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Hope in God’s Plan

21 But we had hoped that He was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. ~ Luke 24:21

The disciples’ great hope had died with Jesus. They were living in a hopeless world now. Their focus was on what their eyes could see: The mock trial. The sentencing. The crucifixion. The death. The burial. What went wrong? God, why did You not answer? LORD, You know we’ve been waiting for so long.

This is what went wrong. This is the problem. They only heard what they wanted to hear. They only saw the Jesus that they had conjured up in their own minds. He had told them plainly that He would have to suffer and even die, but no one took that seriously. Because that was not what they wanted or expected. That was not a part of their plan, their agenda, or their vision.

They had shut their ears to the teaching and the promises of Jesus. And instead, they had their own expectation of who the Messiah was, and what He would do, and even how He would do it. But God is not bound by our limited imaginations. God said that His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:9). In other words, God doesn’t work how we expect Him to work. God works according to His perfect and just plans.

If we want to remain encouraged and filled with hope, we have to set aside our plans and cling to the plans of God. His plans are for our good, so we don’t have to worry. We can put our trust in Him. Our hope will never die if our hope is in the LORD God Almighty.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Hope in God’s Plan.

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Be a Witness to the Light

16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. 18 Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. ~ John 3:16-18

Jesus’ one purpose was to save mankind through His shed blood on Calvary. Through this one righteous act, Jesus would save the whole world if we would only believe in Him. If we would only come to Him and accept His free gift of life. It’s not for no reason that people should serve God. Jesus has promised great and mighty promises for His people. And to receive it, all you have to do is to believe, and you will inherit the promises of God.

So, what exactly do you have to believe? That Jesus is the only Son of God. That He gave His life so that you might live. Then you have to do two actions; repent and accept Him as LORD and Savior. That’s how you are saved. That is the essence of salvation. It’s so simple. All of the heavy lifting has already been done for us. Why? Because it’s not God’s will for any to perish, but that all come to acceptance.

God wants everyone saved, yet many will not be saved because they refuse to believe that Jesus is LORD. Jesus just doesn’t fit their own preconceived ideas of who God is or what God stands for. It’s also because they refuse to give up their own wants and desires. Self-love has consumed so many lives. Another reason is because they refuse to repent of their sins. Some refuse to repent because of shame, others because they don’t believe they have done anything wrong. But the root cause of the rejection of Christ is because men love the darkness more than they love the light. Why? Because darkness has become like home. It’s where we’re comfortable and oddly feel safe. It’s where we can dwell in our sin without feeling shame or regret. It’s where our flesh can thrive. But this darkness only leads to more darkness. It only leads to death.

God’s desire is that we come out of this darkness and into the light which is life. This is why Jesus came to earth as a baby. This is why He set off His Godliness and became a man. He understood what was at stake. He understood that He was the only one that could save mankind. Therefore, we, who are Christians, should follow Christ’s example. If we have loved ones who are not serving Jesus or have not accepted Him as LORD and Savior, then we should be down on our knees day and night with tears and pleas of mercy for them. Today is the day of salvation; tomorrow is promised to no man. Don’t wait for fate or for them to make the decision on their own. Take it before the Father. Take your prayers and pleas for their soul before the Throne of Grace. As you pray, quote Scripture over them, declaring freedom from whatever is holding them back from repenting. Stand in the gap for your loved ones.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be a Witness to the Light.

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Deny Your Offense

12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. ~ Matthew 24:12

One of the last signs of the coming of Jesus is that lawlessness will increase. The word “lawlessness” implies a sense of judgment since it implies that there is a law, but the law is ignored and so gives a sense of wrongdoing. So, what law is ignored? The law of God.

There will be no regard for the law of God in the last days. And I’m pretty sure we are living in those days now. Look around with an unbiased eye at what’s really going on. And if you’re not convinced, I don’t know what else to say. The law of God is no longer acceptable in even the Church, where it should dwell powerfully and without fear of offense, but it’s the Church that’s offended more than anyone else by the law of God. Why? Because the love of many is growing cold. We are more focused on our own feelings than the Truth of who God is. We create new laws that go against the laws of God. Why? Our own flesh.

We are living in the last days. The LORD Jesus will soon return. The LORD Jesus will soon come back to get His people. Are you ready? Are your loved ones ready? Don’t allow your flesh or your own personal offenses to keep you out of Heaven. Don’t let them to keep your loved ones out of Heaven. Lay all things at the altar of the LORD God Almighty. Let Him carry your load. Don’t be offended by what’s right and what’s wrong. Let the only Truth set you and your loved ones free.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Deny Your Offense.

