Have you ever felt out of place? Have you ever felt like a square peg in a round hole? Have you ever felt like you just don't fit in? Not that you are not welcome, but it's like wearing a business suit to a swimming party. They invite you in and are friendly to you but they know you are not getting in the pool with them. It is an awkward situation. Do you feel like you make friends quickly but you never make good friends? Have you been invited to the meal but they don't have

Romans 14:23 NASB95 But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin. This verse comes at the end of the chapter, speaking of eating meat on occasion, where someone else sees it as a sin. The summary of these verses is do not cause a brother to stumble by your freedom. Then we come to our verse which first tells you that if you are unsure but you follow others in your unsurity then you are in sin. Because

Zephaniah 1:16 NASB95 A day of trumpet and battle cry Against the fortified cities And the high corner towers. The Shofar has a distinctive sound, and each blast from it carries a specific meaning. The coming of the Lord, the call for war, and the call for an announcement are just a few. You also have the call to praise, worship, and the call to assembly around the Lord. How can something have such beauty and such destruction in it? The beauty of gathering His people in love

Imagine a post, circulated all over social media. One Flyer announcing 4 events at your local church. All happening at the same time on the same night. In Room 1 there will be a discussion that will reveal everything about the two top candidates for the next presidential election. In Room 2, there will be a discussion on preparing for retirement and living a great life in retirement for those who are already retired. Everyone who attends will be registered to receive $10,000.

Joshua 23:11 NASB95 “So take diligent heed to yourselves to love the LORD your God. A long time ago, when I was a young man, I made a promise to myself. I promised myself, that I would do my best to let people know while I am alive on this earth, how I feel about them. I do not want anyone to wonder about my love once I am gone. I have known people whose family member died after an argument and they grieved not only the loss but also wondering if the person died thinking they

Titus 2:14 NASB95 — who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. We have lived our lives on credit. Every sin (lawless deed) has a cost. The interest rate is astronomical and at some point, the note will come due. What we thought would cost a dollar has multiplied exponentially, and we cannot afford the debt. Our eternity will be spent in debtor's prison (lake of fire, weeping,

Proverbs 3:1-4 NASB95 My son, do not forget my teaching, But let your heart keep my commandments; For length of days and years of life And peace they will add to you. Do not let kindness and truth leave you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good repute In the sight of God and man. Never underestimate the importance of teaching your child the righteous ways of God from an early age. We should start at the beginning

The Romans were known to have devised the cruelest form of death. It took the longest amount of time to die. It caused the greatest amount of pain for that length of time, and it meant certain death. They had perfected the art of torture before death. Plus it was a great deterrent against insurgency. As people would watch the person suffer tremendous pain that lasted for an unimaginable amount of time culminating in death, they would read on a placard of wood above them the c

Jeremiah 22:16 NASB95 “He pled the cause of the afflicted and needy; Then it was well. Is not that what it means to know Me?” Declares the LORD. In our text, the Lord is speaking to the sons of King Josiah. They had seenby experienced the hard work and righteous character of their father yet they did not learn from it. Instead, they felt entitled. Over the last several days, the Lord has been bringing me into conversations related to the entitled mindset. People have been say

Today's Devotional subject is not a fun topic to discuss. It is instead probably the hardest thing for a family to deal with. It involves struggles, turmoil, depression, brokenness, suffering, and death. It is the topic of suicide. I did not choose this topic God brought me to this scripture and said this will be your devo. Life in the fallen state of this world is extremely hard. The worst of our emotions is the despair of loneliness. This is why God reassures us that we wil

We discuss with each other, how bad the world has become. We look at wars, conflicts, and uprisings. We complain about riots and killings. Then we say the end must be near but what do we do to prepare? We act as if we are surprised by the way we are heading, but Scripture details it in such a way that if any unbeliever reads it, they should believe. Satan is running the world and he loves confusion and chaos, because they blind people like a fog. Thus they miss out on the cle

John 6:14 NASB95 Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.” Jesus had just fed 5,000 men, plus women and children, to the point of fullness. They then gathered up the leftovers and it amounted to twelve baskets of food. The amazing thing is that He had started to feed them with only five barley loaves and two fish. Jesus had fed over 5000 people with only enough food to feed a young boy

Having somewhat been where Ezra is, this is one of the most difficult devotions I have had to prepare. Being a pastor is the greatest thing I have ever done in service to my Lord. I can't imagine doing anything else. Being in the will of God and serving in this role has brought me such joy and peace that I can't begin to describe. Yet it is one of the most difficult and painful things God has asked me to do. Having the joy of watching so many people grow in Christ is absolute

James 4:11 NASB95 Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it. The words "speak against" are one word in Greek, meaning to proclaim evil against. The scripture is saying, " Do not speak evil against each other. The word brethren, refers to the family of Christ. We refer to this as the Church. So we are told

Luke 18:11-14 NASB95 “The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ “But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ “I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather th

Hosea 14:2-3 NASB95 Take words with you and return to the LORD. Say to Him, “Take away all iniquity And receive us graciously, That we may present the fruit of our lips. “Assyria will not save us, We will not ride on horses; Nor will we say again, ‘Our god,’ To the work of our hands; For in You the orphan finds mercy.” The importance of words must never be overlooked. There was a man who passed away. After the funeral, I was talking to his grown son, who told me, "He never ha

Leviticus 2:11 NASB95 ‘No grain offering, which you bring to the LORD, shall be made with leaven, for you shall not offer up in smoke any leaven or any honey as an offering by fire to the LORD. The grain offering is a freewill offering. It is given freely. This points to Jesus, who freely gave Himself as an offering for us. When you bring this offering it needs to be without leaven (representing sin). Jesus came without sin. We can see how this offering continues to point to

Isaiah 19:21-22 NASB95 Thus the LORD will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the LORD in that day. They will even worship with sacrifice and offering, and will make a vow to the LORD and perform it. The LORD will strike Egypt, striking but healing; so they will return to the LORD, and He will respond to them and will heal them. Look at the love of the Lord for His creation in this text. Egypt has been a tool of Satan used against God in the world for tho

Proverbs 18:10 NASB95 The name of the LORD is a strong tower; The righteous runs into it and is safe. The Führerbunker, is just one of hundreds of bunkers built throughout time that have failed to provide protection. In this great bunker, Hitler committed suicide rather than be captured. During the Cold war many people sought to build shelters underground in case of a nuclear attack. In other instances, people built towers with windows at the top from which they dropped large

Psalm 43:3 NASB95 O send out Your light and Your truth, let them lead me; Let them bring me to Your holy hill And to Your dwelling places. I love how everything with God makes such sense. He is light. He is truth. Without Him there is darkness. Without Him there is falseness. Darkness is the absence of light. However, there are animals that "see" in the dark. No, actually, that is false. These animals that "see" in the dark gather tiny amounts of light particles that are amp