Agape Devotions

READ : Eccl.7 REFLECT : Prosperity and adversity both come from God's hands; a wise Father's heart has given them to you. In the words of the hymn,  Day by day and with each passing moment, Strength I find to meet my trials here; Trusting in my Father's wise bestowment, I've no cause for worry or for fear . RELATE : We are not in charge of life. The great satanic lie that subtly comes at us a thousand times a day is that we are gods, we are in charge, we can plan, we can direct, we can control. Because within the freedom of will that God has granted us there appears some truth to that, we easily believe the rest--that we are in ultimate control of everything. But the lesson of the Scripture, driven home again and again, is that that is not true. God is in charge. What He sends us is always designed to benefit. This is the clear teaching of the Scripture, both in the Old and the New Testament alike. Even though adversity may have painful aspects, we are to understand tha...

READ : Ecclesiastes 5:8-6:12   Verses chosen for meditation: Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 18  Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot.  19  Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God.  20  For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart. REFLECT In this chapter, the Preacher talks about the unsatisfactory nature of wealth, the toiling to get them and the anxiety over losing them (Ecclesiastes 5:10-17). Those verses showed that human desire often outruns the accumulated possessions. The more we have, the more we want. It's never enough. An increase in wealth also demands more attention...

Read Ecclesiastes 5:1-7 Verses chosen for devotion: 1 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. 4 When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. 5 It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. Reflect King Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes to reflect upon his life and to impart many worthy teachings and wisdom. In fact many things in this world he referred to as vanity and futility. The message is about the importance of centering our lives on God, and not ourselves. In the passage chosen he talked about the the precautions we need to take as we worship God or enter His presence, after all He is all knowing and majestic. He knows our heart and whether we are obedient or we are merely putting up an act. It is useless to utter nice words or empty promises before God or others when we don...

Read Ecclesiastes 4 Verse chosen for meditation: Ecclesiastes 4: 12 ESV  And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him - a threefold cord is not quickly broken. Reflect This is a rather depressing chapter to read if not for the break in the chain of thoughts in the middle.  Immediately after making a grand summation in the last chapter that God will make everything beautiful in its time (3: 11), although for a little while we may have to go through the different seasons of life, he lets in on his observations about the meaninglessness of life under the sun, such as the ongoing oppressions, the toil and loneliness of man, the anti-climax of achievements and the non - disparity of status regardless of whether one is king or a poor commoner. Somewhere in the middle, however, we get to see a glimmer of hope again, that not everything is as meaningless as it was made to be. Why do you think the author feels this way, that everything under the sun i...

  TEXT TO REFLECT For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: 2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; 3 a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6 a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7 a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. 9 What gain has the worker from his toil? 10 I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the be...

Read: Ecclesiastes 1.12-2.26 No devotional today (Sunday)

Read: Ecclesiastes 1:1-11 1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. 2 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher,     vanity of vanities! All is vanity. 3 What does man gain by all the toil     at which he toils under the sun? 4 A generation goes, and a generation comes,     but the earth remains forever. 5 The sun rises, and the sun goes down,     and hastens to the place where it rises. 6 The wind blows to the south     and goes around to the north; around and around goes the wind,     and on its circuits the wind returns. 7 All streams run to the sea,     but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow,     there they flow again. 8 All things are full of weariness;     a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing,     nor the ear filled with hearing. 9 What has been is what will be,     and what has been done is what will be done...