Psalm 116:15

Verse of the Day Devotion: Psalm 116:15

“Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His godly ones.” – Psalm 116:15 

This is a beautiful picture of how God views the death of one of His children.  We see death as the end of a life. It means decay, absence and their removal, nothing that we prize.  We mourn over the death of someone we know because what we see is separation, the loss of the fellowship and love we have for and with that person.  We hold all these memories and are saddened that those days are over.  However, God knows the end from the beginning, and He has determined our days.  “Since his days are determined, the number of his months is with You; and his limits You have set so that he cannot pass.” Job 14:5. And since He knows our days, the end is not a surprise to Him as it is to us.

How does God see the death of the Godly ones?  Well, it is not separation, for we will be there with Him.  “Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.” Ecclesiastes 12:7. And we will be with Christ. “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.” Hebrews 9:27-28.

And our new life will be everlasting.  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16. Our life will never end.  For we shall be with God, enjoying the blessed life forever with no end.  No longer dealing with the temptations and sins that so easily entangle us (see Hebrews 12:1).  No longer growing weary due to the problems and trials we face every day.  No longer going without and wondering how we will make it.  No longer mourning over hardships that come our way, for we will be at peace, and joy will pervade our existence.  No longer becoming tired and weary, for we will experience true rest.  “The righteous man perishes, and no man takes it to heart; And devout men are taken away, while no one understands. For the righteous man is taken away from evil, He enters into peace; They rest in their beds, each one who walked in his upright way.” Isaiah 57:1-2.

The trials we face here on this earth are not the product of God, but of man who rebelled against God.  However, through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus the Christ, we as Christians will be delivered from the chaos wrought by the rebellion of Adam and Eve.  We will be with God who loves us very much and will provide a place for us with Him forever.  He does not like what we go through here, which is why He has prepared a better place on a new earth in a new heaven.

As stated above in Job 14:5, our times have been set.  And also His plans for us have also been set.  We are here to spread the gospel and bring others to the saving knowledge of Christ.  In these times there will be suffering for all saints.  “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” 2 Timothy 3:12. Also, “For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me, and now hear to be in me.” Philippians 1:29-30.   In fact, Paul was told ahead of time that he would suffer for Him.  “But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him (Saul) how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.” Acts 9:15-16

Unfortunately, reaching out to the lost will undoubtedly bring suffering.  However, at the end, either of our life or this era, we will no longer experience persecution or suffering, for we will enter our new life full of unending joy, peace and love. Revelation tells us what it will be like.  “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” Revelation 21:1-4.

In looking at death the way God does, we can see that death for the Christian is not a sad event, but a time of rejoicing.  For they have been delivered from this life of trials, sickness, pain, persecution and the like, to a life that consists of eternal peace, joy, rest, contentment and love.  Yes, we will still mourn, for we are still here.  However, God sees one that He loves finding eternal peace and joy beyond comprehension.  And this is why the psalmist writes in our focus verse, “Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His godly ones.” Psalm 116:15.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries, Inc.

Psalm 90:12

Verse of the Day Devotion: Psalm 90:12

“So, teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.” – Psalm 90:12

This verse does not mean that we are to keep count of the number of days we have been here.  For instance, I have been here, on this earth approximately 22,700 days.  This means nothing in the grand scheme of life.  What it does refer to is that we should understand that our lives here are not limitless.  It more truly describes how we should live our lives going forward.  The idea is that we should estimate our days such that we understand they will pass quickly and then they will be over, and we should live these days with a heart in pursuit of wisdom and not folly.

Many people follow the path of the rich fool found in the gospel of Luke. “And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.” Luke 12:19. He planned to take it easy, he would live well since the harvest that year was phenomenal. However, the story ends horribly for him. “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared? So is the man who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:21. This man focused on himself and not on how to live a Godly life.  He assumed his life would go on for years, however, his life did not even last another day.

