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  • You are here: Blogs Directory / Devotionals / Bob's Devotionals Welcome Guest
    Bob's Devotionals
          These devotionals are written to encourage and enable the body of Christ in our daily walk with the Lord.
          The World needs to see what God can do in us and with us and through us and not what we can do on our own!

          On January 1, I will begin writing on the subject, The Privilege, Power and Provisions of Prayer. You can subscribe at www.sbgm.org/subscribe01.htm

          
          To hear my CD as well as a sermon that I preached recently, go to www.myspace.com/savedbygraceministries.

          
          My prayer is that this will bless a lot of people all over the world!!!

          
          May God bless you today as you seek to walk with Him!

          
          ><>
          

    Thu, Nov 30th - 7:06AM



    Burdens Light       Matthew 11:30        November 30



    My yoke is easy and My burden is light.




    The world lays a heavy burden upon us all, saved and unsaved alike. No one is exempt from carrying his burdens. A teenager wrote the following to me in an email, “I know that although I have mountains in my life, it is all in God's will. He would not put me this situation if He wasn't preparing me for something greater. One thing I always like to keep in mind is that faith makes it possible, not easy. Many times as Christians, we except things to be less difficult in our lives. God never said it would be easy, but He did say that He would always be there for us. Sure, we go through struggles and persecutions, but we are not alone. We have a faithful God who is much bigger than any of our tribulations!”

    We all have personal responsibilities that we have to carry. We can however give those responsibilities over to the Lord and let Him help us resolve those responsibilities. Some of the responsibilities that we have to bear are directly related to our own faults and failures. While God can and will forgive and forget our sin, we still have to deal with the ramifications of our sin. Sometimes God takes our burdens and He removes them and sometimes He gives us the grace and the strength to live with them.

    As we live our lives, we learn that life is full of burdens and cares. Paul tells us that we are to “help bear one another’s burdens.” (Galatians 6:2) As God’s children, we all will have crosses to bear and trials to endure. However, Christ promises us that His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

    What does this mean? How can His yoke be so easy and our burden be so heavy? That answer is really easy for us to understand. First of all, Christ could have demanded so much more from us. His demand is simple. We are to love God with all our heart and all our soul and all of our strength and we are to love each other as we love ourselves. The demands that Christ has given to us actually become blessings in and of themselves! As we surrender our hearts and our lives to the Lord and we walk in His Word, the journey itself becomes one of blessing and reward. As we follow the Lord’s leadership and submit ourselves to His authority, we put ourselves in a position to receive His abundant blessings as well.

    God’s yoke is indeed easy and His burden is light. Jesus bore the burden for us all on the cross so that we would not have to. Our burdens come in two forms. First of all, because the world hated Jesus, so will it hate us and oppose our testimony and our commitment to walk with Him before the rest of the world. Then as I mentioned earlier, our own failure to walk by faith causes us all kinds of problems.

    Our burdens will make us stronger and when we let the Lord be our strength. We can know and trust that He will carry us through the storms that we will face in our lives. One thing is sure, He does not send the storms; He may allow them but He does not cause them for His yoke is easy and His burden is light and so rewarding when we let Him be God in our lives in each and every decision that we make.



    .
    "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you."



    ><> Bob <><


    Comment (3)

    Wed, Nov 29th - 5:23AM



    No Excuse       I Corinthians 11:29      November 29



    29For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.



    Here we find the Apostle Paul speaking about taking the Lord’s Supper. Listen to what Paul writes in the preceding verses, “26For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. 27Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.”

    People ask the question, “How often should we observe the Lord’s Supper?” The Bible does not say. What the Bible does say is, when you do take the Lord’s Supper, make sure that you take it in the right spirit.

    For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and does not honor the Lord’s body or His sacrifice for him, that person brings judgment on himself. Paul goes on to say that this is why some are weak and sick and some have even died. How you and I come to the Lord’s Table is important. It is not to be done in an unworthy manner without possible consequences.

    What does Paul mean when he talks about an “unworthy manner”? How are we to come to the Lord’s Table to take the Lord’s Supper? Some would take this passage to mean that we must be saved to partake. This is an obvious pre-requisite. However, Paul is speaking to Christians so I think he means more than just being saved.

    To come to the table in a worthy manner is to come into the presence of the Lord with a repentant heart and a forgiven spirit. Our relationship with the Lord needs to be what it ought to be. Our relationship with one another ought to be what it is supposed to be. Our lives need to be lived, as they ought to be lived.

