NorMel House Devotions

  Psalm 10: Why Do You Hide Yourself? There are times in life when we feel alone, as if we carry the weight of the world and oppression on our shoulders, with no end in sight. From our limited view, it seems there is no one to help us in our struggles and difficulties in this life. We may even feel as if God is too far away, or that He has forgotten us. In verse 1 of Psalm 10, it would seem as if the writer felt this way; however, if we read the entire Psalm, we can see that he isn’t complaining. The writer is asking God to hasten to his aid. There’s an expression I’ve come to love: Pray hardest when it’s hardest to pray. When we struggle the most, when we feel alone or oppressed, we need to continue turning to our gracious God. We need to tell Him all our hurts, struggles, and feelings, and ask Him to give us a right heart and to give us wisdom, comfort, and strength. Who do you turn to in times of need? If you have a strong relationship with God, then you will bring everythin...

"When it rains, it pours." Ever heard that expression? Ever felt like that expression describes your life? Sometimes in life, we get hit hard, and then it seems the hits just keep on coming. One thing after another.... after another... after another. Every time you try to "get back up" again, something else hits and keeps you down. It's like the shoe fell, but then more shoes just keep on falling! As Christians, we know that there will be trials and suffering in this life, but God's word is filled with comfort and promises to give us strength. Matthew 11:22-30      Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.    Isaiah 41:10      Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my ri...

What then shall we do? The Bible is filled with verses that teach us how to live our lives and how to use the many blessings and gifts God gives us. Many of us don’t like to be told how to spend our money or use our time, and it can be uncomfortable to hear that we may not be living as God requires. But it is wiser to learn to use our blessings, be it talents, money, or possessions, as God tells us to. Proverbs 11:24-25 says, One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give and only suffers want. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered. This seems contradictory; the world will tell you to hold on to as much as possible, after all, didn’t you work hard to get what you have? God has every right to tell us what to do with ourselves and our possessions; we are His, and all good things we have are gifts He has given us. So, what does God tell us about giving? We are to give freely, generously, and even sel...

Titus 2:13 “While we wait for the blessed hope – the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.” One of the things that marks a Christian lifestyle is that the Christian knows this life is temporary. Christian living, Paul says, is one of “waiting for the blessed hope”. We know that this mortal life is momentary in God’s eternal plan. We await eagerly, with patient hope, the return of Christ Jesus our Savior. Paul has been teaching Titus, and us, about Christian living and so we know that, while we wait, we are to live a certain way. We live looking forward to an eternity with our God and Savior. We await eternal redemption from our sinful and worldly passions, when death will no longer hold sway over us, and we await the restoration of creation; when we, and this earth, will be restored to its perfect order as God designed. Without Christ, man is enslaved to his passions and desires. We were dead in our sins, but Christ came to give us life, to free us from the power...

 Titus 1:7-8  “For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined ” (ESV) In today’s text, Paul takes a look at the positive qualifications for elders. Christ equips us all with different gifts and the gifts listed are the ones required of men in church leadership. The Holy Spirit puts these men into office as preachers, teachers and elders. 1 Peter 4:10 says, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” These gifts will mark those who qualify to be in office, and if we look at 1 Timothy 3 we can see a similar list for the elders and overseers of the church. 1 Timothy 3:2-3 tells us “An overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.” These gifts will be e...

  Titus 1:5-7  “This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you – if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain” (ESV) Elders are an important part of our church structure but why are they important? Who should be an elder? Hebrews 13:17 says, “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account.” (ESV) That’s a pretty heavy responsibility! If men are to be put into an office where they are going to have to give an account for those under them, the standards for being a leader ought to be high, and so they are! Our text says, “For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above re...

As a child, I often liked to play outside. Like many kids, I liked making mud pies and playing with dirt. There's several ways children will play; some get right down on their hands and knees or even sit right in the mud. They're not afraid to get dirty. Some, like me, liked to play with the mud but didn't really want to get filthy. I would crouch down and use sticks and occasionally use my hands. I wanted to have fun but didn't really want to get messy. Then, there are still other children who don't want to play with mud or have anything to do with getting dirty. But you can never truly avoid all puddles, especially when it's raining. In a way, you can compare the mud to sin. Some people wallow in their sin, loving every minute and not caring how dirty they get. Others want to have the fun and pleasure sin can bring but don't want to get too dirty. It's just a little fun. And then there are those who, by God's grace, strive to live a life apart from...

 Read Ephesians 6:10-20 Paul wrote to the Ephesians with many instructions on how we, as Christians, are to live our lives. He comes to the close of the letter addressing how we will be able to live the way he has instructed. Paul tells us to put on the full armor of God, being strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Why? Because we are in the midst of a war! We are fighting spiritual warfare against darkness and the spiritual forces of evil, both here on earth and in the heavenly realms. 2 Corinthians 10:3-4 says, "For though we walk in the flesh we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds." How can we, simple and sinful beings, possibly hope to fight the things we can not even see? Paul tells us to stand firm, to "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes." Some believe that Paul had Isaiah 59:17 in mind, as it says ther...

Read 2 Corinthians 4 What a comforting passage! God knows we are weak and sinful, so He gave us His Word. The Bible is filled with comforting passages to help us in and through the trials we will face in this life. Because we WILL face trials in this life, and how we respond to them matters. We can easily succumb to sadness, despair, bitterness, or anger, or we can turn to God. John 16:33 says, "In this world you will have troubles. But take heart! I have overcome the world!" Yes, we will have troubles and trials, but we are not to lose heart! Though we go through trials, we will not be overcome by them. Even if we die, it is for and with Christ. God raised Christ from the dead, and He will one day raise us from the dead as well. Our text helps us to understand that although our bodies are wasting away, we do not lose heart because we know they are temporary. 1 Peter 5:10 says, "After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His e...

  Read Romans 5:1-5 Our passage today is a beautiful piece about rejoicing in our suffering, with a theme of faith, hope, and love. Paul tells us we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Faith is what allows us to go through hardship and suffering and still rejoice. We can rejoice, regardless of our circumstances, because we know that God's plan is being fulfilled. We don't rejoice because of our suffering, but in our suffering because we know our suffering isn't meaningless. Our suffering here is meant to build character and produces hope in God, "and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God" (Romans 5:2). We are being built up in faith, hope, and love. God has poured out His love, and because of that, we can have faith in His gifts of grace and hope in the future He has planned for us. "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see" (Hebrews 11:1). Faith, without hope, is dead. We must have faith in...

Read Hebrews 5:12-6:12 The author of Hebrews wrote to refute some ideas and practices that were not in line with the gospel. He tells the reader that although they have been Christians long enough to be mature in faith they have fallen for false teachings and need to go back to the basics of the gospel. He warns against the teachings about dead works, "instruction about washings, the laying on of hands", the false teachings about the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgement (Hebrews 6:2). The reference to milk is in comparison to a child. Before a child eats solid food they drink milk. Milk is a basic staple and necessary for growth, however, in this instance it isn't really a positive comment. The author is telling them that they should be on solid food but instead need to go back to the basics like infants. The readers had fallen for false teachings and needed to go back to the basics of the gospel; Jesus Christ is our Saviour and Lord and His work of redemption ...

  "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 ...