Morningside Devotionals

There has been in the last few years a drastic change in Christian thinking and feelings, a drastic distancing from the warmth of the Body of Christ, flesh intermixed with the Holy Spirit of God, toward, groupthink and standardized behaviors.  More psychology than spirituality; and yet, in it's danger, is also the very thing that must be the solution to much of what we have allowed to happen.  It is not about being accountable, that's a term that a jailer uses when they are making sure the inmates are in the right cell!  Rather it is about surrendered life, the giving over of ones will to the only King one needs to willingly serve.  Now don't think this is semantics, because at the very heart of God is a want for those who should love Him to understand both His mercy and grace, neither of which are present when someone demands to know why you haven't done what you were supposed to do- that's not life in Christ, that's bondage in Egypt!  For all those who believe...

The day is coming when you and I won't look nor act like we do now- we will essentially be what we are, but we shall be changed into something gloriously different and free- right now we're bound by the gravity that forces our bodies into the earth- but then, gloriously, we shall be free, we shall fly- we shall mount up with wings like eagles- and FLY!  One of my associates lives a sort of lonely existence, work is a part of their world, they have a spouse, who largely ignores their life, it's sad in some profound sense that they are bound by their sense of loyalty and fidelity to Christ into a relationship which isn't fulfilling for them; they are in some sense; held in place- a sad place.  Oh don't misunderstand me, they have some joy in their life, on occasion they have famliy who come around and cheer them up, and they have friends who try to help them see that it's not just the sad and incomplete relationship they are in which is their life, but otherwise, ...

You can't believe for somebody else, right? Well partially right, because if they don't believe, still you must, for otherwise, how will they see what belief is about? A very close associate of mine is a control freak; and walks fairly close to fear; he doesn't realize how damaging both of those characteristics are as he determines how we are to conduct the business of God. Now he believes in God, and yet, he also believes that he has to direct how things are going to go; and, no matter how you slice it up, those two won't fit into the same pie. So my friend is often feeling as if though he doesn't do enough; doesn't accomplish enough, and isn't satisfying enough to God; and he shows it and says it and lives it in his every moment with others. Only problem is, Jesus said, "don't be filled with fear, be filled with joy, you believe in me, and I've overcome the world." (several statements put together there...) My associate the control ...

Iran celebrates Nuclear Day today and it is as bad as it sounds.  If you had a juvenile delinquent criminally minded child that said that they were going to burn your house down, AND, they had the matches to do it, AND, they showed you their matchbook - as they turned to walk to the gas station- they said, "I'll be back with the gas to set this fire."  What would you do, wait until they were in the yard with the red plastic tank of gas before you got alarmed?  Here is the problem in a nutshell- we're being warned right now; if we don't act, we will inherit what happens as a result of that.  Here are your Congress persons contact number U.S. wide , you need to call them.  Here is the Headquarters page for the Tea Party - who knows - maybe you can get their attention on this?  Now for those who say this isn't biblical - it certainly is, we are told in the Bible that we are to " prepare for war in times of peace. "  You can believe that or not, the Pr...

One of the weirdest things about people is this thing that happens when they believe they have it "together," and don't need to learn or grow anymore. It is particularly weird when it concerns the area of God and relating to God, but what my experience has taught me is that a person who is arrogant in life about other things, is usually going to carry that same ignorant haughtiness into the realm of God. Such arrogance is distasteful, especially when you make an effort to share with the arrogant where they are shorting themselves of some blessings by being arrogant. If you've ever had the experience of studying some materials that are beyond belief in their wonder and majesty and you share with someone that actually could use the material about it, and they say, "well ya know - I just really don't have time for that, besides, I don't need to know stuff like that." It catches you up short a bit, because the correct answer ought always to be, ...

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...

 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...

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...

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...

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...

  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...

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...

History is a day by day event, when you are living it, if your life reaches the place where you develop a legacy, then it takes on whole new meanings. Imagine that, what if the life you are passing off today, as having little or no future reference, is about to be catapulted into a future of legacy? What would you do different, anything? Do you, first off, believe Issac was a real Patriarch- not just a made up name? The Old Testament is today examined for it's veracity, as nothing ever has been, so, while you might, as one of the readers of this writing believe Issac was real, I'm here to tell you that you exist in a world which increasingly says that the Patriarch's, not just Issac, are all, made up stories to give us morality lessons. Folks, I'm not making this stuff up, it is being challenged like you wouldn't believe, and that's the weirdest thing of all, because, if anybody kept a vocal history of their lineage, it was, the Jews. So do you imagine tha...

Freedom is a tough issue, because, it bears the marks of pain on the backs of those who seek it. Freedom it turns out, isn't free, unless Jesus is right; in which case it is, but if that is the case, then we really should look closely at what sort of doctrine approach we take toward those who aren't able to make it on their own? Right now the approach from many Christian's is, "let the lazy so and so get a job, like me!" Which is an interesting expression of love, what that really says is, "I'm not really thrilled with that I'm doing to make my way in this world, so I want you to come join me in my miserable condition." Being honest about it, that's really what is being said, and being honest about it, that is not what Jesus said at all, and they know it. What then do we do? The hard response is, we turn to Christ and as simple as it seems, we seek His will in the matter, but here is what He will say: Jhn 6:28 Then said they unto him, ...