DEVOTION, Feb. 4, 2021, Guidance

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

God has promised to guide His people. The “trick” is whether or not we want His guidance. Those Christians who seemingly have no desire to walk with God will not hear His voice. If we desire to walk with God, we hear His voice telling us, “This is the way; walk in it.” I am not sure we hear His voice with our external ear. Often He speaks softly to our hearts. Those who are eager to hear His voice can be assured that He will speak. It may be an inner hunch; it may be through the word of a Christian friend; it may be that He will guide us to the Scripture passage pertaining to our situation. The point is this. If we want to be led by God, we will hear His voice in one way or another. That is His promise to His people in this verse and many other places in Scripture.

Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice , and I know them, and they follow me…” (John 10:27). If you are one of Jesus’ sheep (a true Christian), you will hear His voice, and you will follow Him. The only reason we want to listen to His voice is so that we may follow Him. If you think, “I want to hear His voice, and then I will decide if I want to follow His words.” No! We need to decide in advance that whatever His will is, we intend to follow.

The better our biblical knowledge, the more likely we will hear and understand when He speaks to us. That is because God will never lead us in a manner inconsistent with the Bible. God will speak to you. Are you listening?

Father in heaven, I thank You for Your promise to lead Your people. I pray that my heart will always be open to Your voice. In Jesus name, I pray, Amen.

DAILY DEVOTION, February 3, 2021, Number our days

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom (Psalm 90:12).

Earlier in Psalm 90 we are told that the number of a man’s years are 70, perhaps 80 years. When I was in grade school 70 -80 years seemed like an eternity. Even in high school and college, it seemed like life on this earth would go on for a long time. Today my 85^th birthday is near, and I understand this Psalm of Moses. We senior citizens are often heard to say, “Where did the time go?” Well, it went by one day at a time. For me, that means 31,025 days have gone by since March 3, 1936. Life used to seem long, but we realize life is very short when we reach old age.

Moses cautions us to number our days. He is telling us that life is indeed brief. We are all under a sentence of physical death. His point is to use our time wisely. Don’t let the years slip by so quickly that we feel we have wasted too much time on trivial matters. We can never recover wasted time. One limerick put it succinctly. “Only one life will soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.”

The wise realize the brevity of life and seek to fill it with lasting things. Service to Christ and service to others will last. Is that what your life is about? 

Eternal God, help me to realize how brief my life is. In my case, most of my life is behind me. Help me to use my remaining days in ways that honor You. I pray in the blessed name of Jesus, Amen.

DEVOTION, Feb. 2, 2021

… I always try to maintain a clear conscience before God and all people (Acts 24:16, NLT).

Paul spoke these words while on trial before Felix. The Jews accuse him of treason. He has denied the Jewish faith by preaching Jesus and the resurrection. Of course, Paul is only being a good Jew. He believes the Law and the prophets. They point to a coming Messiah, and Paul proclaims that He has come in the person of Jesus, the crucified and resurrected Savior. His conscience is clear before God and all people.

It makes me wonder.  How is my conscience? Is it clear? If our conscience is formed by Scripture and prayer and faithfulness to Jesus, I am sure our conscience is clear. If the world’s standards influence our conscience, beware! When we wander away from Scripture, prayer, and Christ’s Church, our conscience becomes confused and distorted.

We know our conscience is clear when we are striving to do God’s will at all times. We don’t want a spiritually starved conscience to guide us. Paul says that pure faith in a pure heart leads to a good conscience (1 Tim. 1:5). I think my conscience can be improved. How about you?

Father God, help me to develop a pure conscience through faithfulness to You and Your Son. There are so many false ideas floating around in our world. I do not want such thoughts to distort my conscience. May Your Holy Spirit guide me to faithfulness and a pure conscience. In Jesus name, Amen.

First of all, thank you all for your prayers. I was a bit apprehensive about what the angiogram might reveal, but the news was fairly good. While I do have a slight decline in my heart I was thankful to learn no surgery was indicated, just a change in medication. I am restricted a little this week. I can’t climb the 14 steps to get to my office so I am temporarily working downstairs. I should be good for stair climbing next week. 
Thanks to Jalyn Barb for filling the pulpit Sunday. She did a great job. She spoke of problems which we all have, and reminded us that we also have a God who loves us. While we are a little short on teen agers the few we have are super. 
The men’s group will meet on Tuesday, Feb. 2, at 8 AM. Women’s group meets Wednesday at 9:30 AM. 
We will resume Bible study at 3:30 on Wednesday, continuing our study of discipleship. 
On Sunday I will resume the sermon series from Genesis. We will be examining Noah and the great flood. Some believe the flood never happened. Jesus referred to it as an historic event. I believe Jesus! 
Pastor Bowman

DEVOTION, 1/27/21, Hiding from God

The man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord (Genesis 3:8).

When Adam and Eve disobeyed a clear and modest command of God, sin was born. Sin is an act of defiance against the will of God. One consequence of their sin was an attempt to hide from God. Guess what? You cannot hide from God.

When we fall into sin, we are inclined to follow the example of Adam and Eve. We try to hide from God. When prayer fades away, and when we avoid the church, what are we doing? We are trying to hide from God. I recall speaking with a gentleman years ago who admitted, “I don’t want to come to God because I am afraid He will change my lifestyle.” He wanted to hide from God. He was correct. If you come to God by faith in the Lord Jesus, He will change your way of life. He will give you a new life. The change many fear will not result in unhappiness but in greater joy than we have ever known.

Here is the simple truth.  You cannot hide from God. You can avoid Him, but He has His eye on you. He only wants to do good to you if you will submit to Him. Those who try to remain hidden from God will only experience misery. Why would anyone want to avoid a God who loves us and wants to shower us with His blessings?

Gracious God, Father of our Lord Jesus, I confess there have been times in my past when I tried to hide from You. I did not understand the greatness of Your love. I wanted to live life my way. Thank You that You have shown me the way of salvation through the gift of Your Son. I praise You in Jesus holy name, Amen.