Category: Devotionals

Devotionals

The First Deacons

Loring Schultz

Read: Acts 6:1-6 NLT – Seven Men Chosen to Serve – But as the – Bible Gateway

“We apostles should spend our time teaching the word of God, not running a food program. And so, brothers, select seven men who are well respected and are full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will give them this responsibility.” Acts 6:2-3 NLT

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Formal church structure in most denominations and independent churches have an office entitled ‘deacon’ within the church organization. The word ‘deacon’ is first used in Scripture in Philippians 1:1 by the apostle Paul, and then again by Paul in 1 Timothy 3:8-13 as he lays out the qualifications for deacons. You won’t find the word again in Scripture, but enough is said as to who is to fulfill that office, those who fill the qualifications.

You may ask, what is a deacon? A simple answer is ‘one who serves.’ Within the church, a deacon is one who assists the pastor and elders in various tasks of church ministry. They are ones who serve. Although the work of a deacon is not expanded on in Paul’s writings, Luke gives us a perfect example of the role of a deacon. We find the story in Acts chapter 6 where the church was rapidly expanding and problems were starting to develop. There was a complaint by the Greek speaking believers about the Hebrew speaking believers in the distribution of food to their widows. Clearly this was an important function and responsibility of the church, but not as in the preaching and teaching of the Word. Regardless, this work needed to be done, done properly and in order. And for that to happen you need people who fit the criteria for being a deacon.

The church body has many parts to it. Deacons are an important part of the church, and more are needed to carry on the work God has called us to do. It is important to note, the qualifications for deacons and elders are almost identical. One who desires to serve in this role should be very conscious of this. The Lord may be calling you to serve as a deacon, so, take note of the qualifications of the first deacons and follow their lead.

Devotionals

Giving Thanks: not only reserved for Thanksgiving Day

Loring Schultz

“But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God.” Daniel 6:10 NLT

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There are many verses in Scripture that refer to giving thanks. Jesus Himself set an example in giving thanks to His Father while on earth. The angels expressed thanks to God and to His Son. Thanks are to be given in private and public worship to God and for all things, and especially as a part of our daily prayers.

One of the greatest examples recorded in the Bible of giving thanks in private worship and daily prayer is found in Daniel chapter 6. The very familiar story of Daniel in the lions’ den comprises this 6th chapter of Daniel. Daniel was faced with certain death if he continued praying to God, praising Him and giving thanks. King Darius inadvertently signed an edit that sealed Daniel’s fate. Any person found praying to any divine object or human, except the king would be thrown into the lions’ den. It was Daniel’s daily routine to pray with his windows opened towards Jerusalem three times a day giving thanks to God.

Paul wrote, “pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks.” (1Thess.5:17-18a) Daniel is indeed an example of Paul’s words. He prayed continually and although it must have been hard to give thanks for his situation, the Bible said he gave thanks to God. Yes, it is sometimes hard for us to see pass our circumstances thanking God for them. But God does not allow anything to come into our lives He hadn’t ordained to happen. We need to thank Him, for He knows all things and what is best for us.

So let us not be saving up our thanks for Thanksgiving Day, but may we be like Daniel, praying and giving thanks to God daily and in everything.

Devotionals

Northern Lights    

Loring Schultz

“When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—the moon and the stars you set in place—what are mere mortals that you should think about them,
human beings that you should care for them?” Psalm 8:3-4 NLT

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Last week a major portion of North America was treated to a display of the Northern Lights. Aurora Borealis, as they are called, are spectacular displays of light that occur in the night sky caused by particles from the sun colliding with the earths upper atmosphere. There are many scientific terms and research that has been done by very intelligent people for explaining how and why these lights occur. I appreciate them all, but I’ll go with the most natural one of all, it’s God painting the sky.

David writing in Psalm 8 notes the wonders he sees in the night sky with the moon and stars. No magnificent light show of the aurora borealis is mentioned. But what David witnessed was enough. The numbers of stars he couldn’t count in the sky and the light of the moon proved God’s greatness and His magnificent show without any northern lights. On a side note, in David’s time the night sky had no intrusion from city lights, airplanes, or cloud-covered gases. David saw the night sky as God had intended it, a spectacular view and a portrait of His greatness.

How often do we pause to recognize God’s creation all around us? We shouldn’t need a reminder of a northern lights occurrence to pay attention to His handiwork. It is seen every day and everywhere if we look for it. The greatest northern light that has ever appeared was when God sent His Son, the light of the world, into this world to save us from our sin. You don’t need to wait for particles from the sun to collide with earth’s atmosphere to see His light, only for the Son to collide with your heart through the Holy Spirit. His light is always visible; will you see it?

