Category: Strength for Today

Lamentations 2:15
“All that pass by clap their hands at thee; they hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, Is this the city that men call The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth?”

Have you ever taken a trip to see something that was supposed to have a significant place in history only to be disappointed? Several years ago, my wife and I took a trip to Plymouth, Massachusetts, to see the first rock that the Pilgrims stepped upon when they came onto American soil. When we got to the place where the rock was, we were so disappointed because it was nothing that we imagined it to be.

In the verse above, this is what Jeremiah said would happen to Zion. He said that one day people would come to visit Zion, “The perfection of beauty,” and they would be disappointed. He said that they would come and wag their head and hiss because of the disappointment.

What would cause people to be so disappointed? Sin was the cause of the disappointment. Zion was once the “perfection of beauty” but sin took it away. It was sin that caused them to lose their joy. Sin is what caused them to go into captivity. What could have been a place that people visited to see what the LORD was doing through them became the place where people would come to see what the LORD had done to them because of sin.

There are many places like this all over the world. I have gone to visit many churches where God used to bless only to be disappointed in what the place became. I visited the great Highland Park Baptist Church to see what the LORD had done through Dr. Lee Roberson only to see a place where buildings were no longer in use and an auditorium that was mostly empty. What caused it? The compromise of a preacher who thought that the old paths that Dr. Roberson walked, practiced and used to build that great church were out-of-date. What once used to be a soul-saving station has now become a relic of history.

Friend, you will either be a testimony of what God is doing through you or you will become a relic of history. The fear that every Christian should have is that God would take His blessings from them. You should live in such submission to the will of God that sin has no lure to your flesh. You should desire God’s presence so deeply that the call of sin is so distant that you cannot hear it. You will not be a testimony of God’s power on accident. Being the testimony of God’s power will only come by walking with God in the Scriptures and prayer, and yielding to the Holy Spirit on an every moment basis.

You are one decision away from being turned from a testimony of God’s power to a relic. All it takes is yielding one time to sin’s temptation. One decision not to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit will turn you into a relic. One choice to follow temptation will take the blessings of God away and relegate you to a relic. Every Christian is one step away from becoming the relic of history, and the Devil knows it. Don’t you forget it!

Let me encourage you to daily beg God to help you to be a testimony of His power. Beg God daily to keep you from the moment of temptation or the bad decision that would turn you into a relic. Constantly yield yourself to God’s will and the voice of His Holy Spirit. Always keep in mind that when people see you that you will either be a testimony of God’s power or a relic of history. Don’t become the relic!

Proverbs 31:27
“She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.”

We live in times when the woman’s priorities has been realigned to fit the model of the world. Many Christians don’t take into consideration that what the world wants and what God wants are two different things. The world tries to redefine the priorities of the woman because the world’s agenda is to destroy the home. Yes, the world hates the home because God is the One Who established the home. James 4:4 reminds us, “…whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” You must always consider that anything the world wants is contradictory to what God wants because they are enemies. Thus, the priorities the world wants the woman to perform are in direct contradiction to the role God wants her to perform.

Proverbs 31 shows us the priorities that the woman is to have. God goes further to show that the woman who follows His priorities is a virtuous woman. When a lady desires to follow God’s model, her priorities will be different from what the world preaches. The verse above shows us the priorities of the virtuous woman when it says, “She looketh well to the ways of her household…” The virtuous woman will understand that her first priority is her own home, but within the home setting she will also have priorities.

Her first priority is her husband. Verse 10 – 26, shows her desire should be to take care of her husband. Every wife needs to understand that her purpose of being placed on this Earth is to be a help to her husband. Genesis 2:18 says, “And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.” I know this flies in the face of those who want a career, but God makes it very clear that the wife’s first priority is her husband, not a career or her parents. Anyone or anything that she places above her husband is wrong.

The second priority of the virtuous woman is her children. After God shows how the virtuous woman works hard to please her husband, He then shows that she focuses on her children. A lady must understand that her children should never be placed above her husband. A wife’s first priority is her husband, and after that she is to care for the children. You will also notice that her career is not to be placed above her children, but her children are to be placed above her career. When children are raised by daycares instead of a mother, those children will not get the proper training and care they should have. God didn’t place the children in the daycare, He placed them in your home because He knew you could best train them and give them the unique love they need. Children will always suffer when a mother’s priorities are not right.

