Devotionals Archives - Page 4 of 12 - Focal Point Ministries

Mentally Engaged

So much of what goes on in the name of Christianity consists of people mindlessly going through the motions of various forms of religion, devotion and piety. But acts of devotion, pious ceremonies and forms of true religion result in anything but good, when the participant’s mind is somewhere else. In principle, the Scripture repeatedly warns...

When Bad Things Happen

God has obviously not promised us an exemption from the bad things that happen to people in this world. As Christians we are saved from the coming wrath of God, but for now in God’s providence we are variously exposed to the painful and tragic events that plague mankind. This, of course, was God’s promise in...

ATAPAT

There is a bizarre little acronym starting to catch on at our church and with our listeners. And for that I am glad. It is, if you haven’t heard, my abbreviated and colloquial way of referring to what Jesus was getting at when he addressed his would-be disciples. It is my attempt of...

Smallness

While the world works desperately to bolster our sense of personal significance and individual importance, biblical truth drives us in the opposite direction. A hallmark of biblical humility is the realization that we are infinitesimally small, juxtaposed with a growing

Joy

While it is true that sorrow may teach us more than happiness (Ecclesiastes 7:2), joy and gladness are certainly more appropriate in the hearts and attitudes of those who know and love God. The psalmist exclaimed, “Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is fitting for...

Weakness

As sinful and fallen people we hate the feeling of weakness. On the other hand, we love feelings of strength, dominance, control, power and independence. But the reality is, that as creatures of the One who “gives all men life, breath and everything else” (Acts 17:25) all of our perceived...

Old Testament Law

Reading through all the laws of the Old Testament can be confusing. When you do, it is important to remember that when God's people left Egypt they left the legal system of the Egyptians and the jurisdiction of any

Godly Ambition

The problem with worldly ambition is that it is misdirected. God is great; we are sinful. God is infinite; we are finite. God is the only sovereign authority that is; we are impotent – so impotent that we are not able to...

Relating Skillfully

The book of Proverbs sets before us several thought provoking and inspired truths that can and should have a significant impact on how we “wisely” relate to one another. Take for instance the curious and seemingly obvious...

Acquiring Wisdom

Some think that learning about God should be easy. But the Bible warns us that real wisdom and insight will require a great deal of effort on our part. While some prefer to call their innate impressions and their subjective feelings...

Don’t Grow Weary

In a world that rarely rewards truly good behavior, it is not a surprise that God’s people would be tempted to grow weary in doing what is right. But don’t. The Bible calls us to constantly renew our perspective and our strength, remembering that doing the right thing...

Life’s Opposition

Many Christians assume that if God really loves us, he will fill our lives with good feelings, satisfied desires and things that make us happy. That may be a common assumption, but it certainly isn’t what God told us he’d do. The Bible is clear that for now...

The Right Thing

Obedience to Christ often comes down to whose reputation you care about the most. When God calls us to stand up for what is right, speak up for what is important, or be counted with his children the price will usually be debited from our reputation. On the other hand...

Reliance on God

King Asa was a righteous leader of God’s people. This ancestor of Christ and third king of the divided kingdom was a devout reformer who abolished the worship of foreign gods, put an end to cultic prostitution, and even dethroned his family members who disdained obedience to Yahweh. The Bible says God brought...

Loving God

When the call of God on our lives and the message for us in Scripture is distilled into one line it reads like this: “Love God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength.” This was the central command of Old Testament Judaism (Dt.6:5) and it was the primary imperative...

Isolation

There is too much spiritual danger inherent in Christians choosing to be isolated. The New Testament model shows us Christians who are interested and involved in each other’s lives. Paul shared his joys and victories, as well as his hurts and struggles...

Light

Jesus said that people prefer darkness rather than light because people don’t want their sinful deeds exposed (Jn.3:19-20). Of course this is an analogy. Your willingness to sit in the sun or your desire to dim the lights in the family room has nothing to do with...

Contentment

Recently, after seeing a “Christian” book entitled How to Get Everything You Want, I was reminded of God’s call to contentment. The Apostle testified to living out God’s expectation for his creatures. He wrote, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances...

All Knowing God

Our God is a God who knows and perceives all things. He intimately knows all things past, all things present and all things future. He is a God for whom nothing is concealed. With him there are no secrets, there is no darkness and nothing is shrouded from his total awareness and full comprehension. God would

Forgiveness and Happiness

Knowing that we are truly forgiven should naturally give rise to real joy and genuine happiness. When forgiveness is real, having been secured by those contrite sinners who have thrown themselves on the grace and mercy of our forgiving God (who has paid the ultimate price in...

Work

Working is a gift from God – a pre-fall, pre-sin, pre-curse gift. While sin’s consequence injected obstacles and pain into the equation (“the ground will produce thorns” leading to work “by the sweat of your brow” – Gen.3:18, 19), the commission to work preceded the fall...

Bible Abuse

If only we could see how often we abuse the Bible (and therefore, its Author) in an effort to bolster and justify our personal views and proclivities. The process is called “isogesis” – presupposing our own interpretation and views and “reading them into” a passage of Scripture when they...

Worship God Now

One day God will make all things right. He will straighten out what’s crooked and smooth out the rough places (Is.40:3-4; Lk.3:5), not the least of which is the humiliation of the proud. For “all mankind will see God’s salvation” – a salvation most have chosen to ignore and...

For God’s Sake

While most people believe God saves people for "people’s sake" (i.e., because of his attraction to them and his inner compulsion to promote and honor them), Psalm 106:8 tells us that God is in the business of saving sinners...

Righteous Anger

While most Christians are chasing a modern fantasy of an irenic and affable day-to-day Christian experience, may we recognize the truth that we cannot be godly without regularly feeling and periodically expressing righteous anger...

Love

Love is not as easy or pleasant as it sounds. It is effortless to say “I love you” but so hard to demonstrate in real life. The Bible calls Christians to love “not with words or speech but with actions and truth” (1Jn.3:18). It is not that the words are wrong, but they...

Unwholesome Talk

God’s word commands followers of Christ to “not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths” (Eph.4:29). Often the Bible gauges our spirituality by our vocabulary (Jms.3:2-12). If our words are unsavory Jesus provides the needed...

Christian Life

Some have tried to avoid the concept of “Christ’s life for me and my life for Christ” depicted in the gospel exchange (cf. 2Cor.5:15; Mt.13:44-46; Lk.14:28-33; Mt.10:37-39; et al.) by imagining a dichotomy in the Christian life. They suggest that there are...

Forgiveness

God’s forgiveness is complete. Because God is too pure to approve or tolerate what is evil (Hab.1:13; Ps.5:4-5; et al.), to say that we are God’s beloved children because we are accepted by God in Christ, is to make a gigantic claim that assumes that our...

Our Sin

The Bible says we are all born with a built in double standard – the one we apply to those around us and the other we apply to ourselves. We are innately proficient in detecting the sins and transgressions of others, but we are inept in perceiving our own. Consider the freeway foibles...