. Thanks, God!

In our passage today, Paul is in a Roman prison with his hands and feet in chains, but his prayers are filled with thanksgiving, because it is another opportunity to reveal the living Christ’s beautiful character within him to others. Paul is such an amazing example of a person who uses every opportunity to share about Jesus. Even while imprisoned, he shares the living Word of God through written letters to the church in Colosse expressing gratitude and thanksgiving to God for His eternal love and encouraging them to do the same.

Do we take every opportunity to share the Good News? There are people around us each day who may have a form of godliness, but their hearts may not belong to Jesus. God has promised to give us the right words to encourage others He places in our path to know He loves them and wants to live in them. May our witness to speak Truth increase in Jesus’ name!

Colossians 4:2-6 NLT An Encouragement for Prayer
2 Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. 3 Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains. 4 Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should.
5 Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for our lesson about sharing gracious and life-giving words with those around us. Help us to speak life and faith each day; convict us when our words fail to be wise. As well, help us to know when to be silent in order to show respect as good listeners. In Jesus’ name. Amen.