I know this devotional is not going to be popular and isn’t politically correct, but these are God’s priorities for the woman, not mine. God knows what is best, and you would be wise to follow His priorities and not yours or the worlds. Ladies, you must protect your priorities. You must not let your parents or siblings take priority over your husband or children. You must guard against outside responsibilities taking priority over your husband and children. A lady has failed when her husband’s needs and children’s needs are not met because something else took priority over them. Keep these priorities right, and the home will be happy because it will run in proper order.

Jeremiah 40:16
“But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said unto Johanan the son of Kareah, Thou shalt not do this thing: for thou speakest falsely of Ishmael.”

When the King of Babylon invaded Israel and Judah, he left a remnant of poor people in the land to care for it so that the wilderness would not overtake it. He also knew that he needed to leave someone in charge, so he set Gedaliah as the governor of the land. We don’t know what qualities Gedaliah had that caused the king to set him up as governor, but one thing we do know is that he certainly was not the best of leaders or else he would have been taken to Babylon.

Gedaliah made a mistake that many prideful or over confident leaders make. After being set up as governor, there were armies of other nations who heard that Gedaliah was set up to be governor, and they plotted to take his life and the lives of people. However, Johanan came to Gedaliah to warn him of these armies that were intent on killing him, namely Ishmael the son of Nethaniah.

Unfortunately, Gedaliah wouldn’t listen to Johanan and thought that he knew better. When you continue reading into the next chapter, you find that Ishmael did come and invade the land and killed hundreds of people and threw their dead bodies into a pit until it was filled. All of this happened because a leader was too proud to listen to a follower. The leader could have saved his own life and the lives of those who put their trust under his leadership had he listened to a follower who wanted to help. Gedaliah thought he knew everything because he was the leader, but his overconfidence led to his own destruction.

Leaders must be careful not to become so confident in what they do know that they think they know everything. Leaders need to understand that there is no way they can know everything. They must understand that followers will hear things that will never be said to the leader. A leader who is not willing to listen to followers is a leader who is endangering their own future and the future of those they lead.

Moreover, leaders must be careful about insulting the intelligence of their followers. When a follower comes and gives you information, you would be wise to listen. Don’t belittle the follower’s desire to help. You must understand that they want the best just as much as you do. Many leaders have faced unneeded battles because they wouldn’t listen to the warnings of a follower. If a follower comes to you as a leader and tells you something, don’t belittle them or blow up when they give you this information because you may discourage them from ever coming to you again with needed information. Instead, thank them for their concern and honestly look into what they have told you.

Furthermore, a follower must be sure to tell the leader information that could help them to keep harm from happening. You may think someone else has told the leader what you know, or you may think what you know is not that important, but you must still let the leader know information that could be harmful to what you are trying to accomplish. God may have allowed you to come across this information so that you could keep harm from happening. It is not that you are a tattletale, but irreparable harm could be avoided if you will simply relay what you know to the leader. Irreparable harm could be avoided if the leaders will listen and followers will inform when needed.

Psalm 137:1
“By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.”

As Israel sat captive in Babylon, all they did was talk about what it used to be like. They reminisced about their homeland and what it used to be like. The time of reminiscing caused them to do nothing. In fact, it says that they hung their “harps upon the willows.” They got to the point when they were asked to sing one of the songs of Zion that they responded in verse 4, “How shall we sing the LORD’S song in a strange land?” They thought that all they had left were memories.

The mistake these people made was that while they reminisced about the past, they were not making any new memories for the present. Memories don’t produce memories. I’m glad they had memories of what Zion used to be like, but as long as they sat there reminiscing about what it used to be like, they were wasting time that God could use to do something through them in the present.

When you continue studying the Scriptures, there were two men who decided not to live in memory lane. Those men were Ezra and Nehemiah. These two men believed God could still do something, and He eventually used them to rebuild the temple and the walls of Jerusalem. Instead of letting their memories rob memories for the future, they became proactive and trusted that God could still make memories in the present.

There are far too many Christians who talk about the “good ole days” as if God can’t do anything today. Youth get tired of hearing about those days because they want to see God do something today. They hear how good things were in the past and how terrible it is today, and become frustrated because their elders only talk about their memories. While the older generations talk about what it used to be like in the past, they are sadly doing nothing today to make memories for the future.

