Category Archives: Devotion

STRONG FAITH

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“Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.”         Genesis 15:6 NIV

 

What was it that made Abram’s faith so strong? The answer is that he did not look at the difficulty so much as he looked at the One who had promised. His eye was not resting on the problems, but upon the Promiser. When he saw the greatness of God, the might and majesty displayed before him on that oriental summer’s night, he said to himself, “It makes no difference how I feel, nor what may be the difficulties involved, the Creator of that multitude of stars is quite capable of giving me an equal number of descendants. So, we read the great sentence, “He believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.” This does not mean that this was the first moment that Abram was counted righteous before the Lord. The book of Hebrews makes clear that when he left Ur of the Chaldees, in response to the Lord’s command, his obedient faith was also counted to him for righteousness. This incident under the stars is simply one instance out of many which illustrates the way in which God reckons righteousness to the person who believes. Abram believed the Lord about the promise of a coming son and was counted righteous. Today we are encouraged to believe in the Son, Jesus Christ. Cease from our own works and rest in helpless dependence upon Him, and we too are counted righteous. This act of faith must become an attitude of faith governing each moment of our lives. One is reminded of the following words: “Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees; And looks to God alone; Laughs at impossibilities; And cries, “It shall be done!“”

 

PRAYER THOUGHT

Lord, let our walk with You be one of faith and not sight.

 

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Lord, through the power of Your indwelling Holy Spirit, help us to look to You alone, to Your promises, to laugh at impossibilities and cry, “It shall be done.” AMEN

 

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)

Luke 8:1-3

 

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ABRAM BELIEVED

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“Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.”           Genesis 15:6 NIV

 

Now the last statement in this interesting paragraph in Genesis 15 comes before us. It concerns Abram’s faith. Paul refers to this mighty act of faith in Romans 4. He reminds us that Abraham believed God before he was circumcised, that is, before he had any continual guarantee that God would do this thing. The account of Abram’s circumcision comes a couple of chapters later. Paul infers from this that acceptance before God has nothing to do with circumcision, as the Jews were insisting. Paul says that when Abram heard God say, “So shall your descendants be” that he looked up into the stars, saw their vastness, their multitude, and he relaxed. Resting in faith upon the power of God. If we focus our view on Abram’s faith, we are going to miss the point of this whole matter. There is a sense in which we make far too much of these men of old and their faith. “What mighty men of faith,” we say; “how tremendous to believe the Lord against all the evidence of the circumstances around. If we only had faith like that, we could do the things they did!” Then we compare our feeble faith with theirs and try to work up a feeling of faith within us until we are turned into spiritual hypochondriacs, always going about taking our spiritual temperature and feeling our spiritual pulse. It is indeed true that when God saw Abram’s faith, He counted Abram as righteous in His sight. It is also true that when Abram saw the Lord, he believed Him able to perform what He had promised. He rested his faith on the Lord’s adequacy.

 

PRAYER THOUGHT

Lord, we rest our faith on Your total adequacy, not our own.

 

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Lord, thank You that like Abram, we can rest our faith on Your adequacy and nothing of our own abilities. AMEN

 

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)

Job 3:1-24

 

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ONE REQUEST

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But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can You give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?”        Genesis 15:2 NIV

 

Abram has one request that lays heavily on his heart! Could the Lord fill that? In the intimacy of the moment, he simply poured out what was in his heart into the ear of his Almighty Friend. The Lord said, “Get up and come outside with me and look up to the night sky.” There the Lord gives Abram the promise. This is a great promise, out of the greatness of the Lord’s heart. It must surely have reassured and encouraged Abram. Each night to come, until the promise was fulfilled, he could look up into the starlit heavens and remind himself of the promise God had made. There is something of great interest here. The last time God had spoken to Abram about the birth of a son, He had promised him He would make his descendants like the dust of the earth. Now the promise is that they shall be like the stars of the heaven in multitude. Many Bible scholars have seen in this an inference that Abram would have two lines of descendants: an earthly seed and a heavenly one. The earthly seed would be the nation Israel, along with the Ishmaelite (Arabian) nations. But there would also be a heavenly or spiritual seed. That “Seed,” we are told in the book of Galatians, was Christ and all those who through faith in Him would be called the sons/daughters of God (See Galatians 3:7). As we look back over the time, we can see how the Lord has fulfilled these promises to the letter.