Then you have those who live by the saying, “Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.”  A twist on what we read in Luke, however, there is a definite distinction.  First of all, this phrase is normally has a derogatory meaning.  The idea here is they live their lives in a totally narcissistic way.  What does it matter what happens to us, what is important is that we enjoy life now.  There thought is not of doing what is right but doing what they enjoy.

However, neither of these ways are what our focus verse is calling for.  We are to understand that our lives are short.  That our remaining days will come to an end.  But this is not truly the end.  “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.” Hebrews 9:27-28.   As the parable of the sheep and goats lays out, we will be judged, and we will either go to the right with all the sheep or to the left with all the goats.  Do we eagerly await His return?  If so, wisdom calls us to obey and honor God.  We must be wise and be led by God in every part of our life.  As the writer of Proverbs puts it, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Proverbs 1:7. Wisdom comes from the reverence and adoration of God, following His ways and spending time with Him. This should be our focus, and our priority.  And this is what we should do from this time forward.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries, Inc.

James 4:17

Verse of the Day Devotion: James 4:17

“Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.” – James 4:17

In my study of this verse, there are a couple valid ways to look at it, therefore I will present both.

First, that we make decisions about our lives, what we will do, where we will go, based on our own feelings and desires and not based on what God desires of us.  We make these big plans for our lives, visiting certain people, traveling to desired destinations, making this amount of money.  However, is this what God has called us to?  We decide on these things without looking at what God wants.  The idea here is that if we know what God wants of us and we do not pursue it because it is not what we want, then we who know nothing of the future seizes control from the one who does. This is seen from the previous verses. “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit. Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that. But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.” James 4:13-16. We know our calling, but we ignore it, or put it off, until we ourselves are ready.  We must spend serious time with God in prayer to be sure of what we are to do.  If we do not, and we follow our own desires rather than His, then we may find ourselves in sin.

Second, if we see a need or something we know is the right thing to do, and we refuse to do it.  Cotton Mather, a New England Puritan minister in the late 1600s to early 1700s, adopted this idea as a principle of action, saying ‘that the ability to do good in any case imposes an obligation to do it.’  The idea for him was “if he understands what his duty is; if he has the means of doing good to others, then he can promote a good cause; for example relieve the distressed, the poor, the prisoner, the oppressed; send the gospel to other lands, wipe away the tears from those who mourn or grieve, speak out in favor of those qualities that are positive and Godly, then he is under obligation to do it.”  If we choose not to get involved and we just ignore the good we can do, then we may find ourselves in sin.

As I said above, I believe both of these ideas are valid ways of looking at our focus verse.  Both allude to the idea of knowing the right thing to do but refusing to do it for selfish reasons.  If we have the means to help someone, then we should do it.  Remember the words of Jesus, “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”  Matthew 7:12.  If we are in need and a brother or sister ignores us even when they know our situation, how would we feel?

In closing, too often we see sin as something we do, such as stealing, lying or murdering, however we forget that sin is also something we refuse to do, such as helping the poor or ignoring the oppressed.  Both types are wrong and ultimately sin.  Let’s remember that God has called us to love everyone, and love is more than a feeling, it is actions as well.  I encourage us all, myself included, to ensure that our plans are based on God’s will and not our own, and that if we see a need, we do all we can to meet that need.  God will see this and reward us.  “One who is gracious to a poor man lends to the LORD, And He will repay him for his good deed.” Proverbs 19:17.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries, Inc.

Romans 12:18

Verse of the Day Devotion: Romans 12:18

“If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.” – Romans 12:18 

This verse is a very difficult one to follow, especially in the times we live in.  Peace is one thing we should always strive for.  It may not always be possible, however, that does not mean we shouldn’t strive for peace in every encounter we have with others, both the saved and the unsaved.