Devotionals

Be Patient            

Loring Schultz

Read: Mark 1:14-20 NASB – Jesus Preaches in Galilee – Now after – Bible Gateway

“And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.’” Mark 1:17 NASB

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You have heard the saying ‘patience is a virtue’ meaning to wait for something without getting frustrated builds strength and character. Truth be told, I haven’t been the most patient guy, but I have come a long way with the Lord’s help. I’ve needed an extra ounce of grace lately as I have started going to the gym to get in better shape and live a healthier lifestyle. My friend who is training me needs an extra pound of grace to keep his patience with me as I can be a challenge. I must say though he is very patient with me and his patience is certainly a virtue.

Jesus’ first disciples were also patient men. They were fishermen, not for sport, but as an occupation. Casual fishermen at times lack patience when their line remains stagnant in the water. However, when your livelihood depends on it, you better instill some patience or you won’t eat. Jesus knew the character of Andrew, Simon, James, and John. They were patient men who were able to work together. Jesus didn’t choose them because of their high intellect or their vast knowledge of the Scriptures, but because they were ordinary men. Men who were also patient with the ability to learn.

Many Christians when they first come to know the Lord are super excited and can’t wait to tell others or get enough teaching from God’s Word. Over time, sometimes a very short time, they get discouraged that their growth is not progressing as fast as they would like. Jesus told His disciples, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” (Mk.1:17 nasb) Notice Jesus said, ‘I will make you become.’ It was not instantaneous or over a few short months, Jesus trained His disciples for over three years to be fishers of men. They needed to be patient. They already had that quality and needed to use it now more than ever.

Don’t be discourage if you feel you’re not where you need to be in your walk with the Lord. If you are growing, even at a slow pace, you are still growing. Let that sink in. Just as in physical growth children grow and develop at different paces, but they grow, if being properly fed and cared for. New Christians develop spiritually the same way. Feeding on God’s Word at your own pace, receiving encouragement from other Christians, and learning through the teaching and preaching from those who handle God’s Word accurately is the road to be on. So, be patient, you may be exactly where you need to be.

Devotionals

New Gems of Truth

Loring Schultz

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” 2 Timothy 3:16 KJV

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‘What’s new?’ is a question you have asked and have been asked countless times. The inquiry ranges from new developments in one’s life to what’s new in general terms. It also carries with it the idea that something new means something old is done away with, and that is true in most cases, but not all. In particular, it is not true of sacred scripture, the Bible. There has been debate in recent decades over the authority of the Old Testament since Jesus’s time on earth and the completion of the New Testament. The New Testament records Jesus’s ministry, His pronouncement of the Heavenly Kingdom, the New Covenant, the early church, and future events. It is thought by some that Jesus’s fulfilment of the Old Testament oversees the necessity to follow the truths recorded in it. But Jesus has a much different view of sacred scripture from today’s debaters.

Jesus quoted often from the Old Testament mostly from the book of Deuteronomy. He explained the scriptures on the road to Emmaus as He walked along with Cleopas and his friend starting with Moses and all the prophets on how they related to Himself. (Lk. 24:13-32) Jesus also said to His disciples before His ascension into heaven, “When I was with you before, I told you that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.” (Lk. 24:44-45) Jesus wanted His disciples and us to understand the truths of Old Testament especially concerning Himself and the plan of Salvation.

While teaching the disciples about Himself and the kingdom of God in Matthew chapter 13, Jesus asked them, “Do you understand all these things?’ ‘Yes,’ they said, ‘we do.’” (Mt. 13:51) Jesus then went on, “Every teacher of religious law who becomes a disciple in the Kingdom of Heaven is like a homeowner who brings from his storeroom new gems of truth as well as old.” (Mt. 13:52) Now that they understood the truths about Jesus in the Old Testament, the disciples had new gems of truth to teach alongside the old truths. Today we have God’s completed Word in the Old and New Testaments. The insights from Jesus’s parables are understood through the truths of the Old Testament and Old Testament truths are understood through ‘New Gems of Truth.’

Devotionals

The Breath of Life

Loring Schultz

“Then the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.” Genesis 2:7 NLT

“………But you have not honored the God who gives you the breath of life and controls your destiny!” Daniel 5:23b NLT

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How many of God’s blessings do we take for granted? Our normal everyday life activities have countless examples of all we take for granted until it’s gone, even for a short time. A power outage in your home disrupts everything. It’s amazing what you now are unable to do with no electricity. Lack of fresh water is more than an inconvenience especially if lasting more than a couple of days. Most of us take for granted that our automobile is going to start when we get in it, but we all know that is not always the case, and we can go on and on with those things we take for granted.

