LONGING FOR JESUS

 

Tuesday, February 10, 2026

 

LONGING FOR JESUS

 

Psalm 42:1 As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. 

Psalm 42:2 My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God? 

 

          I rise early so that I may be alone with my thoughts, and lately with my aches. This morning, I felt a strong melancholy longing for a closer connection with my God. Believers, if you experience this longing, pursue it in prayer for you have just tapped into the longing that God has for you.

 

As the hunted hart instinctively seeks after the river to lave its smoking flanks and to escape the dogs, even so my weary, persecuted soul pants after the Lord my God. Debarred from public worship, David was heartsick. Ease he did not seek, honor he did not covet, but the enjoyment of communion with God was an urgent need of his soul. [Treasury of David]

 

          Years ago, I used to join my church in singing a short chorus that helped to soothe this spiritual thirst. Sing it a few times. Let your spirit visualize your Savior. Enjoy the close communion with God.

 

Longing, longing for Jesus,

I have a longing in my heart for Him;

Just to be near Him,

To feel His presence,

I have a longing in my heart for Him.

 

Dear Lord, satisfy every weary soul that thirsts for Thee. AMEN

 

HIS WILL HIS GLORY!

 

Monday, February 9, 2026

 

HIS WILL HIS GLORY!

 

Luke 22:42-43

42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.

43 And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.

 

John 12:27-28

27 Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.

28 Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.

 

John 8:29

29 And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.

 

          Jesus is our example of One who considers both God’s will and God’s glory in everything. He came down from heaven and set aside certain divine prerogatives so that he could take on human form. It was God’s will and would bring Him glory.

 

          When it came time for Jesus to die, he went to Gethsemane to pray. He asked for the “cup” to pass if it was God’s will. It was not! Dying on the cross would bring God glory because it would open a way for sinful man to be reunited to God. Jesus did always those things that pleased His Father!

 

          “Purpose driven” is almost a copyrighted phrase these days. It is an often-borrowed ministry model, but what would happen if we were driven by the purpose of doing God’s will in everything? We would understand that both the yes and the no answers to our prayers are equally good. We can’t always see that, but we must try to understand it. How would our lives change if we purposed to bring God glory in everything we do?

 

John 15:7-8

7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

 

Dear Lord, I know that even when you say no to my prayers You have a better purpose in mind. Help me to glorify you in my responses. AMEN

 

CHRIST THE SOLID ROCK!

 

Saturday, February 7, 2026

 

CHRIST THE SOLID ROCK!

 

2 Cor 4:7-8

7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair.

 

Ps 28:1

28 Unto thee will I cry, O Lord my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit.

 

          Despair is to no longer have any hope or belief that a situation will improve or change! It always focuses on the circumstances and ignores the possibilities. It pursues us with hard facts and laughs in the face of faith. It mocks!

 

          Paul reminds us that the treasure of the Gospel resides in our fragile clay. We are always in danger of being dashed to pieces. In 2 Corinthians 11:25, Paul lists his troubles. “Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep.”

 

          Despair hunts each of us because of relentless evil in our land. Our political system is a woolen coat and our culture wears like sack cloth, but I am reminded of a gospel song that cheers me. It goes like this …

 

My Hope Is Built (The Solid Rock)

 

His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my Hope and Stay.

 

Refrain
On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

 

Dear Lord, let me flee to my Rock this morning. AMEN

 

THE MARKS OF MATURITY

 

Friday, February 6, 2026

 

THE MARKS OF MATURITY

 

Ex 23:2-6

2 Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:

3 Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause.

4 If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.

5 If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him.

6 Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.

 

The mark of adulthood is not a chronological age passed; it is the development of personhood. It means that you have become who you have been becoming and that you are consistent and comfortable with that persona. It means you have cast off the funny fads of adolescence and found a style that is functional and appropriate to the occasion. It means that you do not agree with a faceless crowd simply because it is a crowd.

 

It is almost painful to watch an adolescent grow up and even more painful to see those who have reached the age where they should have grown up but failed to do so.

 

Look at the important points in our Scripture portion today.

 

1. Don’t always follow the crowd – especially if it is a mob! Why do people feel they have to say what others say, do what others do, and even wear what others wear to feel significant? Especially refrain from swearing to a lie even if everyone else says it is true. Verse 2 particularly speaks of being cautious not to agree with the majority opinion if it is false and would convict the innocent man or release a guilty one.

