daily devonational
A Monumental Issue
by Joe Slater--thebible.net
    At this writing the fate of the Ten Commandments monument in Alabama is uncertain. How ironic, that displaying this monument in a public building is "unconstitutional" (and therefore illegal), yet only a few weeks ago we learned, courtesy of the Supreme Court, that sodomy is perfectly legal. God is out, Gay is in!
see full story here: http://www.thebible.net/study/articles/AMonumentalIssue-js.html

Daily Devonational

Why is Doctrine So Important?
Kevin Cauley---Thepreacherfiles.com

The word “doctrine” in the Bible simply means “teaching.” Today we generally use the word “doctrine” to refer to a precise teaching or set of teachings while the word “teaching” itself refers more loosely to overall general concepts. Too, doctrine seems to have a religious connotation while teaching may connote the religious or secular. So while in our modern day language “teaching” and “doctrine” have distinct nuances, there is only one word in the language in which the apostles wrote and both English words “doctrine” and “teaching” are translated from it. So when we speak about the doctrine of the Bible we are speaking about the teaching of the Bible. Why is teaching so important?

Doctrine is important because Jesus thought it was important. Jesus said in John 7:17, “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.” In this context Jesus is saying that the one who truly seeks after God will come to an understanding that Jesus’ teaching is from God and that it is important to understand this because that is the way to life. Notice also John 8:31, 32 “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” The words that Jesus taught are often used to represent within the scriptures the whole of Jesus teaching. The words in which Jesus was instructing others to abide is His teaching–His doctrine.

Doctrine is important because faith is based upon hearing doctrine. Romans 10:17 states, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Our very faith, the things that we believe, are the result of hearing the word of God which is the source of all of our teaching. The teaching, the doctrine, is that in which we place our direct faith and our trust because it is through the words that are taught that we come to know about our relationship with God. No man can come to know God under the New Covenant without having been taught and without having learned. John 6:45 states, “It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.” We come to the Father through the teaching, through the doctrine.

Doctrine is important because we must believe the right doctrine. The Bible teaches that to believe the wrong doctrine will lead one astray. In 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 we read, “And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” When we believe a doctrinal lie, it will lead to the condemnation of our soul if we don’t recognize that lie and correct it. Someone once said, “Jesus did not come to this earth to make people religious; He came to make people religiously right!” We must believe the right doctrine if we are going to have hope for salvation.

Doctrine is important because ultimately the decisions that we make and the actions that we perform will be based upon what we believe. When it all boils down to it, we act based upon how we believe. Jesus said, “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man?.” Jesus said it is based upon what is in our heart that we act, whether for good or evil. There is not a single action that we do that was not first conceived within the mind. And it is within the mind–the heart–where faith resides. Based upon the things that we believe we make decisions in our life every day. And so it is with confidence that when others act inappropriately, we can confidently say that their beliefs are inappropriate as well. So we preach the doctrine of Christ in an effort to get all who are in sin to repent and to fashion their minds anew around the blessed freedom that results in believing the truth.

What do you believe, dear friend? Do you believe the words of the Bible or do you believe the opinions and traditions of men. Believing a lie will lead you astray. But believing the truth and acting thereon will bring one to eternity. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

Permission to use as stated on the preacherfiles.com  webpage

Daily Devonational

Today's Daily devonational comes from the gospelway.com webpage:

 

Are You Sure Your Sins Are Forgiven?

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Is it possible to be deceived, thinking God is pleased with us when he is not? Matt. 7:21-23 says there are many people who think they are doing wonderful works in Jesus' name, but they will be surprised in the judgment when He rejects them! What about you and me? Will we be among that number? What must we do to be sure this does not happen to us? Jesus answers this question in verse 21. We must do the will of the Father.

What does the Father require us to do to be forgiven of sins? Jesus said all people must be taught the gospel, and "he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved" (Mark 16:15,16). To be sure we are saved, then, we must hear the gospel, believe it, and be baptized. Notice that baptism, according to God's word, does not come after salvation, but is an essential step in order to receive salvation.

Later, in Acts 2:38, Peter preached about Jesus, then he commanded: "Repent, and be baptized ... for the remission of sins..." This shows that hearing, repentance, and baptism are essential to forgiveness. Again we note that remission is a result that follows from baptism. It does not come before baptism.