This verse starts with the idea that as far as it depends on us.  This means that we are to do everything imaginable to preserve the peace, short of compromise.  First, we are not to begin or to originate a quarrel.  Our words are to be ones that show the love we have for the person or persons we are speaking with.  If we become angry and our words and actions show it, then we may lose the ability to speak into their lives.  If to a Christian, they may not be willing to listen to us when we are trying to help them in their walk with God; thus causing them to continue doing that which is wrong, where if we remained cool, calm and collected, we may have been able to help them see their error and turn from it.  And if to the unsaved, they may turn away and not receive Christ as Savior, or at least look into it.  Both instances will be problematic regarding our ability to speak into their lives.  And because they may tell others, we may even close the hearts of anyone else who may endeavor to speak with them.

Secondly, if the anger is started by them, we must do all we can to appease that anger.  We should not walk off until we have done all we can to bring peace to the conversation, and possibly come to the point where they could listen to what we have to say, though this may not be possible because their hearts may be so closed to the truth that any attempt to speak it may incite the anger in them.  If this occurs, we should apologize and make peace if we can.  And we should then pray for, not necessarily with, the individual that God would open their hearts to receive the truth we intended to share with them.  The psalmist put it this way, “Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it.” Psalm 34:14.  I believe the evil he speaks of does include quarreling with those we speak with.  But note, we are not just to seek peace, we are to pursue it as well.  As Albert Barnes states in his commentary of Psalms, we must follow after it, make it an object of desire and put forth the effort to life in peace with all people.

It is important that we follow this with all our heart.  I have seen far too much quarreling and gossiping within churches, and all it does is create division.  Both sides may be desiring the same outcome, but they have differences in how to approach it.  We must do all we can to be at peace with everyone.  This way, we can remove the divisions that hurt the work of the church, and open people’s hearts to the message we have from God to them.  This is a huge part of our calling, for it provides the platform by which we make it happen.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries, Inc.

Hebrews 13:6

Verse of the Day Devotion: Hebrews 13:6

“So that we confidently say, “THE LORD IS MY HELPER, I WILL NOT BE AFRAID. WHAT WILL MAN DO TO ME?” – Hebrews 13:6

We as God’s people should not be afraid of what could possibly happen to us.  In fact, the writer of Hebrews says we can confidently state this as absolute.  How can we say this?  Let’s start by looking at the verse just before this.  “Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU,”  Hebrews 13:5.  If we realize and live our lives based on this verse, then we will have peace because we know that God will never leave us or forsake us.  So, if we are content with what we have, knowing that our needs will be met, what do we have to fear?  It is when we love success and desire things that are not necessities which we cannot acquire, then we lose that blessed place of peace.

And because of this, with confidence, we know the Lord is our helper.  He is there to provide our needs, and to help us through any situation we find ourselves in.  He also helps us in fulfilling His calling in our lives.  See what Paul wrote to the church in Philippi.  “For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” Philippians 2:13. He will guide us in how to fulfill His calling in us, giving us the words to say, the deeds to do, the wisdom the succeed and the strength to perform it.  If we have a question as to how to proceed, He will answer.  This I have personally experienced in various ministry tasks He has led me to do.  There were times I had no idea how to proceed, however, through prayer He gave me the answer to all my questions.

We also know, with great confidence, that we have no need to fear what will happen to us because of what men may do.  I have read many stories about Christians who have been arrested because of their faith.  Most, if not all, remained true to God no matter what anyone did to them.  When trials came, they trusted that God would bring them through, however, if they were to die, they knew they would be OK, for God would take them to be with Him.  They trusted God in the midst of their torture or execution.  Even death is not to be feared, whether through execution or illness, for to us, it is simply going home.

Paul put it this way, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Philippians 1:21. Our sole aim in life should be to bring glory and honor to Him.  If we submit to Him as we should, then we will devote our lives to glorifying Him in everything we do.  He should be our life.  He must be our everything.  And when we live our lives this way, and it comes time to die, we will gain freedom from suffering and pain; being then in a place of joy, peace and infinite love.  We may lose our lives, but we gain all the good promised to us because of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.

