Category: Strength for Today

Malachi 2:10
“Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?”

The judgment that God pronounced against Judah was largely due to the priests not doing their job. The priest carried a very important role in that they were God’s representative. It was not that they of themselves were someone special, but the office they held was special. God expected them to always treat the office of the priest with dignity. Because they didn’t, God pronounced judgment against them.

Sadly, this problem of spiritual leadership is an every generation problem. We face the same problems today with preachers who have sacrificed God’s office for the sake of the conveniency of sin. Many preachers today have committed the very same acts these priests committed that caused them to face God’s judgment. In this chapter, you will find the recipe these priests followed that led to judgment.

First, they lowered God to a god which will always brings God’s anger upon His people. They said, “Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us?” They were literally saying that we all serve the same god, but we just serve him in different ways. They used this mantra as a cry for unity. We must not accept this lie. We don’t all serve the same God! Many other religions have a god of works, but we serve Jehovah God Who gave His Son to die for our sins. Whenever we join up with those who have compromised for the sake of unity, we lower God to a god.

Second, they lowered the standard of holiness. Verse 11 show us that they “profaned the holiness of the LORD.” God expects His people to live holy lives. Holiness is not measured by a culture or ones conscience, but it is measured by God. We must be careful that we don’t try to bring God down to man’s standard of living, but we should stir man to step up to God’s standard of living.

Third, they lowered the bar of true repentance. Verse 13 shows us these people had “tears, with weeping, and with crying out”, but they never truly dealt with their sin. We must be careful about making repentance a show. The walk to the altar must not be such a common occurrence that we do it as a “penance” to appease our conscience. More than appeasing your conscience, you need to change your heart. True repentance concerning sin results in a changed heart which results in changed actions.

Fourth, they lowered God’s standard for marriage. In verses 15-16, the priests came to the point where they justified divorce. Divorce should never be an option. When a man of God justifies divorcing his wife to keep his office, he has then made a mockery of God’s standard of marriage. According to the Scriptures, a hard heart is the only reason someone would want to get divorced. Only a lustful heart will lower the standard of marriage so that their lustful flesh will be appeased.

Christian, you may think this whole devotional is for the preacher, but you must also realize that when you got saved you became a priest of God. God expects every Christian to avoid these things. If you want to avoid judgment and have God’s blessings on your life, then you must guard these areas from becoming a part of your life.

Zechariah 1:12
“Then the angel of the LORD answered and said, O LORD of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years?”

When you are doing right and see others do wrong, it can become frustrating to see those who do wrong seemingly get away with their sin. As hard as it is to do right in an atmosphere of sin, it can become harder when you see others doing wrong with seemingly no consequences. In these times of apparent injustice the question is often asked, “How long?”

The angel of the LORD found himself in this same condition. God sent the angel to walk throughout the Earth to survey their sins. The angel came to God and inquired how long He would continue to judge Jerusalem and the cities of Judah since they had been in captivity for seventy years. This same angel reminded God that the heathen were “at ease” and continued in their sin while His people were in bondage. There are some valuable lessons you need to learn from this discourse that will help you when you become discouraged because of apparent unpunished sin.

First, God knows what you have done. God knows when you have done right, and He will reward you for it. You must be careful about acquiring a self-pity attitude about nobody seeing the good you have done. I know it can become frustrating, but you have to realize that God knows what you have done and will reward you for it. There is always a season of waiting between the act of right and the reward. Don’t lose hope and give up during that time.

Second, God will reward the wrong doer in His timing. God knew what the rest of the Earth did to His people, and He eventually judged them. Likewise, you must realize that in God’s timing He will reward the wrong doer for what they are doing. You may think they are at ease in their sin, but you don’t see what God is preparing in the background. The wrong doer will not get away with their sin. You must not let their apparent ease discourage you from doing right. The Devil will always point to those who seem to get away with their sin, but you must realize that God always judges sin in His time.

Third, you need to encourage yourself in the Scriptures until justice is served. I love what God says in verse 13, “And the LORD answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words.” What were these good and comfortable words? These words were the Word of God. God’s Word always comforts us concerning justice. The psalmist was comforted concerning the end of the wrong doer in Psalm 73:17 when he says, “Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end.” God’s Word is the source of hope and encouragement you need in those times when others seemingly are getting away with sin.

