Galatians 6:10

Verse of the Day Devotion: Galatians 6:10

“So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” – Galatians 6:10    

There is much that is involved regarding this Christian walk.  There is spending time with God in prayer, praise and worship.  There is reading and studying His word, as well as teaching about this life to those that are new in the faith.  But this verse lays out the heart of this life, doing good to others out of love.

In fact, we are called to do good.  “As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good.” 2 Thessalonians 3:13.  Also, “They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.” 1 Timothy 6:19.  We must always be willing and ready to do good to all we come across.  There are many out there that struggle with making ends meet, having enough food on their table or have no way to get somewhere they need to go.  You will be doing them a great favor by helping meet their needs.

Also, there are times when we will go through sadness, grief or disappointment.  If we know someone who is experiencing this, pray fervently for them, visit them to encourage them and maybe just be there with them.  It is amazing how healing it is for someone to just be there with us.  These are beautiful times where we get to exhibit the love of God with people who need to feel it.

And who are we to exhibit this to?  To everyone.  For those who are Christians, God can work through us to reveal His love and purposes for them.  He can show them, through us, there is a purpose to the hard times they are in, and that He will never leave or forsake them.  Life is not always as we desire, even as Christians, but whatever happens, we can always be sure He has a good purpose.  And for the unsaved, it may be what God knows will open their hearts to the knowledge of His love and forgiveness which will bring them to salvation, either immediately or sometime down the road.

In closing, never weary of doing good. The verse just before the focus verse says, “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”  Galatians 6:9. We should always do all we can to help, encourage, uplift and walk alongside everyone who we come across.  Who knows what their needs are, and how we could make a difference in their life if we do?  And besides, though not being the reason, when we do good, we will reap a reward from God.  Not a bad thing.

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

Colossians 4:5

Verse of the Day Devotion:  Colossians 4:5 

“Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity.” – Colossians 4:5

Paul here is encouraging the Church to be wise in their dealings with non-Christians.  What he means by this is we are to conduct ourselves upright and honestly with them.  For if we do not, the unbeliever may have an occasion to reproach or speak negatively regarding Christianity.  The Church in Colossae was surrounded by pagans who served their own gods rather than the true God.  Therefore, we must act with prudence and propriety toward them; and there is perhaps mot a more important idea in the New Testament than this, for if we do not act wisely, we could destroy any opportunity to speak the truth to them and show them the reality of the gospel of Christ.

So, we must be careful how we approach them.  First, it is important to understand that people in the world judge religion not based on the profession of a believer, but from the life of its followers.  Regarding religion, people are looking for reality more than just talk.  They judge religion not from preaching or  books, or from the conduct of its Founder and his followers, but from what they see in the daily walk and conversation of the members of the church.  Do we walk the walk, or simply talk the talk?  Many who are in other religions understand what religion is about, and why people believe them.  They do this so well that they know when church goers are or are not consistent with their profession.

Unbelievers will set a much higher value on honesty and integrity than on the doctrines and practices.  and if the professing Christians are destitute of the principles of truth and honesty, they will believe they have nothing of any value. They may be very devout in church; very regular at prayer-meetings; very strict in the doing of Christian things – but all these are of little worth in the estimation of the world, unless attended with an upright life.

The most important calling we have is to go out and proclaim the gospel to all the world.  And in the process making disciples of Christ.  “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20.  It is important that we go out and show the world the truth of the gospel for the times are getting short and more evil.  “Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:15-16.  We can go out and share the gospel all day long, however, if they have seen us doing evil while calling ourselves Christians, or if we have participated with unbelievers in sinful acts while professing faith in Christ, we may have destroyed any opportunity to help them be saved.  And worse, they may never listen to any Christian present the gospel because of what they remember.

Our enemy, the devil, is always looking for ways to diminish our impact to a lost world of unbelievers.  And he will do all he can to make this happen.  “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.  But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.” 1 Peter 5:8-9.  Let us not destroy the light we shine in a dark world that need to come to Christ by foolish and sinful activities that destroy our witness to those who need us.  What happened before our salvation can be explained and understood.  But it is far different for deeds done after our salvation when we profess Jesus as Lord.

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

Ephesians 4:26-27

Verse of the Day Devotion: Ephesians 4:26-27 

“Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger and give no opportunity to the devil.       

We all, I am sure, have been angry with a brother or sister in Christ.  It could be for various reasons, but we need to be careful how we react to these situations.  In reading this, Paul is not saying that anger is a sin, but it is our response that can be sinful.  Note the phrase, ‘be angry, and yet do not sin.’  Anger at sin is not wrong.  And displaying displeasure for a bad action is not sinful either.  We should be unhappy with actions or deeds that are not for the glory of God and the good of others.  However, we must be careful that we do not go beyond what is of a Godly manner.

This same idea is expressed in the psalms, where we read, “Tremble, and do not sin; Meditate in your heart upon your bed and be still. Selah.” Psalm 4:4.  This is a writing by David in response to ungodly people who are acting against the way God desires.  “O sons of men, how long will my honor become a reproach? How long will you love what is worthless and aim at deception? Selah. But know that the LORD has set apart the godly man for Himself; The LORD hears when I call to Him.” Psalm 4:2-3. This is probably referring to Absalom and his men, whom he calls ‘sons of men’ responding to their situation of human feelings and passions, far from how God would desire them to.  This could very well refer to David’s rank and the desire of them, in their rebellion, to rob him of his position as king and reduce him to a lowly position.  What David was telling them was, just as Paul said, be angry but do not sin.  If they think they have a cause to be angry, they should not let it carry them to rebellion against God and their king.  He was chosen as king by God, for them to rebel against him was to go against the will of God, which is sin.

We may disagree with someone about something, or we may not like what someone has done, but we must be careful how we respond.  Again, we can be angry, but it must not take us to a sinful response.  Unfortunately, we are not perfect, but we must not go to sleep angry.  If we do get angry with someone, we must address it quickly so that we do not carry it for days or more.  We should not go to sleep with any unkind or unchristian feelings.  We must go to God and pray that we can resolve it quickly,  If we allow the anger to fester, it may produce malice and revenge.  This prolonged temper cannot bring about peace of conscience or the approval of God. 

And lastly, we must not allow the devil to take this anger and use it for his purposes.  He will strive to influence us through our anger and irritation of spirit to take our mind off of the ways of God to address them via our own fallen desires.  He will work to get us to gossip and spread our anger to others and help us to feel somewhat better for the opportunity to tell others what someone did to us.  This is not good and will not end well.

Things are going to make us angry: we live in a fallen world and we are not perfect.  Again, anger in and of itself is not wrong.  It is our response that can bring us to sin.  However, we must understand that no one is perfect, not even ourselves.  I am sure I have made people angry for things I have said and done.  However, as we want people to be gracious with us when we wrong someone, we should do the same when other wrong us.  Remember what Jesus said, “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”  Matthew 7:12.  Do we want someone to be gracious to us when we slip up?  Then we need to be gracious to others when they do.  Make things right as soon as possible, then move forward and live as God desires.   

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