    We ought to come to the Lord’s Table in remembrance of what Jesus did for us at Calvary. We need to remember that Jesus died in our place so that we could live with Him and for Him. We need to come to the table in an attitude of thanksgiving for all God has done for us and all that He wants to do for us. This is not for His benefit but for our benefit!

    A disobedient spirit causes problems that cause our lives to suffer. Disobedience limits God’s ability to take care of us, as He would like to. To come to the Lord’s Supper and not look inward and examine our spiritual relationship with the Lord has no excuse.



    .
    "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you."



    ><> Bob <><


    Comment (2)

    Tue, Nov 28th - 6:04AM



    Come Unto Me          Matthew 11:28-30          November 28



    “Come unto Me all you that are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of Me for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”



    Jesus sought to comfort people wherever He found them and in whatever condition that they were in. He did not turn His back to anyone unless they refused to hear Him and do as He had instructed them to do. When He spoke to the crippled man at the Pool of Bethesda, He told the man to rise, take up his bed and walk. The man was faced with a decision. Would he remain in the condition that had held him bound all of his life or would he do as Jesus told him to do? This man had never walked in his life! Not only did he not have the strength to stand, he did not know how to stand! He did not know how to walk.

    When an individual looses use of his legs for a very long period of time, he has to learn to walk all over again. His muscles have to be strengthened and his coordination has to be worked on to walk again in a lot of cases. When Jesus told this man what to do, He took care of everything in one single event! All the crippled man had to do was do what Jesus told him to do.

    Jesus gave us all a promise in Matthew’s Gospel. “Come unto Me all you that are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” Just like the crippled man at the Pool of Bethesda, we have a choice to make. Do we continue to walk in our own inefficiencies or do we take the Lord by the hand and come unto Him and take His Word and make it a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path and hide His Words in our hearts so that we do not sin against Him?

    Jesus’ promise is that we find rest in Him for our souls in Him. The world is not going to give us this rest. Jesus is the single source of this rest. It is in our obedience to His Word that we will find His rest. When we chose any other path, we turn from His ability to give us the rest that He has for us and this wrong path increases our restlessness.

    If we want God’s rest in our lives and the peace and joy that He gives, we need to believe in His Son, Jesus, rest upon His Works, hear His teachings and follow His instructions. His instructions are not difficult at all. They are not difficult to understand nor are they that difficult to do. The difficulty comes in our willingness to simply do it.

    “Come unto Me all you that are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of Me for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”



    .
    "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you."



    ><> Bob <><



    Comment (4)

    Mon, Nov 27th - 9:11AM



     
    Displeased the Lord       II Samuel 11:27       November 27



    27And when her mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.



    The story of David and Bathsheba is a sad story indeed. David got up one morning and went out onto his balcony overlooking the city and he saw a beautiful lady taking a bath and he allowed his lust for her to overcome him and they committed adultery and Bathsheba got pregnant and this afternoon fling cost David tremendously. David called her husband back from the battlefield so that he might go to bed with his wife and hide the sin that had taken place. David’s plan did not work.

    David gave orders that Uriah be sent to the front lines knowing that this order would cost Uriah his life. Word came back from the front lines that Uriah had been killed and we find David sending for Bathsheba and David brought her into his house and she became his wife and she bore David a son. However, there is a statement that rings loud at the end of this verse, “the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.”

    If you read on in chapter 12, there are two things that take place. First of all, Nathan, who is God’s prophet, comes into the palace and tells David of a story of a poor man and a rich man. The rich man had large flocks of animals and the poor man had one lamb that he had raised like a member of his own family. The rich man had company and instead of taking a lamb from his own herd, Nathan told David that the rich man took the lamb of the poor family.

    David was furious and said this man should die. Nathan told David that he was the rich man. David understood what had happened and knew that this was the Lord’s way of pointing out his sin. 13So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” And Nathan said to David, “The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die. 14“However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die.” 15Then Nathan departed to his house. David and Bathsheba lost this son.

    Sin seems so subtle. Sin seems to be so harmless. David’s sin caused him to commit adultery; it caused David to commit murder. David and Bathsheba’s sin cost them their baby’s life. More importantly, David’s sin displeased God.

