Category: Daily Bread

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Live Adopted

3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence, ~ 2 Peter 1:3

What that means is this. Everyone who has accepted Jesus as LORD and Savior has been given a certificate of adoption that will be cashed in at the final trumpet when the dead in Christ will rise first, and those of us who are alive and remain are caught up to meet them in the clouds to be with Jesus.

We have all the privileges of sonship. We have all the privileges of being heirs and joint heirs with our LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ. We have the keys to the kingdom. There is absolutely nothing that our God withholds from us. We are His children.

But the adoption papers have not yet been signed. We are not yet completely and totally redeemed. We have the Spirit of Adoption, until it will all be finalized. And in that moment, when it is finalized, there will be no more tears, pain, or suffering. There will be only the good things God has promised for His people. For His children.

But until that day, enjoy the blessings of the LORD. Build up treasures for eternity. Draw close to Him and He will draw close to You. Don’t waste the short time you have here on this earth. Let every moment be God-centered.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Live Adopted.

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He Preached Peace

17 And He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father (Ephesians 2:17–18).

Paul said that He came and preached peace and through Him we have access to the Father and Spirit. Who is this He that Paul is referring to here? Well, it’s Jesus of Nazareth, the Savior of the world. Paul wrote, “…He came and preached peace…” Now, the Greek word translated preached means to “proclaim good news.” And what was the good news that He preached? Peace. This peace, that Jesus preached, denotes a time of peace, or a state of peace.

Jesus came not only just to preach peace, but to usher in a time of peace, a peace that is felt emotionally. We are no longer enemies of God. Once we were enemies of God, but while we were still His enemies, Jesus died so that we could be reconciled back to a kind and loving God. We are no longer hateful and cruel to one another; we are at peace with each other, a peace that comes from within us.

Then there is a time of total peace when Jesus returns to reign and rule for a thousand years. There will be no more wars or lawlessness for one thousand years. The devil won’t even tempt us during that time because he will be bound in the bottomless pit for that whole period.

Then he will be released for a short period, followed by another war, and then eternity will begin, ushering in eternal peace. So, don’t let anyone take your peace. Jesus came to preach peace and to give peace. He left us with His peace.

Father, thank You for the peace that Your Son, Jesus, preached. May it be mine today, and always. In Jesus’ Name, amen.

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An Endurance Race

3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence, ~ 2 Peter 1:3

Everyone who has accepted Jesus as LORD and Savior has been given a certificate of adoption that will be cashed in at the final trumpet when the dead in Christ will rise first, and those of us who are alive and remain are caught up to meet them in the clouds to be with Jesus.

It’s the Second Coming. We have all the privileges of sonship. We have all the privileges of being heirs and joint heirs with our LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ. We have the keys to the kingdom. There is absolutely nothing that our God withholds from us. We are His children.

We do not have our full adoption as yet. We enjoy all the privileges … we enjoy all the rights that come with adoption. We call God our Father, and Jesus our LORD. We are filled with the Holy Spirit. We walk in miracles. We perform signs and wonders. We are healed in Jesus’ Name. Our adoption, however, is not yet legally finalized. We are still working out our salvation with much fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12b).

Therefore, do not take advantage of the Spirit of Grace, but instead earnestly seek the face of the LORD. Don’t take your salvation for granted. It is not yet yours forever, it can still be freely given up by you. So, don’t take it for granted. Don’t feel as if you cannot be cut off, for if He did not spare the natural branches, why would He spare those of us who have been grafted in.

Dear LORD, please help me to seek You even more so as that day draws nearer and nearer. Please turn my heart of stone to a heart of flesh that I might not sin against You. That I might not throw away my salvation for temporary failing desires of the flesh. Encourage my heart and let my spirit not grow faint within in me. Help me to run the race set before me with endurance and faith. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Work Out Your Salvation

24 Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will repay each person according to what he has done.” ~ Matthew 16:24-27

It’s often argued that once we accept salvation that’s it. You’re sealed forever. And if you sin and fall away, then obviously you were never saved in the first place. Now, I want you to think about this, if we can’t give up our salvation or be separated from Jesus, that would mean that we have no control over our soul and our own destiny, but this isn’t the case at all. God has set life and death before us, and it is our choice to choose or to reject.

In fact, Jesus blatantly says we have to deny ourselves, pick up our cross, and follow Him. It wasn’t a suggestion. It was a command. He didn’t just say believe in me. Accept my free gift of salvation. Just have faith. No. Jesus said you have to perform a physical and spiritual action in order to retain your salvation. Faith is not just a “I believe, and that’s it” word because even the demons believe and shutter. It is an action word. Faith without works is dead (James 2:20).

