Lessons From An Infamous Character

Posted on 2014/02/19 by Shawn Thomas

II Samuel 15:1-2 says of King David’s devious son that “Absalom used to rise early and stand beside the way to the gate; and when any man had a suit to come to the king for judgment, Absalom would call to him and say, ‘From what city are you?’ And he would say, ‘Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel.’ Then Absalom would say to him, ‘See, your claims are good and right, but no man listens to you on the part of the king.'” There are a couple of notable things about Absalom’s actions:

Continue reading →

Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Seeking the Giver

Posted on 2014/02/18 by Shawn Thomas

Psalm 3 concludes with :8, “Salvation belongs to the LORD. Your blessing be upon Your people. Selah.” What began earlier in the Psalm as a catalogue of all of David’s troubles ends in exclamations of praise to God for His deliverance. It is also insightful that in Hebrew, the first word of the verse is not “Salvation”, but rather is “Yahweh” — the personal name of the God of Israel.

Continue reading →

Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

By The Will of God

Posted on 2014/02/17 by Shawn Thomas

In Colossians 1:1 Paul wrote that he was an apostle “by the will of God.” This is an extremely important assertion. He had not taken this mantle upon himself; God had purposed and given it to him. It should be the goal for each of us to be able to say the same thing about ourselves, and our place of service.

Continue reading →

Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Knowing Him

Posted on 2014/02/14 by Shawn Thomas

In Psalm 3:3 David said: “But You, YHWH, are a shield about me …”. It is instructive that the enemies of David, the “naysayers”, said: “There is no help for him in God” — the word “God” there is the Hebrew “Elohim”, which is a general name for God. But in his response, David said, “But you, O YHWH, are a shield for me …”. YHWH, of course, is the personal, covenant name of God, the name He gave Moses when he asked Him what His name was.

Continue reading →

Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Don’t Listen To What “Everybody” Is Saying

Posted on 2014/02/13 by Shawn Thomas

In Psalm 3:2 David writes: “Many are saying to my soul, ‘there is no salvation for him in God’.” The Psalm tells us that David’s situation was indeed bleak: he wrote it when he was in the cave, fleeing from Absalom during his rebellion. Things did not look good for David, and evidently he wasn’t getting a lot of encouragement either. “MANY” were saying that there was no hope for him.

One of the things this Psalm should remind us of is that what the “many” are saying is not always right! Continue reading →

Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Breaking the Chain: The Sons of Korah

Posted on 2014/02/12 by Shawn Thomas

Some people feel as if they are “doomed to failure” due to a sin their parents committed, or because of something unsavory in their family background. The story of the sons of Korah reminds us that we are not consigned to failure because of our family heritage.

Continue reading →

Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

But You …

Posted on 2014/02/11 by Shawn Thomas

In Psalm 3, David is almost overwhelmed by the increase of his enemies, and the hopelessness of his situation. And this was not only his own perception. Verse 2 says “MANY are saying of my soul, ‘there is no deliverance for him in God.'” It looked very bleak, and the “Selah” probably indicates a pause to meditate on the situation, which at that time looked hopeless. But the next words would change everything:

Continue reading →

Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Are YOU Sure of a Good Conscience?

Posted on 2014/02/10 by Shawn Thomas

In Hebrews 13:18 the author writes: “Pray for us, we are sure that we have a good conscience, desiring to conduct ourselves honorably in all things.” That is quite a statement to make: “we are sure that we have a good conscience.” I wonder how many of us could honestly write the same thing? And yet it should be the goal for each of us!

Continue reading →

Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Model Prayer and Your Request

Posted on 2014/02/07 by Shawn Thomas

We saw here how what is often referred to as “The Lord’s Prayer” of Matthew 6:9-13 is really a model for our daily prayers. But it can also serve as a guide for the way that we pray for specific issues or requests.

Continue reading →

Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Model Prayer

Posted on 2014/02/06 by Shawn Thomas

The Model Prayer of Matthew 6:9-13 (often referred to as “The Lord’s Prayer”) is probably the single most familiar prayer in history, yet it is often misunderstood. It was never meant to be used as a “rote” prayer, word-for-word. Jesus didn’t say “pray this”, but rather “pray IN THIS WAY” — in other words, it was a MODEL for the way that we are to address God.

Continue reading →

Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment