1 Kings 8:61

Verse of the Day Devotion: 1Kings 8:61

“Let your heart therefore be wholly true to the LORD our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day.” – 1Kings 8:61  

1 Kings 8 gives the account of the ark of the covenant being placed into the temple which had just been completed.  He offered a prayer to the Lord asking that any requests given earnestly and humbly by Israelites or strangers would be accepted by God.  At the end of this prayer, Solomon asks for His blessing over the people of Israel plus an exhortation for them as well.  This exhortation is the focus of our verse today, which is as much for us today as for the Israelites back then.

The first part says that our hearts should be wholly true to God.  Our love for Him should be unquestionable to all who see us.  We should desire with all our hearts to please Him, serve Him, and take time to fellowship with Him in prayer.  Our love and devotion should be unwavering, never lessening no matter our circumstances.  God said He would never leave or forsake us, showing His love is unwavering, therefore ours should be as well.

Second, we should walk in His statutes, always striving to keep His commandments.  Our obedience should be universal in that we obey all of them, and not just those we choose to.  With this, I say that His desires take infinite precedence over our own.   All that we do or think should follow the idea that He is supreme, and I am not.  Thus, we should not be divided in our loyalties.  We should be totally upright in our ways and submissive to His commands.

Jesus takes these two points in Solomon’s prayer and merges them into one concise statement.  “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”  John 14:15.   As always with Jesus, His position on this could not be clearer.

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

Romans 2:13

Verse of the Day Devotion: Romans 2:13

“For it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.” – Romans 2:13 

Paul is writing to the Romans here, which have many Jews who believed they were saved by their adherence to the Mosaic Law.  Their belief is that if they are perfect in keeping the law, and this includes the sacrifices of such as the sin offering, then you are in good standing with God.  If they gave great deference to the Law, if they hear it read with attention and professed with their mouths a great desire and willingness to yield to it in obedience, they were the ones who were the saved.

We have many today who believe the same thing, and they think of themselves as Christians.  Many believe that if we hear or read the Bible and go to church occasionally, if we sing the words of a song without doing it in worship and praise to God, if we say a short and/or memorized prayer where the words are secondary to the action itself, then how different are we from the Jews who believed that as long as they heard the Law and performed the rituals they were good.

I am definitely not perfect here, however, when I detect this in myself, I immediately ask God to forgive me and I focus on what I am there for, reading His Word, singing as worship, praying in humility, or any other action in my service and adoration of God.  We must come to the point where we realize it is not the words we say or the empty actions we perform, but the heart and sincerity by which we do and say these things.  Jesus said the following, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Matthew 22:37. This was said in answer to the question of which is the greatest commandment in the Law?

Jesus’ words bring additional clarity to our focus verse.  The greatest commandment in the Law is to love God with everything we have.  And that means whatever we do, whether it be reading or listening to the scriptures, praying to Him, taking communion or whatever else we are doing, ensure we are doing it with our whole heart, our whole soul, and our whole mind, and our whole strength.  If we do not, then we are mere hearers of the law who are simply going through the motions.

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

Psalm 8:4-5

Verse of the Day Devotion: Psalm 8:4-5

“What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him?  Yet You have made him a little lower than God, and You crown him with glory and majesty!” – Psalm 8:4-5

I am sure that most Christians have heard this verse at least once.  This is believed by most scholars to have been written by King David.  He is kneeling in humility before God and asking the questions in this verse.

First, let us look at what caused him to pray this prayer.  “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained;” Psalm 8:3.  David has looked up into the heavens, sees the moon and the uncountable multitude of stars, and He attributes them to God.  He does not see this as a universe that either, naturally came out of nothing, or as an infinite universe that has no beginning.  (If you would like information regarding the universe coming into existence without God, do not hesitate to email me at william@truedevotionmin.org.)

Because of David’s awe of God’s amazing creation, he asked the question of why we are so important to God that He cares for us.  For you made Him a little lower than God.  The Hebrew for God here is “Elohim”, which is the plural for El, which is God and refers to a triune being, not many gods.  I see this as us being created in His image.  For God said, “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’” Genesis 1:26 We rule down here over all living things and have authority over them.  Compare with verse 6, “You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet,” Psalm 8:6.  Therefore, we were made in His image and given authority.

Do we look up into the heavens and gaze in awe of God and His creation?  Do we come before Him in humility knowing how much lower we are, especially because of our rebellion?  Are we humbled by the fact that God sent His very Son who “…humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” for our sake?  Philippians 2:8b I sometimes look at myself and wonder why He cares about me.  Then I remember His love and grace.  And that says everything.

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

Matthew 5:12

Verse of the Day Devotion: Matthew 5:12

“Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” – Matthew 5:12

You have probably seen the news showing how Christians are becoming more and more persecuted throughout the world.  In China, Christians are put into re-education camps in order to get them to renounce their beliefs and accept the government as their leaders.  In middle eastern and African Muslim nations, Christians are being killed for their faith.  You either convert or die.

These are extreme examples, but the persecution of Christians is on the rise here in the United States.  It has not yet reached the level of other places, but it is just a matter of time.  There are already cases where Christians face persecution because they will not accept the evil beliefs that those in power are forcing on us.  In some places, it is becoming illegal to pray to the true God, but acceptable to pray to false ones.  It is amazing to me that it is OK to glorify and worship any God, as long as it is not the Christian’s God.

We are seeing only the beginning of what is coming.  I know this part is difficult to think about, however, hear what Jesus said.  “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.”  Matthew 5:11.  What He is saying is we are to stand strong when we are persecuted.   When they persecute and lie about us, saying all kinds of evil against us, we are to rejoice and be blessed.  Why?  As the focus verse says, our reward will be great in Heaven.  For this is exactly what happened to the prophets of old.  We are not to back down or compromise, because we know we are the ones who will overcome.

So, when you are ridiculed, cursed at and treated badly on account of your belief in Jesus Christ, stand tall and proud.  God is with you and will help you through the situation.  And He will reward us beyond anything we could ever imagine.  And that makes it all worth it.

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

Luke 9:35

Verse of the Day Devotion: Luke 9:35

“Then a voice came out of the cloud, saying, this is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!” – Luke 9:35

This passage is found at the end of what is called the transfiguration.  Jesus took Peter, James and John with Him up onto a mountain to pray.  While Jesus was praying, it says that something changed with Him.  He was transfigured.  “And while He was praying, the appearance of His face became different, and His clothing became white and gleaming.”  Luke 9-29.  Matthew gives us a more detailed description of the change in Jesus.  “And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light.”  Matthew 17:2. And with Him stood two other men, also appearing in glory, Elijah and Moses.

After a time, the voice of God the Father came from out of the clouds saying, ‘Listen to my Son, the chosen one.’  This is key.  As the disciples were told to listen to Jesus, we are to as well.  Too often we only listen to pastors and teachers when it comes to theological issues, and just accept what they say.  This is where heretical teachings and practices arise.  The question we should ask is, ‘Does what they are saying line up with the Word of God?’  If it does, then accept it and follow it.  If it does not, then reject it.

Paul spoke of the Bereans in Acts 17, and this should be our mindset.  “Now these (Jews from Berea) were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.”  Acts 17:11.   They did not take what Paul said without checking it out first.  We also should not accept what someone tells us, even if they are greatly credentialed, without checking it out ourselves.  There are some things that are obvious, however, if you have not heard it before or are questioning the accuracy of the interpretation, look it up.  And while checking it out, pray that God will reveal the truth to you.  Let Christ be the one who validates what men say.

Now this does require discipline.  We must be willing and desirous of knowing the reality of what is being said.  Let Him show you the truth.  He will never lead you astray and will always guide you, through His Spirit, into all truth.  And is not the truth what we are striving for?

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

Romans 6:23

Verse of the Day Devotion: Romans 6:23

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 6:23

Paul wrote this in order to finalize a section where he was writing about the difference of being slaves to sin and slaves of righteousness.  Before we are saved, we are slaves to sin.  This word translated slave is the Greek word doulos, meaning slave or bondservant.  We obey our sinful desires which is counter to obeying God.

When we accept Christ as savior, accepting the work Christ did on the cross, then our old man who was a bondservant to sin dies, which then releases us from our bondage to sin, and because of the resurrection we are a new creation, being a new man who has no ties to sin, and we now are slaves to righteousness.

Now, there are two ultimate endings based on our decision.  Let’s look first at our former life.  We read in a couple verses up, “Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death.” Romans 6:21.  This is simple, if we remain in in our former life, not accepting Christ as our Savior, the “final result” is death.  There can be no other.  For we have nothing we can do to be declared righteous before God.  Only the work of Christ provides it.

Now, let’s look at our new life in Christ.  Paul said in the next verse, “But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.” Romans 6:22.  The “final result” of accepting Christ is first, a new life focused on holiness since the old is gone.  However, even better, this life will be eternal, everlasting, never ending.  I would say this is infinitely better then if we remained separated from Him.

Now, to the focus verse.  Look at what is said.  “Wages of Sin” and “Gift of God”.  Wages are defined as something we earn by the works we do.  Therefore, if we do not accept Christ, the old man will get what he earned, what he deserves.  That being death.  However, if we do accept Christ, we earn / deserve nothing.  However, we get a “free gift” from God.  And that is eternal life in Him.

So, we either get what we earn, which is death, or what we do not earn, which is eternal life.  I’ll take what I did not earn.

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

Psalm 106:1

Verse of the Day Devotion: Psalm 106:1

“Praise the LORD! Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!” – Psalm 106:1

This is a very powerful verse.  In fact, this same wording is found in several other places.  For instance, let’s look at the next chapter in Psalms.  “Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!”  Psalm 107:1. Now, compare this with a verse in 1 Chronicles.  “Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!”  1 Chronicles 16:34. In comparing Psalm 107:1 and 1 Chronicles 16:34, they are word for word the same.  Then when you look at our focus verse, the wording is also identical after the first three words, ‘Praise the Lord’’.  You will also find the same wording in 2 Chronicles 20:21, Psalm 118:1, Psalm 118:29 and, Psalm 136:1.  There are many other verses that are very close, with slight word changes.  However, the meaning is clear.

These words are found in enough places in the scriptures that I would venture to say this was a phrase well known to the Israelites.  And they must become very familiar to us as well.  Our God is great, greater than anyone or anything.  For without Him, nothing else would exist.  He is all powerful, there is nothing that can stop Him or His will from being accomplished.  He is all knowing, knowing every minutia of everything and everybody in every moment of time.  And He is everywhere all the time, “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 23:24. He is an incredible God we serve.  And He loves us beyond our comprehension. God spoke these words to Jeremiah, but they are applicable to us today. “The LORD appeared to him from afar, saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore, I have drawn you with lovingkindness.”  Jeremiah 31:3. There will never be a need He will not meet.  “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19. And most important of all, He died that we might live.  “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”  Romans 5:8. “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”  John 15:13.

How can we not praise Him with our whole being?  How can we not worship Him from the very depth of our heart?  How can we not thank Him for His goodness He has poured out on us?  And how can we not love Him with everything we are, for our God’s love, from Him who does not change, is an everlasting love, from eternity to eternity.

“Praise the LORD! Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.”

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

Psalm 46:10

Verse of the Day Devotion: Psalm 46:10

“Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth!” – Psalm 46:10

The idea in the first part, where it says ‘Be Still’ is to Cease Striving.  In the beginning of this chapter, we see the following, “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.  Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea;” Psalm 46:1-2.  The author of this Psalm starts off by declaring that God is our refuge.  He is where we can flee when we find ourselves in trouble.  He goes on to say that we shall not fear, no matter what happens.  Though there be catastrophic world calamities or major army attacks, we can trust God.  And why?  “The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah.”  Psalm 46:7.

We need to think this way.  We need to remember that the Lord of Hosts is with us.  “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.  God’s promise is that no matter what happens, we will be OK.  For He will be with us.  However, in looking at Paul and the disciples, He may take us home, but we will be OK.

When we get into any type of trouble, no matter how extreme, we must cease our striving against it, do what we can but remember that God is always with us.  Our God is almighty, all knowing, and fills our universe, both known and unknown.  He can deliver us from any trial, tribulation or persecution we may run into. It may be taking the situation away or bringing us safely through by giving us the strength to endure.   I have read many stories of Christians who were persecuted beyond belief.  People like Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand who suffered greatly at the hand of Russian controlled Romania, and eventually founded Voice of the Martyrs.  Or Aida Mikhailovna Skripnikova who was sentenced to three years in a Soviet prison camp because she witnessed to the Russians, but also because she told the Judge in her trial the following, “The Christian can’t be anything but confrontational.  Once you know the truth, this means following it, and if necessary, suffering for it.”  Or He may deliver us by taking us home, like Stephen in Acts 6-7, where Luke writes, “But being full of the Holy Spirit, he (Stephen) gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” Acts 7:55-56.  And after this, they stoned him to death.

We have no idea how God will bring us through our trials.  However, what we do know is that He will.  So, as God spoke to the writer of Psalm 46:10, He also speaks to us, as our focus verse says.  “Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth!”

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

Matthew 7:23

Verse of the Day Devotion: Matthew 7:23

“And then will I declare to them, I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” – Matthew 7:23

This is a verse that can be hard to hear.  For it deals with a false idea that too many people have fallen into.  Let’s look at this from the beginning, starting in verse 21.

He starts by saying that not everyone who calls Him Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven.  We can say the word Lord all we want, but if we are saying it and do not believe He is Lord, then we are liars.  Paul put it this way.  “Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”  Romans 10:9. To confess it with our mouth is to confess it no matter what and in any dire situation.  And we can only do this if we truly believe it.  Again, we can call Him Lord all we want, but if there is no belief behind it, we are just lying to ourselves and ultimately to Him.

He says in verse 22 that on the day, meaning the day of judgement, many will claim Him to be Lord, even though they did not believe it.  They will say they did miracles in His name, as well as taught and prophesied.  However, He truly was not their Lord.  And they will claim they did them in His name.  However, as we see in our focus verse, He will declare He never knew them.  Many may ask, if He knows everything, how can He not know them?  Simple, the idea of ‘knew’ means there was an intimate relationship with Him.  They may have known about Him, but they never knew Him intimately.  Many people know of God and Jesus, but they do not know Him personally.

Remember what Paul said in his letter to the Romans.  “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;” Romans 8:29.  God knows the end from the beginning. (Isaiah 46:10) He knows who will be saved, who will declare Him lord and believe it, and believes Christ was raised from the dead.  And He knew this from the beginning.

If we do not have an intimate relationship with Him, where we spend time with Him and obey His commands, and other things indicative of an intimate relationship, then we need to examine ourselves and ask God to forgive us, then make the adjustments.  The Christian walk is a serious one.  I would never declare to anyone they are not there, only we as individuals with God’s help can do that.  But it is something we need to be serious about.

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

Revelation 22:13

Verse of the Day Devotion: Revelation 22:13

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” – Revelation 22:13

Revelation is the last book in the Bible, God’s Word.  Chapter 21 through 22:5 describe the future abode of the redeemed, starting from the revealing of the new heavens and earth through the declaration that this life will endure forever with no end.  Then we read the following. “And he said to me, these words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place. And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” Revelation 22:6-7.  Jesus speaking through the angel, declares that He is coming soon.  And blessed are those who believe the words of this book and keep them, living the life that shows they truly believe.

Then He declares the words of our focus verse.  Before we start, something needs to be clarified.  Any time a word is repeated three times, this denotes something very important, absolute and complete, something that needs to be emphasized.  For example, “And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” Revelation 4:8. Holy declared three times denotes His holiness is absolute and complete.  It will remain for He cannot be less then holy.

Ok, now back to the focus verse.  Note the three parts.  He says He is the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.  For those not familiar with the Greek alphabet, Alpha is the first letter and Omega is the last letter.  This is the same as the Holy, Holy, Holy in that it is the same idea expressed three times: “First letter” to “Last Letter”, “First” to “Last”, and “Beginning” to “End”.  These denote His eternality is absolute and complete, and it will remain that way because He cannot be less then eternal.

Only an eternal being can declare what is our everlasting future with complete accuracy.  Therefore, let us rejoice.  No matter how difficult things get here, or the trials we go through, or the persecution we endure, there is a beautiful life in store for us.  One that is wonderful beyond words, and endless beyond our comprehension.  So, stand strong and uncompromising.

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