The Devotional

Papa J's rules for Livin #163

There are six or seven things that God hates; a proud heart, a lying tongue, hands that spill innocent blood, the heart that is bent on wickedness, the fast feet of evil, a witness who speaks falsely and the gossiper. Do you think God hates this nation? Proverbs 6:16-19

Monday is the hardest day for me to focus on the Daily Devotional. A day off from thinking about the things of life that can motivate us to be encouraged by living life in the light of God's Word is a blessing, but it can also be a curse. So I always need to remind myself that it is not about me and how I feel on Monday. It is all about God and I can rely on Him who is able to use this earthen vessel to His glory. That He has the excellent power to speak to our hearts. That even though we talk about persons, places and patterns of life, that it is all about Him. 2 Corinthians 4:7. God has made us fragile beings in order that His power may work through us. He is the sustainer of life for all of us, in His Words; “His grace is sufficient for us. Thus our experience of grace will point us to the power of Christ resting on us to lead, guide and direct our walk. We can have great confidence that God is willing to work through our frail make up when we rely on Him. So do not try to gut it out today, seek to know the grace of God that surpasses our understanding and let God equip your hearts and minds in the strength of sustaining grace.

1 Corinthians 7

1 Corinthians 7:1-2 The institution of a divine marriage has crumbled in our society and it is we who are to blame. As I said earlier, at the beginning of this look at Corinthians, Paul is not talking in general here. There was at this time in the church at Corinth a condition of carnality going on and most of the church was involved in some way. If you care to notice there are many similar events going on in our churches today. What ever our local society gets away with is a direct reflection on what the churches allow to happen within it's walls first.

Men in the pulpits of congregations should be allowed to get married. It is not good for a man to touch a woman in any intimate way apart from marriage. Satan will starve the man through religion, through ignorance of the truth and through the frail or weaknesses of the flesh. Women are not ignorant of this starvation going on so they give in to temptations since they are also weak. This leads to abusive behavior and the Divine foundations of normal living break down.

The main religions of today do not have a good record when it comes to sexual immorality. This is a failure in the heart of man, it is not the fault of God who warns us continually to flea fornication and adultery. We looked recently at this in 1 Corinthians 6:18. In the Pastoral Epistle of 1 Timothy 6:3-10 Paul reminds Timothy to flee from these things and pursue godliness. We need to pray for our pastors, to protect them from evil lurking at every service to destroy the testimony of the church. Proverbs 7.