- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
- Hits: 3476
1 Peter 4:8 And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”
If you have doubts as to the importance of love in our lives then you really need to take notice of this phrase “and above all things have fervent love for one another”.
Peter did not take it lightly because he had been through a bit of a roller coaster ride growing up in Christ for the few years he was with Jesus. He knew the importance of love!
He also saw how important love is toward one another because of all the backbiting and quarrels he saw in a society that was supposed to be good!
Don’t let love slip at the last step.
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
- Hits: 3229
1 John 4:20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
Black and white are pretty different; but are a variation of the amount of colour being seen by us. Hot and cold do not feel the same; but they are a measure of the amount of heat as seen by us.
Love and hate, on the other hand are not a measure of the amount of love or lack of it. So when we say that we love God we open our hearts to Him, totally.
But to hate someone is more than just closing off your heart to them. So how can you have love for a God you cannot see and yet say that you can have room to hate anybody as well?
God created us all. Colours may matter. Heat may matter. Love is simply required!
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
- Hits: 3444
1 John 4:11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth; He showed us His love from the beginning and continues to show us love even when we do get things wrong.
That is our ultimate example to live toward; we cannot attain the level of love that he has shown to us, but we sure can try to get a bit closer.
That means loving one another. That means showing people we care. Not just saying it, but doing it!
When was the last time you really got involved with community work? When was the last time you just got up and helped someone?
Show people love. Show them God.
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
- Hits: 3404
1 John 3:20 For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.
Each of us has a conscience that allows us to discern right from wrong; something that is inside of us and needs to be nurtured.
If we continually ignore it or go against it, we make it of no effect and then others say we have no conscience; but it is still there.
Our consciences let us know when we do things wrong as an early warning system to fix our ways before we go under.
God knows more than our consciences because He is the one who planted them inside of us; trust more in God to nurture your conscience still further.
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
- Hits: 3271
1 John 3:7 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.
There will be many who try to change your mind about things by saying things to you and doing things differently; what we need to do is take a good look at what they are doing.
Those people who always do the right stuff are generally good people and those who do not are generally not. I say generally because there will be those who do things to deceive.
It is easy for a good person to get something wrong when they are trying to be good. It is very hard for a bad person to not do something bad. Spot the difference?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
- Hits: 3435
Matthew 13:38 The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one.
It is very easy for us to forget just who those weeds are that have been sown in amongst our good crops; but they are the people of Satan, his followers, people who do not know God!
Whilst many of them are simply there out of ignorance and cannot help it, there are some who have made the active choice to be there to support the one they think they can trust.
Do not ever be fooled into thinking that you can trust the evil one because his heart is not to support you but to bring you down and away from God; that is all!
Trust in God alone.
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
- Hits: 3333
Matthew 13:25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.
Can you imagine what it would be like to think that you have planted a good crop of wheat and find out that all manner of other weeds are growing instead of your wheat?
We have an urgency to get God’s Word out to people and we have to keep that up. If we do not then the enemy will come in and sow all manner of strange thoughts instead.
God’s Word needs to be told and we are now waking up to a second or third generation of people who have hardly heard the gospel because the enemy’s voice is being heard instead.
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
- Hits: 3227
Jude 1:25 To God our Saviour, Who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen.
Jude ends this short epistle with a heartfelt glory to Christ. He was taught by and followed Christ as a disciple and penned this epistle to all believers.
It warns us all of the false teachers that were around at the time and will come all along the way; specifically to those who will water down Christianity!
The only one Jude lifts up in praise is Christ Himself because there is no other way that we may be saved from our sins than through believing in Him.
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
- Hits: 3266
Luke 12:8 “Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God.
Once again Jesus had something to say and to make sure people listened He would say it in a manner that would stop and make people think!
If we are going to help others to get to know Christ then we have to go about it in a way that will encourage them to find out more, not discourage them and chase them away!
We do need to tell people about Christ and we need to do it now! God is watching and listening to what we do and how we go about it. It is Him we should be aiming to please and bring glory to, nobody else!
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
- Hits: 3431
Luke 12:4 “And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.
Jesus had a way of calming and building up people that I would love to have! I fear I often do the opposite by winding people up instead!
But one thing we must not forget is that all of the things that happen here on earth are just that – things here on earth. Whatever is said is said here on earth alone.
We have an eternal destiny which will not be bound by what others can do to us here but on what God has in store for us for all eternity with Him!
It may be a daunting thing to face here and now, but so little when compared to what we have in heaven. Look up and onward!
