The Gathering Place Where Family Matters

“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God” (Romans 11:33).

Our God is rich! The Greek word in this verse translated “rich” is ploutos (PLU-tos). It means to have abundance, plenty, and fullness. Everything that describes our great God can be summarized by saying that He is absolutely rich in everything. In our verse for today, Paul speaks about our great God and describes Him as being rich in wisdom and knowledge. The Bible tells us that He is rich in mercy (Ephesians 2:4) and grace (Ephesians 1:7). The Father gives to His Son “power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing” (Revelation 5:12). I don’t know about you, dear friend, but the more I get to know this great God, the more I praise Him for my redemption. I am so glad that I belong to Him.

For today: I truly would rather have Jesus than anything!

“Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did” (Acts 9:36).

Throughout my ministry, I have always appreciated the ministries of the ladies of our churches. I strongly believe that men have been called to the ministries of pastors and deacons. However, I honestly do not know where we would be without the faithful ministries of ladies who love the Lord and are willing to serve Him. Dorcas was one such lady. She was noted for her good works and almsdeeds. This actually means she was full of acts of kindness and generosity with those less fortunate. I want to be known as this kind of Christian. The day will come when the Lord takes me home. But for now I want to have a testimony of kindness and generosity. Those things come by personal choices and consistent living right now. Do you want to join me in this?

For today: When folks hear our names, what will they think?

“But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from old, from everlasting” (Micah 5:2).

Don’t you just love the Lord? Everything He does is amazing! If it were left up to you, how would you announce and present the coming King? If it were left up to me, everything about it would be big, big, big! I would choose the largest city with the biggest and the grandest of all the facilities available. Everyone who is in the “Who’s Who” of the times would be invited. Everything big that I would have chosen is just the opposite of what the Lord planned. What an amazing God! Notice back in our verse the phrase, “Though thou be little among the thousands of Judah.” Bethlehem, little Bethlehem was chosen. What a good lesson for you and me. We can never be “too little” to serve the Lord, but we can be too big!

For today: Don’t focus on how small you feel. Focus on how big your God is!

“Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever Thou had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God” (Psalm 90:1-2).

What a majestic Psalm Moses wrote. That’s right, I did say Moses! You were expecting me to say David, weren’t you? This is the Psalm that is ascribed to Moses. It speaks of the Majesty of God as well as the frailty of mankind. How very much we need the Lord. What a great blessing it is to remember that even before the Lord brought all creation into existence, He still is God. He is eternal. He had no starting point, and He has no completing point. We are so programmed to beginnings. The computer, through which you are reading this Daily Prescription, had a beginning. The furniture around you had a beginning. Even you had a moment of conception. It was your beginning. But God has no beginning. He is eternal. The Bible Institute professor had a great time trying to explain this to his Theology IV class. Even though it is impossible to explain the eternality of God, it was a blessing to remember that we belong to Him. He threatened to make them write a ten page paper about this subject. But then He smiled and said, “ ‘Or ever Thou had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God,’ and that is the best it can be explained. Class dismissed.”

For today: It was good for Moses. It will be good for us today. He is God!

“Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love” Revelation 2:4).

The Lord Jesus is sending His message to the church at Ephesus. Many wonderful things were taking place at this church, and the Lord Jesus mentions them. If you have a few minutes, you will find them in Revelation 2:2-3. However, there was a really significant problem that was growing at this church. They were organized. They were busy. They were doing good things. But they were cooling off in their love and personal devotion to the Lord Jesus. What an important lesson for us today. My busyness does not necessarily mean my devotion! I might be very, very busy doing wonderful things, but just how much do I really love the Lord Jesus? The more I get to know Him through reading the Scriptures and spending time with Him in prayer, the more I will truly love Him.

For today: Get to really know the Lord Jesus through His Word. The more you get to know about Him, the more you will love Him.