Category Archives: Random Devotional Thoughts

Random Devotional Thoughts

Missing Out!!

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    I had been having a lot of trouble with the files on my computer. For some reason, they kept disappearing….I would put an afternoon in working on one, click on close and when the sign came up asking to save it or not, I would click on that and then turn it off. Next time I would open it, it would present me with an empty file! 

    It was most frustrating to say the least, and in the end I would save it under another name to keep it. I was able to find out in the end, that I should save it before clicking the off button, and so far there has been no further trouble!

    It reminds me of what it must be like in Christian things….to spend  your life going to church, listening to the sermons, maybe helping out in different ways, and even to call God, “Lord”, and yet to not know Him in a personal way or  to be able to call Him “Our Father” from personal experience.

     There will be those who get to death’s door, and not have Him to take them through. There is a parable in Matthew 7:21-23, where the Lord talks about those who get to Heaven’s gate, and God says “Depart from Me! I never knew you!” They will reply saying, “But Lord, we’ve cast out demons in Your name, and prophesied too, as well as done many  other wonderful things!” But God will still say , “Depart from Me! I never knew you!”

    So it pays to take stock of oneself, to see just where we are at with Him. If we have our special time alone with Him, reading His Word (the Bible) and talking with Him each day,  then we know that we know Him, and that He will welcome us into His eternal home when the time comes for us to leave this earth.

Random Devotional Thoughts

The Easter Story

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The Easter Story inspired the following thoughts….we too often sanitise the Bible stories, but reality would be very different….

Sitting Down They Watched Him There.

We read these words in the peace and quiet Forgetting the crowds, the noise, the riot, That surrounded our Lord so long ago, When rulers had wickedly taken Him so. The noise, the cries, and the prisoner’s grunts, The shouts of the soldiers, the awful thumps, Of the nails going into the human flesh, As they lay on the scars and bruises so fresh; The heat and the dust that rose in the air, The scorning of those who were standing there. The laughing and jeering of the soldiers who, Were casting lots for His garments too. The thieves were cursing Him to His face, Get us down and out of this place! Then we’ll believe that you truly are King And one day Your kingdom You’ll really bring” Suddenly one turned and said to his mate, We really deserve all that’s on our plate, But this Man here has done nothing amiss, Lord, remember me now in spite of all this ” The Saviour looked and in tones soft and light, Said “Today you’ll be with Me, in Paradise bright Joy filled the heart of this one so  depressed The noise and  the dirt were now repressed In spite of those who watched them there, The rulers uncaring, or friends in despair, The soldier declaring ‘This IS God’s Son, He only is the righteous One! ” His Spirit given up, the night now was near, The people had gone, the silence was clear. Still there were those who were watching Him there When His body  was put in the tomb with  care, The guards would wait the next  nights out, No one could move while they were about. But in spite of it all, God’s  purposes won, And Jesus became, the Resurrected One!

And that my Friend, is the reason so clear,        That Easter for us presents no fear,                          Tis only for us to humble our mind, Accept what’s written and then we’ll find,  Satisfaction within and no more  grief,  With  peace in our hearts beyond belief.

Random Devotional Thoughts

How Old is Our Soul?

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    The older we get, the more we tend to think about what lies ahead. We get to the stage of avoiding going to reunions where everyone looks SO old! Then we realise that they are probably thinking the same about us!    It gets to the stage when invited to a grandchild’s engagement or birthday party, that we look around and see with horror that we are probably the oldest ones there!

   I stopped to think about this one day and remembered an incident when a young man said to his grandmother, “Granny, tell me, how old do you feel?” (She was in her early eighties by this time). “Well,” she said, “It’s like this, I know my outside looks old and wrinkly and my bones ache when I get up, but inside I don’t feel any older than fifteen!” “Really!” said the young man astonished, as he went on his way.

    The reason for this is, that a soul is ageless. It never ages. It has been made to live for ever regardless of the age of the body it inhabits and when it dies. Every soul is precious in the sight of God, and His great desire is that each one will live with Him for ever.

    But along with God’s great love which people like to think about, goes God’s innate holiness and sense of justice. All wrongs must be righted and dealt with, and we would all agree with that. God knew that man could never pay the debt of all these injustices so He took on Himself to pay for these in the Person of His Son Jesus Christ, the only sinless Person who has ever lived on earth.    We may choose to not believe this, and this is our right, but then we must bear the consequences of this choice. God has done His part, and now we must do our part which is humbling ourselves to accept this free gift  so that our soul will live for ever in God’s presence. Don’t let anyone put you off making the right decision because the alternative of living in darkness without God or anything good for ever and ever doesn’t bear thinking about!