Christian, keep doing right. The heathen will flaunt their sin as if God can’t do anything to them, but you must trust God that the laws of sowing and reaping cannot be changed. The reward for doing right will always be worth the wait. Just keep doing right!

Psalm 16:6
“The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.”

When I was a boy, I was walking through the church property with my dad, as we came to the corner of the property there was a stake with orange painted on it. I asked my father what that stake was, and he told me that it was the boundaries of the church’s property lines. He told me that at every corner of the church property there was a stake that marked the property lines. Since then, I have seen some sort of marking at each property I have owned. Those markings are the lines of my property.

That is what the psalmist is talking about in the verse above. The “lines” that he is talking about are the boundaries of his heritage. As he looked at these lines, he says that they fell unto him “in pleasant places.” He wasn’t complaining about his heritage, in fact he called his heritage “a goodly heritage.” Yes, he could have found fault with the lines that had fallen unto him, but he chose to accept those lines as the lines that God intended for him to have.

God has also marked the lines of your life. In the lines of your life you will find blessings and heartache. You will find in the lines of your life good and bad. There will be times in your life when inside the lines of your life you will experience sickness, heartache, financial pressure, job insecurity and other calamities. Likewise, in these same lines you will find the blessings of God. You will find times when everything is going right and it seems as if God has finally come through. These lines in your life can either be looked at as good or bad.

The only way the lines of your life are going to become pleasant places is for you to stop comparing your life to others. One of the reasons many get upset with their life is because they look at what others have and complain. Your life will never be a pleasant place as long as you compare what you have with others. When you compare your life to others, you will always find that they have something you don’t have. What you don’t see is their unpleasant places. When you look at the lines of others, you are looking from the outside. You won’t see the “unpleasant” places of heartache that they carry. You must come to a point of accepting your lines if you want your life to become a pleasant place.

Moreover, your lines can become a pleasant place if you will count your blessings. I am constantly amazed at how those who seem to have the biggest heartaches are those who seem to look at what they have as pleasant places. My friend, if you will stop looking at what you don’t have and discover what you do have, then you will find your heritage is a pleasant place. Your life isn’t all bad. If you would write down all the good and bad in your life, you would probably discover that you have much more good than bad.

You have a choice to either accept your lines or complain about them. If you will accept the family and life situations that God has placed you in, you will find that they are pleasant places. Let me encourage you today to count your blessings. It is only when you begin to count the blessings of your life that you will see it is a “goodly heritage” and that your life is a pleasant one.

Micah 5:2
“But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.”

Bethlehem was never able to rise above obscurity in old times. It was so irrelevant that Joshua never mentioned it when he listed the cities of Judah. It never grew in size even though it was the birthplace of David. It was not mentioned by Nehemiah in his list of Judean cities. It was truly a city that was irrelevant to most Jews.

Yet, when God chooses to bless something or someone, it doesn’t matter its size or status, God’s blessing will take it from where it is to where He wants it to be. Such is the case with Bethlehem. It says in the verse above, “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah…” This verse prophesied the coming of the Messiah. This verse teaches that the Messiah would be born in little ole Bethlehem. What once was a city of irrelevancy is now a city that most people know about. If you mention the city of Bethlehem to most people on the street, they will at least recognize the name and most will know that it is the city where Jesus was born. This changing of venues for this city should teach us several lessons.

First, you don’t get God’s attention because of status or size. Society pushes the thought that you will never be recognized until you have status or size. This is why many people do some of the craziest things just so they can gain recognition. God doesn’t need your help to bless you. He is powerful enough to do it on His own. You can read through the Scriptures and see how often God has taken the irrelevant and made them relevant on His own. You must always remember that God doesn’t need your connections to bless you.

Second, God’s blessings are more important than status. It is interesting that there were many other cities God could have chosen, but He chose to bless an irrelevant city that most of the men of God never mentioned. It is more important that you live in such a manner as to get God’s blessings over the recognition of man. Many people do all they can to be recognized by those in power thinking that it will help them to rise to relevancy only to find out that it doesn’t bring God’s blessings. The only thing that will help a person rise to relevancy is God’s blessings. God’s blessings do not fall on those who try to become relevant, but they fall on those who could care less about relevancy and about doing right. Doing right must be your focus in life.