    God had done so much for David. David had everything that he could have imagined. David made the mistake of thinking that he was in charge of his world and he forgot that God was the One who was in charge. David let his position cloud his thinking. His “walk on the wild side” cost him more than he could have ever imagined.
    You and I need to be careful to walk with God in every decision that we make. No one would have thought that David would have resorted to the extremes that he found himself in. When you and I flirt with sin it displeases God and it always cost us so much more than we could ever imagine. Our single determination ought always to be to not displease the Lord.



    .
    "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you."



    ><> Bob <><



    Comment (2)

    Sun, Nov 26th - 7:27AM



     
    Called Christians       Acts 11:26     November 26




    26 He found Saul and brought him to Antioch, where they met with the church for a whole year and taught many of its people. There in Antioch the Lord’s followers were first called Christians.



    Paul and Barnabas began to preach Jesus crucified and resurrected everywhere they went. Paul’s message was simple; if we bear Jesus’ name, we must also reflect His character. The church at Antioch did exactly that and because of their commitment to the Lord, the followers were first called Christians in Antioch.

    What kind of characteristics are we to practice so that people will look at us today and call us Christians? Well, one of the first characteristics that Jesus displayed was His desire to please His heavenly Father. Everything that Jesus did, every decision that He made, He made it according to God’s will for His life. The Word of God framed His decisions. People ask the question, “How can I know God’s will for my life?” That is indeed a great question. The answer is really not that difficult either.

    God’s will for your life and mine is to take His Word to heart and let it guide our decisions. When we take God at His Word, then He is able to guide our lives and guard us and He is able to give to us as He so much wants to do. This process involves two aspects. First, we have to take the Word of God off the mantle and begin to read it. Then we simply need to put into practice what we read. As we practice what we read and understand, we will begin to understand more and more and the Bible will become a living book to us.

    When we begin to take God at His Word, He begins to take our lives and mold and shapes us into the best individuals that we can be. He remakes us and He conforms unto the image of His Son. Just as Jesus looked to His heavenly Father for direction for His life, so can we do the same thing in our lives. This is all that God expects from us. If we will just follow Him one decision at a time, He will do what He wants to do and He will bless us beyond expectation and imagination!

    God is looking for folks that are being called Christian in our communities and in our homes. As He finds them, He is blessing them and making them a blessing to those around them. Are you called a Christian in the circles that you are known in?



    .
    "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you."



    ><> Bob <><


    Comment (2)

    Sat, Nov 25th - 9:16AM



    God’s Promises        Deuteronomy 11:25       November 25



    25“No man shall be able to stand against you; the LORD your God will put the dread of you and the fear of you upon all the land where you tread, just as He has said to you.



    Here is a promise that we find God giving the children of Israel. They have been delivered from the bondage of 400 years in Egypt. They are in the wilderness and on their way to the Promised Land. God tells the children of Israel, 25“No man shall be able to stand against you; the LORD your God will put the dread of you and the fear of you upon all the land where you tread, just as He has said to you.

    This is a great promise! On occasions I hear this promise repeated today. I believe there is some justification for repeating this promise to believers today. However, if we are going to repeat the promise, we have to back up and repeat the condition to the promise. Look at verse 22, “For if you carefully keep all these commandments which I command you to do—to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, and to hold fast to Him— 23“then the LORD will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will dispossess greater and mightier nations than yourselves.”

    God promises that He will assume responsibility for people who keep God’s commandments and love the Lord and walk in His ways and hold fast to Him. This was true for the children of Israel and it is true for you and me today. God has not changed. He wants to be our God and He wants us to be His people.

    Listen to the word that God gives to the children of Israel following the promise He gave to them. 26“Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: 27“the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you today; 28“and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known.

    You and I have this great promise from God as well. There are conditions that we must adhere to if we want to benefit from God’s promises of victory for us. There are also words of warning that we must heed as well. God wants to bless us and He wants to meet our need and fight our battles. His word is for our benefit. There are blessings to following His Word but there are curses to refusing to follow His instruction.

    We need to heed God’s Word for His glory and our benefit.


    .
    "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you."



    ><> Bob <><



    Comment (1)

    Fri, Nov 24th - 6:17AM



    We Will Rise Again      John 11:24       November 24



    24Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”



    Lazarus has died. When Lazarus got sick, Martha and Mary sent for Jesus because they knew that He could heal him. Jesus did not come and Lazarus died. He has been buried and 4 days have gone by and word reaches Mary and Martha that Jesus is coming. Martha went out to meet Jesus.