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
- Hits: 3451
Matthew 6:25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
We do tend to get rather tied up in what we are going to have today, tomorrow, what we are going to wear, what we have to eat and all manner of things like that…
When Christ was reminding the disciples that they could only really serve one master, He also told them that they should fully rely on that one Master, Him.
Our focus must not be on the things of this world but on the things of God, spiritual things, the Gospel, spreading His Word, loving people, living for God and glorifying Him. Then we will succeed!
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
- Hits: 3173
Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
If we would look at ourselves we would find all sorts of things we may not like; but if we look at ourselves after doing some dirty work, we see something quite different!
When we get involved with other things, part of that is going to rub off on us. Just as we expect to get dirty by working on a building site, we should expect to pick up bad habits from working with sinners… That’s just because we are sinners to start with.
When we can focus more on God in times when we work with sinners, we will find that His ways rub off on us rather than the sinners’ ways. Keep Him close!
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
- Hits: 3156
John 14:23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.
The consequences of loving God are great! No, I mean really great!
When we do love God we tend to listen to Him and to obey Him. When we do that we learn to live with Him and He comes to live with us.
We could never hope to find a place that is good enough or build a place that is grand enough to be able to invite God to; but when we trust in Him, He prepares within us a place where He can reside.
Open your heart and open you mind to a loving God who really does want to be with you!
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
- Hits: 3413
Psalm 145:18 The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth.
Don’t ever think that God has left you alone because He has promised us that He will never leave us nor forsake us; and this truth has always been here for us all to read.
This psalm was written a long time before Christ came to earth to remind us of that fact and His promise has never changed.
When we do believe in our hearts that Jesus Christ is Lord, He is already with us and will never leave us! How awesome is that!
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
- Hits: 3334
2 Timothy 3:5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
I am not call upon you to judge anyone, but seeing a person and thinking they are a Christian because of the way that they act is not right. We are reminded that God looks on the inside and not on the outside appearance; because appearances can be deceiving!
What makes a person a Christian is their belief in God and all that He can do. If we deny Gods power in any way then we are not giving due reverence to Him.
God does not want us to be duped by great pretenders but by real people of faith.
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
- Hits: 3294
Luke 11:39 Then the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness.
One of the things I grew up with was always having to clean my hands before eating, so reading this would give me a lift!
What Christ was talking about here though was the difference between worldly cleanliness and spiritual cleanliness. God looks inside of us and sees what no man sees.
What we see on the outside may not be the same on the inside, but what is on the inside will typically raise its head and show us on the outside.
Always be aware that God know you better than anyone!
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
- Hits: 5412
Ecclesiastes 9:7 Go, eat your bread with enjoyment, and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God has long ago approved what you do.
How we look forward to anyone giving us encouragement to continue doing what we are doing! But do not take this out of context!
We like to pick verses like this to encourage everyone into making life better whereas this is meant to be encouragement to believers who are listening to God!
Let us not fool ourselves into thinking that God will give everyone a wonderful life because He wants to support His children first of all; if we leave Him out of our lives we should not expect too much in the way of support!
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
- Hits: 4124
Proverbs 17:22 A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones.
Being happy and content makes a huge difference to our bodies and not just our outlook in life. A heart full of spiritual joy and peace raises our spirits, even invigorating our bodies and makes us ready to face things.
But when we are unhappy, down or feeling low, our bodies begin to suffer as well because we are not caring for them as we would normally.
Fill yourself with God. Fill yourself with His Word and fully depend on Him to bring your spirits up because the benefits are greater than you think!
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
- Hits: 3256
Luke 10:3 Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.
Christ did not give instruction to His disciples and followers lightly. He chose His words carefully so that they would be prepared for what they would face.
If we are going to go on a long walk through the desert, then wearing a T-shirt and shorts would not be the best clothes and we would need to take plenty of water as well.
God wants us to know that we will face the world full on… and that may not be a pretty sight.
As each one of us presses on forward to do God’s work we do come up against many things which would break us unless we were first prepared to meet them! Continue to trust God…
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
- Hits: 3329
Romans 16:18 For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naïve people.
We are going to come against many who will say the name of Jesus, say good things, and yet go off and do things that are not biblical and do not bring glory to God.
These are the same people that Christ warned us about, the same people that we have been warned about for many generations; and yet we still choose to trust in them because it sounds so good!
God does not promise us a life without disruption, disappointment and failure; He teaches us to accept things and allow them to build us stronger for a life of serving Him.
Take what happens and glorify God with it!