Fee Fee Baptist Church

Tag: Devotional

  • Devotional Corner – Vol. 61, No. 22

    Taken from Bob Goff’s “Everybody, Always” 

    “I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another,” (John 13:34-35).

    It’s easy to love kind, lovely, humble people. I mean, who wouldn’t? These are the ones I’ve spent much of my life loving. Loving the people who are easy to love made me feel like I was really good at it. Because the people I loved were kind and wonderful, they made sure they told me what a great job I was doing loving them.

    What I’ve come to realize, though, is that I was avoiding the people I didn’t understand and the ones who lived differently than me. Here’s why: some of them creep me out. Sure, I was polite to them, but sadly, I’ve spent my whole life avoiding the people Jesus spent His whole life engaging. God’s idea isn’t that we would just give and receive love but that we could actually become love. The way we do this can be summarized like this:

    His plan is that we would love everybody, always.

    People who are becoming love see the beauty in others even when their off-putting behavior makes for a pretty weird mask. What Jesus told His friends can be summed up in this way: He wants us to love everybody, always—and start with the people who creep us out. The truth is, we probably creep them out as much as they do us.

    Are there people you should give a wide berth to? You bet. There are people in my life and yours who are unsafe, toxic, and delight in sowing discord wherever they go. God gave us discernment, and we should use it as we live our lives. He’s also given us love and understanding and kindness and the ability to forgive, which have power we often leave untapped. There’s a difference between good judgment and living in judgment. The trick is to use lots of the first and to go a little lighter on the second if we want to live the big life Jesus talked about.

  • Devotional Corner – Vol. 61, No. 21

    Taken from Henry T. Blackaby and Richard Blackaby’s “Experiencing God Day By Day”

    “He will be like a refiner and purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will present offerings to the LORD in righteousness,” (Malachi 3:3).

    The quality of our worship is not based on our activities but on our character. Churches can mistakenly assume that the better the music, the more impressive the building, and the more eloquent the preaching, the more worshipful the experience will be. Genuine worship, however, originates from within our hearts. If our relationship with God is not healthy, all these things are nothing more than religious pageantry.

    The Levites were the worship leaders of their day. Their task was to offer sacrifices on behalf of the people. God declared that before they could worship Him in righteousness, He would first refine them with His refiner’s fire, purging them of any impurities. Merely being members of the religious profession, having official responsibilities in the temple, and going through the rituals of worship did not guarantee that their religious activities would be acceptable to holy God.

    Today, we tend to look to external things to enhance our worship. The true quality of our worship, however, rests within us. If we have not allowed God to purify us first, our worship will be void of His presence. If we do not have a pure heart, we may give offerings, but they will be unacceptable to God. Attending a religious service will not automatically ensure an encounter with God. If you are not satisfied with the quality of your worship, don’t be too quick to blame your environment. Look first to your own heart. Allow God to refine your heart until it is pleasing to Him, and you will be free to worship God as He intends.

  • Devotional Corner – Vol. 61, No. 20

    Taken from Henry T. Blackaby and Richard Blackaby’s “Experiencing God Day By Day”

    “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of Hosts,” he replied, “but the Israelites have abandoned Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they’re looking for me to take my life,” (1 Kings 19:14)

    Kingdom work can be challenging! You can give everything you have to God’s service and come away exhausted. This is what happened to Elijah. God had just used Elijah to call down fire from heaven in a spectacular display of divine power. But Elijah’s exhilaration was soon replaced by strenuous work followed by death threats, causing him to flee for his life. Now he was alone, exhausted, and discouraged.

    Again, God came to Elijah. This time, He came not in fire or in a loud, spectacular way, but in a still, small voice. God’s servant was tired, and God brought him comfort. Elijah’s focus had shifted from God to God’s enemies. He had allowed his circumstances to overwhelm him, leaving him disoriented to God and feeling alone. So God encouraged him. God provided Elisha for him as a helper, friend, and companion. God removed Elijah from the activity for a time, so that he could rest and spend time with God. When the nation next saw Elijah, he was rejuvenated and refocused on God and His assignment.

    If you are overwhelmed by kingdom work so that your focus is no longer on God but on all that there is to do, let Him comfort you. Listen to His gentle voice. He will encourage you and provide exactly what you need to prepare you for what comes next. If He needs to remove you from your work for a time, He will. He may place a friend or co-laborer beside you to help carry the load. God knows exactly how to encourage you. Let Him do so.

