A Daily Devotional

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Tragic Ignorance

For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God" (Romans 10:3).

There are several important doctrinal truths about which unbelievers--and sometimes even Christians--seem tragically ignorant, with an ignorance affecting their very lives and destinies. Perhaps the most tragic is that mentioned in our text. Paul was writing specifically of the Jews, but the same ignorance is found in countless others--people who seek to earn salvation by their own religious and moral works rather than through faith in the imputed righteousness of Christ, who died for their sins.

There is also widespread ignorance concerning death and life beyond the grave. "I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him" (I Thessalonians 4:13,14). With respect to Christian life and ministry, Paul says: "Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant" (I Corinthians 12:1). Yet most Christians neglect to develop or use their gifts, mainly because of ignorance concerning their proper function as described in I Corinthians 12, 14; Romans 12:3-21; Ephesians 4:7-16, and other key passages.

We urgently also need to be instructed concerning the deceptions of the wicked one: "Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices" (II Corinthians 2:11). For all who seek instruction rather than ignorance, let them study God's word, for "all scripture . . . is profitable for . . . instruction in righteousness" (II Timothy 3:16).

The Corner Stone.
Thank you  Pastor Roger.
I was looking for a way to salute  Brother Tom and to thank him for " the Shadow" and that i think about him and I miss him.
I pray for you brother Tom
remember we are all together.
never alone.
Shadows are all around us
 and the One over us is the One that warm's us
Heal us
The Light of the world.
Love in Jesus Def.
come back soon OK OK.

[Soldier4Christ]

The Conclusion of the Matter

"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man" (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

The spiritual life of Solomon can, to a great degree, be traced through his writings as recorded in the Bible. They are not straightforward history, but rather in a poetic style which reveal his inner thoughts throughout his life. At the beginning of his reign over Israel, he asked God for "an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad" (I Kings 3:9), and he subsequently became renowned for his wisdom (e.g., 3:28; 4:29).

Unfortunately, as is well documented in Scripture, his thirst for human wisdom led him into compromise and disobedience, setting the stage for national apostasy and idolatry upon his death. The Book of Ecclesiastes chronicles a series of experiments which he conducted in search for the highest human good, but each forced him to conclude that "all is vanity" (Ecclesiastes 1:2, etc.), that there is no humanly discernible pattern in the affairs of men. However, he concludes, life is the gift of God and should be enjoyed (3:13). Furthermore, he recognized the eventual judgment of God, and concluded it best to live in obedience to God's commands (e.g., 3:16,17).

Our text summarizes the entire Book of Ecclesiastes. Here is the secret of human fulfillment. Note the two complementary commands, "fear God," and "keep His commandments."

A true reverence for God necessarily results in obedience to His commands. Wise Solomon knew it, and Christ and the New Testament writers reinforced it (John 14:15; I John 5:2; etc.). Life's harsh realities and seeming paradoxes are at times incomprehensible to us. Only by adopting a proper attitude toward life and God can we cope.

[Soldier4Christ]

The Word and the Spirit

"Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God" (I Corinthians 2:12).

How is it that some people can read a Biblical passage and find it either tedious, confusing, or even foolish, whereas others will receive great understanding and blessing from the very same passage? The answer is that the first group are animated only by the spirit of the world, "the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience" (Ephesians 2:2), whereas the others are indwelt by the Spirit of God, having received the Holy Spirit when they trusted Christ for forgiveness and salvation.

It was, after all, the Holy Spirit who inspired the Scriptures to begin with. "Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost" (II Peter 1:21). "All scripture is given by inspiration of God" (II Timothy 3:16), that is, "God-breathed," where the "breath of God" is none other than the "Spirit of God." Concerning his own divinely inspired writings, Paul said: "We speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth" (I Corinthians 2:13).

Likewise it is the same Spirit indwelling each believer who illumines, and confirms, and applies His own Scriptures to the individual Christian who reads or hears them. "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (I Corinthians 2:14). On the other hand, Jesus promised His disciples that "when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth" (John 16:13).

This He does through the Scriptures He inspired, with blessings abundant as we study them prayerfully and with believing and obedient hearts.

[Soldier4Christ]

Visit

"Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for His name" (Acts 15:14).

Our English word "visit" has come to mean a social call, but not so in the Greek where it can mean to inspect, to look upon in order to help, or benefit.

For example, when Christ said "sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not" (Matthew 25:43), He had in mind more than a social call. The prisons of the day were miserable places, with no amenities whatever. Prisoners desperately needed help from the outside. Paul wrote to Timothy from his Roman prison: "The cloak that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee" (II Timothy 4:13). By better understanding the word "visit," Christ's teaching takes on a richer meaning involving more the idea of a personal commitment.

