Heavenly Wealth (and other devotionals)

Heavenly Wealth

"No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly" (Psalm 84:11).

Many pleasing things the LORD may withhold but "no good thing." He is the best judge of what is good for us. Some things are assuredly good, and these we may have for the asking through Jesus Christ our LORD.

Holiness is a good thing, and this He will work in us freely. Victory over evil tendencies, strong tempers, and evil habits He will gladly grant, and we ought not to remain without it.

Full assurance He will bestow, and near communion with Himself, and access into all truth, and boldness with prevalence at the mercy seat. If we have not these, it is from want of faith to receive and not from any unwillingness of God to give. A calm, a heavenly frame, great patience, and fervent love--all these will He give to holy diligence.

But note well that we must "walk uprightly." There must be no cross purposes and crooked dealings; no hypocrisy nor deceit. If we walk foully God cannot give us favors, for that would be a premium upon sin. The way of uprightness is the way of heavenly wealth-wealth so large as to include every good thing.

What a promise to plead in prayer! Let us get to our knees.

~Charles Spurgeon~

___________________________

Productive with Time

Today's reading: Psalm 39:1-13

David's request for God to make him aware of the brevity of life is a good one. I say that because for a lot of years, I didn't give much thought to how long I would live, or more importantly, how I was serving God with the time I had left. At some point, around ten or so years ago, my thinking in this area shifted. For that I am thankful because serving God fully with the amount of time God allots to me is now a priority.

How often do you think about the time you have left on earth and how you are using that time to serve God? 

~Tami~

__________________________

The Reward for Obedience

There are two verses I want to point you to in today's devotional.  The first is Isaiah 1:19, where God says,

"If you are willing and obedient, You shall eat the good of the land."

The second is Deuteronomy 28:1, which precedes a chapter of tremendous material blessings,

"Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth."

All of the incredible material blessings God promised in the following verses hinged on one thing…obedience.

God will bless you, if you will obey Him.  Now, granted, God does not settle up the first and the fifteenth of every month.  His blessings do not always arrive on our timetable, but they always arrive.

Sometimes obedience to God will cost you at first.  It may cost you friends; it may cost you time; it may cost you embarrassment; but, in the long run, it is well worth it to obey.

Prior to being saved, I was renting a room above a bar in Oregon from a friend of mine.  We smoked dope and drank a lot together.  But when I was saved, I wouldn't drink or smoke dope any more. 

Even though the temptation was there, I knew I needed to obey God.  And I would not compromise.

One day my friend said, "You're no fun anymore.  You're gone."  And that was that.  I was out on the street for quite awhile.  It cost me.  But I look back now and say, "God, You have more than made that up to me.  It may have cost me initially, but I'm so glad I obeyed You."

God will reward you for your obedience to Him!

~Bayless Conley~

___________________________

Renouncing the Rebel Inside

BIBLE MEDITATION:
“Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.” 2 Corinthians 5:20

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
Is there stirring in your heart a spirit of rebellion today? Maybe you don’t even recognize it. But if you do, let me plead with you to do something about it
right now.

Ask God to cleanse you from your desire to rebel.
Ask Him to root out the rebel in you.
He is not going to remove it until you renounce it. It is your choice.
Ask Him to forgive you for the foolish and careless words you have spoken.
Ask Him to take out that spirit of rebellion against authorities.
Ask Him to teach you how to lovingly respect people when they are in the wrong.

Either you crown Jesus as Lord, or you crucify Him. Are you with Jesus today or are you against Him?

ACTION POINT:
Is there someone who has wronged you and you seek revenge? Do you have a need to have your rights exalted above others? Read and apply the truth of
Philippians 2:3-11.

~Adrian Rogers~

___________________________

And put away evil from Israel - Judges 20:13

The earnestness and promptness with which Israel dealt with and put away this evil thing were very commendable. They had gathered from all the land, even from Gilead beyond the Jordan. They were knit together in a perfect unity of feeling and action. They resolved to subordinate all things beside to the excision of this evil.

So must it be in the Church. The Lord Himself took Ananias and Sapphira out of the infant Church; and the Apostle very earnestly besought and commanded the Corinthians to put away from among them the wicked person, who had committed a sin that would not be named among the Gentiles. "Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us; therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth" (1Co 5:7-8).

At the close of this age God will send forth His angels, to sever the wicked from among the just, and to cast them into the furnace of fire.

In our own life it is impossible altogether to avoid contact with such people. Indeed, to do so, as the Apostle says truly, we must go out of the world. But we can abstain from their friendship and company. It is an altogether different thing to have dealings with a worldly man in business, and to admit him into bosom fellowship and comradeship in our leisure hours. The first is permissible, but not the second; else our companions will seduce us from our loyalty to God. Beware of taking on the color of the ground on which you lie. "I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil."

~F. B. Meyer~

_______________________

Malachi 3:6

I am the Lord, I change not.

It is well for us that, amidst all the variableness of life, there is One whom change cannot affect; One whose heart can never alter, and on whose brow mutability can make no furrows. All things else have changed-all things are changing. The sun itself grows dim with age; the world is waxing old; the folding up of the worn-out vesture has commenced; the heavens and earth must soon pass away; they shall perish, they shall wax old as doth a garment; but there is One who only hath immortality, of whose years there is no end, and in whose person there is no change. The delight which the mariner feels, when, after having been tossed about for many a day, he steps again upon the solid shore, is the satisfaction of a Christian when, amidst all the changes of this troublous life, he rests the foot of his faith upon this truth-"I am the Lord, I change not." The stability which the anchor gives the ship when it has at last obtained a hold-fast, is like that which the Christian's hope affords him when it fixes itself upon this glorious truth. With God "is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." What ever His attributes were of old, they are now; His power, His wisdom, His justice, His truth, are alike unchanged. He has ever been the refuge of His people, their stronghold in the day of trouble, and He is their sure Helper still. He is unchanged in His love. He has loved His people with "an everlasting love"; He loves them now as much as ever He did, and when all earthly things shall have melted in the last conflagration, His love will still wear the dew of its youth. Precious is the assurance that He changes not! The wheel of providence revolves, but its axle is eternal love. 

"Death and change are busy ever,

Man decays, and ages move;

But His mercy waneth never;

God is wisdom, God is love."

~Charles Spurgeon~