  • Devotional Corner – Vol. 61, No. 19

    Taken from Henry T. Blackaby and Richard Blackaby’s “Experiencing God Day By Day”

    “And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in Him,” (1 John 4:16)

    The greatest truth in all Scripture is this: God is love. Understanding this in its full dimensions will set you free to enjoy all that is yours as a Christian. But you must accept that God loves you. If you grew up experiencing unconditional love in your family, this may not be difficult for you. However, if your early years were void of love, this truth may be hard to accept. God loves you, not because you deserve His love, but because His nature is love. The only way He will ever relate to you is in love. His love for you gives you an inherent worth that nothing can diminish.

    If you cannot accept the truth that God loves you, you will be limited in how you can relate to Him. When He disciplines you, you will not take it as an expression of His love. Rather, you may resent Him. When God says no to a request that is less than His best for you, you will conclude that He doesn’t care about you. Without a clear understanding and acceptance of God’s love for you, you will be disoriented to him and to what He wants to do in your life. If you will accept God’s love, however, you will be able to return love to God as well as to others (1 John 4:19).

  • Devotional Corner – Vol. 61, No. 18

    Taken from L.B. Cowman’s “Streams in the Desert,” Zondervan Updated Edition

    “I will build you with stones of turquoise,” (Isaiah 54:11).

    The stones in the wall said, “We have come from mountains far away—from the sides of rugged cliffs. Fire and water have worked on us for ages but have only produced crevices. Yet human hands like yours have made us into homes where children of your immortal race are born, suffer, rejoice, find rest and shelter, and learn the lessons that our Maker and yours is teaching. But come to the point of being used for this purpose, we have endured much. Dynamite has torn at our very heart, and pickaxes have broken and split us into pieces. Often as we lay disfigured and broken in the quarry, everything seemed to be without design or meaning. But gradually we were cut into blocks, and some of us were chiseled with sharper instruments until we had a fine edge. Now we are complete, are in our proper places, and are of service.”

    “You, however, are still in your quarry. You are not complete and because of that, as once was the case with us, there is much you do not understand. But you are destined for a higher building, and someday you will be placed in it by angelic hands, becoming a living stone in a heavenly temple.”

    In the still air

    the music lies unheard;

    In the rough marble

    beauty hides unseen;

    To make the music

    and the beauty needs

    The master’s touch,

    the sculptor’s chisel keen.

     

    Great Master, touch us

    with Your skillful hands;

    Let not the music that is in us die!

    Great Sculptor,

    hew and polish us; nor let,

    Hidden and lost,

    Your form within us lie!

  • Devotional Corner – Vol. 61, No. 17

    Taken from L.B. Cowman’s “Streams in the Desert,” Zondervan Updated Edition

    “Before this faith came, we were held prisoners…, locked up until faith should be revealed,” (Galatians 3:23).

    God, in times past, caused people to be kept subject to His law so they would learn the more excellent way of faith. For it was through the law that they would see God’s holy standard and thereby realize their own utter helplessness. Then they would gladly learn His way of faith.

    God still causes us to be “locked up until faith” is learned. Our own nature, circumstances, trials, and disappointments all serve to keep us submissive and “locked up” until we see that the only way out is His way of faith. Moses attempted the deliverance of his people by using self-effort, his personal influence, and even violence. So God “locked [him] up” for forty years in the wilderness before he was prepared for His work.

    Paul and Silas were called of God to preach the gospel in Europe. In Philippi they were “severely flogged, they were thrown in to prison, and the jailer…fastened their feet in the stocks” (Acts 16:23-24). They were “locked up” to faith. They trusted God and sang praises to Him in their darkest hour, and God brought deliverance and salvation.

    Dear reader, are you in some terrible trouble? Have you experienced distressing disappointment, sorrow, or inexpressible loss? Are you in a difficult situation? You have been “locked up” to faith. Praise Him “that in all things God works for the good of those who love him” (Rom. 8:28) and that He “acts on the behalf of those who wait for him” (Isa. 64:4). God will send you blessings and help, and will reveal truths to you that otherwise would never have come your way. And many others will also receive great insights and blessings because you were “locked up” to learn the way of faith. —C.H.P.

  • Devotional Corner – Vol. 61, No. 16

    Taken from L.B. Cowman’s “Streams in the Desert,” Zondervan Updated Edition

    “He has given us his very great and precious promises,” (2 Peter 1:4).

    When a shipbuilder erects a boat, does he do so only to keep it on the scaffolding? No, he builds it to sail the seas and to weather the storms. In fact, if he does not think of strong winds and hurricanes as he builds it, he is a poor shipbuilder.

    In the same way, when God made you a believer, He meant to test you. And when He gave you promises and asked you to trust them, He made his promises suitable for times of storms and high seas. Do you believe that some of His promises are counterfeit, similar to a life vest that looks good in the store but is of no use in the sea?

