DEVOTIONS

Verdict Is In

 NOVEMBER 21, 2023
 Daily Reading – Ezekiel 17-20 / James 2

 

 GOD’S WORD:

Ezekiel 18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.

 

 GETTING INTO GOD’S WORD:

        Society has found it easy to blame someone else for their situations. Courtrooms are filled with people wanting someone else to be at fault for their errors in life. For example: A lady spilled hot coffee on herself and received a rather bad burn. She sued the restaurant for not telling her the coffee was hot. How about the bank robber who was shot after pointing a gun at a deputy, and then sued the city for $6.3 million dollars for his medical bills. In Florida it is reported, a woman sued FedEx, because they left a package on her doorstep, and she tripped over the package and fell. It is clear that people want someone else to be responsible for their own errors of judgment.

 

        Well, according to scripture, there is one courtroom where the verdict is already in on who is responsible for where a person will spend eternity. When we stand before the Lord someday, we will not be able to blame our mom for our sins. We will not have our fathers to blame for our choices in life. We cannot blame society for treating us wrong, or the neighborhood we grew up in for the decisions we have made. It will not be about our gender, our race, economic standard, political affiliation, or the church we go to. Every person will stand alone before God and must give an answer to why they chose to accept or reject the blood of Jesus Christ for their own sins. Rejecting His loving substitution is the greatest of all sins. The verdict is in. 

 

 GETTING GOD’S WORD INTO ME:

        Rom. 1:20 says, “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:” .

What will be the verdict on your life?

 

Visual Problem

 NOVEMBER 20, 2023
 Daily Reading – Ezekiel 13-16 / James 1

 

 GOD’S WORD:

Ezekiel 13:3 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!

 

 GETTING INTO GOD’S WORD:

        You can hardly turn on a TV anymore without seeing some TV Evangelist giving real preachers a bad name. Why would I make such a claim? Well, because they often claim they have received extra revelations that are not in scripture. It is by claiming to have a word from God on someone’s healing. I never saw people in the Bible with telepathic revelations on others healing miles away. Jesus was the only one who knew the beginning from the end and could do so.

 

        I turned TV on one day and there was a man begging for money, (like this surprises you huh…) with a table full of pieces of paper. There were hundreds of them that people had called in with a deep need and a pledge of “x” amount of dollars expecting a miracle from their so-called seed pledge. This TV charlatan said, “In a moment I will be laying my hands on this pile, and I hear in my spirit, (small s on purpose,) when I pray, millions are going to be healed all over the world.” Right behind the man making this claim was a window. Behind the window were operators taking prayer pledges. In the front row of these operators was a young woman with a huge neck brace. If this man can heal people all over the world, why didn’t he heal the woman working for him? The reason is simple, he cannot. Nor can I, or anyone else. God can and still does heal. Yet, He never charged one dime to do so. Faith is not in your pocketbook. “Woe unto the foolish prophets…” . 

 

 GETTING GOD’S WORD INTO ME:

        People want to believe in something so badly they will often believe a lie. Do not fall for the fakes, fall on your knees to God. If you need healing do not go to a coliseum, go to Christ. He still can heal. Put your faith in Him. Get the Real Heal Deal.

Where have you placed your faith?

 

Ultimate Gift

 NOVEMBER 18 & 19, 2023
 NOVEMBER 18 – Daily Reading – Ezekiel 9-12 / Hebrews 13
 NOVEMBER 19 – NO READING

 

 GOD’S WORD:

Ezekiel 11:19 And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:

 

 GETTING INTO GOD’S WORD:

        In hospitals all over the world, doctors and hospital administrators make very hard decisions about people’s lives every single day. One of the hardest decisions must be when they must decide who will, and also, who will not receive a heart that has become available for a heart transplant. They will consider the candidate’s age, proximity to the available heart, the overall health of the possible recipient, along with many other variables. Sometimes the denial is based on the prior lifestyle choices of the patient. Although given prior opportunities to change personal lifestyle choices, they had refused, and now find themselves in this situation. I cannot imagine how hard it must be to tell someone they have been denied a possible transplant because they are not the best candidate for that heart.

 

        In Ezekiel 11 it says that there are some who will be brought back to the land of Israel. It was based on their choices in life. Ezekiel 11:21 says, “But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their way upon their own heads, saith the Lord GOD.” Those who previously followed their own ways and would not seek after God, were denied the promise of Ezekiel 11:19. However, for those who turned to God and not away from Him, who sought God’s forgiveness, God granted them a NEW HEART. 

