Philippians 2:13

Verse of the Day: Philippians 2:13

“For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” – Philippians 2:13

Have you ever felt that God seems to require more than you are able to do?  When I first received Christ, I read the scriptures for hours every day.  I learned a lot, but I would ask myself, how can I do all that is asked of me?

It is so important for us to obey His word and the calling He has given us.  Pray, hear His voice.  He will not ask more of us than we can do.  Today’s verse tells us two things we need to understand.  First, He will work through us to work His good pleasure.  We just submit to Him and let His Spirit lead and guide us.  But more importantly, He will give us the desire to do it.  It says He will work through us first to will, then to do.  He will give us the desire to do His good pleasure, then the power to do it.  Our love for Him will lead us to submit to anything He asks of us.  Then He will work through us to make it happen.

What a beautiful relationship we have with God.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries, Inc.

Colossians 3:17

Verse of the Day Devotion: Colossians 3:17

“Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.” – Colossians 3:17 

Let us first look at Colossians 1:7. “just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow bondservant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, and he also informed us of your love in the Spirit.”  Colossians 1:7-8.  Paul refers to himself as a bondservant of Christ. The Greek word for bondservant is ‘doulos’ which translated is servant or slave. And since we are slaves to Christ, we are His and not our own.  For we became His when we accepted the work of Christ on the cross and the Spirit of God entered in and lives within us.  “However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.” Romans 8:9  And we were bought with His blood.  “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?  For you have been bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:20.

We are not our own.  When a slave does anything, it is at the command of his owner and master.  Anything we do for God we do because He has commanded us to do so.  It is not because we chose to do it, but we chose to obey Him.  This is important, for in reality not only does He command us what to do, but also helps us by working in us to do it.  “So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” Philippians 2:12-13. His Spirit who resides in us will do the work He has called us to do, what we must do is submit to Him, and listen to Him so that we know what to do and how to do it.

And because He is our Lord and Master, anything we do must be in His name and not our own.  He is all knowing, and He knows exactly what is needed to fulfill His will not only in our lives, but in the lives of those He brings our way.  “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”  Romans 8:28. So, if He leads people to us, we must listen and allow Him to not only command us what we are to do, but also to submit to Him and allow Him to work in us to accomplish His good purpose.

So, as our focus verse tells us, whatever we do, whether it be in word by what we say, or in deed by what we do, we must do it in the name of Jesus.  This entails every outward thing we do.  And if we do it in Jesus’ name, then it must be what and how He would do it.  That is why we must submit to Him and allow His Spirit to guide us.  We must be humble enough to realize it is not our work, but His work that He does through us.  The knowledge we have is from Him.  The opportunities we have are from Him.  The timing of each work we do for Him is from Him.  And finally, the method by which we do this work is from Him.

We should be thankful to God every time we are given a task to do in the name of our Lord Jesus, for in accomplishing this task, we glorify Him in our submission to His Spirit and His will.  This is the greatest honor we could ever receive, being used by Him.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries, Inc.

1 Corinthians 10:31

Verse of the Day Devotion: 1 Corinthians 10:31

“Whether then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” – 1 Corinthians 10:31

Paul here is telling the Christians in Corinth that God’s glory should be the desired result of all we do.  This is similar to an old Jewish saying which said, ‘let all your works be done to the glory of God.’ This should be all our desired results.  John the Baptist when questioned by his disciples when they said, “And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him.” John 3:26, he answered “He must increase, but I must decrease.” John 3:30. John knew that he was simply the one to declare Christ, he was the voice crying in the wilderness that the promised Messiah had come, the Son of God.  And when his disciples questioned him, he answered saying that it is Jesus, the Messiah, that is important and must be followed, not John.

Paul is referring to in previous verses regarding clean and unclean meat.  “All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify.” 1 Corinthians 10:23.  He is allowed to eat anything, all is now lawful according to God.  We see this is the account of Peter when God shows him a vision of a sheet descending from heaven with all kinds of unclean animals.  God told him to eat three times, but each time Peter says, “By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean.” Acts 10:14b.  And three times God tells him, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.” Acts 10:15b. He did this in preparation for Peter going to the house of Cornelius, a centurion in the Roman army. Why, because Peter would no doubt be offered food to eat that was not considered clean. And rejecting this food would be an insult to Cornelius and may stifle Peter’s job of presenting the gospel.  He could come across to them as believing he was ‘better’ than they were.

Paul tells them not to question where the meat came from, but to accept it with thankfulness.  “Eat anything that is sold in the meat market without asking questions for conscience’ sake; FOR THE EARTH IS THE LORD’S, AND ALL IT CONTAINS. If one of the unbelievers invites you and you want to go, eat anything that is set before you without asking questions for conscience’ sake.” 1 Corinthians 10:25-27.  However, if they tell them it is meat sacrificed to idols, then they are not to eat it.  “But if anyone says to you, “This is meat sacrificed to idols,” do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for conscience’ sake;” 1 Corinthians 10:28.  By eating what they declare as sacrificed to idols, they person who informs you may be weak and unscrupulous may judge or condemn the one who eats it, because they may look at you and say you have fallen into the customs of the idolaters.  Again, they could eat it, but it may cause the one who declared the meat as sacrificed to look negatively upon them.

So, looking at the focus verse, whatever we do, whether it is in eating, drinking or whatever, we must do for God’s glory. It is important that we look to those we are with. If they offer us anything that is not sin, then we should be willing to partake, and we should be thankful for it.  For in our eating and drinking what they offer, we probably will open the door to discussion and/or evangelism.  And this brings glory to God.  And in whatever else we do; we must also bring the glory to God.  We must not strive for our own glory, or the glory of others, but for the glory of almighty God.  When people see our openness to them and that we follow God in all ways and we do not compromise but obey Him in all things, they will be more inclined to ask us about this faith we have and accept Him as Lord and Savior or accept the teaching we give in order to help them grow in Christ.   This is what we are called to do.  Do not let tradition get in the way.  We must look to our neighbors and those God brings our way above ourselves.  “Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor.” 1 Corinthians 10:24.  Whatever brings God glory, and our fellow man is better in the end, this we need to do.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries, Inc.

Luke 6:46

Verse of the Day – Luke 6:46

“Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” – Luke 6:46

This is a fair question brought forth by Jesus.  Especially when we look at what the word Lord actually means.  According to Strong’s Greek dictionary, the word translated ‘Lord’ in this passage is the Greek word ‘Kurios’ which means ‘that which is supreme in authority’.  Anyone who is rightly designated Kurios by someone is essentially the owner of that person and their property; the one who has control of the person.”  Jesus affirmed His lordship when He said to the disciples at the last supper, “You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am.”  John 13:13.

Therefore, Jesus is rightly our Lord.  Everything we are and have are His.  If we believe He is our Lord, then we are to completely obey Him in everything.  Now, if we call Him Lord and we do not obey, or as the focus verse says, do not do what He says, then do we really believe He is Lord?  We cannot believe He is Lord and go about our business ignoring what He has said.

Actually, whatever or whoever we listen to and obey other than Jesus, is who we designate as Lord.  For instance, Jesus said that we are to love our enemies.  “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,” Matthew 5:44.  If we do not love our enemies and our persecutors, we are obeying someone else other than Jesus.  Whoever we obey here is our lord here.  And what about this one, you will not steal?  Jesus upheld this when He listed this in His answer to the rich young ruler.  “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not commit murder; you shall not commit; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness”. Matthew 19:18. So, if we steal something, we are not following Jesus, but another whom you are obeying.

We need to examine ourselves and see if we are following Jesus in every aspect of our lives.  Yes, there will be times when we fail in this, however, if we see it as a regular practice, this can be trouble.  Consciously disobeying Him should make us examine whether He truly is our Lord.  And if it is not Jesus, then who is it.  Is it ourselves?  In conclusion, Jesus said the following, “But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”  Luke 6:49. We cannot stand if He is not Lord.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries, Inc.

Verse of the Day Devotion: Luke 6:46

“Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” – Luke 6:46

This is a fair question brought forth by Jesus.  Especially when we look at what the word Lord actually means.  According to Strong’s Greek dictionary, the word translated ‘Lord’ in this passage is the Greek word ‘Kurios’ which means ‘that which is supreme in authority’.  Anyone who is rightly designated Kurios by someone is essentially the owner of that person and their property; the one who has control of the person.”  Jesus affirmed His lordship when He said to the disciples at the last supper, “You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am.”  John 13:13.

Therefore, Jesus is rightly our Lord.  Everything we are and have are His.  If we believe He is our Lord, then we are to completely obey Him in everything.  Now, if we call Him Lord and we do not obey, or as the focus verse says, do not do what He says, then do we really believe He is Lord?  We cannot believe He is Lord and go about our business ignoring what He has said.

Actually, whatever or whoever we listen to and obey other than Jesus, is who we designate as Lord.  For instance, Jesus said that we are to love our enemies.  “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,” Matthew 5:44.  If we do not love our enemies and our persecutors, we are obeying someone else other than Jesus.  Whoever we obey here is our lord here.  And what about this one, you will not steal?  Jesus upheld this when He listed this in His answer to the rich young ruler.  “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not commit murder; you shall not commit; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness”. Matthew 19:18. So, if we steal something, we are not following Jesus, but another whom you are obeying.

We need to examine ourselves and see if we are following Jesus in every aspect of our lives.  Yes, there will be times when we fail in this, however, if we see it as a regular practice, this can be trouble.  Consciously disobeying Him should make us examine whether He truly is our Lord.  And if it is not Jesus, then who is it.  Is it ourselves?  In conclusion, Jesus said the following, “But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”  Luke 6:49. We cannot stand if He is not Lord.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries, Inc.