Morningside Devotionals

My prayer is that whatever talent God instilled within my soul to hear rhythm will come forth and bless a great and talented bunch of gospel singing guys. My personal fear is that my soul won't be up to the challenge- so, even if your not particularly fond of me, would you pray that God would use this talent to bless this group, and, if that's not going to be the case, that God would provide them a drummer better than myself? One of the things that my heart knows is what Kari Jobe has seen come out of "The Revelation Song," and what other gospel greats, one of the greatest, perhaps, being "The Gaithers," let people get to know Jesus this way. God uses every means to get those who need His love, to get to know Him, in fact, the Bible even makes clear that God will use the simple to confound the wise - so here is the question, do you know what that means? 1Cr 1:27 — But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen ...

The oddest thing about what we do when we get close to people is that we tend to push them away. It is odd because the behavior makes no sense, it isn't natural at all. In nature when two creatures or more find themselves attracted to one another, it doesn't seem to be a discussion about the merits of the relationship, or, trust or anything else; they just get off on one another and stay together. I've literally seen this in our dog family which has three members, it's the most bizarre thing but my dogs wait for my neighbors dog to join them, and when for whatever reason, he doesn't, my dogs actually exhibit a kind of sad behavior as if they really miss the third member of their little group? When they do get together there is just a whole lot of tongue wagging, tail wagging and butt sniffing joy going on. Haven't seen them once look at each other as if to say, "so are you sure this is where you should be?" Or, "whats your motive for being he...

Ever find yourself in a place where you feel discarded, like a doormat, that what is really going on is, you are being put to use, but you feel it? Tony Campolo one of the most powerful and spectacular evangelists I'd ever heard preach, tells one of his favorite reads by Marjorie Williams, "The Velveteen Rabbit, " where Skin Horse explains that he looks really rough because: "Sometimes," said the skin horse for he was always truthful. "When you are real you don't mind being hurt, that is why it doesn't happen to those who break easily or have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are real most of your hair has been loved off. Your eyes drop out; you get loose in the joints; you look very shabby. These things don't matter at all because once you are real, you can never be ugly except to people who don't understand." Here is a confession from me to you, not there yet, oft...

This is the same message but this time you will notice the beginning of EACH SENTENCE- it is an old Hebrew trick for hiding code when they didn't want their enemies to know what they were talking about...haven't you heard...John, you know, was a Jew...before he followed Jesus...they grew up knowing how to keep secret those things that needed to be...SEE IT? Y our time on earth is longer than it might seem, but shorter than we might want. O rder in that time gives you the feeling that you are taking charge of it, but there is something deeper there, just outside your range of normal eyesight. U ntil you really open your heart, really see the love, really sense the intensity, you will miss it, which can be stopped right now. W hat many people find themselves in the middle of is a war. I f they could stop the warfare for their time, their peace, their accomplishments, their success, they might just stop it. L ittle do they realize that such a war is not only part of the faith that...

Your time on earth is longer than it might seem, but shorter than we might want. Order in that time gives you the feeling that you are taking charge of it, but there is something deeper there, just outside your range of normal eyesight. Until you really open your heart, really see the love, really sense the intensity, you will miss it, which can be stopped right now. What many people find themselves in the middle of is a war. If they could stop the warfare for their time, their peace, their accomplishments, their success, they might just stop it. Little do they realize that such a war is not only part of the faith that they need to make it through life, but it is the battle itself. Living day to day with a solid undergirding of knowing that you will win if you just stay the course is slowly being ripped out of their thinking! Now is the time to take action, not to think that the battle is over, because the horrific truth is, the battle is just beginning when your eyes first see the rea...

Jesus believed there were two forces predominantly at work on earth, one, the force He believed in, was love; the other, a force He rarely spoke of, but believed to be real, was the opposite of love- apathy, uncaring, lack of concern, and ultimately, soul killing nihilism. It is why Christian theologians get so excited against Nietzsche - for at the end of the super man, is a super colossal fall, one for which no human soul, "super" or not, can survive. The Italian's put it so marvelously when they ask the question, "Che cosa ho fatto che lei uno scherzo del mio cuore?" (very roughly translated...oh, oh, might be best for you to use that translator link?) Jesus believed in the force of love, we believe in, something else- but we rarely call it a force; and yet, isn't love precisely that? Do we make light of love? If we really examine what our motives are, they will reveal that often our motives are anything but loving, and our hearts desires, anything ...

"I am still your man Satara, I swore an oath, I will protect you, even it means I have to protect you from yourself." "The Count of Monte Cristo" - written by Alexander Dumas , famous author, probably better known for "The Three Musketeers." Dumas wrote in the late 1800's during a time when film, which would bring his writings, read in those days by thousands, to be viewed in the 21st century, by billions! So you see the difference? Dumas built much of his underpinning in his stories upon the well known small detailed actions of his heroes which gave away their real identity, Edward Dantes, the hidden Count of Monte Cristo, seeking revenge, has a small detail habit that reveals his hidden identity to his true love, now married to his very real enemy. A tell, a small, delicate, habitual thing which a person does, it identifies them as no other thing can. Because of a high I.Q., in English, when people speak, my mind finishes the sentence before th...