    21Then Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. 22“But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” 23Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

    Martha’s faith is demonstrated in this passage. She acknowledges her faith in Jesus’ ability to heal her brother. However, she fails to realize that Jesus did not have to physically be there! His abilities are not limited by space or time, as He will demonstrate in a short while.

    Martha makes a second statement. 22“But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” Once again, Martha demonstrates a measure of faith. She would not come out and ask Jesus to raise Lazarus from the dead although she wants to believe that He can! Notice, she comes short of acknowledging Jesus’ ability as she says that God will do whatever You ask Him to do. Jesus was Himself the resurrection and the Life and He Himself had power over life and death.

    23Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Jesus waits for Martha’s reaction and response. 24Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Martha had heard Jesus teach about the resurrection. She knew that Lazarus would live again. She believed that Lazarus would live again.

    Jesus went on to raise Lazarus from the dead. However, Lazarus did die again. When Martha told Jesus that she knew that Lazarus would live again, I believe she had already found comfort in that thought. Even though her faith was lacking in some areas, I believe Martha and Mary trusted the Lord enough to know that death was not the end of life for their brother. They knew in their hearts that the Lord had come to bring us life and that the life that He came to give to us was forever.

    The greatest assurance that you and I can give to our family and our friends is the assurance that we will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. The greatest gift that we can give to our family and friends is the assurance that they will be able to know that they too will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.



    .
    "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you."



    ><> Bob <><


    Comment (1)

    Thu, Nov 23rd - 7:56AM



    Happy Thanksgiving to All! May God bless you on this very special day today. Let me say a special thank you to each of you for allowing me to be a part of your day each day. It is my joy to be able to write these devotionals and to have the opportunity to share them with each of you.



    Now We Shall See        Numbers 11:23         November 23



    23And the LORD said to Moses, “Has the LORD’s arm been shortened? Now you shall see whether what I say will happen to you or not.”



    The children of Israel are in the wilderness. God has miraculously brought them out of Egypt. He has protected them from the strong arm of Pharaoh. He parted the waters of the Red Sea and they marched through the sea on dry land. They then watched as God closed the waters up and Pharaoh’s army drowned in the sea and they would never see Pharaoh’s army again.

    The children of Israel experienced God’s presence in the pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day. They knew that God spoke to Moses and that He was going to take them to the Promised Land, a land flowing with milk and honey. However, this journey was no leisurely walk in the park. The people got hungry and God gave them manna to eat. They got thirsty and God gave them water to drink.

    Now, they were tired of the manna! They had learned to cook it in almost every conceivable way possible and they wanted something else to eat. This is all ok. God understands our desires. However, the people complained and said, “Who will give us meat to eat? 5“We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; 6“but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!” “Why did we ever come up out of Egypt?”

    Moses went to the Lord and began to whine himself! 11So Moses said to the LORD, “Why have You afflicted Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all these people on me? 12“Did I conceive all these people? Did I beget them, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a guardian carries a nursing child,’ to the land which You swore to their fathers? 13“Where am I to get meat to give to all these people? For they weep all over me, saying, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’ 14“I am not able to bear all these people alone, because the burden is too heavy for me. 15“If You treat me like this, please kill me here and now—if I have found favor in Your sight—and do not let me see my wretchedness!”

    God told Moses that He would give the children of Israel meat to eat. Listen to what God says to Moses, “Has the LORD’s arm been shortened? Now you shall see whether what I say will happen to you or not.”

    You and I need to remember that no matter how difficult the situation and circumstances that we face may be, God is able to handle it! There is never any panic in heaven, just a plan. God knows what He is going to do before a situation even comes up. His arm has not been shortened. You and I need to determine in our hearts and in our minds to remain faithful to His Word and His promises and watch and see if He will do what He says He will do.


    .
    "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you."



    ><> Bob <><



    Comment (3)

    Wed, Nov 22nd - 9:16AM



    Have Faith in God      Mark 11:22      November 22


    22 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God.


    23“For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. 24“Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

    Here is a very popular passage of scripture today. It should be! Prayer is the key to living a victorious Christian life! However, this is not a passage on prayer as much as it is a passage on faith! Lets look at this passage.