Random Devotional Thoughts

What Does Your Past Show?

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    Our past often has a way of catching up with us, often when we least expect it! We see this at the moment as a well known politician in a certain country in standing for his seat again, has to face a court-case, of something that he did thirty years ago. Another scenario is that of hearing a certain person’s name that we knew years ago, and the memories that that name brings up. Often not good memories either. Why is it that we remember more vividly, the wrongs that were done in the past, more than the good deeds?

We do well to remember the verses in the Old Testament of the Bible, that tell us that a good name is better than riches (Proverbs chapter 22.verse 1).

   It brings to mind how our past has a way of catching up with us, sometimes when we least want it to. Another case of this was when a young adopted woman traced her birth father, and knocked on his door one day announcing she was his daughter! His wife and family had no idea of this young woman’s existence, and the shock was great. We can only imagine how they must have all felt!

   But this is nothing to how we will feel when faced with all our past unforgiven  sins. The Bible tells us that “the wages of sin is death, while the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)”

  For a gift to be enjoyed, it must be taken and opened….it is a two way thing. God has done His part in providing and presenting this gift; the least we can do is to take it and thank Him for it.

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…Five “R”s to Think About…

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     Our preacher this morning was talking about Daniel in the Bible, and he had five “R”s to hang his talk on.

     Daniel was a young teenager who had been taken captive by the enemy and found himself along with three friends, in a strange country with a language they didn’t understand. Not only that, but there were strange customs to get used to, on top of being homesick for where they had come from.      These four teenagers were part of a group that had been specially chosen to become part of the king’s  court, and were to be trained up in the ways of the land. So they found themselves back in school to learn this new language and new ways so they could stand before the king.       But these were four young fellows who had strong convictions of what was right and what was wrong, and  we can learn many lessons from them.

     These four boys Resolved that they would not follow the heathen ways of this new land….after all, they knew the One True God, and believed that He would look after them.      They found that the food they were given to eat was of the very best, but Daniel was suspicious about where it had come from. When he found out it had been offered to the foreign idols first, he was horrified! He Resisted eating this food that he was being given  and went to the official in charge of their group and asked if it couldn’t be Removed from his diet. He asked that he be given just vegetables to eat and water to drink, instead of the rich food and wine that they were now being given.

    Then it was the official’s reaction to be horrified! If they didn’t look as healthy as their companions the next time they went before the king, he could lose his job or worse still, his head! But he agreed to do it for a week and then check them out.     His mates saw what he was doing and asked about it. So Daniel was able to Recruit them to do as he was doing, and when the four of them finally came before the king, the Result was that the king found that they were ten times better than all the rest of the group still eating the king’s food. They were more alert, fitter and trimmer of figure than any of the others, so they were allowed to stay on their diet.

    So this story from the Bible shows us many lessons that we can learn…. first of all we must RESOLVE to do what is right, then RESIST what is holding us back, and REMOVE ourselves from temptation. We can then RECRUIT others to follow our way, and the RESULT will be an eternal one for God’s glory.

     True, there may be bumps along the way, and times of testing, but it will all be worth it in the end . So never give up, and keep looking up!!

Random Devotional Thoughts

What is Holiness?

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       Holiness? What is that? It’s a word that has just about disappeared from our vocabulary these days, and certainly its concept has gone from man’s ideas when every person does what is right in his own eyes! 

    Holiness is everything that is right and just and good. God is a Holy God, and expects His people to be the same. We can never reach the heights of God’s perfection, but with His help, we can all do better than we do. There is no higher commendation than the one that God gave to His servant Job (pronounced Jobe) when He announced to Satan that Job was perfect and upright, and one who abhorred evil in any shape or form (Job 1:verse 8) . Yet when Job saw himself in God’s presence at the end of the story, he realised how far short he was of God’s standard, and said he repented in the face of God’s holiness and greatness. (Job 42: verses 5-6).

      As we go forwards into the year of 2024, let us each one strive to do better  with God’s help, than we did last year. Yes, we might be a good person, and yes, we may feel no need of changing our ways or thoughts, but let’s remember that we don’t see ourselves as God sees us. He says, “For ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3 verse 23) and as such we are under His judgment unless we come before Him and confess that we are worthless in our own selves, and that His way is the only way. Jesus Christ said when He was here….”I am the way, the truth and the life….no one comes to the Father (God) except by Me”.  This statement is found in the book of John, chapter 14, verse 6.