My thought is we take for granted the very air we breathe the most, not to mention the source of our air supply. The Old Testament book of Genesis says, “He (God) breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.” (Gen. 2:7b NLT) God breathed into us the very breath of life. He has created air consisting of mostly of three gases; nitrogen, oxygen, and argon, which He also created, to maintain our breath of life. Have you ever thought, what if God had decided there would an ‘air outage’ for a period of time? I think it’s safe to say none us would be around to remember it. Electricity and water supplies are vital for survival in our current day, but it doesn’t mean instant death when their service is interrupted. But it is “God who holds your breath in His hand.” (Dan.5:23 NKJV)

The prophet Daniel told King Belshazzar he was going to lose the kingdom and his life that very night because he did not humble himself before God but mocked Him and praised their gods of silver and gold. Daniel was clear in his explanation to Belshazzar that he did not honor the true God who gave him the breath of life and the air to breathe, but took it for granted. “…But you have not honored the God who gives you the breath of life and controls your destiny!” (Dan. 5:23b NLT)  

It is a message for us to take to heart. Let us count our blessings, (as the old hymn goes), naming them one by one. May we not take any of them for granted, especially the air we breathe supplied to us by the one who gave us the Breath of Life.

Devotionals

Missing the Last Piece of the Puzzle

Loring Schultz

Read: Matthew 19:16-22 NASB – The Rich Young Ruler – And someone came – Bible Gateway

“Jesus said to him, ‘If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.’ But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.” Matthew 19:21-22 NASB

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Working on a jigsaw puzzle on your own or with friends and family is an enjoyable and relaxing way of putting away the cares of the world for a period of time. All the pieces eventually fit together completing the work and revealing the final product. The rewards are not only the finished product, but what was accomplished along the way. How many times have you got near the end of working your puzzle and realized you do not have all the pieces to complete it, in fact you’re missing only one piece. The last piece making it complete.

Our lives are like a giant jigsaw puzzle with the pieces falling into place throughout the years. For many of us there is a sense of urgency to feel complete in our lives. Despite what successes we may have there is this feeling that there is a piece missing making us incomplete. This feeling is two-fold, first of all we are created in the image of God, and whether we admit it or not, there is a longing to be united with our creator, and second we are created as spiritual beings with an eternal soul, meaning after this life is over we live on, and how can we know where that will be. For our lives to be complete in this life and the next, we need the missing last piece of the puzzle.

The gospel of Matthew records the story of a rich young ruler who asks Jesus what good thing he can do to obtain eternal life. He was looking for the missing piece. Having kept all the commandments so he thought, there must be something missing, he felt incomplete. Jesus wastes no time in answering him, telling him to sell all that he has, give the proceeds to the poor, and then follow Him. The young ruler was devastated by Jesus’s answer. His yearning to find the missing piece to his feeling of emptiness was put aside in place of his present day wealth.

Jesus’s instructions are clear, both to the rich young ruler and to us today. The thought is, there must be something else we can do to please the Lord and earn our Salvation. We are good people. We obey most of the ten commandants, and are kind to our neighbors, but we still feel incomplete. What is the missing last piece of the puzzle? It is Christ alone, accepting Him as our Savior and loving Him more than all our earthly possessions. Have you found your missing last piece of the puzzle?

Devotionals

Do You Believe Jesus’ Words?

Loring Schultz

Read: John 12:44-50 NLT – Jesus shouted to the crowds, “If you – Bible Gateway

“But all who reject me and my message will be judged on the day of judgment by the truth I have spoken.” John 12:48 NLT

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The question the title of this devotional asks, ‘do you believe Jesus’ words?’ will have several responses. Those who truly know Christ will say yes without reservation. Those who have a somewhat knowledge of Christ will also respond yes but with reservation. It is to those of you, I ask, what is restraining you to accept the truth of His words, and do you realize the  eternal consequences if you hold to your doubts and questions? They are not debatable.

First of all, when questioning Jesus’ words, you are actually questioning the integrity and truthfulness of Jesus. If you believe some of what He says, but not all, then how can you trust what is true and what is not. It’s all according to your own opinion, is it not? Are you always right in what you assume to be true? I think not, for I know I’m not always right. Being wrong in trivial matters is not very alarming, but in life-or-death situations I hate to be wrong. I trust you feel the same way.