The events surrounding the birth of the Messiah were considered a "visitation" by Zacharias when he prophesied over the baby Jesus: "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for He hath visited and redeemed His people . . . the dayspring from on high hath visited us" (Luke 1:68,78). After Christ raised to life a dead boy, the people exclaimed, "a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited His people" (Luke 7:16).

In that light consider our text for today as James explained to the church leaders Paul's ministry to the Gentiles. With our expanded understanding of the word "visit," we could now expand the verse to read, "how God for the first time did look upon the Gentiles, in order to help them. In doing so He took out of them a people for His name." God, in His grace, has done all that was necessary to help us, to bring us out of bondage to sin, and to stamp on us His holy name.

[Soldier4Christ]

Holy Brethren

"I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren" (I Thessalonians 5:27).

There is probably no word more misused--even abused--than the word "holy." In our day and age, it usually conjures up an image of sanctimoniousness, or even hypocrisy, and thus often becomes a term of snide ridicule.

Nevertheless, it is a Biblical term of highest significance, most often used in connection with God Himself, the Holy Spirit. Since it is also used in connection with things ("the holy place," as in Hebrews 9:12), it does not in itself necessarily have a moral connotation. Its basic meaning is evidently "set apart" and can refer either to people or objects that have been dedicated to God and His service.

Christians are all "holy brethren" in this sense, regardless of their individual behavior. They are all also called "saints" (same word as "holy" in the Greek--e.g., I Corinthians 1:2, even though many of the "saints" at Corinth were far from Christlike in their actions).

By all means, however, we who are called "holy brethren" ought to try, by God's grace, to bring honor to such a name, rather than ridicule. "Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; Who was faithful to Him that appointed Him" (Hebrews 3:1,2).

The term "saints," or "holy brethren," applies both to men and women, of course, and to believers of Old Testament times as well as New Testament. Peter, for example, mentions "the holy women" who honored and served the Lord "in the old time" (I Peter 3:5) and also the "holy men of God" through whom God gave the Old Testament Scriptures (II Peter 1:21). The eternal admonition of God to all believers of every age is: "Be ye holy; for I am holy" (I Peter 1:16).

[Soldier4Christ]

The Christian's Lifestyle: Our Wisdom

"Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is" (Ephesians 5:17).

The "wherefore" is preceded by the command: "walk as children of light" (Ephesians 5:. This title, children of light, is used only three other times in the New Testament: once by the Lord Jesus to contrast worldly wisdom with the ineffectual use of godly wisdom in the least things (Luke 16:; once again to direct us to believe in the light (John 12:36); and finally by Paul to encourage us to watch and be sober (I Thessalonians 5:5,6).

A light-like life, which is evidence of the fruit of the Spirit, is expressed in the character of goodness (Romans 15:14), righteousness (Romans 14:17,18), and truth (Ephesians 5:9; compare Galatians 5:22). In fact, the transformation of our character by our conscious choice to "present (our) bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God," enables us to "prove what is that good and acceptable, and perfect will of God" (Romans 12:1,2; see also Ephesians 5:10). An equation is clearly drawn between godly behavior and godly wisdom.

It therefore follows that children of light "should have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness" (Ephesians 5:11), taking the responsibility to reprove them and recognizing the "shame even to speak of those things" (Ephesians 5:12).

The light things make manifest (present, display) that which is reproved, enabling us to "walk circumspectly |accurately, carefully|, not as fools but as wise" (Ephesians 5:15). That wisdom is not the foolish wisdom of this world (I Corinthians 1:20), but the wisdom of God (I Corinthians 2:7) "that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God" (I Corinthians 2:12), understanding what the will of the Lord is.

[Def]

The Christian's Lifestyle: Our Wisdom

"Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is" (Ephesians 5:17).

The "wherefore" is preceded by the command: "walk as children of light" (Ephesians 5:. This title, children of light, is used only three other times in the New Testament: once by the Lord Jesus to contrast worldly wisdom with the ineffectual use of godly wisdom in the least things (Luke 16:; once again to direct us to believe in the light (John 12:36); and finally by Paul to encourage us to watch and be sober (I Thessalonians 5:5,6).

A light-like life, which is evidence of the fruit of the Spirit, is expressed in the character of goodness (Romans 15:14), righteousness (Romans 14:17,18), and truth (Ephesians 5:9; compare Galatians 5:22). In fact, the transformation of our character by our conscious choice to "present (our) bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God," enables us to "prove what is that good and acceptable, and perfect will of God" (Romans 12:1,2; see also Ephesians 5:10). An equation is clearly drawn between godly behavior and godly wisdom.

It therefore follows that children of light "should have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness" (Ephesians 5:11), taking the responsibility to reprove them and recognizing the "shame even to speak of those things" (Ephesians 5:12).

