This is day two in our countdown to the election on Tuesday. Each day we're
doing three things by way of our morning devotionals. We're asking a
question, considering a Scripture, and saying a prayer. Please join me as we
give serious consideration to who will be our next President.
Question:
There has been a lot said lately about the economy. It's definitely
something on the minds of most Americans. If you're to be my President for
the next four years sir, what will be the motivation behind your Presidency?
Will it be money?
Scripture:
"Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right"
(Pro. 16:8).
Prayer:
Father in heaven. Thank you for the opportunity to live in this grand
republic. In just a few days it will be our privilege to exercise our right
to vote for the next President of the United States. Father, we're concerned
about a lot of things right now. One of them has to do with our economy.
Many are out of work. Several folks would like to start a business or hire
more employees for the businesses they already run. So many are struggling
with taxes, the ever rising cost of healthcare, and higher prices at the
gas pump. Some folks would like to retire after having worked so hard for
most of their lives and yet today cannot because they've lost so much of
their retirement savings. But Father, as challenged as we are financially,
and as much as we want a President to help us get our economy on correct
course, help us to hire a man who will be driven by righteousness over
revenues. In Jesus' name. Amen.
For previous devotionals, visit www.NeilRichey.com.
The Piedmont Road
church of Christ
* Home of the Georgia School of Preaching and Biblical Studies
1630 Piedmont Road NE
Marietta, GA 30066
770.971.9933
www.LifeInChrist.com
Sunday
9:30 a.m. Bible Study and 10:30 a.m. Worship
5:00 p.m. Children's Bible Time, followed by our evening Worship
Wednesday
7:15 p.m. Bible Study
We hope you'll join us this Lord's Day!
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Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Monday, October 29, 2012
Hurrican Sandy
A historic storm is bearing down on the east coast. Many forecasters are
claiming
that the impending weather phenomenon poised to hit the Mid-Atlantic and
northeast,
called a nor'easter, is the largest in history. Coupled with that is the
surging,
strong category one hurricane, Sandy. The two will clash together in a
super storm
being called "Frankenstorm"--due to its proximity in time to October 31st.
It will
bring hurricane-force winds, storm surges, blizzards, tornadoes, possible
tidal
waves, and more. The dramatic nature of this event was expressed this way
by Stu
Ostro, meteorologist for the Weather Channel: ""History is being written as
an extreme
weather event continues to unfold, one which will occupy a place in the
annals of
weather history as one of the most extraordinary to have affected the United
States"
(Doyle Rice, USA Today online, 10-29-12).
Events like this give perspective to who we are in contrast to the living
God!
We are small, dependent, and relatively fragile, as events like this prove.
Arrogance
and defiance are exchanged for humility and dependency.
The Christian's confidence is in Christ, who proved Himself the Master of
winds
and waves (Mat. 8:26-27). As the One who created everything that was made,
including
the elements of nature (Col. 1:16), His power exceeds anything that it can
demonstrate.
As tens of millions face power outages, as property damages will be in the
multi-billions
of dollars, and as lives will be endangered by the unprecedented storm, this
fact
becomes more incredible and reassuring. When the storms of life rage, He is
our
shelter. If the physical storms threaten, we can rest in His eternal
protection.
When that great event comes that ends it all (2 Pet. 3:10), we can be safe
from
eternal harm! The Master of the winds and the waves mastered a problem
even bigger
than Sandy. He mastered the sin problem. If we make Him our Master, we
need fear
nothing this life may throw at us.
Please pray for the millions of people threatened by this storm, including a
great
many of our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Neal Pollard
claiming
that the impending weather phenomenon poised to hit the Mid-Atlantic and
northeast,
called a nor'easter, is the largest in history. Coupled with that is the
surging,
strong category one hurricane, Sandy. The two will clash together in a
super storm
being called "Frankenstorm"--due to its proximity in time to October 31st.
It will
bring hurricane-force winds, storm surges, blizzards, tornadoes, possible
tidal
waves, and more. The dramatic nature of this event was expressed this way
by Stu
Ostro, meteorologist for the Weather Channel: ""History is being written as
an extreme
weather event continues to unfold, one which will occupy a place in the
annals of
weather history as one of the most extraordinary to have affected the United
States"
(Doyle Rice, USA Today online, 10-29-12).
Events like this give perspective to who we are in contrast to the living
God!
We are small, dependent, and relatively fragile, as events like this prove.
Arrogance
and defiance are exchanged for humility and dependency.
The Christian's confidence is in Christ, who proved Himself the Master of
winds
and waves (Mat. 8:26-27). As the One who created everything that was made,
including
the elements of nature (Col. 1:16), His power exceeds anything that it can
demonstrate.
As tens of millions face power outages, as property damages will be in the
multi-billions
of dollars, and as lives will be endangered by the unprecedented storm, this
fact
becomes more incredible and reassuring. When the storms of life rage, He is
our
shelter. If the physical storms threaten, we can rest in His eternal
protection.
When that great event comes that ends it all (2 Pet. 3:10), we can be safe
from
eternal harm! The Master of the winds and the waves mastered a problem
even bigger
than Sandy. He mastered the sin problem. If we make Him our Master, we
need fear
nothing this life may throw at us.
Please pray for the millions of people threatened by this storm, including a
great
many of our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Neal Pollard
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Walking with Jesus
I've often thought about Jesus' disciples who had the privilege of walking
with and talking to Jesus. Oh what an experience that must have been.
There's a song in our church hymnal that says in part, "and He walks with me
and He talks with me." I don't remember all the words readily, but these are
some that come to mind. Now, clearly there's an element of poetic license
here as Jesus certainly doesn't literally walk with us or talk to us.
However, the more we read the words of Jesus the closer to Jesus we get--and
in that sense, He walks and talks to us.
Have you walked with Jesus lately? What have you learned?
1. Maybe you've learned something about prayer. You would, you know. As a
disciple of Jesus there's no better example to go to in order to learn the
how and why of prayer. Remember how the early disciples said, "Lord, teach
us to pray" (Luke 11:1). It's as if they were saying, "Lord, teach us to
pray like you."
2. Perhaps the Lord has given you insight into eternity. There's no place
like home! We often talk about where we're from, what it's like, and what we
enjoy doing at home or in our hometown. Jesus was the same about his home.
He talked about His home (John 14:1-4), and how He wants all to join Him
there one day.
3. No doubt you spent some time learning of His love for you. A family made
up folks that love one another, share that love with their words and action.
Jesus tells us that He wants us to be part of His family. He says He loves
us so much that He wanted to tell us and show us--and, He did by way of the
cross (John 3:16).
I hope you'll spend part of your day with Jesus. I'll let you in on a little
secret. He's already committed to spending His entire day with you.
I hope you have a great day!
For previous devotionals, visit www.NeilRichey.com.
with and talking to Jesus. Oh what an experience that must have been.
There's a song in our church hymnal that says in part, "and He walks with me
and He talks with me." I don't remember all the words readily, but these are
some that come to mind. Now, clearly there's an element of poetic license
here as Jesus certainly doesn't literally walk with us or talk to us.
However, the more we read the words of Jesus the closer to Jesus we get--and
in that sense, He walks and talks to us.
Have you walked with Jesus lately? What have you learned?
1. Maybe you've learned something about prayer. You would, you know. As a
disciple of Jesus there's no better example to go to in order to learn the
how and why of prayer. Remember how the early disciples said, "Lord, teach
us to pray" (Luke 11:1). It's as if they were saying, "Lord, teach us to
pray like you."
2. Perhaps the Lord has given you insight into eternity. There's no place
like home! We often talk about where we're from, what it's like, and what we
enjoy doing at home or in our hometown. Jesus was the same about his home.
He talked about His home (John 14:1-4), and how He wants all to join Him
there one day.
3. No doubt you spent some time learning of His love for you. A family made
up folks that love one another, share that love with their words and action.
Jesus tells us that He wants us to be part of His family. He says He loves
us so much that He wanted to tell us and show us--and, He did by way of the
cross (John 3:16).
I hope you'll spend part of your day with Jesus. I'll let you in on a little
secret. He's already committed to spending His entire day with you.
I hope you have a great day!
For previous devotionals, visit www.NeilRichey.com.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you" (2 Cor. 2:4).
Today, we conclude our short series on "The Tears of Paul." Thus far we've
observed that Paul served with tears and he warned with tears. This morning,
let's notice that he wrote with tears.
The Bible says, "For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote
unto you with many tears; not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might
know the love which I have more abundantly unto you" (2 Cor. 2:4).
Did you ever stop and wonder if Paul's tears, shed while writing this
epistle, actually fell upon the paper which he wrote? Why were tears pouring
from the apostle's eyes as he wrote this epistle?
Think about the recipients of his letter.
The city of Corinth was quite wicked. That ungodliness eventually made its
way into the church of the Christ. A son committed adultery with his
father's wife. Some were going to law with their brethren. There were
idolaters in the city and the church. Some practiced homosexuality, and we
could go on and on.
Due to his abundant love for his brethren in Corinth, Paul shed many tears
as he wrote to them. Barnes noted, "This was an instance of Paul's great
tenderness of heart--a trait of character which he uniformly evinced. With
all his strength of mind, and all his courage and readiness to face danger.
Paul was not ashamed to weep; and especially if he had any occasion of
censuring his Christian brethren, or administering discipline,...."
What a great man of God the apostle was. He was a man that shed tears when
he served, warned, and taught.
May God help you and I to have hearts that long to serve our God, to warn
our brethren about the danger of falling from God, and be ready always to
encourage souls to do right.
I hope you have a great day!
For previous devotionals, visit www.NeilRichey.com.
observed that Paul served with tears and he warned with tears. This morning,
let's notice that he wrote with tears.
The Bible says, "For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote
unto you with many tears; not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might
know the love which I have more abundantly unto you" (2 Cor. 2:4).
Did you ever stop and wonder if Paul's tears, shed while writing this
epistle, actually fell upon the paper which he wrote? Why were tears pouring
from the apostle's eyes as he wrote this epistle?
Think about the recipients of his letter.
The city of Corinth was quite wicked. That ungodliness eventually made its
way into the church of the Christ. A son committed adultery with his
father's wife. Some were going to law with their brethren. There were
idolaters in the city and the church. Some practiced homosexuality, and we
could go on and on.
Due to his abundant love for his brethren in Corinth, Paul shed many tears
as he wrote to them. Barnes noted, "This was an instance of Paul's great
tenderness of heart--a trait of character which he uniformly evinced. With
all his strength of mind, and all his courage and readiness to face danger.
Paul was not ashamed to weep; and especially if he had any occasion of
censuring his Christian brethren, or administering discipline,...."
What a great man of God the apostle was. He was a man that shed tears when
he served, warned, and taught.
May God help you and I to have hearts that long to serve our God, to warn
our brethren about the danger of falling from God, and be ready always to
encourage souls to do right.
I hope you have a great day!
For previous devotionals, visit www.NeilRichey.com.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
You must in all things show yourself an example of good deeds; in your teaching showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility
Marion Gilbert wrote this little paragraph, I thought it was worth sharing.
"One morning I opened the door to get the newspaper and was surprised to see
a strange little dog with our paper in his mouth. Delighted with this
unexpected "delivery service," I fed him some treats. The following morning
I was horrified to see the same dog sitting in front of our door, wagging
his tail, surrounded by eight newspapers.
I spent the rest of that morning returning the papers to their owners."
I know it seems like a silly little story, but what would you have done?
After all, you didn't tell the dog to bring all of those newspapers, it's
not even your dog! It's not your responsibility to get them back is it? At
the most, we might call the newspaper office. but to return all of the
papers ourselves, that's going just a little to far isn't it?
The apostle Paul wrote to the young man Titus in Titus 2:7, "You must in all
things show yourself an example of good deeds; in your teaching showing
integrity, reverence, incorruptibility."
Wow, that's difficult isn't is, "you must in all things show yourself an
example of good deeds. showing integrity." I think the point Paul is making
is that you never know who is watching what you do and how they will respond
to your actions. You see, that is part of "Showing ourselves an example." It
takes more than just saying the right words and proclaiming that we are good
people; we have to show by our example the stuff of which we are made. In
this context of course I am talking about living our life so that it's not
just our words that say, "I'm a Christian," it is our example also.
It is the little things in life that make a difference. You may never have a
dog bring you your neighbor's newspaper, but what about that clerk or teller
who gives you too much change or some other mistake made in your favor. How
will you respond then? What will your example say?
My prayer is that our God will give you a pure heart of integrity as you
walk through this life.
May He continue to bless and keep us all!
Russ Lawson
"One morning I opened the door to get the newspaper and was surprised to see
a strange little dog with our paper in his mouth. Delighted with this
unexpected "delivery service," I fed him some treats. The following morning
I was horrified to see the same dog sitting in front of our door, wagging
his tail, surrounded by eight newspapers.
I spent the rest of that morning returning the papers to their owners."
I know it seems like a silly little story, but what would you have done?
After all, you didn't tell the dog to bring all of those newspapers, it's
not even your dog! It's not your responsibility to get them back is it? At
the most, we might call the newspaper office. but to return all of the
papers ourselves, that's going just a little to far isn't it?
The apostle Paul wrote to the young man Titus in Titus 2:7, "You must in all
things show yourself an example of good deeds; in your teaching showing
integrity, reverence, incorruptibility."
Wow, that's difficult isn't is, "you must in all things show yourself an
example of good deeds. showing integrity." I think the point Paul is making
is that you never know who is watching what you do and how they will respond
to your actions. You see, that is part of "Showing ourselves an example." It
takes more than just saying the right words and proclaiming that we are good
people; we have to show by our example the stuff of which we are made. In
this context of course I am talking about living our life so that it's not
just our words that say, "I'm a Christian," it is our example also.
It is the little things in life that make a difference. You may never have a
dog bring you your neighbor's newspaper, but what about that clerk or teller
who gives you too much change or some other mistake made in your favor. How
will you respond then? What will your example say?
My prayer is that our God will give you a pure heart of integrity as you
walk through this life.
May He continue to bless and keep us all!
Russ Lawson
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Why become a preacher?
I love preaching! Why? Because the purpose is to invoke a response and then
motivate a change in the way one lives. That, in essence, is what Paul was
saying about the Scripture in 2 Timothy 3:16-17. Study that passage and see
if that's not the point.
Of course, it's the Scripture that we preach and that changes lives--not the
one doing the preaching. In fact, if we as preachers would learn to get out
of the way of the text, and let the text do the talking, then we'd be far
better off.
Sometimes we say, "well, it's been awhile since anyone has responded to the
invitation on Sunday." Keep in mind, that doesn't mean no one has responded.
Everyone responds--if just in their own heart, and that negatively or
positively.
Here's another thing to keep in mind. The invitation for public response on
Sunday is not just for someone to obey the Gospel in baptism for the
remission of sins. Nor is it just to bring someone to repentance for public
sin.
I think far too often we fail to realize that an invitation to respond is
also a good time for folks to come forward and ask their church family for
prayer because they need HELP!
As you know, there's not been a daily devotional nugget because my son and I
were in Africa on a short term mission trip. While on that trip, it was our
privilege to worship and work with the Kisongo Church of Christ. I was able
to present three lessons before the church. at the conclusion of two of them
we invited people to respond to the invitation. On a third occasion, another
traveling companion, Lance Leavens preached and invited folks to respond to
the invitation.
There were about 24 souls who responded. Of the 24, one of those wanted to
be baptized, and a second expressed sinfulness and asked for prayers with
respect to that.
The balance of those who responded simply asked for help. Moreover, most
were asking for prayers for God's aid for their friends or family who were
going through struggles.
I was overwhelmed by their love and concern for others and how they used
responding to the invitation to ask for prayers for help--and that, often
for others.
This Lord's Day, what if more people responded calling upon the prayer power
of the collective body of Christ? Something to think about.
I hope you have a great day!
For previous devotionals, visit www.NeilRichey.com.
motivate a change in the way one lives. That, in essence, is what Paul was
saying about the Scripture in 2 Timothy 3:16-17. Study that passage and see
if that's not the point.
Of course, it's the Scripture that we preach and that changes lives--not the
one doing the preaching. In fact, if we as preachers would learn to get out
of the way of the text, and let the text do the talking, then we'd be far
better off.
Sometimes we say, "well, it's been awhile since anyone has responded to the
invitation on Sunday." Keep in mind, that doesn't mean no one has responded.
Everyone responds--if just in their own heart, and that negatively or
positively.
Here's another thing to keep in mind. The invitation for public response on
Sunday is not just for someone to obey the Gospel in baptism for the
remission of sins. Nor is it just to bring someone to repentance for public
sin.
I think far too often we fail to realize that an invitation to respond is
also a good time for folks to come forward and ask their church family for
prayer because they need HELP!
As you know, there's not been a daily devotional nugget because my son and I
were in Africa on a short term mission trip. While on that trip, it was our
privilege to worship and work with the Kisongo Church of Christ. I was able
to present three lessons before the church. at the conclusion of two of them
we invited people to respond to the invitation. On a third occasion, another
traveling companion, Lance Leavens preached and invited folks to respond to
the invitation.
There were about 24 souls who responded. Of the 24, one of those wanted to
be baptized, and a second expressed sinfulness and asked for prayers with
respect to that.
The balance of those who responded simply asked for help. Moreover, most
were asking for prayers for God's aid for their friends or family who were
going through struggles.
I was overwhelmed by their love and concern for others and how they used
responding to the invitation to ask for prayers for help--and that, often
for others.
This Lord's Day, what if more people responded calling upon the prayer power
of the collective body of Christ? Something to think about.
I hope you have a great day!
For previous devotionals, visit www.NeilRichey.com.
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