 

PRAYER THOUGHT

Lord, thank You, through our faith in Jesus, we are Your children.

 

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Lord, through our faith in Your Son, our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ, we have become Your children, and shown us how You have kept Your promise, which You gave to Abraham. AMEN

 

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)

Ecclesiastes 1:2-18

 

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I AM YOUR SHIELD AND REWARD

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“Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”        Genesis 15:1 NIV

 

This is what the Lord is saying to Abram, “I am your shield. Abram, a practical defence against any force that would destroy you. Fear not. Nothing shall touch you unless I permit it. Do not fear – I AM!” Have you noticed how many times in the New Testament our Lord Jesus calms His disciples with these words, “Fear not”? The ground of His reassurance is always that He is with them. When the storm threatens to overwhelm the little boat. When the cold fist of fear clutches their hearts as they sense the shadow of the Cross on their path. When Peter goes weeping bitterly out into the night; his words ring in their ears – “Fear not.” ” Do not let your hearts be troubled.” (John 14:1a NIV). Why? ” You believe in God; believe also in me!” (John 14:1b NIV). But God is more than a shield. He says also to Abram, “I am your very great reward.” Our Lord is our dearest treasure, the only genuinely satisfying joy we will ever know. The sense of the presence of God is a far richer experience of joy than anything else the human heart can find. This is what Abram experienced when the Lord said to him, “I am your shield, your very great reward.” We never again read of Abram worrying about Chedorlaomer or the loss of Sodom’s wealth. All these pressures from without were fully met by the sense of God’s presence with him, there in the dark. The same is true for us.

 

PRAYER THOUGHT

Lord, thank You for being our Shield and very great Reward.

 

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Lord, we give thanks that You have never changed. As You were Abram’s Shield and very great Reward, so You are to us in Christ Jesus, Your Son, our Saviour and Lord. AMEN

 

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)

Psalm 42:1-11

 

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DO NOT BE AFRAID

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“Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”         Genesis 15:1 NIV

 

To insist that life must maintain a steady, even keel at all costs, under every circumstance, is to thwart and miss the very purpose for which God sends difficulties into our lives. He only desires to create an atmosphere where he can manifest his glory. As Abram wrestles with his fears and doubts, there comes a sense of a presence with him. In his heart, he hears that mysterious word of the Lord. Sometimes the Lord spoke audibly to these Old Testament men, sometimes it was in the heart, with a quiet, deep conviction that God is speaking. Every Christian who has ever walked in fellowship with Jesus Christ for very long knows what I mean. We are not told how God spoke to Abram, but in the midst of his fear and doubt and loneliness there comes a sense of relief, and the word of the Lord says, ” Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.” Of course, the Lord is the answer! If He be for us. who can be against us? If He is our shield, whom should we fear? I love that verse in Hebrews because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.” (Hebrews 13:5b-6 NIV). “I am thy shield.” That is what comforted Abram’s heart there in the darkness. It was all he needed to settle his worries about the return of Chedorlaomer and the loss of his fortune in Sodom. Have we learned to count on the invisible protection of God?

 

PRAYER THOUGHT

Lord, thank You that You have not given us a spirit of fear.