The light things make manifest (present, display) that which is reproved, enabling us to "walk circumspectly |accurately, carefully|, not as fools but as wise" (Ephesians 5:15). That wisdom is not the foolish wisdom of this world (I Corinthians 1:20), but the wisdom of God (I Corinthians 2:7) "that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God" (I Corinthians 2:12), understanding what the will of the Lord is.

Thank you Pastor Roger.
I had a message once and it was whispered
"Remember who you are Light,  a child of the Light.
i don't know why He didn't heal me then ,but he put me back on my chair.
I don't mind i am a good wheeler
when the weather is OK and that will be in 3 months
 and then we will go back to the mountain if  Jesus didn't lift me up .
well one moment at the time , most of the time my spirits are up ,got to stay hidden with Jesus in God.Good night Pastor Roger.
love In Jesus Def

[Soldier4Christ]

Good night, sister.

[Soldier4Christ]

The Incarnation

"For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh" (Romans 8:3).

The great truth of Christmas (meaning, originally, "Christ-sent") is that "God was manifest in the flesh" (I Timothy 3:16). The eternal Word "was made flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1:14). So vital is this truth that "every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God, and this is that spirit of antichrist" (I John 4:3).

Jesus Christ is the God/Man--infinite God and perfect Man, perfectly joined in full union, and salvation is based on this truth. If Jesus Christ were not perfect Man, He could not die for the sins of man; if He were not God, He could not defeat death and save us from the penalty of sin.

He could not be born in sinful flesh, of course, like all the descendants of Adam, but only in the "likeness" of sinful flesh. From the moment of conception, He must be "holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners" (Hebrews 7:26), and thus miraculously conceived in a virgin's womb.

In fact, that miraculous creation of His body in the womb of Mary was the actual moment when God became Man. It is even possible that the incarnation took place on about the very night that we now call Christmas, since it is probable that Jesus was actually born in the early fall, when shepherds were in the field with their sheep. It may even have been on Michaelmas ("Michael sent"), the fall holiday on September 29 honoring the angel who with the heavenly host announced the birth of Jesus on that night long ago. How appropriate it would be if "the light of the world" had indeed come into the world on or near that world's longest night just nine months before.

[Def]

The Incarnation

"For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh" (Romans 8:3).

The great truth of Christmas (meaning, originally, "Christ-sent") is that "God was manifest in the flesh" (I Timothy 3:16). The eternal Word "was made flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1:14). So vital is this truth that "every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God, and this is that spirit of antichrist" (I John 4:3).

Jesus Christ is the God/Man--infinite God and perfect Man, perfectly joined in full union, and salvation is based on this truth. If Jesus Christ were not perfect Man, He could not die for the sins of man; if He were not God, He could not defeat death and save us from the penalty of sin.

He could not be born in sinful flesh, of course, like all the descendants of Adam, but only in the "likeness" of sinful flesh. From the moment of conception, He must be "holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners" (Hebrews 7:26), and thus miraculously conceived in a virgin's womb.

In fact, that miraculous creation of His body in the womb of Mary was the actual moment when God became Man. It is even possible that the incarnation took place on about the very night that we now call Christmas, since it is probable that Jesus was actually born in the early fall, when shepherds were in the field with their sheep. It may even have been on Michaelmas ("Michael sent"), the fall holiday on September 29 honoring the angel who with the heavenly host announced the birth of Jesus on that night long ago. How appropriate it would be if "the light of the world" had indeed come into the world on or near that world's longest night just nine months before.

Funny you should say this Pastor Roger ,today as i was studying  i  came upon in Genesis 48: 16   The Angel which redeemed me from all evil,"(Genesis 48:16 KJV)
What i think OK "just a thought"
 the Angel of the Lord (Son of man Son Of God!!!
 your thought"Michael sent"what do you think !!
every year i listen entirely to the bible old and new testament KJV.
I start on Chrismas week and finish three weeks later It is a DVD you can read and listen at the same time
which i do
Boy OH boy what a gift.so so good.
Well  MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERY BODY.
Love in Jesus Def.

[Soldier4Christ]

The original Hebrew word that was translated to Angel in Genesis 48:16 can also be translated to mean messenger, prophet, priest or teacher, ambassador, or king. It is believed that it is Jesus Christ that is being spoken of. After all what created Angel can be a redeemer and Israel did say that this person redeemed them from all evil.

[Soldier4Christ]

A Light to the Gentiles

And He said, It is a light thing that thou shouldst be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth" (Isaiah 49:6).

These words were presumably directed to the Son by the Father as the Triune God prepared to implement the ancient promise that a Savior would come to bring salvation to a world lost in sin. That salvation would not only be the restoration of Israel as God's elect nation, but also would reach the Gentile nations and spread to the ends of the earth.

