It Is A Fear Factor!

August 6, 2025

KEY FROM GOD’S WORD:

Mark 14:50
And they all forsook him, and fled.

THOUGHTS ON GOD’S WORD:

     Fear will cause you to do some absolutely weird things. I have seen some funny faces on people who were caught unaware on camera after someone had scared them. I call it Funny Fear Face.

     Fear is usually an emotion that looks to the future. You might be afraid of the results of something from the past, but you are afraid of something that has not yet happened. If someone sneaks up and says, “BOO,” the sudden unexpected boo may startle you, but not knowing what is next causes the fear. It is not knowing what is coming that has people uptight.

     In Mark 14:31, the disciples had all said they would never leave Christ. Less than 20 verses later, they had all scattered. Why? Fear of the unknown future. Christ had told them what was going to happen. He tried to prepare them. However, the distress of what they had seen and being afraid of what might come caused them to run. They felt they needed time to figure this out. When we finish reading this book of Mark, we find that every detail was completed just as Jesus had said it would be. Everything! So why then should we be afraid of the future when we know who holds tomorrow in the palm of His hand?

CARRYING THAT THOUGHT THROUGH THE DAY:

     In Matthew chapter 6, in verse 34 it says, “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” One reason we fear is that we have not learned to focus on today and leave tomorrow to God. Plan for tomorrow, but live for today, and live for God.

What might God use you to do 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:  August 6, 2025

THROUGH THE BIBLE ACCELERATED READING
^{(O.T.-1,   N.T. & PS.-2,   Prov. – Monthly)}
Jonah / Psalm 34
Proverbs 6 / Mark 14

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY
Psa. 18-21  /  Acts 28:17-31

A Promise Is A Promise

July 30, 2025

KEY FROM GOD’S WORD:

2 Kings 13:23
And the LORD was gracious unto them, and had compassion on them, and had respect unto them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither cast he them from his presence as yet.

 

THOUGHTS ON GOD’S WORD:

     

     I AM NOT A LIAR! These are words that all of us want to be able to say. In fact, for someone to call us a liar is about one of the worst things we can be called. It means we are untrustworthy. Not just in our speech and what we say, but it is also true that we cannot be trusted in the things we do. Moreover, for the most part, most of us intend to tell the truth. However, there are those times when you say I will be there at 10:00 and you get there at 10:05. We have all heard the excuses that there was a train that blocked the road, three dogs ran in front of the car, there was a new detour which was just put in, and the slow semi driver you could not get around. Nevertheless, the fact remains that you said one thing and did another. It was not because you wanted to, but because things seemed out of your control, what you said did not come to pass.

 

     It is so great to know that God never ever, ever, ever, ever tells a lie. In today’s verse, we find that God had made a promise with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and nothing could cause Him to break His Word. The reason is that there is never anything out of His control.

 

CARRYING THAT THOUGHT THROUGH THE DAY:

 

     What promises did God’s Word reveal to you today? Whatever they are, you can take them to the bank. God will never make a promise He will not keep. NEVER! Including the one in Hebrews 13:5, which says, “…I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” NEVER!

 

What do you believe is God’s greatest promise to you?

 

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:  July 30, 2025

THROUGH THE BIBLE ACCELERATED READING
^{(O.T.-1,   N.T. & PS.-2,   Prov. – Monthly)}
2 Kings 13, 14 / Psalm 27
Proverbs 30 / Mark 7

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY
Job 32-34 / Acts 24

 

Here Is My Wish List God

July 23, 2025

KEY FROM GOD’S WORD:

Psalm 21:2
Thou hast given him his heart’s desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips. Selah.

 

THOUGHTS ON GOD’S WORD:

 

     Oh my, what a promise this verse holds for us to claim. That God would grant us all the requests of our lips. Whatever our hearts desire, we could have. A new car, a new house, better health, fancy clothes, jewelry, or just anything we might toss out into the throne room of Heaven. God will pick up our shopping list, fill it, and send it back. You might be saying to yourself, “This is not how my prayer life always works.” Yeah, well, not mine either. However, this is what all too many preachers seem to be saying today. So, what is the difference? Where is the problem?

 

     The difference lies in our understanding of the who, what, where, and when of the text of the verse. Before you can understand this verse, you need to understand who it was written to. This was David. A man is described as someone after God’s own heart. David was not requesting earthly possessions to consume upon his own fancy. So, what was God giving to David? He would give all the things David would ask for according to God’s Heart. Too often, we focus on ourselves and ask for things we want. However, David wanted only what God wanted. Therefore, God was glad to provide it.

 

CARRYING THAT THOUGHT THROUGH THE DAY:

 

     Do you desire the things God desires? Things such as people to be saved, lives to be changed, the helpless to be helped, Missions to be taken care of, disciples to be made, and churches to be filled with people to praise and worship God. Are these the major parts of your desires? If so, God might love to give you the desires of your heart too.