Jesus spoke some words that are hard to understand, but He also communicated words of simple truth to us that are straight forward and easy to comprehend. In John’s gospel Jesus is recorded as saying, “But all who reject me and my message will be judged on the day of judgment by the truth I have spoken.” (Jn.12:48 nlt) On judgement day Jesus says all who rejected His message are going to be judged. Again, in selective reasoning which of Jesus’ statements are true and which are not, in reality if you reject some, you really reject them all.

Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” (Jn.3:3 nlt) “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” (Jn.14:6 nlt) “But all who reject me and my message will be judged on the day of judgment by the truth I have spoken.” (Jn.12:48 nlt) There is no picking and choosing which statements we believe and those we don’t. Do you believe Jesus’ words? It’s all or nothing!

Devotionals

The Lord’s Pruning Shears       

Loring Schultz

Read: John 15:1-5 ESV – I Am the True Vine – “I am the true – Bible Gateway

“Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” John 15:2 ESV

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I trimmed, or should say cut down, my wife’s rose bushes a few months ago. ‘Cut down’ is more appropriate, because there wasn’t much left of them when I got through. Having done the same thing a few years ago the rose bushes came back better than ever. But this year, I thought I had gone too far, they’ll never come back, but they did. We’ll see next spring having survive the winter how many roses reappear.

Pruning shears are used to trim off dead or living parts of a plant so they stay healthy and produce at a greater pace. They are also used to cut out unnecessary parts including foreign objects such as weeds that have infiltrated around the plant. Such was my case. Being so determined to eradicate those weeds once and for all, I nearly destroyed my wife’s rose bushes. But such was not the case. The weeds had to go. The rose bushes suffered more than the usual yearly trim as I worked towards the root of the problem.

The Lord’s pruning shears work the same way in the lives of Christians. Sometimes we need more than yearly trim. We need a weeding out of the foreign objects in our lives. These are the things we accept into our lives, allowing them to grow by watering and feeding them with the elements of the world around us. Soon they begin to choke out the vitality of our Christian life as the values of sin and the world take over. The Lord will take His pruning shears and cut us down until we think there’s nothing left of us, but if we accept it from His gracious and merciful hand repenting, He will bring us back better than ever.

Devotionals

NO NEUTRALITY BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL          

Loring Schultz

“Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me.” Matthew 12:30 NLT

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Neutrality is a term used to describe non-support to one side or another in a quarrel or war. Many countries will used the status of neutrality in a conflict or war between nations. Individuals will stay out of arguments between two people, not taking sides, if it doesn’t involve them. Being neutral in many cases is wise and may have its advantages, but being neutral in cases which are clearly between good and evil is not only unwise, but impossible for the Christian. The Word of God gives us understanding between right and wrong, good and evil, what God approves of and disapproves of, and what is a sin and not sin. There can be no neutrality in what God has already established in His Word as wrong and sinful. There can be no neutrality between good and evil.

Jesus in one of His many confrontations with the Pharisees, this time accusing Jesus of casting out demons by the power of Satan, said to them in Matthew chapter 12, “For who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man like Satan and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger—someone who could tie him up and then plunder his house.” (Mt. 12:29) The demons were cast out by the power of God. The Kingdom of God had come entering into Satan’s domain where Jesus proclaimed and demonstrated His power over Satan. The demons under Satan’s control were cast out by Jesus. Scripture reveals the crowd’s reaction to Jesus’ healing of the demon-processed man, “The crowd was amazed and asked, ‘Could it be that Jesus is the Son of David, the Messiah?’” (Mt. 12:23) The crowd had a choice to make. Do they side with the Pharisees who claimed Jesus cast out the demons with Satan’s help, or do they believe Jesus?

The same choice is presented to us today. Do we side with Satan or with Jesus? It might seem obvious that naturally we would side with Jesus. But do we really in all circumstances always side with Jesus? When we are under the watchful eye of our neighbors and co-workers, or when we fear of being excluded, do we side with the Lord, or do we make the choice most convenient or make no choice at all staying silent? The people in Jesus’ day had mounting pressure upon them by those in authority, especially the religious authority, to see it their way or be considered an outcast in society. Christians today have pressure and the stigma of rejection presented upon them if not adhering to the cultural changes in the world.

There were many who caved to the pressure of the Pharisees years ago, but there were also those who did not. May we be like those early followers of Jesus who sided with Him, taking a stand and proclaiming there is NO NEUTRALITY BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL.