NorMel House Devotions

Read 1 John 1:5-10 John writes that God is light. In the beginning, God spoke, and there was light (see Genesis 1:3). He even sent His Son to be a light in this dark world. We sinned and brought the darkness. In John 8:12, Jesus calls Himself the light of the world. Logically speaking, we know you can not be both light and dark. Either light is shining on you, or you are in darkness. John tells us that God is light and we can not have fellowship with Him if we walk in darkness. Ephesians 5:8 says, "For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light." We know that God is light but Psalm 119:105 tells us that God's Word is also light. "Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." Our text tells us that walking in the light, as He is, gives us fellowship with one another and gives us the blood of Christ to purify us from sin. Sin is darkness. If we claim to be without sin, we are, as our text says, liars, and ...

Read 1 John 1:1-4 John dives right into the heart of the matter. He starts his letter off by refuting the teachings of the Gnostics. The Gnostics believed that the body, and all physical matter, is evil. Only the Spirit can be good. They denied Christ's humanity, saying that Christ only seemed to be human or that the divine Christ came and was temporarily joined with the man for a short part of His time on earth. John refutes this right away by witnessing Christ's body and life. He tells the reader, "That which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched - this we proclaim concerning the Word of Life." John calls Christ the Word of Life because He is the source of life and the Supreme ruler over life. John also says this in the book of John, chapter 1: 1-2, where he writes, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning." He goes on to a...

Read Ephesians 6:21-24 It's rather interesting that Paul wrote a long letter to the Ephesians without our expected contents. Most letters are written to tell how the writer has been doing and inquire after the readers' well-being. Paul, however, writes a beautiful letter, not to correct an error, as his letters typically do, but to further instruct and teach what God's eternal purpose is, and how we, as Christians, ought to live to that purpose. The letter to the Ephesians reminds the reader several times that our salvation and every good thing are by God's grace alone. In chapter 2:5, he writes, "it is by grace you have been saved." Again in chapter 2:8, he says, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God." Paul does not boast about his own God-given tasks, but three times in Chapter 3, he reminds the reader that it is by God's grace that he was sent to the Gentiles. It's n...

 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 Ephesians 6: 5-9 Today's text is a difficult subject. Slavery was not part of God's intended design, so why do we see it in the Bible? Paul does not condone slavery; however, because of the socioeconomic situation of the Roman occupation, it was an embedded institution. The Christians Paul wrote to were subject to Roman laws, and therefore, many Jews were either slaves or masters.  Paul wrote a lot about our attitudes and how we should live our lives in the various roles we are placed in. This is why he wrote to slaves and masters. As with so many of his instructions, Paul addresses both perspectives and points them to God. No matter your station or status in this life, we are equal, in Christ, before God. Although we do not have slavery in our society here now, we can compare this relationship to that of an employer and employee. We can look at what Paul instructs and use it in whatever our job is here and now. What, then, should we ascertain from today's passage? Thr...

  Read Ephesians 6:1-4 In our passage today, Paul continues to describe how we ought to live in regard to our relationships. Last time, we saw how the relationship of a husband and wife must mimic Christ's relationship with the church. Our passage moves on to the relationship between children and their parents. As sinful people, our inclination is to rebel against authority,  but Paul starts off reminding us that children ought not only to obey their parents but to honor them. This is so important it is one of the ten commandments. In Matthew 19:19, Jesus tells a rich man that you must "honor your father and mother." In Matthew 15:4, Jesus tells us, "Honor your father and your mother, and whoever reviles father or mother must surely die." Honoring our parents is so important that the punishment for disobedience was death! Its importance is also shown in the promise given for obedience. Verse 3 of our text says, "that it may go well with you and that you may...

Read Ephesians 5:22-33 and 1 Corinthians 11:3 There's a very distinct hierarchy given in our passage today. Christ is the head of the church, and the church submits to Christ. This relationship is compared to the relationship between a man and his wife. Just as the church submits to Christ, so also, wives should submit to their husbands. Our society balks at this idea because they don't understand what it means. The relationship between a husband and wife is a beautiful thing. As a wife, it is easy for me to submit to my husband because I've been blessed with a loving and good man. This doesn't mean he's perfect; only Christ was perfect, and He loved us so much He was willing to suffer and die for us. He "gave Himself up for her (the church) to make her holy" (Verse 25).  The love of a husband should be Christ-like. In all he does, a husband should love his wife more than he loves himself. He should feed and care for her, "just as Christ does the chur...