 

When you pray, do you consider what God may want to do?

 

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:  July 23, 2025

THROUGH THE BIBLE ACCELERATED READING
^{(O.T.-1,   N.T. & PS.-2,   Prov. – Monthly)}
Obadiah / Psalm 21
Proverbs 23 / Matthew 28

 

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY
Job 9-12 / Acts 19:21-41

 

Do You Want What The Neighbor Has?

July 18, 2025

KEY FROM GOD’S WORD:

Ecclesiastes 5:10, 11
He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity. When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes?

THOUGHTS ON GOD’S WORD:

 

     Sometimes we forget what is valuable. We look at our neighbor with their boat and think, “If I only had a boat, I would be happy.” So, we work lots of extra hours to get the money to buy the boat, only to find it costs a lot of money to maintain a boat. Therefore, we must work more hours to maintain the boat and then find it takes up a lot of space to store a boat. Again, we work more hours to be able to pay for the place to store the boat. Then there is the license, the yearly cleaning and preparing of the boat to go in and out of the water, the docking fees, the gas, repairs, and so on and so on. After all the time spent earning the money and taking care of the boat, we find we have little time left to go out on the boat and enjoy it. That was the reason we thought the neighbor was so happy, to begin with. I have heard it said that the two happiest days in a man’s life are when he buys his first boat and when he sells his first boat.

 

     In life, some people live much the same way. They spend their entire life chasing riches that will flee from them. The more we have, the more we want. The more we want, the more protective we become of what we think we have obtained. Also, we find that more of our valuable time is consumed in getting and keeping all that stuff. In addition, when we get to the end of our life we look back and see, all we really had to enjoy was time. And sadly, now that is gone too.

 

CARRYING THAT THOUGHT THROUGH THE DAY:

 

   In a few more verses after today’s text in Ephesians 5:15-16, it says, “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” Satan loves to see Christians waste their time and their resources on worldly possessions that will be left behind at life’s end. We need to look ahead and see where we need to spend our TIME. Time is one of the most valuable gifts God has given us. Also, do not forget to spend some of that time thanking God for this gift called LIFE as well.

 

How will you invest your great gift of TIME 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:  July 18, 2025

THROUGH THE BIBLE ACCELERATED READING
^{(O.T.-1,   N.T. & PS.-2,   Prov. – Monthly)}
Ecclesiastes 3-5 / Psalm 18:1-15
Proverbs 18 / Matthew 23

 

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY
Esther 1-4 /  Acts 16:25-40

What Is The Truth?

July 16, 2025

KEY FROM GOD’S WORD:

Proverbs 16:5
Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.

 

THOUGHTS ON GOD’S WORD:

 

    It seems like today, many people are against the work of God’s people. The popular view is the order of today. It is not about what is right or even what is wrong, it’s simply whatever man wants. The democracy of humanity rules today’s morals. If enough people proclaim something to be right, with a loud enough voice, for a long period of time, people begin to believe it must be so.

 

     For example, some Christians today are confused over the claim that homosexuality is a lifestyle determined at birth. A prolonged battle, loud opposing voices, and financially backed claims have clouded the truth of scripture. Even though God proclaims in all of scripture that this way of life is sinful, since man now proclaims it is not, we must make laws and spend thousands of hours and dollars in our courtrooms to keep homosexuality away from our children in school. Why? Because we have begun to believe the lie spoken by man.

 

     If this is a lifestyle from birth, and God creates all people, God has then created them to do something He repeatedly says He hates. Yet the same Bible says He loves all men. Something is wrong here. What is it? It is that man has begun the process of discarding parts of the truth. God hates sin yet loves humanity. So, this sinfulness could not be created by God. People have joined hand in hand, promoting this sinful life. God does not hate people, He hates sin. All sin.

 

     This is but one example. The same is true in churches, homes, and businesses worldwide. Selecting the truth of the scripture, we want to obey and discard the rest. The Bible says those who do so “shall not be unpunished.” Or should we also toss that part out of the Bible?

 

CARRYING THAT THOUGHT THROUGH THE DAY:

 

    We must again realize that the entire Word of God is true, not just the parts that fit our current lifestyle. We should mold our lives after the Bible and not mold the Bible to fit our lives.

 

How do you mold your life to meet the desires of God?

 

 

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:  July 16, 2025

THROUGH THE BIBLE ACCELERATED READING
^{(O.T.-1,   N.T. & PS.-2,   Prov. – Monthly)}
Solomon 5-8 / Psalm 16
Proverbs 16 / Matthew 21

 

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY
Neh. 11-12 / Acts 15:28-41