Finally, Romans 6:3,4 says we are buried by baptism into Jesus' death. Now Jesus' death is what provides forgiveness, and this passage says we contact that death in baptism, not before. Furthermore, the passage teaches that baptism is a burial or immersion, not a sprinkling or pouring. And since people must hear the gospel, believe, and repent before they are baptized, it follows that baptism is not for babies.

What about you? Have you done the will of the Father, or will you be one of the many people who will find out too late that God is not pleased with them? Have you heard the gospel, believed it, repented of your sins, and been Scripturally baptized? Was your baptism an immersion in water, and did you do it for the purpose of receiving forgiveness of sins?

For more information about salvation and what it requires, please visit our Bible Instruction web site at www.gospelway.com/instruct/ and study our in-depth articles about baptism, faith, and obedience.

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(c) Copyright David E. Pratte, 2/5/2005
Permission to use as stated on the gospelway.com website.

Daily Devonational

In today's Daily devonational is taken from the Truth for the World webpage entitled:
THE WORKS OF THE FLESH
(Galatians 5:19-21)

An excerpt: "Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God."

Paul tells us Jesus did not give us freedom from sin just to go out and commit more sin (Galatians 5:13,16,17,24,25; Romans 6:1,2). In our text, Paul says, "The works of the flesh are evident." This means "open to sight, visible." It is the opposite of hidden. Paul's conclusion in this passage: those who continue in the works of the flesh will not go to Heaven!

Read the rest here: http://www.tftw2.org/Articles/worksofflesh.htm

Daily Devonational

Today's devonational is from the Gospelminutes:

Christ Arose and He Ever Lives

An excerpt: The resurrection of Jesus Christ is one of the
basic, vital facts upon which the gospel of Christ is founded. The apostles
of the Lord, told by Him to go preach to all men everywhere, made the
resurrection a central theme of almost every recorded sermon.

Read the full lesson here: http://www.wfcoc.org/WFCoC/Minutes_2009_files/gm091609.pdf

Daily Devonational

Todays devontional comes from the bobyyoungresources.com page..Permission to use as stated on the webpage.

What Matters? What Doesn’t Matter? (8)
God desires to be recognized for “who he is”—God of gods, Lord of lords, King of kings. God wants to be known and recognized–acknowledged in his perfection. We have affirmed that understanding God requires understanding God’s grandeur and glory through (1) the human dilemma and the ultimate result of separation from God, (2) the plan of God developed through Jesus Christ with the potential to restore lost relationship, and (3) the New Testament as the communication of the covenant agreements. With these foundations in place, we are ready to move ahead.

God desires that the recognition of his nature result in respect and response. Both respect and response are shaped by the nature of God and by recognition of the New Covenant sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Recognizing and acknowledging the nature of God leads to the conclusion that how our worship reflects and honors God’s nature is important to God. How one responds to God through the access he freely and graciously grants in Jesus Christ must also be important. These two topics are the subjects of this article and the next.

Simply stated, how human beings worship God matters to God. It cannot be the case that any and all kinds of worship are acceptable. Both the Bible and human reasoning suggest that there is such a thing as unacceptable worship. How does God desire that his human creation demonstrate respect and honor for his nature and his actions on their behalf?

While aspects of OT worship appealed to the physical senses and occurred primarily in the physical realm, the NT teaches that God desires a spiritual worship or service (Romans 12:1-2). The context of this passage suggests that under the new covenant our lives are presented to God as priestly sacrifice. Because the sacrifice of Jesus is sufficient payment for sins once for all, worship is centered in remembering that sacrifice. The early church participated in the Lord’s Supper weekly as a reminder and renewal of the covenant sacrifice. The Supper is not limited to a vertical dimension. It reaches both vertically and horizontally. Corporate worship is shared with a horizontal dimension, teaching, encouraging, and admonishing “one another.” God desires worship in spirit and truth (John 4:23, 24).

Participation in corporate worship never takes the place of individual worship, and vice versa. Worship is a mind—an understanding and attitude—which ascribes “worth” to God. Acceptable worship is rooted in God’s nature. God’s nature is the foundation and cause of our respect and honor for him. While one can live life “with an attitude” (a phrase often used negatively, but here used positively) of worship, biblical examples of worship are intentional. Worship does not occur accidentally as we go about the normal activities of life.

