Morningside Devotionals

 One of the most challenging things that happen to Christian's without them even being aware of it, is they lose their joy, not perhaps, totally; as in depression; but they lose their sense of being joyous over Jesus.  That first lovely fresh powerful feeling that we all remember when we finally gave up the pride, finally got the weight off our hearts, and owned up to one of the most mysterious things of all, we belong to God who made us.  When we asked Jesus to forgive us of our sins, when we knew that the cross was real, and Jesus did it, and we felt that overwhelming power of forgiveness - we felt real and powerful and lasting joy for the first time.  As we smiled to those around us, if they knew, or inwardly, to ourselves as we knew, that real joy, that smile was so awesome wasn't it?  My friends sometimes get that glow going, that's what I call it, the glow- know where I'm going with this one?  Yes indeed, Moses face comin' down off the mountain, what'...

It is actually pretty funny when you think about it; what might happen, and what might not happen, and how many different people believe they have it figured out, and how many people figure they can't figure it out-and yet, there it is, in black and white; so to say.  Think about it, the playbook isn't hidden, it is "revealed," that's literally what the title says; only, guess what; in all the "revealing," have you got it straight- really?  It's also odd, in fact downright, strange; that in all the "revealing," seldom do you hear someone putting forth the idea that it's not gonna look like, note that, LOOK LIKE, folks are thinking it will.  Outlandish isn't it?  Which means, it's probably not going to happen like you think...now why would you suppose that might be?  My first input to you on this dear reader concerns the matter of what you will allow your head to get around, and what, out of just sheer being who you are, you won...

Is there a need in your life to have good news? By the time a person starts their morning with CNN or FOX or any of the morning news shows what they will have seen is despair, hopelessness and ruination on a massive scale and all before they begin their day. Am I saying to ignore the truth of the world, no, but what I am saying is to balance out that truth with a perspective that provides a difference. God does not guaranty a life without pain, but God does guaranty a life where pain is shared with Him, He promises that He won't step out, and He delivers on that promise. One of the finest examples of this that I've read is Corrie Ten Boom's story of the Holocaust expereince where God showed her constantly that He was present, that He loved her and the others and that He would not leave them alone. To such one must say, "that gives me hope," because truthfully when all else around you goes insanely off the scale, wrecks, war, earthquakes, volcanoes, global warmi...

 A sense of time, a sense of place, and a sense of who you are; put those together and you have the dynamic for success that every Guru of success today is in love with making you want to buy into.  The toughest part of that is, they are feeding you a cultural pie designed to be digested without tasting the food itself; if you buy into their design on your life, you will run through it, achieve and achieve and achieve again; only to reach a point where you suddenly and quite climatically realize, you've not understood a thing of what you really were about, and what your life was really all about.  So when you speak of destiny, perhaps, have a little extra nuance of grace and; speak softly. Isa 38:15 What shall I say? he hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done [it]: I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul. "drd's" Blog Ooh Visit Our Twitter Group 1000 plus strong and growing! Visit our Facebook effort, it will make ya sm...

After finishing a recent read, my week is five books a week , or more, and it's basically forced reading. Someone asked me once if I speed read, truthfully, no, wish I could get the hang of that, have tried, but just force myself to read; and so, absorb five books a week. My contention is that anyone who would force themselves to consume books, could easily do the same or more; and books are important. Someone mentioned once that the only things that count in a life are the people you know and the books you read? What do you think? Does that sound true? Would the Bible, do you think, have something to say about that (hint...in the Old Testament you'll see the word wisdom? Hmm) - anyway, we know if a subject is testable as to truth, we're gonna see it in the scripture. We've seen this time and again, subjects that people believe wouldn't be in the Bible, turn out to be in the Bible and be mentioned in a relevant way. It is not odd, it is sensible, given that...

What it takes to win some folks to Jesus is a thorough examination of the painful fact of Hell- that's just a fact, outlandish as it might seem to some, Hell is in fact, a very real place; even though in our modern world we want to try and explain it away; sorry, all the "Kum-By-Yah" in the world won't help an unforgiven sinner who passes over, they will end up in Hell.  Hell is spoken of 54 times as translated in the King James Version of the Scriptures; and that's if you only credit the Christian or Jewish or Hebrew Holy Books, if you consider other books considered to be Holy, the Hell they present, is spoken of, numerous times.  A divide, a place where there is no rest, a place where there is no direction, a place of torment, a place where the fiery sense is that of heat so intense brimstone melts: Rev 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet [are], and shall be tormented day an...

Two of the greatest witnesses to Christ that I've ever known of, Jim Elliot, and Corrie Ten Boom , weren't fading or lanquishing disciples, they were, near as I can tell; full blown, full throated, absolutely outlandish when it came to their devotion to their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Where are the Jim Elliot's and the Corrie Ten Boom's today? My sense is Jim Denison is one, a man who devotedly studies, travels to the front lines of the East, to Israel, to Saudi land, and a man who prints out the truth of what he sees, speaks to large and small audiences about it, and lives his faith. My home church pastor, Tim Everett , who preaches fearlessly from the pulpit about the shameful loss of power that the church is allowing; the pastor of pastors Bro. Garth Collier , a man who literally dives into the midst of things, a man I've seen pray in hospital rooms with his flocks family, a man who fearleslly preaches against sin , a man who lives his faith every single ...

The other day in a conversation my friend informed me that the Koran wasn't a holy book?  That the Bible is the only Holy Book- O.K., that's easy to take in, only guess what, it's not going to help convert those who believe the Koran is a holy book?  Paul said, very clearly, that he attempted to understand everybody around him, if they were poor, Paul got with them in being poor, if they were not well educated, Paul took his high level of knowledge down a peg, Paul said he would become everything to everybody in the hopes of saving some...if you've not read that...read it in the scripture pages for this entry...Paul as serious, do we need to read the Koran?  Most people would not know how, because they would erroneously believe that you can just pick it up and read it chronologically, when that isn't real, furthermore, they wouldn't understand that the Koran when it is understood, supports Christianity and God, supports the principle of peace and supports bringi...

Mat 10:34 "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword."  This has been quoted and unfortuantely used, as a justification for some pretty awful behavior; because the quotes are out of context.  Recently a friend asked me how I'd interpret Matthew 16:28, and, in the ensuing explanation my sense is, my friend, probably won't ask again.  It was pretty lengthly but boiled down to this, context is very hard when it comes to interpreting Matthew, because we who try to hold to a true sense of the history in the Bible and the Bible itself know that Matthew is likely an eyewitness to Jesus.  We also have come to believe that Matthew's gospel was written to make sense to those who were Jewish in their origin; that was likely his first audience.  Matthew is therefore hard to understand from a context sense as you have to feed in a lot of varialbes to get to the truth.  Was Matthew old?  Why would...

These days in America, the land of the yawning Christian, according to so many sources, Christian's in the U.S. are asleep at the wheel in terms of those coming to know Jesus, here are some facts:  "There is a Fifth Great Awakening occurring in our world today. According to David Barrett, author of the World Christian Encyclopedia, 82,000 people become Christians every day. More are coming to Christ than at any time in Christian history. Today, 32,000 will become followers of Jesus in Africa, 25,000 in Asia, and 17,000 in Latin America.1 More Muslims are becoming Christians than at any time in the history of Islam. Thousands of Muslims are seeing visions and dreams of Jesus and coming to faith in him as their Lord.2 Saudi Arabian Muslim leader Sheikh Ahmad al-Qatanni recently reported on al-Jazeera television that every day, "16,000 Muslims convert to Christianity." He claimed that Islam was losing six million a year to Christian faith.3 While he could be infl...

One of the most fascinating things about fellow Christian's is the association and when they will be open and honest, the various ways that they have of looking at things.  While it is true that my approach to following Jesus demands sacrifice from me in certain areas, like, pridefulness, open heartedness, giving of resources and understanding who provides those resources to be given; so while its true that my outlook is very much Christ, the Cross and only the Cross; that doesn't make it right, and it certainly doesn't make it the only way.  Jesus is the only way, the writer of this blog is decidedly human; and so, with every breath and with every possible human, sinful erring way, my heart wants to reach and strive to follow Christ, the Cross and nothing but the Cross.  Most days my cross carrying isn't so hot, how about yours?  Making this even more sensible, imagine that a view slanted by such enthusiasm is almost too strong, it needs to be tempered down wit...

One of my favorite authors actually was only a speaker, not sure that she wrote anything, it is certain that her words were written down. Sojourner Truth, she was a leader in the emancipation of women who eloquently defined what life as a woman really meant to her, and to others, in a famous speech "Ain't I a Woman?"  Why was the question even asked?  Well one can imagine you might check it out?  At any rate, one might put together something similar today and ask, "Ain't I a ..."  and you fill in the detail, you'll find it fits, because as hard as it is to believe, especially in America, we are fast becoming those who are yawning when they shouldn't be.  Please let me heartily encourage you to read Dr. James Denison's work on this subject because the fifth great awakening is happening in the world, and if you aren't careful, you're gonna miss it.  Dr. Denison has his work online at his excellent site Center for Informed Faith. One of t...

It is hard to imagine what the view was like as 600,000 men got the message in gear, "tonight, it's tonight..." I'd never thought of it, how enormous it was that word got to them, word moved throughout the area, and somehow, we must really say it, miraculously, 600,000 homes, got the blood of the sacrificed "Passover Lamb," sprinkled above the door. We have cell phones, television, internet, newscasts and public radio, and we can't get the word out to people to make it to a free concert. Moses had word of mouth, that's it, nothing else, and 600,000 homes were made safe, in one day. Go ahead and explain that one away; as we mentioned in Sunday School, if you can bring about doubt on this most spectacular of miracles in the Oldest Story of history, then you can begin to really crumble so many other aspects of the truth; and that is why, it is under attack today as at no other time in human history. You weren't aware of that, were you? That f...

There is no term in the language for this, but we believe we get it, this is when a person actively works against love; and how is this done, by not caring- by not caring, a person shows their true heart. Here is what it appears as; visits which don't get made, time together that doesn't happen, phone calls that don't take place, meetings that you miss without good cause, times you just aren't there to listen, when you used to be. Getting the picture, anti-love, is called apathy, which is a lack of caring, a lack of concern for the other person. Apathy may also be expressed as over concern for ones own existence without consideration to the existence of others. Ler's exemplify that with the scenario of the person who knows of a family which has need, a fire has taken their clothing; but, rather than go to them and provide soothing, they wrap the clothes into a bag and leave it on the porch. That action is more concerned with their comfort than the soothing they...

Most people who have had jobs where security was involved, know the phrase, "lets walk," what it means is, "we want to talk privately, we can't do so in this office which is wired and taped, so, let's get out of here." That used to work, but today the world is actually, drastically changing, and it's important, for you as a Christian, to understand some of those changes as they affect you, and impact upon you. So lets walk... This world that you work and function in is changing, for example, your economic ability to survive is now put to test over your ability to testify about your Jesus. It goes like this, you can do and say certain things, but if you do others, your job is in jeapordy. It is the latest and greatest method that evil has of getting away with being evil and covering the truth. You might doubt this, but I've experienced it first hand- going into corporate stores and asking to put up a sign about a gospel benefit - singing songs ...

 But God does see motive, which should, give us all pause.  God looks inside the human condition; God knows your heart, which should, give some of us pause; and all of us, a moment of reality concerning what we believe God doesn't know; which would be those portions of what we call our heart, that we think we have God fooled on.  We don't, God isn't, and, God knows why you do what you do.  This can be good, this can be, glorious, it can also be comforting, the person, for example, who under some false burden believed they had to confess their sin to God or He wouldn't know it, can now relax, God knows.  You can't see motive, but God does; so the act of confessing sin isn't in any way to inform God - it is agreeing with God about what God has known all along.  We can't see motive, but God does.  It is amazing how many people don't believe this truth; think they can continue to "fake it," and they'll be O.K., it is so strange because in just ...

There is a saying about brevity, it is better to be short; sometimes, however, brevity isn't possible; you have to detail a few things, part 1 of this discussion was not brief; but it was detailed. Part 2 on the other hand is an exercise in brevity, it goes like this, can you clear your mind of everything except God? One more time, can you clear your mind of everything except God, only focus on God? O.K., you may have some questions behind that, when it first was shown to me, questions came up, such as, God? What does it mean to clear your mind of everything except God- here is a hint- you can use the Bible verse of the day, you can use what your heart shows you is Christ, you can use; the cross; you will need something in the imagery category to begin the process. At some point what will happen is, all the clutter, all the noise of the day will be gone, it won't be gone for long, but once you hear that silence in your mind, you'll know it can be done. Clear your mind...

In our last posting we discussed the concept of arrogance, and really, we'd have to say that three times the arrogance extends to anybody, it isn't just about Christian's, anybody can be an egocentric, egomaniacal waste of humanity; it isn't just reserved unto Christian's, although my suspicion is, they are better at hiding their egos than regular non faker Christian's are. So let's get right into: why you close your eyes when you pray... ha ha, weren't expecting that one were you? If you don't close your eyes, and the real power of God shows through, what will happen to your eyes? Best to be safe? What happened to Peter, James and John on the Mount when Jesus was transfigured? Think they were momentarily stunned by His brilliance, seems like that might be the meaning of the "suddenly they looked round..." They had been stunned by the entire miracle, but now recovering their vision, Jesus, normalcy back in place was what they saw. ...

  God tr eats us splendidly, He actually is very sweet to us, for example, most who believe in God get that He doesn't devastate innocence; ergo babies under grace, people who have a heart ascent to His lordship, etc., are covered in gracious splendor. On the other hand, God does have a purpose in history; in you, and that will be accomplished if you follow Jesus, by the taking up of your cross, daily (Luke added to the synoptic recount the word daily). So we know that much of what we read in the New Testament isn't essential to your salvation, but may involve the salvation of others, in which you are supposed to take a part; so it is that the three times arrogance idea came to me in prayer, and I'm not sure it's been proposed much lately, if it has I apologize to the proponent I'm unaware of, not wanting to be arrogant. Here is therefore, the basic three times the arrogance stance: Peter was crushed as he heard the Cock crow.   The reason he was crushed is Pete...

Most of the people who live in the United States experience some form of giving, some are on the end of the process where they contribute to someone else, some are on the receiving end of the process where they are given to. The United States has within it's culture a belief of being generous, world wide, the United States isn't viewed in that way, which strikes most Americans as odd seeing as how they are indeed huge contributors to life saving worthwhile causes. What causes this strange result, and what does it have to do with you today as a Christian? I think you're about to be shocked. When someone receives a gift, they feel good about getting the gift, so long as, it is appropriate, it is in keeping with their expectations and the timing on the gift is appropriate. Imagine that, shocking isn't it, but the truth is, many times, gifts aren't actually appreciated, rather they aren't rudely ignored or unaccepted, but instead, the receiver simply moves t...

Many years ago a man sat doing what essentially I am doing, but he was very, very much more dedicated, and in my humble opinion, a much deeper spiritual man than myself. Why do I say that, because, he sat with his heart, and his Bible, and his knowledge and worked day in, day out, with little more than a pen, and in 1912 Dr. James Stalker, D.D .; wrote "The Life of St. Paul," Dr. Stalker didn't have my modern means of referencing; looking up data, finding historical records, or the nearly hundred years of Archeology to fall back on, which I have today; and I'd be willing to bet, he didn't write it from an air-conditioned room such as the one my three computers are housed in. Dr. Stalker worked with the American Tract Society, and wrote this master work, which God blessed me to find in a small Texas town; Jefferson Texas, some know it as the antique land of Texas; I don't know it except to say it's quaint, really wonderful in terms of antique finds, and l...

And God is who God is - and you can try to fake it, you can try to act like it ain't so, you can try to ignore Him, you can try to believe that you are following Him as closely as you need to, you can play every silly, meaningless game that we people come up with to try and keep God from bursting into our hearts with His love, but you will fail, God is love. Selfishness and cold hearted legalism are just eating our churches up, worse than this false Christianity is the Godless conduct of putting self on the throne! People actually have come so far down that highway that they no longer acknowledge that they have what they have because it is granted unto them a blessing by God! Consider the ability to forgive- what is more righteous than to not wish ill toward a brother or sister in Christ, in your heart, what is more righteous than that- we are instructed to become experts at that, we are given actual teaching in the New Testament about how important it is to bring right a brothe...

Eternity, it is a long, long, existence never ending. Someone has used the example of oceans and thimbles, that eternity would be a person getting a thimbleful of water from the Pacific and taking it to the Atlantic until the Pacific was empty, and then taking it out of the Atlantic to the Pacific until the Atlantic were empty, and then, starting over again. Eternity is not a sense of time that makes sense to a person, so, when someone asks to be forgiven, and you say, "not now," you have in effect, stretched eternity, because, the only thing that matters to the family of God is your heart; and so long as one thimbleful of unforgiving is in it, it is as Christ said, "dark indeed." The wonder of God in my mind is that He is so forgiving, and as a result, when people aren't, it doesn't bother me like it used to. It used to really floor me when I'd ask someone to forgive me, if I'd wronged them, usually I hadn't but it was the only way they coul...

If it matters, it matters to you- and if it doesn't, it sticks out all over the place, not in big things- but in the small details of what life is all about. Take the following simple situation that happens all over the U.S. and all over the world, who, other than God knows, how many times a day. The woman in the relationship says she has to go somewhere, the man in the relationship says, "I heard that, but listen, let me know you got there safe, would you, I hate to worry." She says "you know I'm not gonna be able to do that because I'll forget because I'm busy." Message sent, message received, only, it's not the message she wanted to send- but the message is received. She says on another day, "hey call me and let's try to get together later." He says, "yeah I will." The day becomes busy, he doesn't get the call made, message sent, message received. Only, that isn't the message he wanted to send, but the m...

At some time in your life you will reach a point where you wonder if what is going on is what you intended, or is it something else? This strange point usually occurs for men at about the age of 40 or older, although, with our present intellectual capacity, this introspective moment may occur in males at younger ages. For women this moment usually comes as they turn to face a home which had children and then teens in it, which now is, occupied by a husband who is sort of in the same place. This strange moment can occur for a person who was in an accident, they lived through it, and then, approximately a week later, they will ask themselves if their life is what they expected it to be. This introspection is a harsh part of all life; so far as we are able to determine, wildlife, does not go through this, humankind may be unique in this function. At this point in the process a person can go toward something, or, they lock into the place where they are. Yes that does sound weird but a...