Third, man cannot undo what God blesses. I often tell people that if man sets you up, then man can take you down; however, if God blesses you and sets you up, then no man can take you down. The most important thing you can do is live your life to be blessed by God. Status is irrelevant in God’s eyes. He looks to bless those who do right.

Friend, your status doesn’t determine God’s blessings on your life. You just need to keep doing right and God will bless. God knows where you live and He knows how to find you. If you will keep doing right, then you will find His blessings on your life.

Jonah 1:2
“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.”

Nineveh seemed to have gone too far. The sins they committed had brought God to a point of no return. Judgment had been proclaimed. The appointment of judgment had been made. The sword of the LORD was ready to destroy a city. It didn’t matter how you looked at it, it seemed that Nineveh’s days were over.

Hold on! There was still hope. The hope is found in the verse above when God called Jonah to go and cry against the city for her wickedness. The hope was that God was still sending preachers. The hope was that a man of God was still preaching. The hope was that there still seemed to be a glimmer of grace available for this city. In fact, we know that God’s grace was still available and that hope was available because two chapters later we see a city get right and God withholding His judgment.

This ought to give you hope for your nation. We live in times when sin seems to be praised worldwide. It doesn’t matter what nation you live in, it looks as if God’s judgment is near every nation. When there are nations that nationally accept sodomite lifestyles, how can one not wonder if God’s judgment is near? When nations have cast God out but accepted wicked lifestyles, how can one not wonder if God’s judgment is about to come. Yet, if there was hope for Nineveh, then there is hope for your nation. This story should encourage every citizen, and mostly every Christian that there is still hope for their nation.

There is hope as long as God is a merciful and gracious God. This hope can be realized not only by every nation, but by every individual who has a friend or loved one who has strayed from God. As long as God continues to exhibit mercy and grace, there is hope. You may think an individual or a nation has gone too far, but as long as God’s judgment has not been executed there is time for a nation or an individual to get right and realize His mercy and grace.

Moreover, there is hope as long as God is commanding men of God to go preach against the sins of a nation or an individual. We oftentimes look at hard preaching the wrong way. When you realize that God was proclaiming judgment against Nineveh through the preaching of Jonah for the whole purpose of bringing them back to Him, then you will realize there is hope. Every time a man of God stands and preaches the Word of God, there is hope.

There are two things very important to this hope. First, men must accept the call of God. I believe there is hope for any nation or person as long as God is still calling individuals to preach. Every time I see a young man accept the call of God, I realize that there is hope for my nation. Man of God, you must realize that you are the hope. You must preach what God wants no matter how bad society and sin may be.

Second, if this hope is going to be realized, then individuals must respond to God’s message of hope or judgment. Your response to the message of God is the key to God’s grace and mercy. As long as God is speaking to your heart and you are responding, then there is hope for your nation. I beg you to keep responding to God’s voice and not let the hope die.

Mark 7:18-19
“And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats?”

The Pharisees made the same mistake that we often make in that we become more concerned with the physical than we do the spiritual. Certainly, the outside is important, but what happens on the inside is more important. Jesus says that the heart is where everything enters. Notice that He says in the verse above that those things from without cannot defile a man “Because it entereth not into his heart.” Jesus is teaching that the most important thing you should protect is your heart.

The word “defile” means, “to make unclean, to soil, to tarnish, to make impure or to pollute.” In other words, before a man soils his life, he opens the door of defilement to his heart. Before a man ever lives an impure life, he opens his heart to an impure life. Before the destruction has taken place, a person opens their heart to whatever destroys them. That means if you want to protect your life from defilement, then you need to protect the door that opens up your life to defilement, and that door is your heart. There are several things that will defile your heart.

First, what you see will defile your heart. We often hear that the eyes are the gateway to the soul, and that is true. Whatever you allow yourself to see will go straight to your heart. If you don’t want your heart defiled, then don’t allow your eyes to see that which would defile it. Be careful about the pictures you see, the movies you watch and the books you read. Each of these areas can open the door of your heart to defilement.