A longer article (or series of articles) would be required to set forth what the Bible teaches about worship, or even how the New Testament describes the worship of the first century churches. Suffice it to say here, by way of summary, that it matters to God that human creation recognize him and know him fully as he is (consistent with his nature), and that such recognition of God result in respect and honor worthy of God.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 8th, 2010 at 6:15 am and is filed under Faith, God. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Daily Devonational

Today's devonational comes from the preacherfiles.com with permission to use as stated on the webpage

A Word To The House of Israel
Kevin Cauley---

And God said unto Ezekiel “Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them. For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel” (Ezekiel 3:4,5). And God said unto Jeremiah “Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak” (Jeremiah 1:7). And God said moreover to Jeremiah “Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD…” (Jeremiah 2:2). And God said through Isaiah, “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me” (Isaiah 1:2). And God said through Jeremiah “O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD” (Jeremiah 22:29). And God said to Ezekiel “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the LORD” (Ezekiel 13:2).

And God said concerning his word to the Israelites through Isaiah “This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear” (Isaiah 28:12). So, God said through Jeremiah that he would send destruction upon the Israelites “Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the LORD, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith the LORD” (Jeremiah 29:19). And God, through Ezekiel, tells us why he would do such a thing. “Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a rebellious house” (Ezekiel 12:2).

And God explains more about this rebellious people, “That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD” (Isaiah 30:9). God said, “I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts” (Isaiah 65:2). God further says, “But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone” (Jeremiah 5:23). And God says to Ezekiel “Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this very day” (Ezekiel 2:3).

Brethren, we are spiritual Israel (Romans 9:6-13; Galatians 6:16). Is it a wonder that the Holy Spirit through Paul would charge Timothy and all other gospel preachers until the end to “Preach the word; be urgent in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure the sound doctrine; but, having itching ears, will heap to themselves teachers after their own lusts; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside unto fables” (2 Timothy 4:2-4). Brethren, that time has come. “Preach the word.”

Ref. http://preachersfiles.com/a-word-to-the-house-of-israel/

Bible Series started

I started a video series on some bible stories here's the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMXm_8oGP6E

Daily Devonational

A Merry Heart
by Jody L. Apple---thebible.net

Excerpt:"Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad." (Pr 12:25); "A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken. All the days of the afflicted are evil, but he who is of a merry heart has a continual feast." (Pr 15:13,15); "The heart knows its own bitterness, and a stranger does not share its joy. A sound heart is life to the body, but envy is rottenness to the bones." (Pr 14:10, 30); "A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones." (Pr 17:22)
 "What does it mean to have a merry heart? Whatever it is, the verses cited above make it sound like it is something desirable, something that can even benefit us physically.

Read the rest of the lesson at: http://www.thebible.net/study/articles/AMerryHeart-jla.html

Daily Devonational

Today's devonational comes from thebiblestudy.net webpage:

Are We Saved By Faith Only?
By Ron Boatwright

     Today the vast majority of the religious world says that they are saved by "faith only".  Many good people erroneously think they are saved when they "accept Jesus as their personal saviour" and say the "sinner’s prayer".  But where in the Bible are we told this?  It is not there.  This may sound good and impressive, but this is false.  This is a lie of Satan.  This is something man has dreamed up.  Then two or three weeks later many churches encourage people to be baptized to join that denomination.  They say that one does not have to be baptized to be saved because they say you are saved before you are baptized.  I cannot think of a more flagrant crime against both God and Man than to teach lost sinners, who want to be saved something different than what God says in the Bible.

     In this case if they are eventually baptized, their sins are not forgiven and they are not saved because their baptism was not for this purpose.  They still have every sin they have ever committed and are still lost because they have believed a lie.  As we read in 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12, "And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth."

     "Faith only" will not save anyone.  In James 2:19 & 24 we read, "You believe that there is one God.  You do well.  Even the devils believe and tremble….You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only."  If all we do is believe, then we are no better than the devils.  We must obey what God says to do, when God says to do it, how God says to do it, and for the reason God says to do it.

     Jesus says in Mark 16:16, "He that believes and is baptized shall be saved".  There is nothing hard to understand about this.  A person has to have help to misunderstand what the Lord says here.  Until people do what Jesus says that one must do to be saved then they are still hopelessly lost.

Ref: http://www.netbiblestudy.net/bulletin/index.htm