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Devotions

Happy New Year!

Do you ever wonder what is so new about “New Year”?

Oh sure, we add another number to the counting of years. We will call it 2014 instead of 2013, but does that really make it new?

The world still has the same problems. Our flesh is still plagued with the same sins. A succession of broken resolutions reminds us that we haven’t really changed. We truly ought to have been consumed in God’s wrath long ago.

We remember that Achan was stoned to death because he coveted and took some of the plunder of Jericho for himself (Joshua 7). We think of the man who was stoned because he gathered sticks on the Sabbath Day to build a fire to cook the manna (Numbers 15). Remember how Ananias and Sapphira dropped dead because they lied to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5).

Are we any less sinful than they? Because of the many times we have sinned, shouldn’t we have been struck down with God’s righteous judgment? ABSOLUTELY!Read More »Happy New Year!

Seeking the Christ

Many things in life seem to be unfair. Thus it is often asked: “By what measure of fairness will God condemn to everlasting punishment those who have never heard the gospel of salvation in Christ Jesus?” A rebuttal question might be,

“Did they ever seek out God and His Christ?”

Surely the evidence and cause for such seeking exist, for “the heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1), and “His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead” (Romans 1:20).Read More »Seeking the Christ

The Reason for the Season

The word Epiphany means to show forth or make known.

The Epiphany season of the church year affords us an opportunity to see Jesus as He truly is: “our great God and Savior” (Titus 2:13), the One “in whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9).

We see Jesus’ glory as the only begotten Son of God. We see it in His miracles and His teaching. We see it even in His wondrous grace
in willingly coming into the world for the likes of us. Jesus came to make the complete payment for the sins of all who had lived or ever would live.Read More »The Reason for the Season

The Value of Life

One doesn’t have to search far to find examples of human life being devalued. The periodic acts of violence in our nation’s schools and streets are regular reminders. So too are the statistics of abuse—physical and chemical—whether self-inflicted or by others. Statistics tell a similar tale in the running record of suicides, assisted suicides, abortions, and what borders on euthanasia.

These sad and sobering realities cut a wide swath with many and varied contributing factors, but they can all be traced back to a fundamental devaluing of life.Read More »The Value of Life

The Voice

The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord; Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth; the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
(Isaiah 40:3-5)

In a current television talent show celebrity judges are facing away from the stage when the contestant begins to sing. When they are impressed by the voice they hear, the judges hit the button that turns them around to face the other direction.Read More »The Voice

Christmas reminds us that…THINGS ARE NOT AS THEY SEEM

Pastor Paul Naumann • Tacoma, Washington

“Appearances can be deceiving.”

No one knows the truth of that statement more fully than does a Christian.

Most people understand the principle. They keep it in mind as a salutary warning against the false and deceptive product advertising that floods the media in our day. They use it to bolster their defenses against the subtle tricks of con men on the street and scam artists on the internet.Read More »Christmas reminds us that…THINGS ARE NOT AS THEY SEEM

“Oh,Give Thanks to the Lord…!”

“Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!  For His mercy endures forever!” is a familiar prayer expressing our thankfulness to God for the food with which He has blessed us and reminding us to give thanks to God.

Such reminders are always in place because, quite frankly, we don’t always remember to return thanks to God. I am not just talking about thanking Him for food, but also for the countless blessings He graciously pours out upon us every day. Because of our forgetfulness and our tendency to take things for granted, we are apt to be like the nine lepers who, after being healed by Jesus, did not return to thank Him (see Luke 17:12-19). Lord, have mercy upon us for not thanking You as often as we ought!

The prayer  “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever” is found in a number of psalms (see psalms 106, 107, 118, and 136). Please take your Bible and read Psalm 136. Do you notice how many times the psalmist encourages his readers to give thanks to the Lord? Why is this? Is it perhaps because we need to be repeatedly reminded to give thanks to the Lord for all His goodness towards us?

A striking feature about this psalm is the refrain at the end of each verse. The worship leader would speak the first part of the verse, and the congregation would respond with “For His mercy endures forever.”

I am not just talking about thanking Him for food,
but also for the countless blessings He graciously
pours out upon us every day.

Read More »“Oh,Give Thanks to the Lord…!”

Readiness for Christ’s Return in Glory

A large percentage of Christians today are Millennialists, eagerly waiting for Christ to return to establish a thousand-year reign on the Earth. This expectation also includes false teachings such as a “rapture” of believers and a “battle of Armageddon” (to name but two).

This millennial outlook concerning the end of time is not supported by Holy Scripture. As all other false teachings, millennialism robs Christ of His glory and His believers of comfort and peace.

Which glorifies God and gives believers comfort—anxiously watching the Middle East as one looks for signs to indicate Christ’s return to the region, OR simply trusting the eternal Son of God’s promises that He will come without signs or warnings?Read More »Readiness for Christ’s Return in Glory