Memories are a wonderful thing to have, but memories are to challenge and not discourage. We can talk about how God did something in the past, but is He no longer able to do something today? Can God no longer build great churches today? Can God no longer heal the sick? Can God no longer provide financially? Can God no longer save souls by the hundreds and even thousands? Can God no longer bring the prodigal back home? Can God no longer part the Red Sea’s or the Jordan River’s? Has God lost His power that He can no longer do what He used to do? Is God a God of the past or is He the God of the present and future?

Friend, it is time to rise up and stop letting memories rob you of future memories. God can still do a work today, but His people must stop living in the past and start doing something today. The whole reason God did something in the past is because people were actively doing something where He would get involved. God can still do everything today that He did in the past, it’s just up to you to put Him to the test.

Don’t rob the younger generations of memories because of your lack of faith. Don’t let laziness and complacency keep the younger generations from having memories of God working. Get busy and do something for God. He is still able to perform great things today to give memories for tomorrow.

Jeremiah 26:15
“But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof: for of a truth the LORD hath sent me unto you to speak all these words in your ears.”

We live in times when if you don’t like the message, it is easy to move to another messenger who will give you a message that you do like. Churches, and I use that word loosely, abound everywhere. What I have seen happen with many Christians is, instead of dealing with their own issues that have been discovered, they would rather go to another church hoping this new pastor won’t be as “restrictive” as the previous one. The problem that these Christians face is that the messenger was not the problem, the problem was the listener who wouldn’t repent.

Jeremiah faced the same problem in his day. Judah wanted nothing to do with Jeremiah’s message. They were so angry with Jeremiah that they wanted to kill him. They thought that changing the messenger and the message would eradicate the truth of Jeremiah’s message. Jeremiah told them that they could kill him and bring in a messenger who would tell them what they wanted to hear, but that still would not change the truth of what he preached unto them.

Christian, changing the messenger is never the answer to fixing your problem. Just because you don’t like what the preacher says doesn’t make what he said wrong. Too many Christians want to change their messenger instead of facing their sin problem. You will still have to face sin’s judgment until you face your sin problem. Getting rid of the messenger doesn’t change the truth. You can run and hide, but God’s Word still remains the same. Galatians 6:7 is still true when it says, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Getting rid of the messenger and the message doesn’t change the laws of sowing and reaping.

Go ahead and bury your head in the sand, but that doesn’t change that you have a sin problem. Go ahead and change churches or move to a different location, but you are still going to have to face your problem at some point. You can criticize the messenger and belittle the message, but God’s Word will still be honored and you will have to face your sin.

Let me encourage you to stop avoiding the message of the messenger. Just because you don’t like what God’s Word says doesn’t make the message wrong. You can run from the messenger, change messengers and attack the messenger and his message in an evil way, but you are still going to have to face the fact that the messenger’s message was right. Stop avoiding and attacking and start repenting and living right. That is the action that you should have concerning the message of the messenger.

What are you going to do with your sin? Are you going to bury your head in the sand and act like you didn’t hear the message or are you going to have a tender heart and face your sin? The answer should be the latter. The next time you are tempted to attack the messenger, consider the message and look at what you need to change. Always remember that when you are attacking the messenger, you are attacking the source that gave him the message and that is God. Don’t make that mistake! The best reaction to a convicting message is to change your actions.

Jeremiah 10:2
“Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.”

A banker once explained to me how they were trained to spot a counterfeit. He told me that the bank did not show them counterfeit money, but they were taught how to spot a counterfeit by being very familiar with real money. He said that the familiarity with the real thing would cause them to easily spot a counterfeit.

That is exactly what the LORD is teaching us in the verse above when He says, “Learn not the way of the heathen…” Many today teach that you need to learn about the wrong way so that you will be better at debating those who practice the wrong way. Yet, the LORD commands the opposite. The LORD says not to learn their way. Instead, He teaches us in Romans 16:19 to be “wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.” God would rather you learn how to do good than He would for you to become knowledgeable of the evil.

The way that Satan destroyed Eve in the Garden of Eden was that he got her to become knowledgeable about evil. Satan deceived Eve in Genesis 3:5 by saying, “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Eve already had a knowledge of good, but Satan deceived her by saying that if she had a knowledge of evil that she would better be able to avoid it. The knowledge of evil is exactly what caused her to sin. The knowledge of the way of the heathen is what got her to live in that way.

