NorMel House Devotions

Read Luke 8:4-15 (see below) A seed can not stay a seed. It either grows or dies. It either does what it's supposed to and bears fruit or it dies. So, too, our faith must grow, or it will die. We must water and take care of the "seed" of faith or we will be like the tree in Matthew 3:10 "Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." (See also Matthew 7:19) We must not be persuaded by the cares and riches and pleasures of life. We need to hear God's Word so we can hold it fast and bear fruit. Faith is alive and needs to be fed and nurtured. We need to be like the seeds that fell in the good soil. We need to hear God's Word with an honest and good heart so we will bear fruit with patience. Do others know you're a Christian by the "fruit" you bear in your life? Do you feed the "seed" of faith in your heart by listening to the preaching of G...

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. Luke 17:5‭-‬6 ESV "For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20b ESV And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.” Mark 4:30‭-‬32 ESV Why is faith compared to a mustard seed? A mustard seed is one of the tiniest seeds, yet it grows into the largest bush, so large people call it a tree. A mu...

  Read Jeremiah 12 The book of Jeremiah was written after the destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity of many. Jeremiah wrote to tell the people God's judgment was upon them. In chapter twelve, he pleads with God, asking God why the wicked seem to prosper. He notes the hypocrites who seem to worship falsely, and yet they prosper. Jeremiah's inquiry is a good example of how we, too, can make inquiries correctly.  Note how he starts by proclaiming God's righteousness (verse 1). He then brings his "case" before the Lord. He trusts that God is a just God and listens to our prayers. Ultimately, the Lord answered him by telling him the wicked will perish (verse 14), but He will still have compassion on His people and return them to their promised inheritance. If the people truly repent, then they will receive that inheritance. However, it ends with a warning for those who don't repent, ""but if any nation does not listen, I will completely uproot and de...

Read 2 Peter 3 Peter wrote to remind his audience to remember "the predictions of the Holy prophets". Scoffers will come and mock their belief that Christ will return but He will come in His time. Time is not the same for God as it is for us so we must be patient. The reason we wait is so that all who are to be saved will reach repentance. That day will come so we should live lives of holiness in anticipation. We await a new heaven and a new earth and must be diligent; not getting carried away by false teachings. Peter disassembles the teachings of false prophets. He urges Christians not to waiver in their faith but to live in the truth. We must not be idle while we wait for Christ's return, but make every effort to know Him and make Him known. We must stand firm in faith, growing in the knowledge of our Saviour - to Him be the glory, both now and forever.

  Read Ephesians 3:1-13 (see below) Paul writes to say that God revealed to the apostles that the gospel is also for the gentiles.  They are fellow heirs, members of the"same body" and partake in the promise in Christ, through the gospel. It's God's grace Paul was sent to outreach to the Gentiles and that through him God's plan for them would be made known.  All this is according to God's plan.  Paul packed a whole lot into these verses. He reiterates that man, including himself, can do nothing to earn salvation. God chooses us and has a plan. He uses us to fulfill the plan and gives us what we need to do the works He has set for us. Any Jews reading the letter would have had a hard time with Paul's next point. The Jews believed that only the Jews would be saved; they didn't share the gospel with the nations around them. It was probably hard to be open to Paul's God-given task. The gospel is not only for the Jews but also for the gentiles! Paul tel...

Read Ephesians 2:11-22 (see bottom) In our text, Paul is talking about the reconciliation of the Jews and Gentiles. This falls within God's greater work of reconciling man from sin and death to life. God does not save us by our "keeping the law." Our salvation comes from Christ, by His blood. No matter how good a person thinks they are, they can not earn their salvation. We need Jesus's saving work and to be cleansed by His blood.  Paul reminds us of how we were before, as unbelievers. We were separated, strangers, and hopeless. But all who trust in Christ have been reconciled and made one by His blood. There is no unity without the gospel of Jesus Christ. Only Jesus can break down the "wall of hostility" and grant forgiveness through the cross. The Father planned salvation, the Son was sent to accomplish salvation, and the Spirit was sent to apply our redemption. This is how we are made to be temples of the Holy Spirit. Knowing that you are a temple of the ...

  "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."  Hebrews 12:1‭-‬2 ESV Running a race isn't easy and requires training. A runner has to stretch and prepare themselves. They need self-discipline so they can pace themselves and not overdo it too quickly. They look at the long-term goal, the prize at the end of the race. With determination, they work through the various hurtles and pain, knowing it's only temporary. Another thing to take note of is that a race is never run alone; there has to be more than one runner for it to be a race. By this analogy, our text tells us so much about how we are to live this life. Just as a racer ...