Therefore, we truly do not have anything to fear, for really, what can man do to us?  God will provide all our needs, He will be with us in all we do, whether it be in reaching the lost, serving the body or suffering for His sake.  Trusting in Him, He will guide us through this life, working through us to do His will.  And if man were to take our life, it would be a great gain for us.  Looking at life this way is a source of peace and joy.  Let us all partake of this goodness given to us by Christ.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries, Inc.

Matthew 15:8

Verse of the Day Devotion: Matthew 15:8

“This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me.” – Matthew 15:8

This is a prophecy of Isaiah that Jesus spoke against the Pharisees.  These Pharisees came from Jerusalem and asked Him “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” Matthew 15:2 This is part of what is called the ‘Oral Traditions’, not part of the written law of Moses.  It was passed down from generation to generation as a proper thing to do.  Mark brings additional clarity to this tradition.  “For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they carefully wash their hands, thus observing the traditions of the elders; and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they cleanse themselves; and there are many other things which they have received in order to observe, such as the washing of cups and pitchers and copper pots.”  Mark 7:4. The Pharisees expected every Jew to follow these traditions, and this included Jesus and His disciples.

However, Jesus answers back with a question as to why they transgressed not the oral tradition, but the commandment of God.  “And He (Jesus) answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said,’ Honor your father and mother’ and ‘He who speaks evil of father and mother is to be put to death. ‘ But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you has been given to God,” he is not to honor his father or his mother.’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition.” Matthew 15:3-6.  What the Pharisees had done is usurp the command of God by the tradition of the elders.  They were hypocrites because they accused them of breaking tradition, when they were breaking the law of God.  He then tells the disciples, as stated in the focus verse, that the Pharisees honored God with their words, but not with their heart.  And then He adds, “But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men”. Matthew 15:9.

It is important that we examine ourselves and make sure we do not fall into this unknowingly.  It is very easy to fall into the habit of praising God when our thoughts are elsewhere.  It is easy to give to the church simply because it is the expected thing to do, rather than giving it to God with a heart of love and thankfulness.

And what of communion?  There are several verses we need to look at.  “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 1 Corinthians 11:24b When we take the bread and eat it and the cup and drink it, do we think of Him and remember His sacrifice; the breaking of His body and the shedding of His blood?  There is a warning involved here.  We are not to take the communion for sake of the tradition, but for what it represents, the death of Christ on our behalf.  This is the most important act anyone has done for us.  We must remember His sacrifice and be always thankful, for only He could pay the penalty.  “But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.” 1 Cor 11:28

In closing, we must examine why we do things in the church or any religious gathering.  Do we do them simply because it is expected, they are tradition, or do we do them because of who God is and our desire to please Him?  We are to remember, and be thankful for, all He has done for us and the great love He has for us.  Tradition can be good, but not the reason or the mentality by which we conduct ourselves.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries, Inc.

Isaiah 53:6

Verse of the Day Devotion: Isaiah 53:6  All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.

This is a very important verse for us to understand, especially when it comes to our ministry to both the saved and unsaved.  It is important because of the first three words of this verse; ‘All of us.’  We must remember this in all aspects of our ministry.  This picture of sheep is a popular one within the scriptures.  “I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, For I do not forget Your commandments.”  Psalm 119:176.  Also, “For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.” 1 Peter 2:25.  And finally, this lesson from Jesus tells us, “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven. For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying. If it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray. So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.” Matthew 18:10-14

We all have gone astray from God.  We all have walked away from Him and, as the verse says, have turned to our own ways instead of following after God.  This started in the Garden with Adam and Eve.  “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.” Genesis 3:6.  They listened to the lies of the serpent rather than the truth from God.  And as it says in our focus verse, “… Each of us has turned to his own way …”.

