Category Archives: Devotion

Adultery, Bible, Devotion, Heart, Idols, Scripture, Stealing

WHERE’S YOUR HEART?

ROMANS 2:22

“You who say that one is not to commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who loathe idols, do you rob temples?”

Our hearts can be wicked things. We sacrifice what is good and holy for things that give us fleeting pleasures. When I read today’s verse in which Paul gives a couple of more questions to the Jews, it hit me that these were both heart issues. No one commits adultery if their heart is true to their spouse. No one is going to steal from God if their heart is devoted to Him. Let’s examine our hearts today and see where we stand.

Paul laid out a pretty flagrant sin when he mentioned adultery. I am sure Paul knew Pharisee with whom he had served who were adulterers. After all, women were seen as subservient and beneath men in their culture. Why not dishonor your wife by sleeping with another woman? And he probably also knew Pharisees who skimmed some of the temple funds or other items that were meant to go to God’s work. These were both “ouch” moments.

APPLICATION

In Matthew 6:20-21 Jesus tells us, “‘20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; 21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.’” Where is your heart today? You may not be committing adultery or stealing from the church, but is your heart true to our Father Who has given you all things?

We are commanded to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul and mind (Matthew 22:36-38). If we do that, our hearts shall be directed toward purity and holiness. Those are foreign concepts today. I was in an Uber this weekend in the Dominican Republic. When my friends and I got in the car, the music was blaring. Did the driver turn it down? Nope! And the music (if you call it that) was all about women and treating them inappropriately. I actually told my friends when we got to our Airbnb that I felt I needed to go in and purify my ears.

Now I didn’t know that driver, but I can tell you that you cannot listen to that kind of music and walk holy before your God. Your heart will be divided. You will be pulled toward adulterous and idolatrous thoughts. I even felt myself being drawn to the beat of the music in that short car ride. Keep your hearts pure and devoted. God will give you the victories you need.

O Father, purify my heart and keep me focused on Your heart.

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Alone, Bible, Devotion, Faithfulness, Scripture

ALONE

PHILIPPIANS 4:15

“You yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving except you alone;”

Have you ever had to do something all by yourself? It can be a daunting task if the job is large. When I was a teenager, I worked for a man named Walter Pollock. He sold all sorts of things at his Feed and Seed store. He also sold products for farmers. One of those products was for dusting peanuts. I would be sent to the warehouse sometimes by myself to load a few tons (yes, you heard that right) of it. I didn’t have a forklift. It was all done by hand or if I was lucky, with a hand truck. It was tough work, but it built character.

As Paul continues thanking the Philippians for their gift to him, he recalls that they were the only ones who supported him at times. That little word “alone” means just that – the only one, no one else, by yourself. Paul wasn’t busting anyone else’s chops about this nor was he bitter about it. He was truly thankful they had been faithful, even if they were the only ones.

APPLICATION

That word “alone” is used a lot throughout the New Testament. Let’s look at a couple of those to see that it is not a bad word or a reason to be depressed. In John 6:15, right before Jesus walked on the water, we read this, “So Jesus, aware that they intended to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself, alone.” Jesus knew the power of being alone. I’ve done that a few times. I have gone off by myself to read, pray and hear from the Lord. That’s a good alone.

Then in Luke 4:8 Jesus reminds us that we have the command to worship God alone. “Jesus replied to him, ‘It is written: “YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD AND SERVE HIM ONLY.”’” There is no other God. He is the only One. He is alone in His majesty. He is alone in His justice. We need to be very careful to not let anything replace Him or be added to Him.

Are you alone today? Celebrate that. It’s about time for me to do an alone time again. I like to go out into the woods or to someone’s farm and pitch my tent. I love to use this time to fast and pray and truly hear God’s voice more clearly. My wife doesn’t mind because she too values her alone time. So, if you’re alone right now, listen to Him. Let Him speak.

Father, I am grateful that we can do things on our own, all alone. Your Spirit is always with us to guide and protect.

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Bible, Devotion, Distractions, Prayer, Scripture

DEVOTED TO PRAYER

COLOSSIANS 4:2

“Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving;”

Call me weird (and many people do, lol) but when I read this verse the song “Hopelessly Devoted to You” came to mind. Remember that song from the movie “Grease,” starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton John? They were so in love and vowed to spend their lives together.

Paul is not talking about teenage love when he talks about devotion in today’s verse. He is talking about us being totally and steadfastly devoted to prayer. The Greek word translated “devote” is proskartereó, which comes from pros (towards, interactively with ) and karteréō (show steadfast strength). I really like how HELPS Word Studies defines this word. “To consistently show strength which prevails (in spite of difficulties); to endure (remain firm), staying in a fixed direction.”

APPLICATION

Are you that way in prayer? My problem is I can be so easily distracted. My phone is the worst culprit. If it dings, I look at it. So, I have learned to silence it and lay it face down. We men are such visual creatures. It doesn’t take much to draw our attention away from what is truly important.

We see proskartereó used in Acts 2:42 where it says, “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Don’t you want to be like that? I do. I read a quote the other day that said, “Prayer is not preparation for battle; it is the battle.” I really like that.

Proskartereó is also used in Romans 12:12. In a large list of things (Paul loved lists, lol) he says, “devoted to prayer.” I wonder how much time Paul spent in prayer. I bet a lot, but he probably thought he could have prayed more. We all do, don’t we? Even Jesus was devoted to prayer, getting up early to spend time with the Father (Mark 1:35). Let’s be like Him.

Father, time spent in prayer is time spent with You, the Maker and Creator of the universe. What a privilege.

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