Solid Rock Church

...Living Life More Abundantly!!

  • Increase font size
  • Default font size
  • Decrease font size
Home Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
E-mail Print PDF

 

L.I.F.E.LINES is dedicated to encouraging and equipping you

for a daily prayer and quiet time.  Please feel free to reply to us with

your comments and pass this along to your family and friends.

Visit our website at www.thesolidrockchurch.com for more information

about the ministry of Solid Rock Church.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Reserve

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Matthew 4:3~11

The tempter came to (Jesus) and said, "If..."        Jesus answered, "It is written..."

The devil...said, "If..."                                          Jesus answered him, "It is also written..."

Again, the devil...said, "If..."                                Jesus said to him, "...it is written..."

Then the devil left him.

Yesterday we talked about the high calorie diet my doctor put me on, and I'd like to add one more important thing: she said, "You are so thin, that I fear that if you got really sick or injured, your body wouldn't have any reserve to fall back on." That got me to thinking about how that would apply to our spiritual well-being.

"Fattening up" on God's word, that is, reading the Bible, studying it, meditating on it, making it our own and putting into practice has this wonderful, additional plus - we get it into our memory; we have it there in reserve.

How was the Lord Jesus, in our verses above, able to immediately refute Satan with a pertinent Scripture? Oh, dear friend, it was because the word was already in Him. He didn't have to pull out a Bible, look in the concordance and find the verses - they were already well engrained. He had spent years familiarizing himself with them. Those scriptures sent the devil packing, for he can never argue with Scripture. The word of God protected Jesus.

Can you see how that benefits you and me? When temptations come our way (and they will) the engrained word of God will be brought to mind by the Holy Spirit to give you an answer. When we're faced with moral decisions, the Holy Spirit will bring to mind a scripture to give us direction. Then, it's up to us to obey and act upon it.

But we have a "reserve" if we have the word in us. Look with me at the following exhortation from Paul:

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly..." (Colossians 3:16).

Pray with me, please, the sentiments of Psalm 119:11:

Father God, let it be true of me that I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. I ask this in the precious name of the Lord Jesus. Amen. 

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 
E-mail Print PDF

L.I.F.E.LINES is dedicated to encouraging and equipping you

for a daily prayer and quiet time.  Please feel free to reply to us with

your comments and pass this along to your family and friends.

Visit our website at www.thesolidrockchurch.com for more information

about the ministry of Solid Rock Church.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Fattening Up

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Jeremiah 15:16

When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my delight, for I bear your name, O Lord God Almighty.

My doctor told me that I have a problem; I'm too thin. So she ordered me to begin a 2,500 calorie per day diet. Perhaps many of you might say, "I'd love to have a problem like that!" Well, let me say, eating that many calories and being diabetic is not as easy as it may sound. It is quite a juggling act and involves careful tabulation and documentation of intake and amounts.

Here are some things I've discovered in this process: my diet is far better balanced and nutritious than ever before. I can't often get by with "cheating" on greasy, junky food - there is little wiggle room - and frankly that's good.

Where is all this going, you're doubtless wondering. What we feed on, morally, affects our spiritual health. It blesses me immensely that you are reading Lifelines, and I pray that it meets a need in your life. But you can't "fatten up" much just on Lifelines.

If you want to fatten up spiritually, you need to feed on God's word for yourself. Are you reading the Bible for yourself? Are you meditating on it, living out what it teaches you? I lovingly urge you to spend some time daily in the Bible, just you, God and His word. If you're not sure where to start, I recommend the Gospel of John. Then, let the word speak toyou, rather than you reading your own thoughts into it. See what happens. Let me know.

If you're already on a Bible study "regimen," praise the Lord. You're probably putting on a little spiritual fat. Stay with it as best you can. Share with another Christ follower some of the "nuggets" you encounter. Rejoice together in His word. But let's remember, just like in the physical, we need to eat some every day and chew it well, so it digests better.

Pray with me, please, the sentiments of Psalm 119:103:

Dear Lord, may I truly be able to say, How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Amen.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 
E-mail Print PDF

 

L.I.F.E.LINES is dedicated to encouraging and equipping you

for a daily prayer and quiet time.  Please feel free to reply to us with

your comments and pass this along to your family and friends.

Visit our website at www.thesolidrockchurch.com for more information

about the ministry of Solid Rock Church.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 Having Strong Roots

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Colossians 2:6-7

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him,

rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

 On our river bank there is a moderate sized cypress tree. We've watched it grow for years, and we’ve marveled at how it survived two devastating floods. Twelve years ago, when the tree was much smaller, we had a horrific flood. The river rose to a record height and was raging like we'd never seen it do before. We watched in dismay as two giant pecan trees succumbed to the force and were ripped out by the roots or snapped off.

In the meanwhile, the little cypress bent and bent, and then, as the waters engulfed it, it disappeared under the water. We thought we'd lost it too. But later, after the waters receded, there it was still standing. Amazing! Its roots were deep and its trunk was strong and supple.

