Brother Michael's Devotional

Genesis 1:1a "In the beginning God..."


Who is God. Is He some sort of force that can be manipulated? Is He the product of the imagination of some near eastern sheep herder? Maybe He is some impersonal power that set this universe into motion and now has left it to wind down like some child's top.
God is a person. He has a mind. He can reason. Isaiah 1:18 declares "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." God has a mind and can reason. He does not want you to take some blind leap in the dark in trusting Him, he wants you to come to Him with an open mind and put Him to the test.
He also has a will. II Peter 3:9 says "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long suffering to us-ward, not willing that anyone should perish, but that all should come to repentance." It is not His will for you to go to the Lake of Fire. He has prepared a way of escape. In fact there is only one Way, and that is through the work of the Son.
God also has emotions. He can love and He can hate. He has even wept. Friend, God loves you right now. It does not matter how low or rotten you have ever been, He loves you. You may reject this message right now, but if there ever comes a time in your life when you are flat on your back with nobody and nothing to hold on to, remember this. He loves you. He cares for you. You are precious to Him.
But God is holy. He can not accept you in your sins. In fact, He can accept only perfect righteousness. And He is ready to impute that righteousness to you, the righteousness of His Son.
So God is a person, He has a mind, will and emotions. And right now that person wants a relationship with you. Do you want to know Him? Go to Him in His word and in prayer. He will meet you and make Himself real to you.
Revelation 22:17 "And the Spirit and the Bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let hem that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely,"

Brother Michael's Devotional

II Corinthians 12:9 "And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most Gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."


There is weakness in all of our lives. There are certain sins that may be a great temptation to us. Something that appeals to the flesh, is attractive to the eye or lifts ones pride. Or maybe it is a physical ailment. There are disabilities that hinder the ministry and service of God. How shall we be delivered from these things?
It may not be God's will for you or I to be delivered from all of our infirmities. When we are well and not tempted by sin we find little time for God. But let a trial or temptation come our way and we flee to Him. God can and does use or weakness to display His strength and teach us to rely on Him. Friend, do not trust in your own talents and abilities, trust in the grace of God. He has enough for me, and plenty left for you. His grace is sufficient for you, and He has enough.
Corrie Ten Boom in her book "Amazing Love" recounts the following, "Years ago I told the story of Jesus' feeding the five thousand with five loaves and two fishes to a class of feeble-minded boys. Carl had become so absorbed in the story that he jumped to his feet and shouted, 'There is enough, there is enough, take as much as you want, there is enough!'"
Do you need more grace? There is enough, there is enough, take as much as you want, there is enough!

Brother Michael's Devotional

Genesis 2:9 "And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil."


I Peter 2:24 says "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree,..." The word for tree in this verse is the same word for tree found in Revelation 22:2 "In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life,..."
Long before Adam sinned God prepared a way for him to be reconciled. That same tree of life there in the garden of Eden was the tree that Christ hung from and will be the same tree that shall grow in the New Jerusalem.
Friend, long before you were ever born God made provisions for you. Long before you were trapped in sins God made the Way out. Long before you despaired God provided the Way of hope. Long before you were dead in sins and trespasses God provided the Way of Life.
God cares for you. He loved you before He ever did anything about it. He began providing for you before the foundation of the world and continues to provide for you today. We do not have to run around in an attempt to earn God's good grace. The full cup of His grace is already there waiting for you to drink deeply.
Have you thanked Him lately. Have you told Him how much you love Him for meeting your needs. He wants to hear that as any good father would.
Revelation 13:8 "...the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world."

Brother Michael's Devotional

II Corinthians 5:7 "(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)


Why does God allow babies to die? Why does He allow war? Why does he allow some of the worst pain in the lives of those who love and serve Him but bless those that curse Him? It would be foolish to charge God in any of these situations but there can be legitimate questions in the life of a honest Child of God.
To be frank, I do not always understand why God allows what He allows. But there should come a time in the life of the believer when he does not need all the answers. Ephesians 1:7 says God "...worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:"
Friend, God is not surprised by the trouble in your life. Your temptation and sin did not catch Him off guard. He has seen the pain and misery in this world long before this world was called into existence and He is doing something about it even when we cannot see it.
Romans 8:28 says "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are called according to his purpose." Friend, you may not be able to see God, but He is still there. You may not be able to hear God, but He is still talking. You may not be able to see God's hand in your life, but He is still patiently working all things together for good to them that love Him. And that is a comforting thought.

Brother Michael's Devotional

Romans 3:25 "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;"


Go out tonight and look at the stars. Look at the vastness of the created universe. A God that called this world into existence must be an infinite God. And if He is an infinite God he me must have infinite attributes. He must be infinitely loving, infinitely gracious but also infinitely holy.
An Infinitely holy God by his very nature demands perfection. But you and I can not measure up to God's righteousness. We have transgressed the law of a holy God and his holliness demands absolute justice, the sentence of death. What we need is a place to appeal to the mercy of God, and we have such a place.
Hebrews 5:5 speaks of a mercy seat. That mercy seat was a place where the high priest could intercede for his people through the shedding of innocent animal blood. The word mercy seat is the same word propitiation in Romans 3:25.
Today we have a mercy seat friend. It was not obtained through the shedding of animal blood, but by the blood of Christ. After Christ died on the cross He took all of his literal blood to heaven to the very throne of God and applied it there. And a seat of judgement became a throne of grace.
Let us not go to God on our own merit. I do not want justice from God, I want mercy. 1 John 4:9,10 "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his son to be a propitiation for our sins."