 

2. Don’t allow sympathy to cause you to tolerate wrong! This is the force of verse 3 which basically means that you should never be partial to a poor man just because he is poor. Again, do not allow yourself to tolerate sin in someone if he is capable of doing right. Parents often hinder their children from reaching adulthood because they will not hold them accountable.

 

3. Be a blessing even to someone who is not your friend! Verses 4 and 5 give us the scenario of an “enemy” whose donkey runs away. If you find the donkey simply return it to the owner. If you find the donkey collapsed under a heavy load and the owner, who is your enemy, is struggling with it you should stop and offer to help. It’s really that simple!

 

William Shakespeare said: “And this above all unto thine own self be true and it shall follow as the day the night – thou can’st not then be false to any man.”

 

Dear Lord, help me to be fully grown, mature and faithful today. Help me to be a blessing. AMEN

 

WHEN GOD SEEMS FAR AWAY!

 

Thursday, February 5, 2026

[a classic, previously presented]

 

WHEN GOD SEEMS FAR AWAY!

 

Ps 35:22

O LORD: keep not silence: O Lord, be not far from me.

 

Acts 17:25-28

…he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;

26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:

28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being…

 

The most difficult times for me are those times when God seems far away. Oh, I know with my mind that He is everywhere and that He is near, even in my heart, but there are times when I need Him so badly to be within reach. I need to sense His presence, and I need to hear his voice. Like a child who pillows his head on his mother’s breast I need to feel His breath on my cheek. Many are the times when my soul cries out to God for the comfort of His presence.

 

Many are the songs that have been written and sung about our human longing for the divine. “Abide with me” is one and “Nearer my God to Thee” is another of the songs that remind us of the great gulf that sin has now fixed between us and our God. Yet our very soul was made for fellowship with Him as Adam enjoyed in the cool of the evening.

 

Job deeply felt the absence of God although God was every moment observing his calamity. It may seem cruel to us but God had set in motion a test for Job that would put Satan to open shame. Job was required to remain faithful to an absentee God. So it seems often with us. We feel that we must walk the trail of tears alone yet God is there and He will arrive just in time.

 

Ps 56:3

3 What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.

 

Dear Lord, I know with my head that Thou art there, but my spirit needs Thee now. Be not far from me. AMEN

 

HAPPY DANCE!

 

Wednesday, February 4, 2026

 

HAPPY DANCE!

 

Ps 149:1-4

149 Praise ye the Lord. Sing unto the Lord  a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints.

2 Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.

3 Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp.

4 For the Lord  taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation.

 

          We Baptists don’t do much dancing. We are a staunch bunch having been handed down a set of proper actions and attitudes that presumably came from John the Baptist himself. However, if we hear good news, and no one is watching, we may break into a little jig. This happy dance pre-dates John and goes all the way back to King David who danced before the returning Ark of the Lord (2 Samuel 6:14).

 

          Israel was told to dance and give vent to their joy because the Lord takes pleasure in His people. He likes us! He loves us! He enjoys us! The God who invented DNA, the God who made it all happen and holds it all together takes pleasure in us. We make God happy!

 

          I don’t dance much because I am heavy on my two left feet, but when I enter that glorious kingdom I may just break into my Happy Dance!

 

Jer 31:13

13 Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.

 

Dear Lord, give joy and dancing to those who read these words this morning. Thank you for loving us. AMEN

 

THE GOD OF HOPE!

 

Tuesday, February 3, 2026

 

THE GOD OF HOPE!

 

Rom 15:13

13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

 

          Paul, writing to the Romans, offers multiple views of God. In Romans 15:5, He is the God of patience and consolation. The patience is His and the consolation is ours! Here the word “consolation” is paraklesis and is the same word that is translated “comforter” when Jesus promised the Holy Spirit in John 14:16. The word is made more powerful by using a definite article making it “THE consolation.” Consolation is in the person of Jesus Christ.

 

          He is the God of peace in Romans 15:33 and the word “peace” is eirene and indicates both quietness and prosperity. It also is preceded by a definite article which makes it “THE peace.” Peace, both quietness and prosperity, is in the person of Jesus Christ.

 

          In our text this morning, He is the God of hope. Here hope is elpis (el-pece’) and means both expectation and confidence. Once again it is forcefully preceded by a definite article. The hope that we have in eternity is an expectant hope. It is like an “expectant” mother large with child. She is confident of delivery but uncertain of the date! Many signs, both visible and known only to her, assure her that her hope is well founded.

