I do not trust my memory so I am constantly writing down ideas. Sometimes I write devos for this website days or even weeks ahead of time. That’s the case here, as I had this idea to do an article of just devotional-tweets. Then Elon Musk bought twitter and everyone went crazy with some saying they’re never getting back on and others saying they’re signing up for the first time, blah blah blah. I do not care one bit about any of that. I had the idea before anyone was even talking about buying Twitter. I wrote these back when Twitter was run by the other guy. I’m posting them now under new management. Who cares? Let’s not base our life choices over what sinners do, and let’s stop seeing every action through the filter of what 24/7 News has told us to freak out about today.
Okay, I’m off my soapbox. Here’s this:
on sin…
Christians are not a people immune to sin. We are just as susceptible to the spiritual infection as anyone else. The difference is we carry the antidote with us. When we walk in the light the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all our sins (1 John 1:7).
— Matthew L. Martin (@NHCOCdevos) April 20, 2022
on worrying about (or trusting in) the past…
To God, you are who you are, not who you used to be. Whether you do good but used to be evil, or do evil but used to be good. Your past can't help anymore than it can hurt. Who are you now? Faithful or not? Washed in blood or not? That's what matters: The NOW, not the THEN.
— Matthew L. Martin (@NHCOCdevos) April 20, 2022
on being a hypocrite vs a convert…
A hypocrite tells others not to do a bad thing while they actively engage in doing bad. That’s not you. You used to do bad things, stopped because of a better way, and now invite others to stop & enjoy the blessings you now know. You're not a hypocrite…You're an evangelist!
— Matthew L. Martin (@NHCOCdevos) April 20, 2022
on the struggle to stay faith-filled…
Doubt God’s existence? Remember we live in a world that says “atheism is normal; faith is abnormal.” After a while, it’s no wonder some brethren start to doubt. There’s only so much bombardment a fort can take, and the walls of our faith are daily bombarded by atheistic artillery
— Matthew L. Martin (@NHCOCdevos) April 20, 2022
on Saul’s conversion…
Acts 9:8 = Saul was blinded en route to Damascus, to kill those who called Jesus their King. He left Jerusalem high & mighty but entered Damascus lowly & defeated. Yet, his defeat was his eventual salvation; you can hardly call it a fall from grace…It’s more of a fall TO grace!
— Matthew L. Martin (@NHCOCdevos) April 20, 2022
on pushing against the tide of hardships…
Hardships can feel like an overwhelming tide. It can feel, at times, like the burdens of the world are crashing into us like the waves upon the beach. We can feel powerless and helpless to stop the onslaught of problems, difficulties, frustrations, and disappointments.
(1/2)— Matthew L. Martin (@NHCOCdevos) April 20, 2022
(2/2)
And maybe we ARE powerless. That's fine. We can't stop the tide. But we serve a God who, on more than one occasion, has split waters in two, to help His people cross over into safety. Sometimes we just need to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord (Exodus 14:13).— Matthew L. Martin (@NHCOCdevos) April 20, 2022
~Matthew