Devotion for Wednesday 11/04/2020 5 Minutes

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

And the scripture will come from my devotion book titled "Morning and Evening" by Dr David Jeremiah.

The scripture for this evening is Acts 15:28

I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible.

Acts 15:28 (HCSB)

28 For it was the Holy Spirit’s decision—and ours—to put no greater burden on you than these necessary things:

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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Dr. Jeremiah says,,, there are dos and don’ts in the Bible,,, but we have a tendency to add to them,,,— and to expect others to follow our lists.

The church has invented lots of rules since the first century to define what it means to be a “good Christian.”

This reminds me of the religious leaders that Jesus was always in disagreement with,,, over things like this!

Have we become like them in our churches today?

Because Dr. Jeremiah continues by saying,,, "Over time,,, in our minds,,, these rules have become traditions almost equal to Scripture".

When the traditions of men become more important than God’s people and God’s law, they’ve gone too far.

Paul devoted Romans 14 and 15 to telling us that,,, as Christians,,, we must agree on the great central truths of Scripture,,, the things that are essential to our Christian doctrines.

And he says that there are many areas in which Christians may disagree,,, like,,, "nonessential doctrines",,, as he called them,,, things that aren't essential to our Christian doctrines.

One is found in Romans 14:5 which says: “One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind”.

Have you been upset with someone who didn’t agree with you on some nonessential point of doctrine?

Have you been critical of someone whose opinion differed from yours?

Perhaps in insisting on "your" list,,, you’ve forgotten the most important item on God’s list: that we exhibit His love.

If we truly loved one another as Jesus commanded us to do,,, all of our problems would be solved!

We forget today,,, that we can disagree on things that seem different to each of us,,, without hating one another!

In some of our churches today,,, we have division in the congregations because of the different belief's of democrats and republicans.

And in other churches,,, we are members of a congregation that readily agrees with our belief and we don't have that division amongst the members,,, but we usually don't have that same unity outside of our group that agrees with us.

That's what needs changing,,, we need to remember that we are all supposed to love one another,,, even if we don't see things the same way every time!

And it all begins in the churches every where.

We must go back to preaching the word of God,,, and be sure that every one that leaves that building on Sunday knows that God loves them and expects them to share that love with those in the community where they live!

And then they leave to go out into their communities to spread the love of God everywhere that they go that week!

And that "love" isn't reserved just for those that you are comfortable with,,, it must be shown to everyone!

That's what this country needs,,, we all need "love"!

And if we are obedient to the words of "Jesus Christ",,, that love is available to everyone today!

Jeremiah, David . David Jeremiah Morning and Evening Devotions (p. 637). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.