We were not able, because of our iniquity, to resolve the issue ourselves since it required a perfect sacrifice, one without any spot or blemish.  But the Lord had an answer, which was to send His Son, to live a perfect life, and then die, paying for the iniquities of the rest of us.  The Messiah, the long-awaited promise, who came in human form as Jesus, paid the complete penalty for everyone, and we have our sins forgiven if we simply believe in Christ, and declare Him Lord.  “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” Romans 10:9-10.  Also, there are times when we mess up and do things we should not.  He has a solution for that as well. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

However, we must not think differently about others than we do ourselves, except that we look at them more highly.  “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” Philippians 2:4   I have seen too often Christians who look down on others who do not have the knowledge or goodness they do.  We cannot think this way, because we at one time were in the position, and it was only by the grace of God that we were restored.  These learned the truth, and it is theirs and all of our jobs, as Christians to teach others and help them grow in Christ.

We must not decide there are people who are so bad or too low that we will not reach out to them.  They may do horrible things, but they deserve to be reached out to as well as we did and do.  Paul put it well, “Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.”  Romans 12:16.  We are called to go into world and make disciples of all men.  We are called to go into the highways and byways and compel them to come to the Lord.  Again, we all were lost.  We all went our own way.  However, someone came to us and showed us the truth and helped us understand.  We were saved by the blood of Christ when we accepted Him, and so it is our job to help others be saved by accepting Him as well.

No one is too far gone for us to ignore.  He has placed this calling on us, formerly sinners, who now understand.  We must reach out to all whom God brings our way.  It only takes one sin to corrupt, and we were corrupt.  So, as someone did for us, let’s go out and do for others.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries, Inc.

Psalm 16:11

Verse of the Day Devotion: Psalm 16:11

“You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.” – Psalm 16:11

This is a very encouraging verse.  David here is speaking to the Lord and thanking Him for the goodness of the life to come.  First he is saying that God has shown to Him the path of life.  What he is referring to is that even though he may die in this life, God will not keep him in this state.  He would be brought back to the living world, that which is life everlasting.  David believed in the resurrection from the dead.  He believed that God had for Him a life that will no end.  “He asked life of You, you gave it to him, Length of days forever and ever.” Psalm 21:4. We see this same idea from Daniel.  “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.  Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.” Daniel 12:2-3.  The idea of everlasting life for the righteous is found in various places in the Old Testament, and David took comfort in this truth. Note, Daniel was after the time of David, however, it shows this truth carried forward to his time.)  Regardless of this, David rejoiced in knowing he would be resurrected when the end came.

He then says that in the presence of God is fullness of joy.  This is not a partial nor imperfect joy, intermingled with pain and sorrow.  This is a joy that completely satisfies the soul not in conjunction with anything that may minimize it.  This is not a joy as we experience here, but an unimaginable joy that will never lessen, nor will it end.  It will not be diminished by the idea we have in this life that all earthly joy must come to an end.  It will be a joy that will be understood as everlasting.  This is the joy we will experience in the next life.  “So, the ransomed of the LORD will return and come with joyful shouting to Zion, And everlasting joy will be on their heads. They will obtain gladness and joy, And sorrow and sighing will flee away.”  Isaiah 51:11.

And lastly, David says that in His right hand are pleasures forever.  God’s right hand is the place of honor, where the saints will be throughout eternity.  It denotes that he would be raised up to exalted position; one filled with eternal happiness and exalted honor.  And this happiness will be forever.  This is not happiness as we find here in this life that comes and goes.  We will reside forever in happiness, for there will be nothing that can take it away.

This is the life we look forward to as Christians.  First, we will be raised from the dead to a life that is infinitely different from this one, and God will guide us into this new life, we will be in His presence forever where our joy will be full and never ending, and there will be great pleasure because of our exalted position in Christ.  And this will never end.  What more could we ask for, and what could ever be better than this promise from Him.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries, Inc.