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Withstand the Test

7 And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. 8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’” 9 And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. 10 Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you.” 11 But Moses implored the Lord his God and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?” ~ Exodus 32:7-11

When the people of Israel were in the wilderness, they turned from God to idols, even though they had just witnessed the very power of the LORD their God. So, His anger burned against them, and He threatened to destroy them and start over with Moses. It wasn’t because God just overlooked their sin that the people of Israel were spared. It was because Moses stood in the gap, begging the LORD to have mercy on them. Moses brought a case to God as if he was in a courtroom. This is what God is looking for.

God is looking for a Moses to stand in the gap and plead a case for our loved ones and/or ourselves. Sometimes, God tests our faith and our commitment to ourselves and our loved ones by condemning them or us because of our or their own actions. When God threatened to destroy Israel because of their idolatry in the wilderness, only the plea of Moses brought the mercy of God. This is what God is looking for. The firm, unwavering love of someone. God isn’t looking to destroy His people. God doesn’t even take pleasure in the destruction of the wicked. God takes pleasure in the redemption of His people and the salvation of the wicked. Therefore, when it seems like the LORD has turned against you or your loved ones, plead your case. This isn’t God’s desire that any perish; it’s His desire that we each withstand the test. Therefore, plead your case so that you might save your life and life of your loved ones.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Withstand the Test.

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Go In Confidence

31 When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him. 32 And David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 33 And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.” 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. ~ 1 Samuel 17:31-35

They say there are five love languages: Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service, and Physical Touch. My love language is words of affirmation. I’m a big words person. In fact, my room is covered I my favorite quotes all over my walls. Words will either make or break me. But David didn’t care about other people’s words. He only cared about God’s words. See, David had just been given a promise by God. He had just been anointed king of Israel. This promise is probably a big part of David’s confidence and assurance because God Himself had called him by name, and that was all that mattered to David.

So, many of us today, myself included, depend on others to fulfill and satisfy our love language so that we can have a good uplifting day. The problem is that the only person we should seek to fulfill and satisfy this need in us is God. He will never disregard or disappoint you. He is the very essence of love. He is love itself. So, when someone rejects you, tears you down, overlooks you, or makes you feel invisible, insignificant, or small, remind yourself that God has chosen you by name to be His child, and no one can remove you from His hand nor His love.

Don’t count on others to satisfy and fulfill your love language. Count on God and God alone who made you. No one will ever truly be able to satisfy your love language except for God because no one else is perfect like God. Therefore, seek Him. Spend time with Him. Worship Him. And follow Him.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Go In Confidence.

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Get Ears to Hear

9 And He said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” ~ Mark 4:9

Jesus makes a rather odd statement after teaching. He says, “He who has an ear, let him hear.” This seems pretty odd because everybody has ears. He didn’t say all who have the ability to hear, let them hear. He said, “He who has an ear, let him hear.” Keep in mind that even the deaf came to Jesus. Therefore, Jesus must’ve been spiritually speaking. He was talking about our spiritual ears, not our physical ears. See, some of us are spiritually deaf. We hear the Gospel, but it doesn’t cut us to the heart. We hear the good news of God, but it doesn’t change us. We’re physically hearing these things but not spiritually; it’s like our spiritual ears have been cut off.

This is because the fire in us has grown cold. Our spirit has chased other spirits instead of the Spirit of God. We have to do more than go to church and hear the word of God preached on Sunday mornings. Those who taught the Scriptures in the time of Jesus led the persecution and murder of Jesus and His followers. We have to seek a relationship with Jesus, and in doing so, He will give us ears to hear. And once we have ears to hear, He’ll begin to mold our hearts to seek His Kingdom first above all else.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Get Ears to Hear.

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Strike It From Your Heart

30 But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” 31 Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.” 32 So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. 33 And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.” ~ Numbers 13:30–33

In 2006, Mel Gibson released a movie entitled, Apocalypto, based on the Mayans and their culture. In the film, the chief of a tribe warns his son of allowing fear into his heart because of the refugees they had just encountered, fleeing their homes and seeking a new start. This is what he tells him,

Fear is a sickness. It will crawl into the soul of anyone who engages it. It has tainted your peace already. I did not raise you to see you live with fear. Strike it from your heart. Do not bring it into our village.

Flint Sky,
Apocalypto

God told the people of Israel to go in and take the land because He was giving it to them as their inheritance. But the spies who went in to spy out the land, except for Caleb and Joshua, returned with fear in their hearts because of the Nephilim, and they spread fear through the whole camp and made the people too afraid to take what was theirs.