There is nothing in Scripture that hints at us not being responsible for retaining our salvation. Yes, we can never obtain salvation on our own, but once we accept salvation we are expected to run the race set before us, not just live our lives however we want to. So, do not be deceived, your actions directly impact your relationship with God and therefore, your eternal destination.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Work Out Your Salvation.

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Do Not Perish

[6] My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. ~ Hosea 4:6

I went to a garage sale the other day where I met a lady who told me how nothing has come on the earth like the Tribulation in the book of Revelation. She then went on to tell me to watch the movie The Omen because that’s exactly how the world will end. All I could think was, nothing you said was right. Not one thing. I wanted to correct her, but the words never came out of my mouth.

I often think about how I never corrected any of her false theology and beliefs. Most of all, I think about how the Church gets its theology nowadays from Hollywood movies, instead of from the Word of God. The 70s and 80s beliefs were formed by The Omen. The 90s and 2000s beliefs were formed by Left Behind. And in both cases, people take the word and imagination of man over the Word and Wisdom of the LORD God Himself.

God said that His people were destroyed for lack of knowledge during the time of Hosea, this is still true today. We are perishing spiritually because we no longer read God’s Word but instead, we read fiction novels and watch fiction movies to learn theology. Why would we allow anyone other than God Himself to direct our path and formulate our beliefs? Jesus said anyone who builds their life on anything other than Him, builds it on sand and that house will be swept away when put to the test.

So, what are we to do? Put away all biases. Let go of all pre-formulated beliefs and read your Bible. Allow the Holy Spirit to direct you, teach you, and show you where to go and what to believe. Don’t count on man. Yes, go to church, but check the Scriptures to ensure that what the preacher is preaching is rooted in Scripture and not his/her own beliefs.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Do Not Perish.

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Be Careful To Obey

48 That very day the Lord spoke to Moses, 49 “Go up this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, opposite Jericho, and view the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel for a possession. 50 And die on the mountain which you go up, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died in Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, 51 because you broke faith with me in the midst of the people of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, and because you did not treat me as holy in the midst of the people of Israel. 52 For you shall see the land before you, but you shall not go there, into the land that I am giving to the people of Israel.” ~ Deuteronomy 32:48-52

Throughout their time in the wilderness, a Rock followed them in order to provide them with drinking water as they journeyed for 40 years. The LORD told Moses to speak to the Rock so water may come out of it, but instead Moses struck the Rock. Not once, but twice. And the LORD told him he would never enter the Promised Land. It was too late for another chance.

This wasn’t just disobedience. This was anger-driven disobedience. Moses had, once again, let his anger get the best of him, and the LORD had had enough.

So, instead of leading the people of Israel into the Promised Land he had to go to the top of Mount Nebo, in the Land of Moab, and die a premature death. His body wasn’t ready, but that physical act of disobedience caused a spiritual reaction that ended up costing him his promise and his very life.

Every action has a spiritual reaction. It can be positive or negative. It can affect even the generations to come. Moses’ descendants aren’t remembered. The priesthood didn’t come through them. So, be careful what you choose in this life, it can affect all around you and all who are to come.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be Careful To Obey. 

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Don’t Be Deceived By Man

Matthew 24:27-31,

[27] For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. [28] Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. [29]  “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. [30] Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. [31] And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Today the Rapture is supposed to take place. Israel has officially blown the trumpet and Yom Teruah has begun. People are quitting their jobs, giving away their homes, cars, emptying their bank accounts all in preparation of the Rapture. They’re making videos on tips and tricks of how to go up in the Rapture, such as not holding on to anything or not looking down. It’s become more than just a few people, but thousands upon thousands of people believing this. Why? Because we no longer read our Bibles. We no longer know what the Word of God says.

Yes, we won’t know the day nor the hour of Christ’s return, but He said we will know when to look up because we will know His return is near.

28 Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.

Luke 21:28

We’ve traded in the signs of Christ’s return for the ideologies of man. We’ve refused to even give ear to what the Word of God says that contradicts our beliefs. Why? Pride? Arrogance? The fear of being wrong? The fear of facing the Truth? I don’t believe one size fits all, but I do believe these are some reasons. When we refuse to even hear what the other side has to say, then it’s not them that has the issue, but us. It means that we not only don’t believe our beliefs can’t hold up to scrutiny, but we know that the other’s beliefs will only prove to be true. And if that is the case, why continue to believe what cannot be found in Scripture?

Never allow pride, arrogance, or fear keep you from the Truth of God. Never give the excuse that “Well, we’ll never truly know,” or “Well, one day we’ll see” because you don’t want to see the Truth now. Tomorrow is promised to no man. If we can’t put aside our pride, arrogance, or fear for something that isn’t a life or death situation can we believe God will trust us to put those things aside for something more important?