    “Have faith in God.” What is faith? Faith is believing that God is everything that He says He is and that He will do everything that He says He will do. (Hebrews 11:6b) Nothing is impossible with God. So… whoever says to this mountain (the Mount of Olives) be removed into the sea and does not doubt in his heart but believes those things that he says in his heart will be done… he will have whatever he says.

    What is Jesus talking about? Is this a discourse on prayer? Is this a discourse on faith in God? Is it a discourse on both? Look at the setting for this passage. Jesus is answering Peter’s question… in verse 21.. “And Peter, remembering, said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.”

    Perhaps the admonition “Have faith in God” has something to do with the withering of the fig tree. The fig tree represented Israel. The fig tree had leaves, which was an indication that fruit would be present but there was no fruit. Judaism looked good. Judaism was well developed. It did not produce fruit! Perhaps that represents many of our churches today as well. To keep from being unfruitful like the fig tree, we are too have faith in God… believing Him and placing our lives in His hands.

    The mountain represents an obstacle… a tremendous obstacle. There is only one obstacle that is too big for God to handle in our lives... and that is the obstacle that we refuse to give Him to handle for us! Faith is saying to any obstacle we may be facing… be removed and trusting God to handle it His way… no matter what.

    It is that kind of faith that will produce fruit instead of leaves! When my faith is in the Lord Jesus, and my eyes are focused on His Word… then I can trust Him to take care of any obstacle that I will face.
    Does this mean that God will hear my prayer and grant that prayer if I pray without doubt… believing that He not only can but will do for me what I have asked Him to do?

    In 2 Corinthians 12 Paul prays not once but three times for this thorn in the flesh to be taken away from him. God’s reply to Him was… 9And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Did God answer Paul’s prayer? “Yes”. Did He take the thorn away? “No” Did Paul pray with faith? Did he understand the prayer of faith? “Yes”

    Jesus is trying to teach His disciples that God honors our faith in Him. God honored Paul’s faith. He did not grant Paul’s prayer request. He will honor our faith in Him as well!

    Have faith in God. Believe that He is everything that He says He is and that He will do everything that He says He will do!




    .
    "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you."



    ><> Bob <><


    Comment (0)

    Tue, Nov 21st - 8:04PM

    Back. Had a little computer problem. Missed everyone!



     

     

    Trust God Today       Numbers 11:21    November 21



    21And Moses said, “The people whom I am among are six hundred thousand men on foot; yet You have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat for a whole month.’



    The children of Israel have been grumbling and complaining about the food that they have had to eat. They are in the wilderness and they have grown tired of the manna that they have been eating every day now for some time. They have learned to fix this manna just about every conceivable way and they are still tired of it. So, they grumble and complain but they make the mistake of saying, “It was well for us in Egypt; why did we leave there.”

    God told Moses to tell the people that He would provide meat for the people to eat. So, Moses does as he was instructed and he tells the people that meat is on the way. After Moses told the people that meat was coming, he went to God with a question, “there are six hundred thousand men and You said that that they would eat for a whole month.” 22“Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to provide enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to provide enough for them?”

    Moses did not know where the meat was going to come from and he questions God about the meat. Listen to God’s reply to Moses. 23And the LORD said to Moses, “Has the LORD’s arm been shortened? Now you shall see whether what I say will happen to you or not.”

    It does not matter if there are 5000 men on a hillside or 600,000 men in the wilderness; God can do anything that He wants to do! Nothing is too big for God! You and I may be just like Moses. We may not be able to see how something is going to taken care of. Our situation may seem hopeless. The problem is, we do not have all the facts but praise the Lord God does! God knows exactly what we need and He knows exactly how He is going to provide for us.

    All you and I have to do is make sure that we trust God and do what God tells us to do. Moses did what God told him to do. Moses had no idea how God was going to feed this large group but he trusted God enough to tell the people what God told him to tell them.

    You and I are to trust God in everything. We are to trust Him in each and every decision that we make so that He can provide for us as well. Step out in faith today and trust God and “Now you shall see whether what I say will happen to you or not.”




    .
    "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you."



    ><> Bob <><



    Comment (2)

    Tue, Nov 7th - 7:20AM



    Exalt the Lord       Hosea 11:7       November 7



    7 My people are bent on backsliding from Me. Though they call to the Most High,
    None at all exalt Him.



    God reminds the nation of Israel that He is the One who brought them up out of the land of Egypt. He is the One who established them as a people. 78 people went to Egypt and 400 years later over 1 million people came out! God reminds the people that they refused to acknowledge Him and went out to serve other gods.

