“To him who is afflicted, kindness should be shown by his friend, even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.” ~ Job 6:14 REFERENCE: Job 6:11-15 Nobody wishes to go through afflictions. These include emotional pain, lack, and ill health. Take a look at your network, and you will discover that someone is afflicted by troubles. They may be going through a divorce, job loss, bereavement, physical pain, miscarriage of a pregnancy, or a crucial marital crisis. What God expects is that you show kindness to the afflicted. Sadly, when people are afflicted, the people around them become ‘expert...
“Now Ahaziah fell through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and was injured; so he sent messengers and said to them, “Go, inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this injury.” – II Kings 1:2 REFERENCE: II Kings 1:1-4 A man’s house is his castle; you would think he is safe in his house, but no, evil can befall him at home. Ahaziah succeeded his evil father, king Ahab, and continued in his wicked ways, fortified by his mother, Jezebel. Justice knocked him down through the lattice of his upper room. When...
“So, when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” …And Moses said to them, “This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat.” ~ Exodus 16:15 REFERENCE: Exodus 16:4-15 When Israel saw the manna, they said, “What is it?” They unwittingly despised the provision God made available to them. It was bread from heaven – angelic food; yet, they said, "What is it?" They were saying, “What is the big deal about this?”, “What is so special about this?” or “What does this mean?” As humans, we are often...
“And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?” ~ Luke 18:7 REFERENCE: Luke 18:1-8 This woman had a peculiar experience with this judge. By his admission, he had no fear of God nor regard for any man. He was a mean judge who was an authority over himself. He was determined to deny this woman justice, but she wore him out (the Greek suggests that she gave him a black eye) by her continual coming and forced him to attend to her matter. Jesus said, if this...
“Now it happened, when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were being restored and the gaps were beginning to be closed, that they became very angry.” Nehemiah 4:7 REFERENCE: Nehemiah 4:1-9 The enemies of the Jews came together to form an unholy alliance. They planned to frustrate their project so it would fail and never be completed. In life, whenever you embark on a worthy cause, a myriad of issues arises to dissuade you. The furious four – Sanballat, Tobiah (head of the Ammonites), Gershom the Arab, and the Ashdodites, opposed Nehemiah's mission. The...
“So, when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow to live.”– Acts 28:4 REFERENCE: Acts 28:1-6 Often, people will name you by your past experiences and expect you to suffer for an offense of the past. However, God is not like that; He can take the worst of men and turn them into the best of men. He can turn a terrorist into an evangelist; He can so remove a man from...
“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” James 1:22 REFERENCE: James 1:22-25 Obedience is of great value before God. It endeared Abraham to God because he promptly acted whenever God spoke to him. It is good to read, study, or listen to the word of God, but it profits us nothing if we do not do what it says. James counsels, “Be doers of the word.” Nothing substitutes obedience in the eyes of God, not giving, singing, dancing, charity, etc. If a man wants to please God, let him tremble at His word, acting...
“And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm. But He said to them, “Where is your faith?” ~ Luke 8:24&25 REFERENCE: Luke 8:22-25 In the last devotional, we understood that life would often throw us into circumstances where the only appropriate response would be faith, nothing else. When we get daunted and crushed by these challenges, Jesus asks us, as He did His disciples, “Where is your faith?” When Jesus asked His disciples...
“…Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm. But He said to them, “Where is your faith?” ~ Luke 8:24-25 REFERENCE: Luke 8:22-25 Scripture tells us twice, “The just shall live by his faith.” It is because life will often put us in circumstances that require our faith response. There will be a likelihood of distressing news, sicknesses, financial obligation deadlines, battles against negative thoughts, etc. As He asked His disciples, Jesus will ask you at such times, “Where is your faith?” Life put the disciples of Jesus Christ...
“Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.” ~ Luke 4:20 REFERENCE: Luke 4:16-21 Amidst the culture of hero-worship that permeates today’s society, believers can get distracted and soon turn their attention to false gods. There are great orators, singers, actors, social media influencers, talk show hosts, entertainers, and musicians, many of whom have very many followers. However, a child of God must be careful to have his eyes fixed on Jesus all the time. What you keep looking at...