Friend, instead of spending your time trying to learn what is wrong, you would be better off learning about good. The best way to dispute what is wrong is simply by learning what is good. The more you know about good the easier it is to spot what is wrong. The best way to defeat false doctrine is to learn good doctrine. The best way to defeat a lie is to learn truth. The best way to resist sin is to learn about righteousness. The Devil has destroyed many people with the knowledge of wrong.

When you learn the way of the heathen, you open yourself up to the temptation of wrong. If you don’t know the way of the heathen, you can’t be tempted to walk in their ways. If you don’t read the books of compromising spiritual leaders, you will never be tempted to compromise. Many preachers and Christians alike have turned away from the old paths because they read or became too familiar with compromising ways. What they thought would help them to better avoid those ways was the very thing that lured them into those ways.

Christian, spend your time learning the right way. The more you learn about right, the easier it will be to spot what is wrong. The more you learn the Scriptures, the easier it will be to spot false doctrine. There is so much to learn about truth and the right way that you shouldn’t have time to learn the ways of the heathen. Let this devotional stir you to lay aside the desire to learn the ways of the heathen and inspire you to learn the ways of the LORD. The best way to combat wrong is to learn right. Don’t fall for the Devil’s lie that you need to learn the way of the heathen. Follow the LORD’s advice when He commands you not to learn their ways.

Jeremiah 1:4
“Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,”

It was June 21, 1973. I was sitting in my living room and my mother was giving devotions because my father was out soul winning. That was the first time in my life that the LORD spoke to me. It was that night that He spoke to me about my need of a Saviour, and it was that night that I put my faith and trust in Jesus Christ to be my personal Saviour.

Several years later when I was 13 years of age, God spoke to me again. Dr. James Holder was preaching our missions conference that year, and that night he preached on Jonah running from the LORD. I was not running from the LORD, but the LORD called me to preach because of that sermon. I remember exactly where I was and where I was sitting. It was that night that my life was forever changed.

Let me remind you that the LORD is still speaking today. No, He doesn’t speak audibly, but His Holy Spirit still speaks today. If you are saved, you should remember that time when the LORD spake to you. It was a wonderful time! Just like the LORD called Jeremiah, He is still speaking to people today. He speaks to them through preaching and through a personal walk with Him in the Scriptures and prayer. There are several things that you can take away from the LORD speaking to you.

First, the LORD knows you. God knows your name and where you are. Do you realize how special that is? This means that He loves you. In spite of all that we have done to be underserving of the LORD loving us, He still speaks to us today. Friend, never take for granted that the LORD is speaking to you today. Every time God speaks to you, He is reminding you that He knows you and loves you.

Second, because the LORD speaks to you, that means He is interested in doing something through you. You would not consider the calls of the world if you only knew how much the LORD wants to do something through you. God speaks to you because He wants to work through you. God is not going to waste His time speaking to someone through whom He does not want to work. God has something for you to do today and that is why He speaks to you.

Third, because the LORD speaks to you, listen and obey! Let me encourage you not to ignore the voice of the LORD in your life. Throughout the Scriptures, God shows us that there were times when He stopped speaking because they would not listen. There will come a time when you will want the LORD to speak but He won’t because you have ignored Him. Judgment is near when that day comes. You had better listen now when He speaks.

Christian, God still speaks to you today through His Holy Spirit, the Scriptures and preaching. Whenever He chooses to speak, you need to respond to what He says. When He calls, surrender. When He convicts, repent. When He challenges, accept it. When He prods, obey. When He whispers, be still. Every day you should ask the LORD to be clear when He speaks. Don’t let the noise of your daily life drown out the voice of the LORD speaking to you. Decide right now that whatever the LORD says to you on a daily basis that you will heed what He says.

Isaiah 61:4
“And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.”

One would think that the past can have no influence on the future, but when you look at the verse above you will see this is not true. God teaches us that when a person is filled with the Spirit of God, they will build that which was wasted and torn down. Notice, their future was to build the “old wastes.” In order to move forward they had to look back to see what “former desolations” they must rebuild. They must look at what the “waste cities” used to be in order to build the new city. Their future was the past.