 

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Lord, may we hear Your Word to us, during our fears and doubts. “Do not be afraid.” Thank You that we can count on Your invisible protection, as You gave it to Abram. AMEN

 

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)

Romans 10:14-21

 

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FEAR

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“Do not be afraid, Abram.”            Genesis 15:1 NIV

 

The heart of Genesis 15 does not lie in its great phrases, however, but in its connection with the preceding events of Abram’s life. God appears to Abram in a vision, but when he comes, his first words are, “Fear not!” This reveals what is going on in Abram’s heart. He was having a sleepless night, and the trouble was that he was afraid. Coming, as this incident does, after Abram’s return from his battle with the four eastern kings and his encounter with the king of Sodom, we can see why he is so fearful. He is afraid of this man, Chedorlaomer, the great king whom he had conquered. Abram had publicly humiliated him by overthrowing his vast army with but a handful of men. Dictators do not take this kind of treatment lightly! We can easily understand the justified fear that Abram felt as he faced the possibility of Chedorlaomer’s return. Perhaps also there was fear because he had turned down the king of Sodom’s offer of a fortune. He did it, of course, in the strength of the fellowship he had enjoyed with Melchizedek. With his heart aflame with the love and grace of God, Abram had said to this king, “I want nothing of all that you have. I don’t want you saying that you made Abram rich.” Doubt begins to rise in his heart as to whether he did the right thing or not. Doubt is a form of fear! If all this sounds familiar to you, take comfort from the fact that it is a very natural reaction and all the great saints of God suffer from it.

 

PRAYER THOUGHT

Lord, thank You for knowing that we are not alone when afraid.

 

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Thank You Lord, that we are not alone when we have been afraid and filled with doubt, many saints have experienced this, and have been encouraged through Your Word. AMEN

 

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)

Romans 10:1-13

 

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LAW OF FIRST OCCURENCE

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“After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision.”          Genesis 15:1 NIV

 

The opening paragraph of Genesis 15 strikingly illustrates for us what is commonly called in Bible study, the law of first occurrence. By this is meant that the first time a word or phrase is used in the Bible, it is used in such a way or in such a context as to highlight the basic meaning of it throughout the rest of Scripture. Four such phrases appear in this paragraph for the first time in the Bible, though they are repeated many, many times afterward. See if you can recognize them. Did you see the first one, in the very first line, “the word of the Lord came”? The recurrence of this phrase many times afterward in Scripture emphasizes the God-breathed character of the Bible. The word of the Lord came to many people, just as it came to Abram, and they wrote as they were borne along by the Holy Spirit, and then actually sat down and studied their own writings to learn what God had said, (1 Peter 1:10-12). The second phrase is the word that came to Abram, “Fear not!” How often this is God’s word to us, throughout this book. The third phrase is, “I am your shield.” In a thousand wonderful variations, we find this thought repeated frequently: God is our refuge and our strength; God is a tower of refuge; God is an overshadowing rock; blessed is the one that hides under the shadow of the Almighty. This is the first intimation of this character of God in Scripture. Then there is that familiar word in the last verse, “And he believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.”

 

PRAYER THOUGHT

Lord, thank You for Your Word that reveals Your amazing character.

 

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Lord, thank You for Your Word spoken to Abram, that continues to speak to us through the centuries, revealing Your amazing character. AMEN

 

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)

Romans 9:19-33

 

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A SENSIBLE ATTITUDE

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“I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me—to Aner, Eshkol and Mamre. Let them have their share.”            Genesis 14:24 NIV

 

What a sensible attitude Abram displayed toward the others who were involved with him. Take note Abram’s words to the king of Sodom. Abram, do you mean to say that it is right for these young men to have what is wrong for you to take? Is it possible to have a double standard of right – one for you and one for them? What a lesson there is here for us! These young men had not yet come to the stage of Christian living and maturity that Abram had achieved. Abram is content to let God deal with them directly in these borderline areas. He is not going to force others to walk in the light of his conscience. Somehow, Abram has learned the truth of Romans 14, that we are not to judge our brother in these matters, Verse 5b (NIV): ” Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind.” It is a great lesson to learn that there are areas of our Christian life where we must walk alone before our Lord and cannot force our views on others. Life lies ahead of us with all its possibilities of peril and danger, both spiritual and physical. How we need to go on in the strength of our Lord, Maker of heaven and earth. Nothing that the world offers can fully meet our hearts’ need. We are in this world. We are expected to live in it. We are expected to use the world, but not to abuse it. We must not love it, nor demand anything from it. Like Abram, we must say, “I have sworn to the Lord my God, I will not touch anything that you have to offer.”

