Wednesday Devotion for 10/07/20 8 Minutes

Devotion for Wednesday 10/07/20 8 Minutes

Good evening everyone watching by video this evening,,, it's time for our weekly devotion.

And the devotion reading will be from my Billy Graham devotion titled "Wisdom Each Day" that I read this morning.

Our scripture will come from 1 Peter 2:13-17

I'll be reading from the King James Version.

1 Peter 2:13-17

13 Be subject to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether to the king, as supreme; 14 or unto governors, as sent by him for vengeance on evil-doers and for praise to them that do well. 15 For so is the will of God, that by well-doing ye should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: 16 as free, and not using your freedom for a cloak of wickedness, but as bondservants of God. 17 Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.

God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this evening.

Let us pray:

Dear Lord,,, as we begin this evening,,, with all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen.

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There are actually two parts that are relevant to some of the events that we are going through today.

The first part is found in verses 13 through 16.

In verses 13-16 it says: 13 Be subject to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether to the king, as supreme; 14 or unto governors, as sent by him for vengeance on evil-doers and for praise to them that do well. 15 For so is the will of God, that by well-doing ye should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: 16 as free, and not using your freedom for a cloak of wickedness, but as bondservants of God.

In the world that we live in today,,, the King that Peter is talking about would be our president.

We are to be subject to him "for the Lord's sake".

We are also to be subject to our governors and other officials that are above us,,, as long as we don't have to do something against the will of God.

Verse 15 gives us the reason why: 15 For so is the will of God, that by well-doing ye should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:

My Bible Knowledge Commentary says: God’s will is that His people should live a life that becomes a witness because of the way that they live.

It's this kind of witness that puts foolish men to shame.

They cannot speak against anyone that is living a life like God has planned for them.

To get back to our president,,, he needs our prayers,,, and he needs them even more now,,, since he and the first lady have both been diagnosed with coronavirus.

Along with all of the others at the White House,,, and those all over the world that are fighting the coronavirus,,, please remember them all as you pray each day.

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The second part that I wanted to mention this evening is found in verse 17: 17 Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.

We as Christians are supposed to honor all men,,, love the brotherhood,,, (which would be the church today),,, fear God,,, and honor the king,,, (again,,, as I said earlier would be our president).

But the main thing that I wanted to focus on out of that verse is "love the brotherhood".

Again,,, as I just said,,, the brotherhood that Peter is talking about would be our church today.

We are supposed to love our brothers and sisters in Christ,,, just as we are required to love all men.

But when we can't get along as Christians,,, that hurts our witness so much.

Unbeliever's are watching to see how we react to events going on around us and the reactions of a lot of people in the church are not very Christ like.

That's why we get labeled a lot as what we used to call "two faced".

Having one face that we wear on Sunday morning and another that we wear the rest of the time.

That's not how we are supposed to be.

Also,,, the church body as a whole is what helps each of us to be able to get through any troubles that we may have.

That's why that it's so important to attend a church that you are comfortable in and that teaches the word of God.

When I had my accident and was in the hospital for ten days and all of the surgeries after,,, it was my relationship with the members of those churches that I was a part of at that time,,, that helped me get through those tough weeks as I recovered.

Without them,,, and I should say you,,, because a lot of you that did help,,, by your visits,,, your calls,,, cards,,, the gifts to help us keep up our bills paid,,, will listen to this if you aren't listening now,,, and without all of you,,, my recovery time would have been much harder.

The church will also help all of us to stay focused on our walk with God each week as we come together to worship God.

That's important because our relationship with God is the key to getting through anything that this world can throw at us.

So be sure that if you are listening to this and you aren't attending a church that you love and loves you back,,, please find one today and you will never regret that decision.

If you are close enough to attend,,, we would love to see you at either Oakdale or Seminary,,, but wherever you are,,, try to find a church that you can attend regularly and you won't regret it when the trials come and you need help.

Let us pray: