Pastor Robbie's Wednesday Devotion: "Encourage One Another"

"But let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

Hebrews 10:25

Everyone needs a little encouragement, and I hope this blog has been an encouragement to you the last few months.

Today, you have a chance to encourage each other!

Post a comment in the comments section and share what God is doing in your life. You never know who might need to hear the encouragement He's been giving you.

"Come and listen, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me."

Psalm 66:16

Pastor Bob's Wednesday Devotion: "Be Still"

"Be still and know that I am God."
Psalm 46:10

Last week, I used a week of vacation time, and wouldn't you know that I spent most of the week being sick!

This vacation was going to be a "working vacation," which means a busy vacation, and I had a mile-long list of "to do's" around the house. Could it be that busyness was the cause of my sickness?

This morning I was reading in Matthew 20 about Jesus, who after 3 years of demanding ministry, was on His way to Calvary. As Jesus was leaving the city of Jericho with a large crowd following Him, two blind men on the side of the road heard that Jesus was passing by. They cried out, "Lord have mercy on us, Son of David!"

The crowd told the men to be quiet, thinking that Jesus was way too busy to stop and care for two blind beggars.

Do we ever feel our Lord is too busy to help us? Or are we too busy to take the time to be still and know that He is God?

You know what Jesus did.

He stopped and asked the two beggars, "What do you want me to do for you?"

Today, Jesus is asking that same question to you. Will you be still long enough to let our Lord Jesus tend to your needs?

You may not be blind, but you need His touch to cure your busyness!

Pastor Bob's Wednesday Devotion: "Godly Jealousy"

The the word of the Lord of hosts came,saying, "Thus says the Lord of hosts, 'I am exceedingly jealous for Zion, yes, with great wrath I am jealous for her.'"

Zechariah 8:1-2

After more than twenty-six years of marriage, I still get jealous if any other man shows any kind of interest in my wife. You see, I am a jealous husband because I love my wife!

Some might say, "That's not right...1Corinthians 13:4 says, 'Love is not jealous.' Is God contradicting Himself?"

Webster defines jealousy as "intolerance of rivalry or unfaithfulness." When God says He is exceedingly jealous for Zion, He is stating that He is intolerant of rivalry or unfaithfulness. He will not allow anyone or anything to get in the way of His relationship with His people.

In the same way, husbands, we must be intolerant of any form of rivalry when it comes to our relationships with our wives. And wives, you must be intolerant of any form of unfaithfulness when it comes to your relationship with your husbands.

Zechariah's words remind us that God is an exceedingly jealous God when it comes to His love for His people.

Oh that we would follow His example and love each other with a healthy, jealous love!

Pastor Robbie's Wednesday Devotion: "Seeing Things Clearly"

Today's devotion comes from Numbers 13:25-33.

Click here to read the passage.

"We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them."

Numbers 13:33

So often, we find ourselves doing the same thing these spies were doing...seeing things "in our own eyes."

The blessing of the Lord was right in front of them. The land was filled with milk and honey!

But the battle seemed too much. All they saw was a land that devoured its inhabitants and a people too great for them to conquer.

In the spies minds, the people of the land even thought of the Israelites as grasshoppers. But in reality, the Canaanites were terrified of them because of who they followed. In Joshua 2:11, Rahab tells Joshua's spies what the other nations really thought about Israel:

"When we heard of it, our hearts melted and everyone's courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below."

The Canaanites knew the power of the God of the Israelites and were afraid. But the Israelites themselves, God's chosen people, had lost sight of it.

And they would end up spending the next 40 years wandering in the desert until they could see things clearly. Until they could take their eyes off of how big the circumstances appeared to be and set their eyes on how big their God is.

Someone once said that the eye that shifts its focus off of God and onto the world will lack the stability to take confident steps in victory.

What are your eyes focused on today?

Pastor Bob's Wednesday Devotion: July 22

"Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit," says the Lord of hosts. What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain, and he will bring forth the top stone with shouts of "Grace, grace to it."

Zechariah 4:6b-7

Do you need some encouragement today?

Two thousand five hundred years ago, Zerubbabel was given the task of building the temple, and he had hit some roadblocks along the way. He needed some encouragement. And isn't it just like our God to provide exactly what he needed?

Zerubbabel saw the obstacles as mountains standing in the way of completing his task.

But as God speaks through the angel, He reminds Zerubbabel that it is "not by might nor by power" but by God's Spirit that he will see results. By God's grace--God's provision for our every need when we need it--Zerubbabel would see the mountain become a plain.

What are your mountains today?

God is ready and able to level those peaks if we just depend upon His Spirit to do it! In Matthew 7:7 Jesus said, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you."

Whatever your obstacle, whatever your mountain, take it to Jesus.

Let me know how I can pray for you...

Pastor Robbie's Wednesday Devotion: July 15

The next day we put in at Sidon; and Julius treated Paul with consideration and allowed him to go to his friends and receive care.

Acts 27:3

Not very often in the book of Acts do we see others treating Paul with consideration. Most of the time, Paul was treated to stones, whips, accusations, and chains.

What made this man Julius treat Paul like he did?

Was it Paul's attitude towards his shipmates or maybe the way he did not complain about being chained or unjustly punished? It could have been his servant's attitude or maybe is was just his reputation.

Whatever it was, it made Julius look at Paul in a different light.

In Colossians 4:5-6, Paul would write, "Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person."

Sounds like great wisdom to me. And it's from a reliable source.

Paul certainly knew firsthand the value of putting this advice into action.

We never know who is watching us or listening to the things we say, but our actions and words influence the way others see us, and more importantly, how they see Christ.

What are your words and actions saying to others today?

Pastor Bob's Wednesday Devotion: July 8, 2009

Last night while I was watching the news on tv, the only thing being reported on was the death of one of our greatest entertainers. Whether or not you like the music and dancing of Michael Jackson, you have to admit that he captured the hearts of millions of people all over the world. As the "King of Pop" he became the idol of many.

This morning I opened my Bible and read from Habakkuk 2 about the emptiness of idolatry. Entertainment has become one of many American idols, and how sad our God must feel when we place those gods before Him.

Habakkuk ends the chapter by stating, "But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him."

My prayer for us as believers is that we "be silent before Him" because He "is in His holy temple."

And He wants our undivided attention.

Let's put aside any idol that would keep us from being continually in His presence.

Le me know if I can pray for you as we pursue the truth..."Holiness = Happiness!"