    He reminded them that He is the One who healed them; He is the One who fed them and provided for them. He says, “My people are bent on backsliding from Me. Though they call to the Most High, none at all exalt Me.”

    Isn’t it amazing how contemporary the Bible is! This was written some 2500 years ago and it is as contemporary as the morning newspaper. It seems as if we are indeed “bent on backsliding from the Lord.” We acknowledge the Lord but we fail to obey His Word. We include the Lord in our routines but we refuse to let Him be Lord and Master of our lives. We know what we ought to do and we know what we have no business doing but the truth is, we are set on doing what we want to do the way that we want to do it and God’s Word is just not much of a consideration most of the time.

    It is as if we have forgotten all the things that God has done for us and all the things He has promised to do for us. We want God’s goodness and His provisions in our lives but we want them on our terms. We want to go our own way and expect God to bless us anyway!

    The Israelites refused to “exalt” God. God wanted them to look to Him and allow Him to be God in their lives. Sometimes we want to read this passage and think, they didn’t “worship” God. We tend to think sometime, I go to church; I tithe most of the time; I teach Sunday School and sing in the choir. I love God.

    The real question is do you obey His Word? Do you live for Him every moment of every day? Do you exalt Him by walking in the footsteps that He wants you to walk? Do you allow Him to have His way in your life by the decisions that you make? This is the desire of God’s heart; this is what He is looking for in you and in me. God wants our obedience because of our faith and our trust in Him. He wants to continue to bless us and provide for us and He wants to meet our needs and He wants to give us the desires of His heart!

    Exalt the Lord today in each and every decision that you make and see the difference that the Lord can and will make in your life!



    .
    "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you."



    ><> Bob <><


    Comment (6)

    Mon, Nov 6th - 7:49AM



    Faith Is        Hebrews 11:6       November 6


    6But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.



    Here is one of the most important passages of scripture in the Bible. Most people will quote Hebrews 11:1 when asked the question, “What is faith?” Paul however gives a second definition that I believe is a great answer to the question, “What is faith.” If you have read many of these devotionals you will remember reading the definition that I use, that faith is believing that God is everything that He says He is and that He will do everything that He says He will do. This definition comes form this verse.

    Paul writes, “without faith it is impossible to please God.” This is where most people stop when quoting this verse. For a long time I didn’t even know that there was a second part to this verse. One day God opened my eyes to this verse and I things have been different ever sense.

    It only stands to reason that Paul would tell us what kind of faith God would have us have if faith is essential to pleasing God. This is exactly what Paul does for us in the second part of this verse. Look at what Paul writes. He says, that he who comes to God must believe that he is... that he is what? We must believe that God is everything that He says He is! This is why His Word is so vitally important in our lives. If we are going to know who God is and what God wants to do in us and with us and for us, we must know what His Word says because that is the only way we are going to come to know anything about Him.

    Most people fail to look at God according to His Word and they begin to make assumptions according to their own ideas about who God and is what He does and that my friend is a tragedy! It does not make any sense to try to decide for ourselves who God is apart from what He tells us in His Word. Faith is believing that He is exactly who He says He is in His revelation of Himself to us in His Word.

    Paul des not stop there, he goes on to write, that he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him, or that He will do everything that He says He will do!

    Here is why this verse is so important to me. If I believe that God is everything that He says He is and if He will do everything that He says He will do then I need to trust Him! I need to let my faith in Him dictate who I am by the decisions that I make in my life. If my faith is not having an impact on who I am and what I do, then it is impossible for me to please God! God’s Word is to have an impact on my life. His Word is to make a difference in the decisions that I make. The decisions that I make give Him the opportunity to make a difference in the life that I live.

    Faith in God is the most important aspect of my life and without faith in Him, it is impossible to please Him. We need to trust Him and believe that He is everything that He says He is and He will do everything that He says He will do!



    .
    "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you."



    ><> Bob <><



    Comment (1)

    Sun, Nov 5th - 6:40AM



    God Knows        Ecclesiastes 11:5      November 5



    5 As you do not know what is the way of the wind, Or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child, So you do not know the works of God who makes everything.



    You and I live our lives with so many decisions that we can make and directions that we can take. Temptation haunts our every thought. The Bible gives us clear directions but look at the times we fail to follow those directions.