  Read 1 Peter 4 (see bottom) Peter wrote the letter, 1 Peter, to a group of Christians scattered throughout the northern areas of Asia Minor. He speaks a lot about persecution, which the Christians there would endure in the end of Nero's reign. The whole letter is full of encouragement for those who are being persecuted for righteousness and the Name of Christ. Peter starts our chapter asking the believers  to emulate the suffering of Christ. "Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking" (1 Peter 4:1 ESV). He reminds them not to live as the Gentiles do, in sin and lawless idolatry, but in the Spirit. He points out that they may suffer for it now, but all sinners will have to give an account before the judge of the living and the dead. (See verses 3-7). Peter encourages Christians to repay evil with good and to love one another.  "Above all, keep loving one another earnestly since love covers a multitude of sins." (...

 Read Psalm 69 The author of our text was David, and the above verse can be found in the first of three parts of the chapter. In the first part, David pours out his distress and troubles before the Lord and begs God to relieve Him. (Verses 1-15). The second part is where he calls for God's judgments on His persecutors (vers 16-29). He concludes with joy and praise and is confident that God will help him and His people. Often, people turn to this passage when they're feeling overwhelmed or overcome with emotions and life's struggles. We can understand when David talks about "sinking in the mire" (verses 2 and 14). When we've cried til we can't cry anymore, we feel we can relate to verse 3 when it says, "I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched..." When we feel surrounded by those who hate us and wrongfully accused (verses 4, 5, and 7), we, too, pour out our hearts before the Lord. It is good to read these passages as it helps us to not ...

  Read Ephesians 2:1-10 In today's text, we can see that Paul is really trying to drive home the point that we are saved BY GRACE, not by anything we've done or will do. He mentions God's grace twice in chapter 1 and 3 more times in the first 10 verses of chapter 2. He points out several times how sinful, selfish, and corrupt we are as humans and purposely points out that we are rescued from these sinful lives by God's grace. Oh, how good it is to hear that salvation does not depend on us. If it did, we would surely be lost in our selfish sinful desires and push God away. Paul even points out that we were created for his works, not that we contribute, but that God does in and through us! We can take no credit for salvation or for any good thing we may have done. How sweet it is to be loved by Him! It's interesting to note that the first 3 verses talk about how we are sinners and would only live in selfishness if we were left on our own. The next 6 verses again remi...

Read John 1:1-18 The Word of God is a highly debated topic in our world. There are many that doubt it's truth and origins. However if we read God's Word we can learn several things about it. Our texts lists several attributes of the Word, but let's start at the beginning. John starts our passage with "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God." One of the first things we can learn is that the Word is Jesus Christ. John alludes to this later when it says "and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (vs 14).  Next we read that the Word is living and life giving. "All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men." (John 1:3‭-‬4 ESV) If we look at the very first book and chapter of the bible it's very obvious that God's Word is life-giving. Seven times in Genesis 1 it says "a...

Romans 3:23: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God Romans 5:8, but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. The book of Romans was written by the apostle Paul during a time of relative peace for the Roman Christians. He reminds them of the basics of the gospel. We all need to be reminded of the basics at times. Our first text comes from the section where he talks writes about the sinfulness and lack of righteousness of man. (Romans 1-3). Paul very clearly tells us that we are sinners "as it is written, 'None is righteous, no not one'." (Romans 3:10) and "no one does good, not even one"(Romans 3:12b). Again, he repeats this in our passage "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." It can be so easy to think we are good people and forget this basic truth. We are all sinners, incapable of righteousness, incapable of doing any good. We don't like to think of ourselves in this...

Read Ephesians 1:15-23 (see bottom of page) The first part of the chapter, Paul talks about our blessings in God's plan for salvation. That it in no way relies on us as God predestined us and knew all that would happen before we were even concieved. I think we need to keep that in mind as we read further in the chapter. In verse 15 He tells them that he is so thankful for their faith in God and love to the saints. Its interesting because he's telling them he's thankful for something they didn't do, but are blessed with. The text reminds us that God gave all authority to Christ and Christ is the true head of the church. Not a minister, not a preacher, but Christ. This alone gives me the peace and confidence to be part of a church filled with sinful human beings. Ministers can screw up, elders and deacons can make the wrong choices or decisions, but ultimately we're not there for the people. Yes, we can enjoy fellowship with God's people; the communion of saints c...

Read Ephesians 1:1-14 (see bottom of page) Its interesting that this devotional happened to be about who we belong to, and what our purpose is in this life. I have been pondering this alot lately. Where we fit in in life is so important, being an adopted and undeserved child of God is truly a gift of His Grace. Do you find you're satisfied with the purpose we're given in this text? I often struggle with feeling like I dont have a purpose but today's text has a description of what our purpose is. God's plan for this purpose is found in verse 10 "...as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth." Ephesians 1:10 ESV If you keep reading you'll find that vs 12 ("so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory." Ephesians 1:12 ESV) tells us our purpose is to be to the praise of His glory. He knew us before we were even formed, He called us to be His children, and...