Second, what you hear will defile your heart. Many people have defiled their spirit by listening to that which will taint it. If you don’t listen to vulgar language, then you won’t act in a vulgar manner. If you don’t listen to negative words, then your heart will never be defiled towards an authority. If you don’t listen to conversations that would not be becoming to our LORD, then you will never have an opportunity to live that which would mar your testimony. If you never listen to teaching or preaching that will defile your faith, then you will never open the door to compromise. If you protect what you hear, then you will protect your heart from opening the door to defilement.

Third, whom you choose to associate with can defile your heart. I have left this part for last because it almost always starts with an association. If you don’t spend time with people who are questionable, then you will never hear or see questionable things. Many people destroy their lives simply by having wrong associations.

Let me ask you, have you opened the door to defilement? You need to regularly take inventory of those things that can defile your heart. If you don’t want your heart destroyed, then you need to keep yourself from those things that will open the door to defilement. If you keep your heart pure, then you will never crack the door that will defile your life.

Proverbs 31:1-2
“The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him. What, my son? and what, the son of my womb? and what, the son of my vows?”

One thing that most young men always remember are the lessons of his mother. I can remember a number of lessons my mother taught me that have guided me through life. In the verse above, Lemuel takes the time to write a proverb detailing the lessons that his mother taught him. These lessons should be heeded by every young man and taught by every mother.

First, don’t follow women, instead lead. Verse 3 says, “Give not thy strength unto women…” Many young men have been destroyed because they follow a female instead of following God’s will for their life. God did not make the woman to lead the man; He made her to be his “help meet.” When I dated my wife, one of the first things I told her was that I was going to be an evangelist. I wanted to settle upfront what God’s will was for my life. If she couldn’t follow me into God’s will, then I knew I didn’t need to date her. That is exactly what is being taught here. A young man needs to establish early that he will follow God’s will, and if a young lady doesn’t want to do that, then he shouldn’t attempt to have a dating relationship with her. Young men need to be the leader and not follower.

Second, don’t live for pleasure because there is always a tomorrow. This mother taught Lemuel to avoid the alcohol and party lifestyle that would skew his judgment because he will always have to live with its consequences for the rest of his life. Every young man needs to be careful about living for the now. Living for the now without keeping tomorrows consequences in view will only lead to a life of regret. Don’t live for today’s pleasure, but live in such a way that you won’t fear the consequences tomorrow.

Third, don’t follow the crowd, instead follow truth and justice. This mother taught Lemuel to not keep his mouth silent when the poor and needy are being attacked, but defend them. Strong young men will not have to be in a crowd to take a stand, but they can stand alone when truth and justice are abused. Young men need to be taught to stand firmly for truth and justice, even if that means they must stand alone.

Fourth, don’t seek beauty, but seek character and godliness. In the last part of this chapter, Lemuel’s mother taught her son what to look for in a wife. It is the responsibility of every mother to teach her son what to look for in a wife. When you put it all together, you realize she is trying to get him to look beyond beauty, and see what a young lady’s character and walk with God is like. Young man, beauty will begin to wear away with age, but character and godliness will last a lifetime. I don’t believe it’s wrong for a young man to have an attraction towards a young lady, but that attraction should be towards her character and godliness. Character and godliness will keep their beauty for a lifetime.

Every mother reading this should instill in her sons these four lessons. These four lessons will keep a young man happy and doing right the rest of his life. Every young man should learn these lessons and apply them. Every young lady should seek to marry a young man who applies these lessons to his life, for if he lives by these lessons he will be the right type of husband who will love, honor and cherish you for the rest of your life.

Joel 2:12
“Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:”

God is always the God of another chance. Like the father who took the prodigal son back after he wasted his living, so God is waiting for any Christian to come back to Him. We often hear that God will judge the sinner, and He will, but we must always remember that God is also a gracious and merciful God who would rather accept a Christian back and bless them than judge them. In the verse above, you will find what God is looking for in a person who is turning back to Him.