 

PRAYER THOUGHT

Lord, teach us to walk with the same attitude as Abram.

 

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Lord, life lies ahead of us with all its possibilities of peril and danger, both spiritual and physical. Thank You that we can go in Your strength. For nothing that the world offers can fully meet our hearts’ need. AMEN

 

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)

Romans 9:1-18

 

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ONLY THE LORD CAN SATISFY

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“And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.             Genesis 14:20 NIV

 

Here in this place, the King’s Valley, where centuries later a greater Melchizedek would sweat in bloody agony in a Garden, Abram enjoyed by faith the high priestly ministry of Christ. His heart ravished with the love of Christ, and refreshed and strengthened in spirit, he saw that God alone could satisfy his heart. Here he swore to the Lord his God he would not touch a single thing that Sodom could offer him, he rose up and went out to meet the fair and innocent-appearing trap. He was ready for it! Have you ever found yourself trapped by some subtle appeal that looked innocent enough on the surface and seemed to be the popular thing to do? Too late, you realized its true nature, when the damage had already been done, and all you could say was, “I didn’t realize…”, “I never dreamed…”! This happens to many of us, doesn’t it? Life is full of subtleties like this – little decisions, little problems, incidents that seem so innocent on the surface. We find it easy to rationalize and justify our choices. Why is it we fail? It is because we do not go to our Melchizedek! We give him no opportunity to minister to us and open our eyes. We do not come to the throne of grace, as we are encouraged to, to find grace to help in time of need. Abram would never have passed by this subtle trap unscathed had Melchizedek not met him. When the king of Sodom came, Abram could say, “I want no man to say that he has made Abram rich. If anyone makes Abram rich, it will be God.” What a victory!

 

PRAYER THOUGHT

Lord, in everything may we come to Your Throne of Grace.

 

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Lord, may we give You the opportunity to minister to us and open our eyes. By Your Holy Spirit may we come to Your throne of grace, as we are encouraged to, to find grace to help in time of need. AMEN

 

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)

Romans 8:31-39

 

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BREAD AND WINE

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“Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine.”           Genesis 14:18 NIV

 

Going back to verse 18, we are told Melchizedek served Abram bread and wine. We need no interpreter for this. These are the symbols of love. They speak eloquently of strength and joy flowing out from the passion of self-giving love. All this is recorded in the Old Testament, yet as we read it, we can see in this historical incident a beautiful picture of the need of our own lives. There is nothing that has such power to motivate the Christian heart as to partake, with the people of the Lord, of these symbols of the suffering of our blessed Lord. He gave Himself in the fullness of His life, poured out all that He was, and as we feast by the Spirit upon the symbols of His life, we are strengthened, enabling us to meet all that comes our way. This is the only power sufficient to make us reject the world’s offer and maintain our independence as servants of Christ. The love of Christ constrains us! In the intimacy of this fellowship, under the ministry of Melchizedek, Abram worships his Lord. The record says he gave him a tenth of everything, that is, he gave him tithes of all he had. The tithe is not a debt paid to the Lord, it is rather a reminder that everything belongs to Him. Recognizing that all we are and have is to be given to the Lord in worship. The whole of our life is to be focused on the one aim of serving our Lord.

 

PRAYER THOUGHT

Lord, everything we have, we offer to You in worship.

 

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Lord thank you that the tithe is not a debt paid to You, it is rather a reminder that everything belongs to You. We recognize that all we are and have is to be given to You in worship. The whole of our lives is to be focused on the one aim of serving You. AMEN

 

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)

Romans 8:18-30

 

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