    Solomon addresses that as he reminds us that we have no idea where the wind comes from or where it is going. We do not really understand how bones grow in a mother’s womb and we can in no way understand God’s works who has made everything!

    Listen to Isaiah 55, “8 For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.”

    You and I need to understand and be reminded with every decision that we make that God knows what we need and He knows what He has planned to do for us and all we need to do is follow the direction that He has given to us in His Word.

    We have to understand that God knows what it takes to have life and have it more abundantly. He created life and He sent His Son to give His life so that you and I might have life. God gave us His Word so that we could make it a lamp unto our feet, a light unto our path and hide it in our hearts so that we can experience life in all of its fullness as God has created it for us.



    .
    "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you."



    ><> Bob <><


    Comment (1)

    Sat, Nov 4th - 7:27AM



    God’s Purpose Statement     Jeremiah 11:4     November 4



    4“which I commanded your fathers in the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and do according to all that I command you; so shall you be My people, and I will be your God.



    Let’s look at the first 5 verses of Jeremiah 11, “1The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 2“Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; 3“and say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD God of Israel: “Cursed is the man who does not obey the words of this covenant 4“which I commanded your fathers in the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and do according to all that I command you; so shall you be My people, and I will be your God,’ 5“that I may establish the oath which I have sworn to your fathers, to give them ‘a land flowing with milk and honey,’ as it is this day.”

    ‘Obey My voice, and do according to all that I command you; so shall you be My people, and I will be your God.’ There is nothing that God wants any more than for you and me to “be His people.” God wants to be our God. God wants to be God in our lives. This is what I call God’s purpose statement in the Bible. God wants to be our God and He wants us to be His people and everything that He has done and everything that He continues to do is to accomplish that purpose in your life and in mine.

    Faith is believing that God is everything that He says He is and that He will do everything that He says He will do. Our faith in God is supposed to help us obey His Word. This is why God says, without faith it is impossible to please Him. Our obedience is the measuring stick of our faith. As we obey God’s voice and do according to all that He has commanded us to do, we become God’s children and we allow God to be God in our lives.

    When you and I are obedient to God’s Word, God is able to assume responsibility for the lives that we live. He is able to fight our battles and provide for our needs and He is even able to give us the desires of our heart and most certainly He is able to give us the desires of His heart! God wants our lives to be filled to overflowing. He wants us to live in a land flowing with milk and honey, filled with all of His goodness and His grace.

    Let go and let God has His way in your life. Be obedient to His Word in every decision that you make and let God be God in your life and be His chosen, special people.




    .
    "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you."



    ><> Bob <><


    Comment (1)

    Fri, Nov 3rd - 7:33AM



    Seek Another?          Matthew 11:3           November 3



    3and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”



    Imagine John the Baptist sending a couple of his disciples to go ask Jesus such a question. Listen to John1: “29The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30“This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ 31“I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.” 32And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. 33“I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34“And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”
    35Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. 36And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!”

    How could John question the Messiah? John is in prison and perhaps he knew that he would not get out. In chapter 14 we find the awful account of John the Baptist’s death. Jesus did not act like the Messiah. He was not a conquering King as a military leader might be. He was not the flamboyant philosopher that some of the other great teachers of His day were. He did not rally the Scribes and Pharisees together perhaps as John might have thought the Messiah would have done. Perhaps John himself felt that he might have a place of importance in the new kingdom and here he was in prison about to lose his life… that was not supposed to happen!

    “Jesus… are You the Coming One or do we look for another?” It appears that John was not sure about Jesus and His very unique ways.

    We are all guilty of asking the same question John asked. It seems that Jesus is not doing things in many of our lives the way that we would like for Him to do either. We face difficulty in our lives and it seems as if God is way out there somewhere and He is oblivious to our circumstances and our situation. It appears that He has His priorities and His priorities and our priorities are not the same.

    So what do we do? We stand up and step out and do things that we think we ought to do… the way that we want to do them. In essence, we are saying the same thing that John the Baptist said… because we have not accepted the fact that Jesus’ unique ways are going to be different from our own ways and His solutions are going to be different from our solutions.

    Faith is accepting His Word just as it is and allowing it to mold and shape us into the image that He has for us. Faith is believing that He is everything that He says He is and that He will do everything that He says He will do to the point that I am willing to go where He tells me to go… and do whatever it is that He tells me to do. Period!