    Just remember that if this is wrong, we have nothing to lose, but if it is right, we have everything to gain. 

Random Devotional Thoughts

Who is Your Boss?

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        I came across an article the other day that I thought was worth passing on. It certainly had some challenging thoughts in it! The writer made the statement that our work for the Lord should not be the most important thing in our life! Whoa! That can’t be right, you might be thinking. What could be more  important in our life than working for the Lord?

    The article goes like this (with abbreviations)……      

“Separate unto Me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them” (Acts 13:2b).

There is a great need among Christians to discern the difference between the Lord of the Work and the work of the Lord. How easy it is to confuse these two things and treat them as one and the same! Yet the difference before God is quite vast.

      The writer was visiting a ministerial luncheon once, consisting of local pastors. He was introduced and asked to say a few words. He wondered what he could say to these pastors? But the Lord had already prepared his heart with a special word just for them. He said, “Brothers, I have come this day to remind you of one thing: the work of the Lord is NOT to be the most important thing in your life.”

He allowed his words to sink in for a moment and the silence was deafening. He could sense their thoughts as these pastors silently wondered what could possibly be more important than the work of the Lord. “Brothers, the Lord of the Work is more important than the work of the Lord,” he said, and then sat down.

He continued in this article by saying that he was still growing in this revelation. He had to be constantly reminded by the Lord, “Look, I am more important than your ministry. I am your priority. This is My work, not yours. I reserve the right to separate you for service or place you on the shelf. I reserve the right to send you forth or keep you at home. The Lord of the Work is more important than the work of the Lord. You keep saying this, but you do not always practice it.”

He had to come to realise that he had to be governed by the Lord of the Work, not the work of the Lord.       The Lord of the Work does not change, but the work of the Lord is constantly changing. The Lord of the Work governs the time, the place, the people, the provision, and the assignment. All these things may change as the Lord of the Work sees fit. He sets one up and brings another down. He opens doors and closes them. He leads us to speak or bids us to remain silent. We want to go out and the Lord tells us to stay home. We want to stay home and the Lord tells us to go. He is the Lord of the Work.

     We cannot understand everything that God does. In humility we need to bow down and say, “You are the Lord of the Work, and I am only a worker. You are the Master, and I am the servant. You know what You want and what You need far more than I do. I only see a portion, but you see all things. So I submit myself and what I do to You!”

    This is the only safe way. Can we submit ourselves to the Lord of the Work? Can we offer Him our gifts, our talents, and our abilities on the altar and let Him direct things? I believe that almost every apostle, prophet, or pastor that has gotten off track has done so because of this very thing – making the work of the Lord preeminent over the Lord of the Work. God gives them a gift, or a calling, or a ministry, and they begin working at it until they no longer need to be governed by the Holy Spirit. People can get blasé about what they are doing for the Lord….they are almost too gifted. We need a little less gifting,  and a lot more brokenness, learning to lean on the Lord instead of our own capabilities!

Random Devotional Thoughts

God’s Mercy and Peace.

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Galatians  1: 3-5                                

    Paul  is still in his introduction to the Galatian Christians here.  He was in a position to pass on a blessing from God to others…. The challenge to us is, do we know God well enough to do this as well?

Paul knew God’s grace and peace and he knew where it came from.… it was the work of our Lord Jesus Christ.     Note that he uses Christ’s full title here…. none of this plain “Jesus” as we hear so much in Christian circles today. The world uses the name “Jesus Christ” in blasphemy and expletives, but only a genuine believer uses His full title. Let us see that we make full use of it!

     We sometimes wonder if non-Christian people we associate with, notice that we don’t talk as they do….I remember once when I was having my weekly game of golf (and I played golf very badly!) and had made a particularly bad shot. One of the ladies I was playing with, said, “I don’t know how you can have a shot like that, and not be swearing!” So people DO notice how we act and talk! Let us not let the Lord Jesus Christ down in our speech and actions!

     In the next verse, Paul says why He is our Lord Jesus Christ….. it is because He gave Himself for our sins and delivered us from this present evil world. This is God’s will for each human being. Let us see that we live in the enjoyment of this blessing and not go back into the scum of what this world has to offer!      Paul finishes off his introduction by acknowledging God’s glory which is everlasting….. this is the eternal praise of heaven (Revelation 5:12-14). If we don’t want to do this on earth now, we certainly won’t want to do it for eternity!

The blessings of God are mercy and peace, We can thank Him now that they’ll never cease; Through the work that was done,   By His well loved Son, ‘Twill last well beyond our decease.