Somewhat Childish
April 24, 2025

KEY FROM GOD’S WORD:

1 Corinthians 13:11
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

THOUGHTS ON GOD’S WORD:

     Imagine with me for a minute that you walk into a room, and in the center of that room, you see someone playing with Barbie dolls and having a pretend tea party with an imaginary friend. In the next room, you see someone playing with GI Joe army men and plastic tanks, and you hear them going, “Boom, boom,” pretending to blow up a cereal box fortress. Sounds like a couple of children having a blast. However, what if I told you the people playing in the rooms were 45 years old, and this is all they ever do? You would probably think, Oh, how sad, they must have grown up physically but never grown up psychologically.

     Now, think about the life of today’s so-called mature Christians. Are they still playing with their childish ways? Some people do not want to grow up spiritually. They received salvation and said that is enough for me. However, this is not enough. There is so much more as we grow in the Lord. We should be going to church at every opportunity to learn more and more about our Christian Walk, Jesus, God, The Holy Spirit, Evangelism, Soul Winning, Bible Study, Teaching Others, Serving God, Worship, and this is the small list. If you have mastered all that, then you are doing great. However, if you are like me, you will learn more and more every day. As we look at people who have been saved for 20 and 30 years and who have not grown, what should we be saying? That is OK, it is their choice in life. Or, oh how sad, they never grew up spiritually. Immature Christians are missing so much more of what God has to offer.

CARRYING THAT THOUGHT THROUGH THE DAY:

    

     Psalm 119:18 says, “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.”  I pray this almost every time I open the pages of God’s Word. You know what? If I am genuinely looking for Him to show me something, He does open my spiritual eyes and teaches me something new and wonderful!

Will you pray this verse and mean it as you open God’s Word Today?

IF YOU ARE JOURNALING:

Ask yourself, what are MY THOUGHTS concerning this Passage and today’s Devotion?

Do I find within this reading a CHALLENGE for my life?

What are one or two things I WILL DO today or this week to accept that CHALLENGE?

  

GOD TALKING TO ME:  April 24, 2025

THROUGH THE BIBLE ACCELERATED READING
^{(OT-1, NT & PS-2, Prov-Monthly)}
Judges 5, 6 – Psalm 97
Proverbs 24 – 1 Corinthians 13, 14

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY
1 Samuel 2-4  –  Luke 16:18-31

God Never Forces; He Always Invites

April 21, 2025

KEY FROM GOD’S WORD:

Joshua 24:15
And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

THOUGHTS ON GOD’S WORD:

     You might think that God, being God, would make someone worship Him or that He might make people have a desire to attend church if that is what folks are supposed to do. That He would make people tithe if it is right or make them read their bible if it has so much good stuff in there. One might even believe the Lord would make them pray if He wants to hear from them and make them go to Sunday School if they really need more teaching. Additionally, He would force them to find a place of service for Him if He really needs their help and make them come again on Wednesday Night if that is the correct way to worship God. Many are sitting back waiting for a Holy kick in the pants before they will do anything. Then, when it does not come, they say something silly like, “It must not be God’s will for me to do any of those things.”

     The fact is that God will not force anything on you. You have the liberty to choose everything in life you may or may not want. Choose to stay home because of people you cannot seem to get along with at church. Choose not to serve God because you have filled your life with so many other things that you have crowded out time for God. Choose to keep all your money because you have bought so many things that your bills now control your life. Choose to watch the latest sitcom or movie instead of reading God’s Word. Choose to sleep a little longer instead of taking a few minutes and speaking with He whom you call Lord. God never forces; He just invites. It is all your choice. Whether to bless you for your choices is still, however, in the hands of a Righteous and Almighty God.

  

CARRYING THAT THOUGHT THROUGH THE DAY:

   

     “Choose you this day whom ye will serve… but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” So, what choices have you decided on today?

What choices are you making today?

IF YOU ARE JOURNALING:

Ask yourself, what are MY THOUGHTS concerning this Passage and today’s Devotion?

Do I find within this reading a CHALLENGE for my life?

What are one or two things I WILL DO today or this week to accept that CHALLENGE?

  

GOD TALKING TO ME:  April 21, 2025

THROUGH THE BIBLE ACCELERATED READING
^{(O.T.-1,   N.T. & PS.-2,   Prov. – Monthly)}
Joshua 22-24 – Psalm 94:1-23
Proverbs 21 – 1 Corinthians 6-8

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY
Judges 19-20 – Luke 14

It Is Good To Know the Truth

April 19 & 20, 2025

KEY FROM GOD’S WORD:

Proverbs 19:5 & 9
A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall not escape…
A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall perish.

THOUGHTS ON GOD’S WORD:

     There used to be a saying when I was younger: “You will just lie your way into a big hole and then pull the dirt in on top of you with more lies.” Oh, how true this seems to be. One lie is told, and then someone asks a question about that lie, and another lie just a little bigger is told to cover up the first lie. Soon, we find we are telling another lie, and then another, until it is so outrageous that even you cannot believe what is coming out of your mouth. At that point, your mind is constantly filled with wonderings of, “What did I tell them, or did I tell them this or that?” People begin to catch you in your lies, and then they can never trust anything you say. Your family and friends who used to listen to you now take everything you say with a grain of salt.

     I once heard someone ask the question, “If a liar says he is lying, is he telling the truth?” What a terrible way to spend a life, especially when we do not have to. The Bible tells us God forgives us of our sins, but to be blessed in life by God, we must quit living in our sins. How does a liar quit being a liar? Simple, they always begin to tell the truth. WOW, it is just that easy.

  

CARRYING THAT THOUGHT THROUGH THE DAY:

      Jesus is all about the truth. In fact, in the bible, we read where He is called the Truth. In John 14:6, it says, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” It is so, so good to KNOW THE TRUTH!.

When reading God’s Word, are you searching for the truth?

IF YOU ARE JOURNALING:

Ask yourself, what are MY THOUGHTS concerning this Passage and today’s Devotion?

Do I find within this reading a CHALLENGE for my life?

What are one or two things I WILL DO today or this week to accept that CHALLENGE?

  

GOD TALKING TO ME:  April 19, 2025

THROUGH THE BIBLE ACCELERATED READING
^{(OT-1,/NT & PS-2,/Prov-Monthly)}
Joshua 19-21 – Psalm 93
Proverbs 19-20 – 1 Corinthians 3-5

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY
Judges 16-18  –  Luke 13:18-35

WHAT TO DO ON SUNDAY:

    There will not be a Daily Devotion sent out on Sundays. Instead, we encourage you to attend your church and listen intently to what God has prepared in the heart of your Pastor. Write down all the scriptures he uses in that message, then when you get home, re-read those passages for today’s reading. God has given to your Pastor exactly what He desires for you on that day.  

GOD TALKING TO ME:  April 20, 2025

THROUGH THE BIBLE ACCELERATED READING
^{(OT-1,/NT & PS-2,/Prov-Monthly)}
NO READINGS ON SUNDAY

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY
NO READINGS ON SUNDAY