Don’t put your trust in man. Put your trust in God. In His Word. In His promises. In His prophecies. That is the only way we will truly see His face and see His promises fulfilled.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Don’t Be Deceived By Man.

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Prepare To Be Ready

29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. ~ Matthew 24:29-31

Today is the first day of the Feast of Trumpets. A day that foreshadows the promise referred to by the  first Church as the Blessed Hope, the Second Coming of Christ. Jesus said that everyone on the earth will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. Meaning, He will not be doing this thing in secret.

And… did you also notice how Jesus started off the statement…? He said, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days…” indicating that the Church will be going through the Great Tribulation. The block of offense that causes theologians to stumble over is “definitions.” They don’t truly define the churchy terms and words that they tote.

For instance, tribulation is vastly different from judgment: Tribulation is the wrath of man and The Seven Bowls of Wrath is the wrath of God. You’ve heard it said that God loves us too much to let us suffer His judgment. Just look at Noah and the great flood, or Sodom and Gomorrah. God removed His people before His judgment fell.

And yes, that is indeed the truth, but the great tribulation is not God’s wrath, but the wrath of man on God’s Church. So, while it is true that God loves us, He does not necessarily take us out of tribulation, and the biggest reason is that the Church grows best under tribulation or persecution.

Did God take Peter, who was crucified upside down, out before that tragedy befell him? Or Paul, who was beheaded. Or James, who was run through with a sword. Or Isaiah, who was sawn in two. Or the Christians who are being imprisoned and tortured, suffering unimaginable persecution right now, today, in Muslim and communist countries… Does He somehow love them less… those who are being locked in cages and set on fire, or chopped up with machetes, or beheaded with dull knives? Does He for some reason love them less? Or those who are beaten to death? Or those who are beaten and left for dead but survive and are disfigured and maimed for life.

What about those? Does God love them less? Those Christians living in Places like North Korea, where Christianity is viewed as a direct threat to the authority of the ruling Kim family. Christians are arrested there, tortured, and even executed. The entire family can be sent to labor camps if even one member is found with a Bible. Or Somalia which is a strongly Islamic society where extremists consider conversions to Christianity a betrayal of Islam. These converts are hunted down by radical Muslim groups like al-Shabaab and murdered for their faith

Yemen is plagued by civil war and radical Islamic extremism, Christians are regarded as traitors and face severe punishment, including death, especially for converts from Islam. Eritrea is an authoritarian government and religious nationalist state is often considered the North Korea of Africa. Christians are arrested and imprisoned in shipping containers where extreme temperatures reach deadly highs in the day and unbearable lows at night, with no bathrooms to relieve themselves. Or they are imprisoned in underground cells with terrible, inhumane conditions that are almost intolerable. Libya is a country beset with anarchy and Islamic extremism and an unstable government, Christians, especially foreign workers and converts, are abducted, tortured, and killed because of their Christian faith.

So, again, I ask you what about those…? Does God somehow love them less because they believe to the point of shedding their own blood and gladly give their lives for the sake of Jesus and His Gospel? Does God so callously care less for those who are suffering, while we here in the West hide our Christian faith because we are afraid to rock the boat, or that we might offend someone? And not just someone, but those same ones who hate us, and would love to see what is happening to Christians in those countries, to happen to us here in the West.

Today truly put your beliefs to the test. Search the Scriptures and ask yourself, can I find my beliefs in the Word of God or do they favor your own ideas and desires instead. The time of Jesus’ return is truly upon us. It’s getting closer and closer each and every day. Are you ready for His return? Are you ready for all that comes with it?

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Prepare To Be Ready.

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A Warning of Trumpets

1 On the first day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work. It is a day for you to blow the trumpets, 2 and you shall offer a burnt offering, for a pleasing aroma to the Lord: ~ Numbers 29:1-2

Tomorrow evening at sundown marks the beginning of the Feast of Trumpets that will last until Wednesday evening at sundown. The Feast of Trumpets is one of seven God-sanctioned feasts. Passover. Unleavened Bread. Firstfruits. Weeks. Trumpets. The Day of Atonement. Tabernacles. Four of these seven have already been fulfilled.

Passover in the Crucifixion. Unleavened Bread in Christ takes away our sin. Firstfruits in the Resurrection of Christ (the Barley Harvest) & The establishing of the Church (the Wheat Harvest). Weeks in the giving of the Holy Spirit.

