Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God

A Daily Devotional for the Family of God by Kenton Cheek

24 August 2024

Reading From Lamentations 1-3:36

“The visions of your prophets
    were false and worthless;
they did not expose your sin
    to ward off your captivity.
The prophecies they gave you
    were false and misleading.”

–Lamentations 2:14

     Preaching without conviction will not do listeners any good.  If those who speak the Word of the Lord are faithful to the written record of the Bible and rightly divide it, the Holy Spirit will gently lead us with His loving kindness to repentance.  No one is perfect; there are always areas of our lives this side of glory that the Lord can cleanse, heal and restore. 

     Those who minister to others, and every member of the family of God is called to share His love and message, must not avoid teaching subjects others might not want to hear.  Quite often we want to hear only about how wonderful we are and how we’re doing right.  We need to hear the truth, no matter how it might hurt our pride.

     If we are to avoid stumbling, falling, even destruction, then we must be made aware of the snares that stand in our way.  There must be a healthy balance of truth, seasoned with salt, spoken with love and encouragement to follow the Way, the Truth and the Life on the highway of holiness.  God longs to forgive, redeem, comfort, strengthen and guide us into a bright future with Him.

“Lord Jesus, help us to accept Your truth no matter how it stings us. Forgive us for our many sins and cleanse us by Your blood. Empower us with Your Holy Spirit to lead godly lives in this dark, fallen world. May we be a blessing of light, truth and love to those around us. In Jesus’ holy Name I pray, Amen.”

Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

–Colossians 4:6

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

 –Ephesians 4:14-16