Category Archives: Devotion

A smiling woman with curly hair raising both arms outdoors in front of a crowd
Bible, Devotion, Hope, Perseverance, Prayer, Rejoicing, Romans, Scripture, Tribulations

SOME IMPORTANT ACTIONS

ROMANS 12:12

“rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer,”

You may have heard of Newton’s Third Law of Motion, which states that whenever one object exerts a force on a second, the second object exerts an equal and opposite force on the first. This concept which is studied in physics applies to us in so many ways like walking or swimming. Thankfully, this does not apply in the spiritual realm. Even though the forces of hell may come against us, we have an overwhelming power available to us to combat it.

Paul gives us three actions that we need to take in this spiritual battle that we face every day. These actions are critical to a successful walk with Christ. He tells us to rejoice, persevere and be devoted. Let’s take a look at each of these and see how they are referenced in other passages.

APPLICATION

Let me ask you a question. When was the last time you rejoiced in hope? The verb “rejoicing” is xaírō. Spiros Zodhiates comments that “xará (joy) and xáris (grace) are cognate with xaírō (to rejoice), i.e. all share the same root and therefore the same core (fundamental) meaning.” I have heard once that a great word picture of this verb is a little lamb jumping and running around. Are you rejoicing in His hope like that? Philippians 4:4 tells us to “rejoice in the Lord always.”

Then Paul tells us to persevere “in tribulation.” What does that mean? The Greek verb here is hypoménō  which means “literally, remaining under (the load), bearing up (enduring); for the believer, this uniquely happens by God’s power.” (HELPS Word-studies) James 1:12 says, “Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial;” And the Greek word translated as “tribulation” can best be described as being between a rock and a hard place. Lots of pressure is being exerted, but we are told to bear up under that with God’s power.

Lastly, Paul returns to prayer by telling us to be “devoted” to it. The Greek verb here is a compound word, proskarteréō. It comes from pros (towards, interactively with) and karteréō (show steadfast strength). That word comes from krátos, (prevailing strength). Do you get the picture? Remain strong in prayer. The Apostles told the early followers in Acts 6:4 that they needed to devote themselves to prayer instead of caring for widow. In Colossians 4:2 we are told, “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving;” 

There you have it – rejoice, persevere and be devoted. Those are some pretty strong actions to take this week. And as we take those actions in our spiritual journey, rest assured that the reaction from the Lord will far exceed our action. He will bless us as we take these actions steps with Him.

Help me today, O Lord, to rejoice in hope, persevere in my tribulations and be devoted to prayer.

If the Lord should lead you to support our ministry, check out our ministry page at Trans World Radio (www.twr.org/carl-willis). 

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Three generations of family hugging on a couch by a fireplace
Bible, Devotion, Family, Honor, Love, Romans, Sacrifice, Scripture

DEVOTED AND ESTEEMING

ROMANS 12:10

“Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor,”

Family is important. We should always show honor and love to our parents and children, grandparents and siblings. It’s just the right thing to do. I can look back at my life and see times when I wasn’t so devoted or didn’t show proper honor. I am sorry now because in some of those cases, I can’t make it right. Those family members have passed away. For instance, I wish I had spent more time with my paternal grandmother and great grandmother. They both loved Jesus. I know that now.

Today’s verse is a great memory verse. Why don’t we all commit to memorizing this one? I have already done that with some other brothers. Paul continues in this verse to give us some very practical and down to earth guidance for our walk with Christ and others. Don’t forget that every word Paul writes he has received from God through the Holy Spirit. We are not just reading Paul’s words. They are God’s words spoken to us through the hand of a man.

APPLICATION

I wanted to concentrate on the two verbs in todays’ verse – “be devoted” and “give preference.” Both of these verbs are only used right here in today’s verse. Isn’t that interesting? The first one, “be devoted,” is the Greek word philóstorgos “(from phílos, ‘lover, friend’ and storgē, ‘natural or family love’) – properly, a lover of family. Philóstorgos (‘devoted love, shown by family-members’) is that special affection shared between members of God’s family – people born-again (divinely adopted) and serving the same (heavenly) Father!” (HELPS Word-studies) That’s pretty clear, huh? Instead of trying to find fault in our brothers and sisters in Christ, we are to be affectionately bonded to them.

The second verb, “give preference,” is the Greek word proēgéomai. Again, it is only used here in Romans 12:10. I love what the Topical Lexicon said about this verb. “The term … carries the idea of stepping forward first so that others may be elevated. It describes an intentional initiative that puts another believer’s worth ahead of one’s own, not by passive acceptance but by active, deliberate action.” Wouldn’t the church be so much better off if we all did that?

Now, put those two verbs together. Paul is telling us to love each other so well that we are always looking to put others first. Isn’t that exactly what Jesus did? Jesus tells us in John 15:13 that we can show no greater love than to lay down our lives for our friends. That doesn’t just mean physically die for someone. Jesus means to sacrifice for others. Can we do that for each other today?

Lord, I need Your help to do what You have asked me to do. I am willing, but my flesh is weak.

If the Lord should lead you to support our ministry, check out our ministry page at Trans World Radio (www.twr.org/carl-willis). 

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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.

If the Lord should lead you to support our ministry, check out our ministry page at Trans World Radio (www.twr.org/carl-willis). 

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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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