 

 GETTING GOD’S WORD INTO ME:

        The ultimate gift for a heart patient is a New Heart. Those unsaved are heart patients, whether they realize it or not. God has promised us a New Heart, if we will turn to Him, repent of our sin, and believe His Son Jesus paid the price for that sin.

Have you received that Ultimate Gift?

 

THE WEEK IN REVIEW:

        We do not deserve God’s mercy. We do not deserve God’s forgiveness. We do not deserve God’s grace. These are all a part of God’s Unmerited Love that we saw displayed this week in:

  ● Understand The Danger
  ● Unmarked Paths
  ● Until Then
  ● Unveiling The Way
  ● Unforgettable Words
  ● Ultimate Gift

        The love of Jesus something wonderful. It is Undeserved, Unmerited Love. And oh, such Undeniable Love.”

       Enjoy today with your church and hear what God has prepared in the heart of His man for you this week.

   See you tomorrow.  

 

 SUNDAYS:

       Today we suggest you read and study whatever the Lord has laid on your Pastors heart. Whatever scripture he uses for today’s messages were given to him by God for your specific needs.

 

November 20, 2023	Ezekiel 13-16	James 1
November 21, 2023	Ezekiel 17-20	James 2
November 22, 2023	Ezekiel 21-23	James 3
November 23, 2023	Ezekiel 24-27	James 4
November 24, 2023	Ezekiel 28-31	James 5
November 25, 2023	Ezekiel 32-35	1 Peter 1
November 26, 2023	No Passages Assigned

Unmerited Love

Unforgettable Words

 NOVEMBER 17, 2023
 Daily Reading – Ezekiel 5-8 / Hebrews 12

 GOD’S WORD:

Ezekiel 7:26 Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumour shall be upon rumour; then shall they seek a vision of the prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the ancients.

 

 GETTING INTO GOD’S WORD:

        Listen. In the back of your mind, you will hear the voice of your parents as you read this next line. Ready? “If you would’ have listened to me the first time, this would have never happened.” You heard it didn’t you? The reason you recall those words is because at some point in your life, you did not listen to their advice. People think somehow, life has changed over the past few thousand years. Yes, we have more gadgets, more things to take up our time, and faster transportation. Yet, when we get right down to it, living is still getting up in the morning, doing our daily routines, and going to bed. The problem then becomes, what are our daily routines.

        The children of Israel had gone so far from God that their daily routines now included going to God’s House as well as worshipping other gods. Crying to false goddesses and burning incense to idols. Their daily routine did not include God, because in their eyes God did not care about them, nor was he watching. God told Ezekiel, I am watching and what I see makes me sick. He said, I will destroy this way of life, and then they will want to know what the priests see for their future, but the priests will not know. If they had followed God’s way of life to begin with, their future was already mapped out for them. There is no new better way to live. The way to live better is to live by the book. To envision your life without God, is to envision a life full of misery and trials. 

 

 GETTING GOD’S WORD INTO ME:

        Making a life plan must begin with God. He must be a part of your everyday routine. Read His Word, pray, seek His will. Listen carefully. You will almost hear the voice of God saying, “If you would only have listened to me the first time this would have never happened.

Are you listening?

 

Unveiling The Way

 NOVEMBER 16, 2023
 Daily Reading – Ezekiel 1-4 / Hebrews 11

 GOD’S WORD:

Ezekiel 3:17 Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.

 

 GETTING INTO GOD’S WORD:

        The question rings out loud and clear from Genesis 4:9,“…Am I My Brothers Keeper?” Cain had just murdered Abel, and God was asking him where his brother was. Cain is sort of saying, am I responsible for the welfare of my brother? On the one hand the answer must be no. No one can secure the complete safety or security of another person. However, we also must answer the question, “yes.” Everyone is somewhat responsible for doing the best they can to keep one another from harm.

        In today’s verse Ezekiel is given the position of watchman. You could sort of call him the assigned, “Brothers Keeper.” God explains to Ezekiel what the job entails. He said, I have given you a warning for the people. If you do not share the warning and they die, it is just as if you killed them. You will be responsible for their death. However, if you do the best that you can to warn them and they do not listen, your hands are clean, you did the best you could. Jesus gave us the same charge in Mark 16:15-16,“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” We can never save the world. God knows that. Still, we can do our part. God knows that too. “Am I my Brothers Keeper?” “Yes,” you are a watchman, for today. You are called to unveil the way

 

 GETTING GOD’S WORD INTO ME:

        God knows what we cannot do and does not expect that of us. However, we and God both know what we can do. He does expect that of us. Are we doing our part? Are we visiting the lost, witnessing, sending, and handing out tracks?

Are we unveiling the way of salvation?