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Loneliness bites the soul like frost degrades and scars the flesh. It is insidious in that it usually comes so gradually that it is unnoticed. Without warning, changes in our lives can be so subtle as to be unnoticed for the moment, but literally wreak havoc over the long haul. As a nation, Israel had gradually drifted away from the source of all real comfort, the Lord God Almighty. Like we do as individuals at times, they were suffering from extreme loneliness in a crowded world! Nothing can be worse than acute loneliness; cries that originate in the lonely heart are cries that indelibly…  ( Click for more )

I live in the southeastern United States of America. As many regions do, we Southerners have certain characteristics that are attributed to us; some are legitimate while others are founded on biases or stereotypes. A few years ago a friend and I were driving around the countryside where we encountered a gentleman who reminds me of these facts. Today's message discusses that encounter.

In the neatly trimmed yard there were a number of trees that had obviously been planted and cared for regularly. However, there was something that stood out about the trees even more than their beauty;…  ( Click for more )

I wish that I could truly say that I perpetually hate sin in every form. However, I would be lying to make such a claim. If stated honestly, I find that the sins that I hate all the time are sins that I have no disposition to commit!

Sins that are a temptation to me are not truly hated all the time; sometimes they seem an attractive shortcut to pleasure and feelings of well being. Among such sins are unwarranted anger, the withholding of good from those that I find unsavory, and frequently knowing what is good and simply refusing to take that path. I find that I can justify these…  ( Click for more )

Like the man I saw in the grocery store yesterday who apparently skipped a treatment of hair coloring, I know that after this introduction, my roots will be showing. As a younger man in the late sixties, I used to enjoy a CBS TV show called Hee Haw. It was a country variety show with an oversized emphasis on corn pone, corn liquor, and just pure corn! One of the regular items on the show featured the singing of a customized weekly song called Gloom, Despair, and Agony on Me. If you're too young to remember it, check it out on You Tube; if you remember it, that's all it will take to…  ( Click for more )

The second of the Penitential Psalms (Songs of Penitence) contains more poignant truths that relate to mercy, forgiveness, and comfort. Our devotional today will center on only a few selected phrases from this Psalm, but it will emphasize some essentials of godly comfort. [Note; Yesterday's article mistakenly stated that there are six penitential Psalms; it should have read seven, not six.]

“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit. When I kept…  ( Click for more )

There are six Penitential Psalms (Songs of Penitence) in the Bible. Each of them conveys a unique and poignant point about the process of penitence and the comfort that can derive from it. Our study of comfort would be incomplete without an overview of the relationship between penitence and the comfort that is offered in these six wonderful bits of inspired literature. For purposes of the six articles that follow, the bold print portion of each passage contains the point of focus for that article and is purely arbitrary on this writer's part.

“O LORD, do not rebuke me in…  ( Click for more )

There are six Penitential Psalms (Songs of Penitence) in the Bible. Each of them conveys a unique and poignant point about the process of penitence and the comfort that can derive from it. Our study of comfort would be incomplete without an overview of the relationship between penitence and the comfort that is offered in these six wonderful bits of inspired literature. For purposes of the six articles that follow, the bold print portion of each passage contains the point of focus for that article and is purely arbitrary on this writer's part.

“O LORD, do not rebuke me in…  ( Click for more )

Of course you have heard the age-old conundrum, “Which came first; the chicken or the egg?” It has been the subject of many a heated debate. Did you ever stop to question why this puzzle is so difficult to answer? Have you ever seriously considered the implications of the fact that this enigma has survived over the years and still captivates the minds of many? Well, if I may, I’d like to take a crack at this one (pun intended!).

First, please observe that as the question is posed, there are only two answers from which one is allowed to choose. If there is a third…  ( Click for more )

Sorrow and pain were not part of God's original plan for man; these two negative realities came about as a result of sin. To the guilty woman He said, “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.” (Genesis 3.16). To the guilty man He said, “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your…  ( Click for more )

There are a great many parallels between Joseph of the Old Testament and Jesus of the New. The complete story of Joseph can be read in Genesis 37-50. Of course the life of Christ is told in what we call the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). Today’s message will elaborate on some of the parallels between these two great biblical characters.

· They were both servants

· They both returned good for evil

· Both resisted the strongest of temptations

· They were both loved dearly by their father

· They were both sold…  ( Click for more )

The Lord Will Provide! God is the great provider of all that we need. When the storm clouds seem the darkest, He sticks closest to our side. The reading which appears in the following paragraphs is taken directly from Genesis 22, verses 1 through 18. As you read, try to put yourself in Abraham's place and then feel the relief that comes when God provides!

“Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, 'Abraham!' And he said, 'Here I am.' Then He said, 'Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah,…  ( Click for more )

The contemporary song An On Time God contains these lines: “He may not come when you want Him to, but He'll be there right on time.” Whoever wrote these lines either knew Him or His book (or both), because these sentiments are right on the mark. And in the context of this series, to know that God is always right on time is the source of great comfort.

God promised Abram, childless at the time, that he would become the father of a great nation and that through his seed all families of the earth would be blessed (Genesis 12.1-3). Along with that promise came instructions…  ( Click for more )

Paul speaking to an assembled crowd in the synagogue at Antioch of Pisidia: “The God of this people Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm He brought them out of it. Now for a time of about forty years He put up with their ways in the wilderness. And when He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He distributed their land to them by allotment. After that He gave them judges for about four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet.” (Acts 13.17-20).

Previously Barnabas…  ( Click for more )

The first biblical use of the word comfort was in regards to Noah's birth and the expectation of his father, Lamech, concerning his son (see Genesis 5.29). Lamech's expectations of comfort arose from the promises made by the God of all comfort following the sins of the original pair. Since those promises were made centuries earlier, it seems that there was probably common knowledge of God's plans to comfort man from the hardships brought on by sin.

However, Noah was not the Great Comforter that had been promised. In fact, as it turned out he also was in need of comfort. His soul,…  ( Click for more )

Lamech hoped that Noah [which means comfort or rest] would bring to the human race the comfort that was so terribly needed. (Genesis 5.29). He knew about the curse which God had placed upon humanity due to the sins of Adam and Eve; he also knew that there was hope for relief (comfort) from that curse (see Genesis 3.15 where the Seed of woman was promised to triumph over the serpent). While Noah was not the promised seed, there are events involving him that are worthy of our attention.

If a person’s character is a good predictor of how one will react under certain circumstances,…  ( Click for more )

The God of ALL comfort pronounced a curse and issued a promise of comfort at the same time (see yesterday’s installment and Genesis 3). This was the original “good news” - “bad news” scenario. From that time forward, at least some of humanity began to look for God to immediately fulfill His promise. This probably included some who did not trust God explicitly, but they hoped against hope that the promised comfort would come. Our message today will take a quick look at events after the Garden of Eden and before the appearance of Abraham, father of the…  ( Click for more )

The God of all comfort (2 Corinthians 1.3) is the same God who sometimes delivers messages of sorrow. In our first installment of The God of all Comfort, we reviewed how Adam and Eve heard messages of overwhelming sorrow from the mouth of the One who had previously been such a comfort to them. To be swallowed up in sorrow is not a good thing; it takes away one's will to live and grow spiritually. God knew this to be a fact and before He delivered His messages of sorrow to Adam and Eve, He prefaced it with a message of comfort and hope. In today's devotional, we will take a…  ( Click for more )

Mercy and comfort are inextricably linked. The same God who is the Father of mercies is the God of all comfort. As evidence of these facts, the following is cited: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort…” (2 Corinthians 1.3). Today we will begin an overview of comfort and mercy, but with an initial emphasis on comfort. Through out this series our focus will continually be on the fact that God is the God of all comfort!

When God made man and woman, He placed them in a beautiful garden in which…  ( Click for more )

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort…” (2 Corinthians 1.3). For purposes of our discussion today, we will focus on just the word comfort. For now, suffice it to say that God has a significant role to play when it comes to comfort. Note also that the comfort which God offers is linked to His merciful nature. He feels (that’s mercy) and He acts (that’s comfort). These two characteristics go hand in hand to enable us to call Him, “Blessed!”

In our study today, we will…  ( Click for more )

There is the father of our country, George Washington, the father of geometry, Euclid, and the father of medicine, Hippocrates. Each of these great men is referred to as father as a result of his unique contribution in a specialized arena. However, these men, great as they may have been, pale in comparison to our focus Father of today. Paul wrote, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort...” (2 Corinthians 1.3). Our study today will be limited to a brief review of some biblical expressions which bear a resemblance…  ( Click for more )

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation.” (2 Corinthians…  ( Click for more )

"Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is complete. And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God. They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: ‘Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints! Who shall not fear You,…  ( Click for more )

"They [the children of Israel] made a calf in Horeb, And worshiped the molded image. Thus they changed their glory into the image of an ox that eats grass. They forgot God their Savior, Who had done great things in Egypt, Wondrous works in the land of Ham, Awesome things by the Red Sea. Therefore He said that He would destroy them, Had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach, To turn away His wrath, lest He destroy them." (Psalm 106.19-23).

A cursory reading of the focus text would indicate to the believer the special relationship that existed between…  ( Click for more )

"But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels. For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious. Therefore, since we have…  ( Click for more )