Fear leads to defeat, even before you start. Not one arrow flew, not one sword was drawn, not one rock flew out of a sling, but they were already defeated. What is happening now in our world is the unleashing of fear as a weapon, not only as a weapon but as a tool to keep people compliant. It silences Christians as we watch our world fall deeper and deeper into darkness. It stops us from even trying and spreads to those around us like a disease. Striking down each victim starting in their heart.

There’re many giants that we have to face in this world. Some will be scarier than others, but we have to strike fear from our hearts lest it consumes us and we fall subject to it. The only way to overcome our fear is to have faith in the love that God has for us. If He’s called you to do something, then you stand in faith, knowing that the LORD is and will fight for you. All you have to do is keep moving forward.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Strike It From Your Heart.

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Flee the Devil

26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil. ~ Ephesians 4:26-27

Our reactions are always the most important part of each and every encounter we have. Why? Because our reaction determines whether or not we have given the devil an open door to enter our lives. Some believe that if that was the case, we would be possessed by a demon. But that is not the case at all.

See, Paul himself warns us that we can give opportunity to the devil with our emotions. Unchecked anger isn’t the same as righteous anger. Unchecked anger can stem from many different roots, but the most common one is probably the root of bitterness. When we allow these different strongholds in our lives, we are allowing opportunities for the devil to enter into our lives. He doesn’t come in and possess us as he did to Judas the night he betrayed Jesus, but what he does do is enter into our lives and start causing havoc.

He steals our blessings, our peace, our patience, our call, and anything else we allow him to take from us. This is why Jesus calls him a murderer from the beginning because he leads the people of God away from God and spiritually kills them. He causes many Christians to spiritually die, and they don’t even realize it. The only way to overcome Satan is to flee temptation. We have to flee unchecked anger, lust, bitterness, grief, depression, guilt, or anything else that could cause us to give opportunity to the devil. The only way to have the strength to flee temptation is to be strengthened by the LORD. Our relationship with God has to be strong enough so that we can run into His name and be saved. So that we can soar on wings as eagles and be renewed. So that we can be tempted and have the means to escape. So, draw near to God so that you might not fall into temptation.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Flee the Devil.

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Close All Spiritual Doors

1 Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year. And David sought the face of the Lord. And the Lord said, “There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.” ~ 2 Samuel 21:1

David and the Israelites were not possessed by Satan, but yet, Satan used a spiritually open door to cause a famine and stop their harvest from coming. And that’s what happens in our lives today. We are going through a famine, and the enemy is stealing our increase. Every time our harvest comes, the enemy swoops in and steals it. We are doing what we are supposed to be doing, yet our harvest is always stolen.

If this is happening to you, then there may be a legal, spiritual opening in your life. Seek God, and He will tell you what is wrong. Leave room for God to bring conviction or point out something in your past that has opened a legal door. Something either you or one of your ancestors might have done.

Could be witchcraft, alcoholism, or some type of riotous living.

In David’s case, it wasn’t even one of his ancestors; it was his predecessor. King Saul was guilty of breaking the covenant that Joshua made with the Gibeonites, which opened the door for the attack. Therefore, we must all seek the LORD to close spiritual doors in our lives that we ourselves may not have even opened.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Close All Spiritual Doors.

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Be Spiritually Violent

47 When Saul had taken the kingship over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, against the Ammonites, against Edom, against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines. Wherever he turned he routed them. 48 And he did valiantly and struck the Amalekites and delivered Israel out of the hands of those who plundered them. ~ 1 Samuel 14:47–48

When Saul had taken the kingship over Israel, in other words, when he had taken possession of the kingdom, he fought against all of his enemies on every side. It should be the same with us today. Now that the kingdom of God has come to us, we, too, are to fight against all of our enemies. It is not time for alliances with the enemy; it’s time for spiritual warfare on every side.

The kingdom of God has come upon us; it is here now. Jesus ushered it in 2,000 years ago. The kingdom of God is here because Jesus did cast out demons by the Spirit of God (Matthew 12:28). But please understand, the kingdom of God can only be taken by those who are valiant; that is, those who are courageous and violent in the spiritual (Matthew 11:12).

If we want to dwell in the kingdom of God, then we have to be spiritual warriors. We can’t have one foot in the world and one foot in the Church. We can’t dwell in darkness and in light. We have to make a choice. We have to be on our knees in prayer seeking the LORD God. We have to be seeking the LORD through His Scripture. There will be a time when the LORD can no longer be found, so don’t wait. Tomorrow is promised to no one. Today is the day of Salvation. Today is the day to take the kingdom of Heaven by force.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be Spiritually Violent.

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