    We have all seen swords that are beautiful but are useless in war, or shoes made for decoration but not for walking. Yet God’s shoes are made of iron and brass, and we can walk all the way to heaven in them, without ever wearing them out. And we could swim the Atlantic a thousand times in His life vest, with no fear of every sinking. His Word of promise is meant to be tried and tested.

    There is nothing Christ dislikes more than for His people to publicly profess Him and then not use Him. He loves for us to make use of Him, for His covenant blessings are not simply meant to be looked at but should be appropriated. Our Lord Jesus has been given to us for our present use. Are you making use of Him as you should?

    O beloved, I plead with you not to treat God’s promises as something to be displayed in a museum but to use them as everyday sources of comfort. And whenever you have a time of need, trust the Lord.

    — Charles H. Spurgeon

  • Devotional Corner – Vol. 61, No. 15

    “By faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope,” Galatians 5:5.

    There are times when everything looks very dark to me—so dark that I have to wait before I have hope. Waiting with hope is very difficult, but true patience is expressed when we must even wait for hope. When we see no hint of success yet refuse to despair, when we see nothing but the darkness of night through our window yet keep the shutters open because stars may appear in the sky, and when we have an empty place in our heart yet will not allow it to be filled with anything less than God’s best—that is the greatest kind of patience in the universe. It is the story of Job in the midst of the storm, Abraham on the road to Moriah, Moses in the desert of Midian, and the Son of Man in the Garden of Gethsemane. And there is no patience as strong as that which endures because we see “him who is invisible” (Heb. 11:27). It is the kind of patience that waits for hope.

    Father…give me strength to wait for hope—to look through the window when there are no stars. Even when my joy is gone, give me the strength to stand victoriously in the darkest night and say, “To my heavenly Father, the sun still shines.”

  • Devotional Corner – Vol. 61, No. 13

    Taken from L.B. Cowman’s “Streams in the Desert,” Zondervan Updated Edition

    “They will soar on wings like eagles,” (Isaiah 40:31).

    There is a fable about the way birds first got their wings. The story goes that initially they were made without them. Then God made the wings, set them down before the wingless birds, and said to them, “Take up these burdens and carry them.”

    The birds had sweet voices for singing, and lovely feathers that glistened in the sunshine, but they could not soar in the air. When asked to pick up the burdens that lay at their feet, they hesitated at first. Yet soon they obeyed, picked up the wings with their beaks, and set them on their shoulders to carry them.

    For a short time the load seemed heavy and difficult to bear, but soon, as they continued to carry the burden and to fold the wings over their hearts, the wings grew attached to their little bodies. They quickly discovered how to use them and were lifted by the wings high into the air. The weights had become wings.

    This is a parable for us. We are the wingless birds, and our duties and tasks are the wings God uses to lift us up and carry us heavenward. We look at our burdens and heavy loads, and try to run from them, but if we will carry them and tie them to our hearts, they will become wings. And on them we can then rise and soar toward God.

    There is no burden so heavy that when lifted cheerfully with love in our hearts will not become a blessing to us. God intends for our tasks to be our helpers; to refuse to bend our shoulders to carry a load is to miss a new opportunity for growth. —J.R. Miller.

  • Devotional Corner – Vol. 61, No. 12

    Taken from L.B. Cowman’s “Streams in the Desert,” Zondervan Updated Edition

    “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose,” (Romans 8:28).

    What a tremendous claim Paul makes in this verse! He does not say, “We know that in some things,” “most things,” or even “joyful things” but “ALL things.” This promise spans from the very smallest detail of life to the most important, and from the most humbling of daily tasks to God’s greatest works of grace performed during a crises.

    Paul states this in the present tense: “God works.” He does not say, “worked” or “will work.”  It is a continuing operation.

    We also know from Scripture that God’s “justice  [is] like the great deep” (Ps. 36:6); at this very moment the angels in heaven , as they watch with folded wings the development of God’s great plan, are undoubtedly proclaiming, “The LORD is righteous in all His ways and loving toward all He has made” (Ps. 145:17).

    Then when God orchestrates “all things…for the good,” it is a beautiful blending. He requires many different colors, which individually may be quite drab, to weave into the harmonious pattern.

    Separate tones, notes, and even discords are required to compose melodious musical anthems; a piece of machinery requires many separate wheels, parts, and connections. Once part from a machine may be useless, or one note from an anthem may never be considered beautiful, but taken together, combined, and completed, they lead to perfect balance and harmony.

    We can learn a lesson of faith from this: “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand,” (John 13:7).—J.R. Macduff

    In a thousand trials, it is not just five hundred of them that work “for the good” of the believer, but nine hundred ninety-nine, plus one.

    —George Mueller