First, God wants you to turn back with “all your heart.” God is looking for the person to not just correct part of their ways, but all of their ways. One of the things that will tell you if a person is truly returning to the LORD is that they will try correcting everything they find wrong in their life. A true heart of repentance will find a person not just correcting the area in which they were caught, but correcting every area that is contrary to God’s ways. God is not interested in surface repentance that is only interested in putting on a performance. He is interested in a person sincerely wanting to be completely right with Him.

Second, God wants you to turn back your worship. Notice that not only did God talk about the heart, but He also talked about them turning to Him with “fasting.” In other words, God wants the person coming back to Him to deal with their pride. Fasting is always representative of total self-denial. When you are fasting, you are not giving your flesh what it desires to show God that you are willing to do away with all self pleasures for the sake of getting a need met. When a person truly turns back to God, they will not be boastful of what they are doing, but in humility they will deny their flesh and focus upon Him.

Third, God wants you to turn back your emotions. It says that they turned back to God with “weeping, and with mourning.” God not only wants your heart to be right, but He also wants your emotions to be right. It will be very evident when a person turns back to God because their attitude about serving the LORD will change. When a person is right with God, they will put their emotions into serving Him.

Fourth, God wants you to turn back your actions. In verse 13 it says, “And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God…” When a person turns back to God, they will be willing to change everything that is wrong. Those things that led to turning away from God will be quickly stopped. A person who turns back to God will go the extra mile to avoid those things that led them into sin.

When should you turn back to God? Immediately! God says, “now” is the time to turn to Him. Why? Because He is a gracious and merciful God who will quickly bless you if you do right. My friend, don’t wait until you face God’s judgment to get right, instead get right as soon as He speaks to you about turning. Now is the time to turn away from those things that are displeasing to God, for the sooner you turn from those things the quicker you can experience the grace and mercy of God.

Mark 4:1
“And he began again to teach by the sea side: and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land.”

President Ronald Reagan is commonly called the master communicator. There is not a president in this generation who seems to communicate with the American people better than President Reagan. Someone once asked him where he learned to speak so well. President Reagan answered that he learned to speak in Sunday school. He said that if Jesus communicated so well by speaking in parables, then he should attempt to communicate the same way. President Reagan understood that Jesus is the Master Teacher.

When you study the characteristics of how Jesus taught, there are some obvious things that stand out that can help every teacher. You may think that you are not a teacher, but everyone is a teacher of some sort. A parent is supposed to be a teacher to their children. Pastors teach from the pulpit. Sunday school teachers teach every Sunday to their class. Even school teachers should follow the Master Teacher if they want to help their students to grasp the concept being taught. Let me show you three obvious characteristics of Jesus’ teaching so that you can use them.

First, Jesus didn’t confine His teaching to a pulpit or podium. Jesus taught everywhere He went. In the verse above, He taught “by the sea side.” You will find that Jesus also taught by a well, at a supper, in a boat, on a mountain top or any place there were people. The best teacher realizes that life provides many opportunities to teach. Be sure to use every life opportunity to teach those who are with you.

Second, Jesus taught by parables. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus used parables as His teaching style. Parables are simply taking an earthly story or happening and using it to teach a scriptural principle. People learn truths the best by using earthly illustrations to teach scriptural principles. The wise teacher will always be looking for illustrations to apply a scriptural principle. People will best remember what is being taught if they can apply it to something they do or see on a daily basis. Yes, you should teach Scripture literally, but life illustrations will help the lesson being taught to come alive. It will help the listener to comprehend the truth or concept they need to learn.

Third, Jesus taught at the common man’s level. It says about Jesus in Mark 12:37, “…And the common people heard him gladly.” Don’t get caught in the mistake of trying to impress people with your knowledge by talking above their heads. The best teacher is the one who can take complex subjects and bring them down so that the common person can understand them. Teaching with words of eloquence or complexity is teaching in which the teacher is trying to impress people. The whole purpose of teaching is to transfer truth to the listener, and the only way you will accomplish this is by speaking at a common man’s level.

If these three characteristics are followed, every teacher will be able to transfer truth to those whom they teach. People grow when they understand what’s being taught. If you truly want to change lives, then you will follow the characteristics of teaching from the Master Teacher.