One of the mistakes many commonly make in this day is that they want to forsake the past so we can have a better future. Friend, your future is only as bright as how much you desire the past. This is not to say that you are to live in the past, but I am saying that you must know what God did for them in the past so that you can continue to build it for your future. There are several statements I would like you to consider about the past.

First, the past is not as bad as you have heard. There are always going to be those who have bad feelings of the past, but what those in the past have done must be done again if our future is going to be bright. Okay, so those in the past are not perfect. Let me ask you, do you think those in our present day are perfect? Everybody is going to do wrong, but don’t throw out everything from those whom God used in the past just because you see their flaws. If you want God to use you in a mighty way, you are going to have to look to the past and realize that what they did is what gave you what you have. Don’t ruin your future because you refuse to look to the past.

Second, the past will tell you what you need to be today. They had to look at the foundations of the past in order to rebuild the “former desolations.” You may think that the past methods are obsolete, but the past methods are as relevant today as they were then. Don’t think those methods won’t still build lives. If they built lives in the past, they will build lives today.

Third, when I study the past it will give me clarity as to what I should do today. The only way I am to know where I should stand today is to study the past in light of the Scriptures. The only way I can know how to apply the Scriptures today is to study how they applied the Scriptures in the past. The past is what gives me clarity as to what I should do right now. If I forsake the past, I will not have any clarity as to what I should do in the immediate.

Let me encourage you to become a student of the past. It is not that we need to live in the past, but the past will help you to know how you should live and what you should do today to help your future tomorrow. Don’t be so desirous to be innovative that you forsake what those in the past have taught us by the example of God’s Word. The best innovation will be based upon the principles of the past. Let the past be your guide to the future so that the Holy Spirit will help you to repair and build that which has been torn down because of sin.

Isaiah 49:1
“Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name.”

It is very clear from the verse above that Jesus was placed on this Earth to fulfill a purpose. It says, “The LORD hath called me from the womb…” The Messiah was placed on this Earth to reconcile Israel to the Father through His sacrificial death, and He was also placed on this Earth to be a light to the Gentiles. Everything Jesus did while on this Earth was to fulfill that purpose.

Just like Jesus, every person alive has been placed on this Earth for a purpose. That means that you exist for a purpose. You are not an uh-oh with God. It doesn’t matter how you came into this world, God put you here for a purpose. You may have been born out of an adulterous affair, but God has a purpose for you. You may have been born into the worst of circumstances, but God has a purpose for you. There is a purpose for your existence.

Because there is a purpose for your existence, that means that God is interested in your life. Whatever depths a person may have been born into, the God of the Universe is interested in their life. You may think that nobody really cares about you, but God does. He not only cares, but He has an invested interest in your life. He is the One Who placed you in the womb and He had a purpose for doing this. Let me put it this way, you are God’s investment. I’m sure that if God invested time and energy to give you life, He is going to do everything in His power to be sure you fulfill the purpose for why He placed you on Earth.

Because there is a purpose for your existence, and because you are God’s investment, it is your responsibility to find that purpose and fulfill it. Friend, you are not to live life to fulfill your desires, but you are to live life to fulfill God’s purpose for allowing you to exist. It really doesn’t matter what you want to do. The only thing that matters is if you are fulfilling God’s purpose for your existence. Since when do you have a right to make your own purpose of existence? You didn’t give yourself life. Your existence on this earth had nothing to do with you. Your existence is only because God wanted you to fulfill a specific task. It is your job to find out what He wants you to do and then do it.

Moreover, you must be careful not to ruin God’s purpose for your existence. Don’t ruin it by living a sinful life. Don’t ruin it by living a rebellious life. Oh Christian, do everything in your power to keep yourself from doing something that would hinder you from fulfilling that purpose. The Devil will throw everything at you to pull you away from fulfilling your purpose of existence, but you must resist his temptations and offers. You must ask yourself before you do anything, “Is what I’m about to do going to further my purpose of existence or pull me away from this purpose?” Anything that would keep you from God’s purpose must be rejected.

Finally, every parent must realize their job is to lead their children to find God’s purpose for their life. Parents, your children are God’s, and He has loaned them to you because He felt that you are the best person to help that child find their purpose of existence. Be careful that you don’t place your selfish agenda into their lives. Always remind your children that your desire for them is to fulfill God’s purpose for their life. Pray with them about this and push them towards that purpose no matter what it may be.