Daily Devotion On The Church

Luke 8:15 – Time to Ripen

Daily Devotion Bible Verse

As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience. (Luke 8:15 ESV)

The parable of the sower and the seed is ever popular. If you grew up in the church, you probably learned it as a child. We have all heard a sermon on it from a pastor. After telling the parable, Jesus then proceeded to explain it to the disciples. It is the last sentence in his explanation that we will focus on today. The seed that falls on the good soil is the seed that bears fruit in accordance with the Gospel. It is the seed that decides to follow Jesus during thick and thin.

What we learn though is that this seed takes time to bear fruit. This seed “bears fruit with patience”. We don’t like to read this. Aren’t we supposed to die to ourselves and be new creatures right away (Romans 6:6-7)? Doesn’t the Gospel produce the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-24)? The answer to these is Continue Reading →

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Romans 12:1-2 – Right Worship

Daily Devotions Bible Verse

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:1-2 ESV)

Every aspect of our lives is part of our worship. We worship from the moment our eyes open in the morning to the second they close at night. Worship is magnifying (or making much of) someone or something by our actions, thoughts or words. It is setting anything, be it God or otherwise, into the place of high prominence and authority in our lives. However, this understanding of worship is slipping from Christian belief and practice. Worship today is generally thought of as a genre of music or a thirty minute period in which we sing songs to God. Though the latter is a crucial component of worship (Ephesians 5:15-21) it does not encompass it.

In fact, we learn from today’s passage that Continue Reading →

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I Timothy 1:5 – Aim For Love

Daily Devotional Bible Verse

The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (I Timothy 1:5 ESV)

Have you ever lived next door to a musician? It can be a real treat at times when he or she is accomplished, but what about when said musician is, for instance, a lousy drummer who knows how to do nothing but pound? We all understand that in the right context musicians gathering to play is lovely. A symphony, for example, can perform tremendously beautiful and resonating pieces. They each play their part, complimenting one another to form one cohesive sound. But remember Paul’s warning to the Corinthians, that “if I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal” (I Corinthians 13:1)?

A Christian who misses that the “aim of our charge is love” is like someone pounding away at a cymbal, drowning out everything surrounding it. When we don’t aim for love Continue Reading →

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Galatians 5:7-9 – Leaven

Daily Devotional Bible Verse

You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion is not from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. (Galatians 5:7-9 ESV)

Leaven is a substance, typically yeast, that is added to dough to make it rise.  It only takes a small amount and the entire lump of dough has been permeated by the yeast and will begin rising.  Throughout the Bible leaven is used as an analogy for evil that creeps into the lives of people.  Jesus tells the disciples to watch out for it (Matthew 16:6) and Paul mentions it again in (1 Corinthians 5:6-7).  Paul is specifically referencing a legalism that has creeped into the Gospel at the church in Galatia, and has actually twisted it, distorting the Gospel’s truth.  We can apply this principle to our lives today.

Leaven doesn’t always equate to legalism.  Leaven can be any bad doctrine that is attached to the Gospel.  We must be careful Continue Reading →

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Matthew 5:16 – Good Works

Daily Devotional Bible Verse

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16 ESV)

With almost all things in life, there needs to exist a healthy balance. For instance, you can workout all you want, but if you don’t balance that effort with a healthy diet, it won’t do you much good. You can work all the hours in a day to buy anything you want, but if you don’t balance your work with time off, you can’t enjoy your toys. Churches can fall into this trap too. They might focus on one doctrine and forget to teach the many others that are profitable to a Christian’s walk; this is one of the reasons we have denominations (which aren’t bad).

One such doctrine is that of “good works”. Continue Reading →

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2 Timothy 2:2 – Be A Resource

Daily Devotional Bible Verse

and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. (2 Timothy 2:2 ESV)

Paul was training Timothy, and in doing so, teaching him to teach others. Timothy was called to “entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others”, or to invest in those who would move from mere consumption to a deliverer of the Gospel. In the church today we know that those “who teach will be judged with greater strictness” (James 3:1), or in the least understand the sentiment that leaders should be held to a higher standard. Often though, we of the congregation misuse this truth as a shield against the scrutiny of Scripture in our own lives. We focus on the supposed “higher calling” of leaders to the exclusion of the “heavenly calling” (Hebrews 3:1) of every believer. Yes, the mantle of training and teaching was here laid upon a leader, Timothy, but there also exists a calling upon the “faithful men” to be trained, and be taught. Continue Reading →

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