There are three feasts left to be fulfilled. Trumpets. The Day of Atonement. Tabernacles. These 3 feasts are fall feasts. In Joel 2 we see the prophecy of the coming of the LORD and then we see a promise of rain. The spring rain brought the promise of salvation. The latter (or autumn) rain will bring the fulfillment of salvation, which starts with the Feast of Trumpets.

The Feast of Trumpets is the first day of the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar, which is the month of Tishri. A holy assembly, which is a holy gathering of a people with a reading or recitation. A burnt offering to the LORD for a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

So, what does it foreshadow? At the last trumpet blast, the dead in Christ will rise and then those of us alive will rise to Christ. We will be caught up to Him in the clouds. This is the Second Coming of Christ. We are gathered to Christ in the air as He comes with the voice of an Archangel and the blowing of the trumpet of God. The Burnt Offering as a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

There’s a belief right now that the Rapture will take place this year during the Feast of Trumpets. It came from a vision from a pastor in Africa. While I do believe in visions, I don’t believe in shaping my beliefs around someone else’s visions without first checking their visions with the Word of God. When Jesus was asked what would be the sign of His coming, He said the last sign would be the Great Tribulation. In fact, He tells His disciples that His coming will take place immediately AFTER the Tribulation of those days.

In recent years, we’ve used the book of Revelation to attempt to prove the Rapture by quoting Revelation 3:10. This is Jesus speaking to the 6th of the 7 Churches in the book of Revelation. The Church of Philadelphia. They claim that because Jesus says He will keep them from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, this proves the Rapture, but if you notice it says the He will keep them from the hour of trial, not take them out of the hour of trial. In other words, the hour of trial has been pushed back for them, not that they are taken out of it.

The other very important part of this is that they are not the last Church. There is one more Church after them. The Church of Laodicea. If you remove the Church, then that would mean that there is not a church left. The claim is that these are those who will be saved during the Tribulation, but Jesus tells this Church that He will spit them out of His mouth. That they will be spit out of His mouth because they refuse to choose. They refuse to be either hot or cold. First and foremost, they are the Church that doesn’t find God but gets rejected by God. They don’t seek God because they’ve missed the Rapture, but they are spit out of the mouth of Jesus because they refuse to choose. To be either hot or cold.

Which honestly describes the Church today. We’re the Church that doesn’t want to speak out because they’re afraid of offending someone. They don’t want to tell others about Jesus because we don’t want to push our religion on others.

The Church of Laodicea isn’t a church that is on fire for God because of Tribulation. It’s a Church that believes that it’s good. That it doesn’t need anything from God, when it’s in fact not good. When in fact it ushers in the Tribulation itself. Tribulation isn’t God’s wrath; that’s seven bowls described in Revelation 16. Tribulation is the world’s wrath on the Church who refuses to keep it in check.

Don’t take my word for it. This Feast of Trumpets takes some time to search the Scriptures for yourself. Never just take the word of someone telling you, this is so, but search as the Bereans did with Paul when he taught them.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Prepare For The Trumpets.

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Accept Rebuke

5 Better is open rebuke than hidden love. 6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy. ~ Proverbs 27:5-6

Open rebuke is better than hidden love. If you are receiving a profuse (An abundant, Excessive, Overflowing). Extravagant amount beyond necessity number of kisses, they just might be from an enemy and not a friend. Evaluate your situation. The truth never lies. Listen, real love involves honest and constructive criticism rather than deceitful kindness.

Please understand that true love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth NIV (1 Corinthians 13:6). Look, a Christian’s main objective is all about your eternal soul. Your soul will spend eternity in one place or the other forever. If you break God’s commandments because a man, or a woman told you it is okay to do so… that will not stand up in God’s court as a valid excuse.

That is why I always, always encourage people to read the Bible for yourselves. It is imperative. It is crucial. It is essential. It is vital. It is critical. It is most important. That you understand for yourself: what you must answer to God for. Realize this: you will answer to God, your own self, for your own actions, and nobody else will give an account for you or stand in your place.

You must be like the Bereans who searched the Scriptures daily to see if what Paul was teaching was true → In other words, they searched to make sure that Paul was not misinterpreting the Scriptures but rather, that he was indeed preaching truth (Acts 17:11) … They didn’t just take his word. They confirmed his words. We cannot use the excuse that we didn’t know, or that we didn’t realize.

We have Bibles upon Bibles in every English translation that we can imagine. There is Old English. New English. Contemporary English. Paraphrase translation. Dynamic Equivalence. Formal Equivalence. We have what they call Hybrid Translations. We even have Interlinear Bibles.

What I’m saying is, we have… NO excuse. We, who live in the West, the so-called Free World, have no excuse, and of all people, we will probably be held to a higher standard than most because of it. To whom much is given, much is required, and we have been given much.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Accept Rebuke.

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