 

Dear Father, all around us are signs and evidence of your soon coming. Inside us also there is confidence that our hope is well founded. Thank you, Lord, that our hope, our peace and our consolation is firmly grounded in you. AMEN

 

BLINK AND STARE!

 

Monday, February 2, 2026

 

BLINK AND STARE!

(This is a “classic” devotional previously presented)

 

Gal 1:6

6 I marvel [I am surprised and astonished] that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:

 

Mark 14:33

33 And he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy;

 

After more than five decades in the “preacher business,” there are some things that simply cause me to blink and stare! The Bible uses a couple of terms to describe the condition of amazement. The first we see in Galatians chapter one and verse 6 where Paul stands blinking and staring because the Galatians had abandoned the truth of the gospel. It’s the “deer-in-the-headlights” condition. The idea from the original is to be “immobilized by disbelief.”

 

How in the world can a truly thinking person abandon salvation so freely given by grace and choose instead to adopt a plan of salvation that demands a cost impossible to pay?  We just blink and stare – and maybe toss in a crooked grin. Somewhere along the way these people had shut down their ability to reason!

 

I blink and stare that modern Christians have abandoned biblical Christianity for something that is a monstrous blend of Christianity, paganism and hedonism [the doctrine that pleasure is the chief good in life]. Some modern Christians have not abandoned grace but have embraced a belief system the Bible anticipated in the following verses.

 

Rom 6:1-2

6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?

2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

 

God did not save us from the slime pit so that we could continue playing in it without guilt! The whole idea just makes me blink and stare! How can someone who claims to be a believer continue to practice moral filthiness and indiscriminate promiscuity? How can a young lady bunk down with first one man and then another and still carry a two-ton Bible to Sunday school? Is this normal behavior? I am frozen in disbelief! I am amazed! I just blink and stare! How can a young man cheat on his wife, terrorize his children and still sit solemnly in church services week after week? I am frozen with disbelief! I just blink and stare!

 

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy. The full weight of the sins of all mankind of every age was being lowered onto Him and even the Son of God found it incredible! As scene after scene began to be played on his mind in speeding fast-forward his spirit found it hard to comprehend. His mind shouted “why?” and there was no reasonable answer. Blink and stare!

 

Modern Christianity has blended heaven and hell into an inedible soup – tasty but deadly! Each week in huge churches people stand, clap and “worship” a God they do not truly know. They praise a God they never intend to serve. They agree and say “amen” to godly principles they do not intend to obey or practice. Blink and stare! So, if you tell me something, or show me something, and I respond with just a blank stare and a crooked grin, you will perhaps have a clue as to what I am thinking.

 

Matt 15:8

8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

 

Dear Lord! Help me to be honest in my dealings, pure in my practices and faithful in my worship. AMEN

 

A NEW GREAT AWAKENING?

 

Sunday, February 1, 2026

 

A NEW GREAT AWAKENING?

 

1 Peter 4:7

7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.

 

Acts 2:16-17

16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; (See Joel 2:28)

17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:

 

It is still uncertain whether our present political, cultural and spiritual upheaval will usher the end of time or the next Great Awakening. We need to pray for both and be ready for either. One thing is for certain, one generation will see the end of all things. Perhaps it will be our own generation! 

 

It is troubling when a talk show host begins to call our nation back to God. Perhaps it is because so many ministers conduct themselves like talk show hosts. It is also encouraging that someone is speaking out about the need for a national, even global, revival. Who is to say what yielded instrument God may use?

 

Rev 2:29

29 He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

 

BE ALERT! – like a person anticipating a thief.

 

Rev 3:2

2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.

 

STAND FIRM! – Don’t release what God has already given you.

 

1 Cor 16:13

13 Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.

 

MAINTAIN A STRONG LOVE FOR THE LORD!

 

Matt 24:12

12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

 

DON’T COMPROMISE WITH SIN!

 

In two areas: (1) Idolatry: "Is there anything that commands your affections more than the Lord Jesus Christ?" (2) Sexual impurity: "Is the trend in your thought life and actions moving toward increased purity, or increased enslavement?"—Facts of the Matter

 

1 Thess 4:3

3 For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:

 

BE PREPARED TO SUFFER IF NECESSARY!

 

Phil 1:29

29 For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;

 

2 Tim 3:12-14

12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

14 But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;

 

Tough times lay ahead as we approach the end of the age. We wait for the return of Jesus – even so come quickly.

 

Dear Lord, please send another Great Awakening that our nation may be refreshed and revived. AMEN