Devotionals
A daily word of encouragement, exhortation and edification, drawn from the Scriptures.
The acid test of love
1 John 3.14,15 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. 1 John 4.20,21 If...
Drink the Living Water, not Poison
Ephesians 4.30- 32 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted,...
A lesson from Jonah and David about stubbornness
As we look into the second chapter of Jonah in the belly of the great fish, we must not disconnect the context from 1.17, where we learned that our man Jonah was swallowed up by the great fish that The Lord had prepared for him. The Hebrew word for swallowed here...
Whose friend are you?
James 4.4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy. He or she who sets his heart upon the world, who will conform to it rather than lose its...
Which Way are You Walking?
Haggai 1:7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways. The prophet Haggai exhorted the lukewarm, self-centered people of God with these words: “Consider your ways.” (Haggai 1:5,7) The word consider means to pay attention to. Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines the...
My Redeemer Lives!
When we take the Lord's Supper we celebrate the bodily resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He foretold that His temple (referring to His body) would be destroyed, but in three days He would raise it up (John 2:19,21). Without the resurrection, there is...
Love Conquers License And Legalism
As we conclude our study in Romans 14 this morning, the more I look at what The Holy Spirit is saying here, the more I realize that the underlying message is one of love conquering a judgmental, legalistic attitude (Romans 14:15). Oh how Koinonia Fellowship needs to...
The Armor Of Light
You and I are living in a world that is run by the powers of darkness (Ephesians 6:12). The god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4) is the father of all lies and deceit (John 8:44). His only agenda is to destroy lives (John 10:10a). Recognizing this, we are exhorted...
Beyond Ourselves
In Romans 12:9-13 we are challenged to put our faith into action within our own body of believers. In Romans 12:14-21 we are exhorted to take our faith outside the walls of the church and apply it towards our enemies and those who persecute us. It doesn’t take too...
What Does Spirit-Filled Look Like?
Paul says that, as God’s children (Romans 8:16), the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts (Romans 5:5). Did you ever ask yourself the question, “What does that love look like?” Well, it would be the height of arrogance to think that I can explain that in a...
The Sign Of Jonah
“Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, ‘Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.’ But He answered and said to them, ‘An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as...
Worthy Is The Lamb!
In chapter 5 of Revelation, we find one of 28 references to the “Lamb”, which of course is one of the many titles given to Our Lord Jesus Christ in Scripture. John sees Jesus in glory as a Lamb that had been slain (Revelation 5:6) from the foundation of the world...
Watch Ye and Pray
Mark 14:38 Watch ye and pray... The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak. Today our study brings us into that portion of the Lord Jesus' life that I would call His holy of holies prayer unto His Father. Words are not capable of describing the depth of this...
Glorious Things
In the gospel of Luke (13:17), we read these words concerning our Lord Jesus Christ: “And when he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed; and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him.” Indeed, glorious things were done...
Redeemed!
One of the most wonderful themes in Scripture is the theme of redemption. The term “redeem” conveys the idea of deliverance or ransom. Biblical redemption has a cost, and Scripture declares that the price of man’s redemp- tion is the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ (1...
The Promise Of The Father
Jesus commanded the apostles that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, “‘which,’ He said, ‘you have heard from Me’” (Acts 1:4). Jesus had told these men that He would send the Promise of the Father (Luke 24:49), and on the Day...
The Seven Spirits Of God
In the heavenly scene, John sees the 7 Spirits of God (Revelation 3:1, 4:5, 5:6). Many commentators cross reference this to Isaiah 11:2: “The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of...
Follow Christ, Not Man
In one of the most personal letters in the entire canon of Scripture (3rd John), we read about three men who were influencing the church in one way or another. One was Gaius, the other was Diotrephes and the last was Demetrius. Two of these men, Gaius and Demetrius...
Remember Me
As I was preparing this message about The Lord’s Supper this week, the words of Jesus, “…this do in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19) kept going through my mind. I jotted down these thoughts. (You may want to compile your own “remember Me” list.) When your heart is...
The Peril Of Being Lukewarm
In Jesus’ message to the church of Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-22), He does not have one word of commendation for them. It is ironic because they boasted of their riches and material possessions, which, no doubt, they interpreted as being a sign of God’s blessing. On...
The God Of The Open Door
The church of Philadelphia is traditional known as the evangelical congregation. Prior to the gospel coming to the area, the city was the center of “evangelizing” the known world in the Greek culture. It is here that the Lord Jesus Christ introduces Himself as “He...
Dead In The Light
In the letters to the churches in the book of Revelations, The Lord Jesus places His hand upon the saints in Sardis and declares them to be dead. On the outside they had a reputation for being very much alive, but on the inside the life of Christ was absent. How does...
5 ingredients of true repentance
"And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies' lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them. If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they...
The Blessed Mystery
As we come to the close of our study in Romans, Paul mentions “the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret since the world began” (Romans 16:25). This word “mystery” is not to be understood as it is used to describe a crime mystery. This word describes...
Paul’s Hall Of Faith
As we near the end of the wonderful epistle of Romans, we are once again confronted with the fact that the deepest theological truths are not only meant to be practical, but the source of meaningful relationships (1 Corinthians 1:9; 1 John 1:3). The body of Christ is...
Let Us Pray!
When Jesus turned the money changers’ tables over in the temple, He declared that His house was to be called a house of prayer, but they had turned it into a den of thieves (Mark 11:15-17). While He was on earth His disciples said to Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray”...
Love, The Proof Of Regeneration
We can point our fingers and cross reference our doctrinal “proof texts” until we are blue in the face, but if there is no real love for our brothers and sisters in Christ, according to John, our alleged conversion is a farce (1 John 3:14,15). Make no mistake about...
Persecution For Righteousness’ Sake
The church of Smyrna was told by the risen Lord Jesus that it would face an intense time of persecution, but not to be afraid (Revelation 2:10). Put yourself in that sanctuary that morning when the messenger of the church stood before them to make the morning...
Busy But Loveless
One of the idols of contemporary Christianity is the idol of activity. You would think that busyness always meant godliness. Undoubtedly there is the true work of God that is a labor of love, night and day (1 Thessalonians 2:9; 2 Thessalonians 3:8), but it is very...
Deliverance from the pit
David, the man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22), wrote about a time in his life when he was in a horrible pit and was graciously delivered by The Lord when he cried out to Him. Exactly what that pit was we are not sure, but David made a connection between that pit...
The Knowledge and Glory of God
Today, our study will focus on two major redemption themes. One is the knowledge of the True and Living God (Jeremiah 9:23-24), and the other is having that knowledge translated into a life which is lived for the glory of God (1 Peter 4:11b). The elements of the bread...
About Me
I am the Lead Pastor of Koinonia Fellowship, a husband, father and grandfather. I also serve on the worship team as one of the drummers.