The old prophet Simeon referred to this prophecy when he took up the infant Jesus in his arms, and said: "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace. . . . For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel" (Luke 2:29-32).

Similar prophecies occur in other Old Testament passages as well. "I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles" (Isaiah 42:6). "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. . . . And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising" (Isaiah 60:1,3). The latter verse apparently prophesies even the coming of the Magi to worship the child Jesus in Bethlehem.

Paul used this truth as he preached to Gentiles in Antioch and elsewhere. "So hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldst be for salvation unto the ends of the earth" (Acts 13:47; also note Acts 26:23). In fact, Jesus not only enlightens both Jews and Gentiles, but is "the light of the world" (John 8:12).

[Soldier4Christ]

Doxology to the King

"Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen" (I Timothy 1:17).

In this stirring doxology to the One who allowed him into the ministry (vv.12,13), whose grace "was exceeding abundant" (v.14), who "came into the world to save sinners" (v.15), who showed mercy and longsuffering, and who grants "life everlasting" (v.16), Paul uses several majestic descriptive terms. Each deserves our attention.

The King eternal. God's sovereign kingship is in view here. The phrase literally translates, the "King of the ages." "But the LORD is the true God, He is the living God, and an everlasting King" (Jeremiah 10:10). He is the King, and we must stand in submission to Him.

Immortal. The Greek word used here implies more than mere exemption from death. A fuller meaning would include total incorruptibility; i.e., the inability to be stained by either decay or death. What a comfort to realize that the believer's crown in glory will be likewise incorruptible (I Corinthians 9:25) as will his resurrection body (I Corinthians 15:52).

Invisible. God is a Spirit, and as such cannot be seen. He has chosen to appear on numerous occasions, most notably as Christ, but is usually unseen, the primary meaning of the word. Christ "is the image of the invisible |same word| God, the firstborn of every creature" (Colossians 1:15). Seen or unseen, He merits our praise.

The only wise God. God is unique in His existence and wisdom, "God only wise" (Romans 16:27). He stands alone, solitary, apart from all others.

Surely to this eternal, incorruptible, unseen, unique, wise, sovereign King belongs "honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen."

[Soldier4Christ]

Creation and the Sciences

"So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them" (Genesis 1:27).

The first chapter of Genesis is the foundational chapter of the Bible and, therefore, of all true science. It is the great creation chapter, outlining the events of that first week of time when "the heavens and the earth were finished, and. . . . God ended His work which He had made" (Genesis 2:1,2). Despite the evolutionists, God is not creating or making anything in the world today (except for special miracles as recorded in Scripture), because all His work was finished in that primeval week. He is now engaged in the work of conserving, or saving, what He first created.

There are only three acts of special creation--that is, creation out of nothing except God's omnipotent word--recorded in this chapter. His other works were those of "making" or "forming" the created entities into complex, functioning systems.

His first creative act was to call into existence the Space/ Mass/Time cosmos. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Genesis 1:1). This is the domain which we now study in the physical sciences. The second is the domain of the life sciences. "God created . . . every living creature that moveth" (Genesis 1:21). It is significant that the "life" principle required a second act of direct creation. It will thus never be possible to describe living systems solely in terms of physics and chemistry.

The third act of creation was that of the image of God in man and woman. The study of human beings is the realm of the human sciences. Our bodies can be analyzed chemically, and our living processes biologically, but human behavior can only really be understood in terms of our relation to God, whose image we share.

[Soldier4Christ]

Lessons to Learn

"But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Matthew 9:13).

The Lord Jesus called all who would be His disciples to "learn of me" (or "from me," Matthew 11:29), and our text verse contains the first use of "learn" in the New Testament, thus indicating a basic item we must learn when we become Christians.

The Lord stressed that God cared nothing about the ritualistic offering of animal sacrifices, as such, but rather desired understanding of the meaning of those sacrifices, accompanied by the motivating love and faith of a repentant heart. He referred them back to their own Scripture: "For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings" (Hosea 6:6). This is the most difficult but most basic lesson to learn by one seeking forgiveness and salvation.

There are many subsequent lessons to learn, of course; many of them very difficult even for sincere, believing Christians. Paul notes one of them he had learned the hard way: "I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content" (Philippians 4:11). Another difficult but vital lesson has to do with Christian humility in leadership, "that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another" (I Corinthians 4:6).

Even the Lord Jesus Christ in His perfect humanity had lessons to learn. "Though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered" (Hebrews 5:. Finally, having learned these and many other such lessons, we must not forget them. Paul, in his final letter, so reminds us: "Continue thou in the things which thou hast learned" (II Timothy 3:14).