What are your roots anchored in, dear friend. Life comes with its storms and trials, and we can find ourselves in deep waters. What keeps us from being swept away in despair? Oh, it is like our verse says, it's when we're rooted and built up in Christ. And, the more deeply we are rooted in Him, the stronger we are.

But notice a key phrase in verse six: "...you received Christ Jesus as Lord." When I make Jesus my Lord, my Master, the One who calls the shots, therein is my strength. That's the kind of relationship with Him that I need. He is then my strength and I am actively and purposefully surrendering my will to His. I wish I could say that always characterizes my life. I can say that it does more now than it used to.

How do I become more rooted and built up in Him? By cultivating that relationship with Him each day; by walking and talking with Him, by spending time in the Bible. The better I know Him, the more I trust Him, and the more I trust Him, the better I get to know Him. Yes, it works both ways. Thus, the roots grow deeper and deeper.

Father God, give this dear reader and me an increasing desire to be rooted and built up in our Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name I pray. Amen.

__________________________________________________________________________________

 
E-mail Print PDF

 

L.I.F.E.LINES is dedicated to encouraging and equipping you

for a daily prayer and quiet time.  Please feel free to reply to us with

your comments and pass this along to your family and friends.

Visit our website at www.thesolidrockchurch.com for more information

about the ministry of Solid Rock Church.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 Taking the Low Place

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mark 10:35~37

Then James and John...replied, "Let one of us sit at your right hand and the other at your left in your glory."

It is so remarkable! Here we have two of Jesus' disciples asking this question right after He had told them that He was going to be condemned to death, flogged and killed, and that three days later he would rise from the dead. Are they at all touched by the fact that He was going to suffer so? No, they are thinking of their own exaltation.

Something similar occurred in Mark 9. Jesus had just told them (again) that he was going to be betrayed, killed and three days later to rise. And what is the next thing we read that the disciples were doing? They had been arguing among themselves about which of them was the greatest.

Dear friend, don't we see that same tendency in our own hearts? Don't we so often seek to exalt ourselves, even at the expense of others?

What was Jesus' response in Mark 9? He said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last and the servant of all" (verse 36).

And what was His response to the question posed in our verse today? He said, "Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and give his life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:43-45).

Jesus took the lowest place. He was the servant of all. Let's be willing to take the low place. Then, perhaps, the Lord will exalt us.

Please pray with me the sentiments of Philippians 2:3:

Loving God my Father, help me and this dear reader to do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than ourselves. This I ask in Jesus' name. Amen.

 
E-mail Print PDF

L.I.F.E.LINES is dedicated to encouraging and equipping you

for a daily prayer and quiet time.  Please feel free to reply to us with

your comments and pass this along to your family and friends.

Visit our website at www.thesolidrockchurch.com for more information

about the ministry of Solid Rock Church.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 God's Beautifully Diverse Family

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Revelation 5:9c

With your blood you purchased men from every tribe and language and people and nation...

A year ago I was asked by a Christian friend to go the hospital as there was a French speaking African lady there who  was giving birth to her firstborn child. That was when I met Éléonore and her newborn son Micah. I soon found that Éléonore loved the Lord. I went back the next morning and shared with her some of the significance of the wonderful name she had chosen for her son, and read to her the wonderful prophesies about where the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, was to be born - from the book of Micah. We have remained friends.

Since then, Eléonore's husband has been able to join her here and the family is back together. They are from Burundi.

Last Saturday evening my wife and I had the joy and honor of being invited to Micah's first birthday party. The grandma was there - she speaks no English, only French and the language of Burundi. There were a few other close friends there and we had a lovely time of fellowship. We all stood in a circle, holding hands and several prayed. Grandma prayed too, a tender, heartfelt prayer of which we didn't understand a word, (later there was a translation), but we could not mistake the love and sweetness of her voice as she prayed and thanked God for all of us.

I was again reminded of the diverse beauty of God's family of believers. Many of us sang "Red and yellow, black and white, all are precious in His sight," as youngsters, and so it is. God's children are indeed precious to Him, all of us. Let us rejoice in one another and in that beautiful diversity. Let's rejoice in the fact that Jesus breaks down barriers that men erect. Let's rejoice in the wonder that we are all one in Him and one with one another. Praise the Lord!

Lord Jesus, our verse today declares that you have bought people for Yourself from every tribe and tongue and people and nation; thank You, loving Savior, for every one of our brothers and sisters in Christ whom You purchased at such a price, Your own life's blood. We praise You, Lord Jesus. Amen,

___________________________________________________________________________________

 
  • «
  •  Start 
  •  Prev 
  •  1 
  •  2 
  •  3 
  •  4 
  •  5 
  •  6 
  •  7 
  •  8 
  •  9 
  •  10 
  •  Next 
  •  End 
  • »


Page 1 of 58