Today's Verse: Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. ~2 Corinthians 3:17 The other day, we examined the meaning of liberty. This morning, let us see the work of liberty in our life. Paul said, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” I am thankful for the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Godhead. He is co-equal, co-eternal, co-existent, and co-essential with the Father and the Son. Where the Spirit of the Lord is,

Today's Verse: And the watchman told, saying, He came even unto them, and cometh not again: and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he driveth furiously. ~2 Kings 9:20 Everyone who drives an automobile has been taught to be alert, careful, obedient to the safety laws, and vigilant. Reckless drivers have a total disregard for the laws and safety of other people. One statistic that I recently read indicated that 56% of all deadly vehicle crashes invo

Today's Verse: Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. ~Psalm 37:1 Dealing with people can be a blessing. It can also be a trying experience as some personalities choose to be adversarial, annoying, contentious, disloyal, undermining, or difficult to work with. Some types of personalities can just get under your skin. In other words, they test your patience and lead to fretting on our part. Three times in the opening ve

Today's Verse: Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, ~2 Thessalonians 2:16 In 2 Thessalonians 1-2, Paul gives us prophetical insight on things to come. He tells us about a faithful removal (the rapture of the Christians and the removal of the Holy Spirit), a false representative (the Antichrist of the Great Tribulation), and a forsaken remnant (people who hear t

Today's Verse: Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator. ~1 Peter 4:19 The reference to God as our Creator is found five times in the Bible. It is found three times in the Old Testament and twice in the New Testament. Creator is a powerful name and description. It implies an author, founder, maker, controller, and master. The very name implies the One Who made all things. Pe

Today's Verse: Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. ~2 Corinthians 3:17 Today marks the celebration of America’s declaration of independence from the oppression of Great Britain. It marks the date when America established the charter that described our freedom and liberty. Today, America is 250 years old as a nation. Leading to this great declaration were the valiant proclamations of men like Patrick Henry. It was Mr. Henry who

Today's Verse: I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. ~Psalm 121:1 The background to Psalm 121 is a believer who is in a valley and trapped by his enemies. He is outnumbered, overwhelmed, and desperate. He looks behind him and he is in trouble. He looks ahead of him and he is in trouble. He looks to his left and to his right and he is in trouble. However, he looks up to the hills and help is on the way. This morning, let us look to the hills, fr

Today's Verse: And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go. ~Genesis 24:58 On the wedding day, the most precious moment is when it is time for the bride to walk the aisle and to join her bridegroom. The congregation is asked to rise and stand out of respect for her entrance. The bride gracefully walks the aisle with great anticipation as she will join the groom and together recite their vows one to another and be joined as

Today's Verse: Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross: all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even the dross of silver. ~Ezekiel 22:18 I know a lot of people who are bargain hunters when they go shopping. They look for merchandise that is marked downed in price. The markdown could be due to scratches, defects, being a returned item, or being seasonal. Whatever the reason, it does not have the same value as the wh

Today's Verse: He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. ~Proverbs 28:13 All of us have experienced failure in one way or another. It could have been a failing grade on a test or class. It could have been a losing season. It could have been a business venture that went out of business. It could have been our inability to live up to a required standard of excellence. Failure hurts. Failure is a setback. Failure make

Today's Verse: I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee. ~Job 42:2 What you think and believe about God determines the kind of Christian you are. Years ago, leadership and management expert John Maxwell spoke about the law of the lid. The lid is the ceiling that you allow in your thinking and faith. The lid is what keeps you from attaining your goal or seeing a dream come to fruition. Job was going through an intense time of suff

Today's Verse: The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments. ~Habakkuk 3:19 When buying cold and pain relief medicine, the label description of “maximum strength” implies greatness of potency and something that will more than get the job done. Habakkuk made a discovery about maximum strength that changed how he lived. We see the vital connection. “T

Today's Verse: If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. ~Colossians 3:1 The Scottish preacher John McNeill liked to tell about an eagle that had been captured when it was quite young. The farmer who snared the bird put a restraint on it so that it could not fly, and then he turned it loose to roam in the barnyard. It was not long until the eagle began to act like the chickens, scratching and pecking at

Today's Verse: Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way. ~Psalm 119:37 One of the challenges of parenting babies and toddlers is keeping their attention focused. Little kids tend to be distracted easily. Learning to focus is part of child development and training. In some cases, children who have difficulty focusing are said to have attention deficit disorder. In a spiritual sense, some Christians find themselves pulled in different direction

Today's Verse: The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger. ~Job 17:9 Every mother is good at telling her children “go, wash your hands” before touching their faces and before eating a meal. Our hands come into contact with a lot of germs that can spread very easily. Clean hands are an essential part of good hygiene and good health. Clean hands are also a beautiful picture of the importance of serving God with purity

Today's Verse: Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. ~John 12:3 Have you ever gone to someone’s home, and as soon as you approached the front door, you smelled the delicious aroma of food being prepared? There is something very appealing to our senses when we smell the aroma of food being cooked. The same can be said about the wo

Today's Verse: By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, ~Hebrews 11:17 How much do you trust God? Do you have enough faith to trust God about everything in your life? Do you have enough faith to believe that God will take care of you? This morning we are considering “faith under fire.” We see the reason. “By faith Abraham, when he was tried...” God uses trials to determine our spiritua

Today's Verse: And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. ~Genesis 22:1 I remember very vividly in grade school the class roll call. The teacher would stand up at the beginning of class, after recess, and after lunch and call out the names of the students. We were expected to respond with “here” to indicate we were present. If there was no answer, we were marked off as being absent. In the

Today's Verse: And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus. ~Acts 18:24 The city of Alexandria was the citadel of higher learning and a place that thrived on philosophies, occultism, and godlessness. Corrupted manuscripts of Scripture came out of Alexandria and gave way to a corrupted translation that would later be rejected. As a believer, you would have to be discerning and careful about what came out

Today's Verse: And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ. ~Acts 18:5 A pressure point is defined as a point on the surface of the body that is sensitive to pressure. Traditional Chinese medicine teaches that applying pressure to specific areas of the body can help relieve tension and stress. In our devotion this morning, we read about how the Apostle Paul was pressed in the spirit. Y