    When I do anything other than what His Spirit and His Word tells me to do I am saying with my life… “Jesus… I do not believe that You are the Coming One…” and so we look somewhere else. We need to look unto Jesus, the Author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross on our behalf… he died so that we could live for Him. He gave his life so that we could have life. It is no surprise that His way is going to be radically different from our own… but equally true is the fact that His provisions are unequalled in this life and certainly in the life to come!!!



    .
    "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you."



    ><> Bob <><


    Comment (2)

    Thu, Nov 2nd - 6:18AM



    Be Responsible     II Samuel 11:2     November 2



    2Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold.



    Most of us know the story of David and Bathsheba. David is king of Israel and one day he got up and went out onto his balcony and saw a woman taking a bath. The Bible tells us that she was a very beautiful woman. There are a couple of observations that need to be made with reference to this event.

    First of all, it could be argued that David saw Bathsheba unexpectedly. It is one thing to face temptation unexpectedly. However, to act on that temptation is wrong. Instead of turning around and going back into his house, David stood there and began to lust over this woman and then he acted on that lust. He had his servants go and get the woman and bring her to him. David sinned against Bathsheba and he sinned against God and that sin cost them both dearly.
    There is a second aspect to this story that I want us to look at today. Look back at verse 1, “It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.
    David should not have been on the roof on that day. He should have been with his army but because he was not where he should have been, he fell into temptation and into sin.

    Why is this important to you and me? When you and I fail to be responsible for where we are and what we are supposed to be doing, we set ourselves up for failure. Responsibility has its benefits. Not only was David in the wrong place because he was not with his army, he failed to be responsible in his decisions with respect to Bathsheba because he made poor decisions earlier and was not where he should have been.

    David decided to stay home instead of going to war. He committed adultery with Bathsheba and then he sought to cover up his actions and eventually committed murder. Sin is a slippery slope that leads to destruction and once we step onto that slope, even with the slightest of steps, we are in danger of making major mistakes.

    Sin always takes us farther than we want to go; sin always keeps us longer than we want to stay and sin always costs us more than we want to pay. Be responsible.



    .
    "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you."



    ><> Bob <><


    Comment (5)

    Wed, Nov 1st - 8:03AM



     
    Teach Us to Pray        Luke 11:1      November 1



    Lord, Teach us to pray.



    Prayer is an expression of our faith. If we believe that God is everything that He says He is and that He will do everything that He says He will do, then we will seek Him in prayer. Our contact with God depends on our concept of God. As we come to know God as He reveals Himself to us we learn that we can trust Him. It is only as we learn that we can trust Him that e do begin to trust Him. This is where prayer comes in. Prayer is the key that unlocks the promises of God in our lives.

    In Hebrews 11:6 we find that God is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him. This is a promise from God that is ours through prayer. We pray because we trust God to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. If we do not believe that God is everything that He says He is and that He will do everything that He says He will do, then guess what; we will not pray like we should! It really is that simple. People will say, “I believe in prayer” but prayer for a lot of people is more of a last resort. When we have done everything else that we can possibly think of to fix things on our own and we have failed, we will try to take God by the hand and say, “God I believe that all things are possible and that You can fix my problem.”

    God wants to be our first response as opposed to our last resort. He wants us to learn that His way is not only the best way; it is the only way from His perspective. The real reason that this is so important is because effective prayer is based on a relationship with God. Notice Jesus’ response to the disciples request, “Lord teach us to pray.” Jesus began His prayer, “Our Father, Who art in heaven.” It is our Father that we are to pray to and not just “My Father” as Jesus could have well prayed. He was not praying to God for the disciples, He was teaching them how to approach God’s throne for themselves.

    If you have been born into God’s forever family, then you have the privilege and invitation as well as an obligation to approach God’s throne as your Father and you will have the joy of coming to know Him in all of His glory as He reveals His glory to you in His presence and His power and His provisions in your life!

    Lord, teach us to pray!



    .
    "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you."



    ><> Bob <><


    Comment (1)

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    About Me

    Name: Bob Hadley of Saved By Grace Ministries
    ChristiansUnite ID: sbgm
    Member Since: 2006-03-04
    Location: Ormond Beach, Florida, United States
    Denomination: Southern Baptist
    About Me: I am a bi-vocational preacher and evangelist as well as a singer. I have been writing these daily devotionals now for 4 years. This years devotionals are written where month and day coorespond to a chapter and verse somewhere in the Bible. For exampl... more

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