Matthew 5:29

Verse of the Day Devotion: Matthew 5:29

“If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.” – Matthew 5:29

This verse comes from Jesus’ sermon on the mount.  Let’s look at the two verses prior to our focus verse.  “You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Matthew 5:27-28.  These two verses are introductory to what he says right after that.  First, He quotes a command in the law.  “You shall not commit adultery.” Exodus 20:14.   It is probable that the Pharisees taught this as regarding the outward act only for this is predominantly how they saw the law.  However, Jesus clarifies this when He told them that just lusting after a woman is adultery, as an inward act of the heart through desires.

Then He goes on to declare the following.  “If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.”  Matthew 5:29-30.

Now, this is not necessarily to be taken literally.  What He is alluding to is that whatever it is that causes us to commit adultery must be removed.  If looking at a woman causes it, then we must not allow ourselves to be tempted by what we see.  The general idea here is that whatever it is that causes us to sin, we must either get complete control over It or get rid of it.  For example, if we see some money on a table at a restaurant and we have a strong desire to take it, we must either get control of our desires and go on about our business, or if that is not possible, then we need to leave and remove our self from the temptation.

We must address this immediately, for the longer we allow the temptation to continue, the greater the probability we will give in to our desires.  With theft, it is in stealing what we want or coveting what another has.  With adultery, we will either do the deed, or we will lust after the person.  And as Jesus said above, simply lusting after anything will cause us to sin.  It is not enough to not act it out, but we must not desire to act it out.

I want to encourage us all to be in fervent prayer that we will all be able to keep our desires in check.  We must not allow temptation to cause us to sin.  God will help us in this area, and we need to rely on Him when we struggle with it.  Remember, it is not just the act that is wrong, but it is the lust and covetousness that goes along with it.  We must control both so that we can honor and please God with all we have and all we are.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries, Inc.

Job 9:10

Verse of the Day Devotion: Job 9:10

“Who does great things, unfathomable, And wondrous works without number.” – Job 9:10

This verse speaks to God’s all-powerful ways.  What Job is saying here is that there is nothing He cannot do.  This is important to remember when we go through difficult times, especially when there is nothing, we can think of to get out of the terrible situation.  There is nothing He does not know, there is nothing He cannot do, and there is no place He is not present.  And because of this, what Job declares is absolute truth.

First, God is omniscient.  He knows everything.  “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, ‘My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure” Isaiah 46:10.  From the very beginning of the universe, and even before it’s creation, He knew us.  He knew when we would be born, and everything about us.  He knew we would sin, and He provided the means for reconciliation before the world, and everything was created.  “For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you. “1 Peter 1:20. He knows when we will be troubled or forlorn and is there to encourage us.  He knows when we will praise and lift Him up and will be there to receive it.  Nothing surprises God because we cannot be surprised by what we already know. There will never be a time when He is late or never shows up.

Next, He is omnipotent.  He is all powerful.  “For nothing will be impossible with God.” Luke 1:37 He created everything that exists.  “All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.” John 1:3. He has created all things we see and will never see.  No matter what we are going through, He will bring us through.  No one can defeat Him, and no one can prevent Him from doing anything or make Him do anything.  He divided at least two bodies of water such that His people walked across on dry land.  He saved the Israelites from many empires and will eventually deliver us from this world and take us to live with Him forever.

And finally, He is omnipresent.  He is everywhere.  “Am I a God who is near, declares the LORD, And not a God far off?  Can a man hide himself in hiding places, So I do not see him?” declares the LORD. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the LORD.”  Jeremiah 23:23-24.  Wherever we go, God is there.

Wherever we are not, God is there.  There is never a place He cannot hear our cries or our thoughts.  Moreover, He is in us as Christians.  He is never too far away that we must wait for Him to get to us.

Since God is all powerful, all knowing and everywhere at each moment, there is no reason we should be fearful, anxious, or worried.  This is why we can trust Him in everything.  “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.”  Proverbs 3:6. What a great life we can live if we take our focus verse to heart and be fully content no matter what. William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries, Inc.