Weekly Devo

“Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good” Romans 12:9          Our love should be without segregation by race, creed, wealth, or male or female. Christ does not see such things as warranting different amounts of love ( Gal. 3:26-29 ). We need to love each other. We also need to love everyone. Christ did ( Rm. 5:8; Lk. 19:20 ).       Hypocrisy is saying one thing and doing another. That’s seeking our own glory ( Matt. 23: 1-12 ). That’s what the Pharisee did ( Matt. 23:13-36 ).  Our love for others should not be about seeking our own glory. Our love should not be hypocritical.     We need to abhor what is evil. Abhor means the most extreme hatred that one can have ( Psalm 119:104 ). We are to cling to what is good.   Clinging is the strongest devotion one can have.      We are to abhor one extreme only to cling to the other extreme. That makes...

"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God .” Heb. 12:1-2       Let us not compete with the world for worldly things. The worldly race is changing and the prize is fleeting. We never know when we will win, what we will win and how long those winnings will last. In Christ we have a for sure goal that is set before us. A prize that is guaranteed for those who run the race. A prize that will last for eternity. Let us run the race, as children of God, to win the treasure of eternal salvation. ( 2 Tim. 2:3-4; 1 John 3:1-3; Heb. 5:8-9; Heb. 12:1-2; Phil. 3:12-16; Matt. 6:19-21 )

Romans 12:9-21 * 12 “rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer:"     We rejoice in hope as Christians.   We have the ability to look far beyond our trials. We have the hope of eternal glory with God.   We can rejoice in the Lord always for such reasons as this.   Our hope is where our treasure is ( Matthew 6:19-20 ). It’s were our citizenship is ( Phil. 3:18-4:1 ). The names of the faithful are written there ( Luke 10:20 and Phil. 4:3 ). It is where our Lord and Savior is. Not to mention its where Christ is preparing a place for us ( John 14:1-6 ). Finally it is the place where our affections should be ( Col. 3:1-4 ). Hope is our anchor ( Heb. 6:13-20 ). That hope is living in eternity in Heaven. To be in the Kingdom of God as children means everything is taken care of. All we have to do is be about His work. What an anchor!!       How would you live your life if everything...

               Self-acceptance is the beginning of growth (Gen 5:1 and Luke 19:10). In order to grow you have to understand who you are. You are created by God. We are all sinners. Some of us are lost and some of us are saved. To grow in Christ you must ask yourself: Am I saved or am I lost? For some of us that is going to be a tuff question.   Sometimes we are saved and we act lost. We have to find our place and start there. When we are immersed into Christ authority we are anew (Rm. 6:1-4). We may not feel like it, or think we are.   We have to embrace the fact we sin. Denying the sin in our lives only makes us liars (1 John 1:8). We when embrace the fact we sin and we have sin then we can start dealing with it (1 John 1:9) Sin is not the problem.   Sin is a result of something much deeper.   We sin because it’s how we choose to deal with something instead of letting God.   Sometimes we deem it easi...

Job 1:1-22             The faithful man Job desired to please and obey God. God had blessed Job with many blessing for Job was a faithful man (Job 1:2-4 & 9-10).  We learn early in the book of Job that God is in control. Even though Satan is free to wonder he still had to come before the Lord (Job 1:6-7). We learn that Satan is wondering to tempt. With that goal in mind Satan ask for permission from God.   Again we are shown that God is in control. James in James 2:19 lets us know that evil recognizes God’s authority, they simply choose not to obey.   They have the choice. God is still in control and when it’s needed He puts evil in its place. God being in control gives Satan permission to test Job.            Job’s faith was strong (Job 1:13-22). All Jobs possessions were lost.   Job morns his loss but still praises the Lord. How? Job understands one simple thing. He knows wh...

Are You Genuinely Converted?      The early church was genuinely converted. We know that by what we see in Acts 2:42-47 . So how can we been genuinely converted today?  There is a lot to this conversion thought.  If you ask a Christian today who knows what answer you will get? I ask these questions “Is everyone who says “I’m a Christian” a Christian?” and “And how do we know which way is right?” It is life and death for us all, how do we know what to do? I will say this; in order to do anything right we must do it by Christ’s authority (Matt. 28:18.) The only thing we have to go by to know what He wants us to do is His word (2 Tim 3:16-17.) So we must search there.  With that being said, we must agree that the only place we can see how to be genuinely converted to Christianity is in the bible.  Start your search today. Be fair-minded like those we see in  Acts 17:11. It's only by God's word  that we can know if we are God's children. I...

       Christ expects the church to be a growing organism. We are one body ( Eph. 4:4-6, Eph. 1:22-23,  Col. 1:18-24 ). The church needs to be growing. We need to grow as individuals and as a body ( Matt. 13:23 ).  There are only two options for the church. You are either growing or dyeing. Location, culture and society should not bare no role or influence on the church. What do you think, Are you growing or dyeing? Are you working to grow the church? Are being a true servant? What are you lacking? What are you missing? What do you need to change?