Category: Daily Bread

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Who Will Go For Me?

16 Who will rise up for Me against the wicked? Who will take a stand for Me against evildoers? (Psalm 94:16).

This is a very pertinent question: God is asking, “Who will?” God has given us dominion over the earth. We have been commissioned to rule and to reign, to subdue, and to correct and to bring into submission to our God all inhabitants of the earth. Teaching what is right and correcting what is wrong by the Word of our God. We are the hands and the feet of Jesus, often referred to as His body. Now He is asking, “Who will rise up for Me against the Wicked?”

But instead of rising up, the Church has submitted its authority. We’ve compromised with the enemy and have gone to sleep on our watch. We no longer sound the alarm when the enemy is approaching. We no longer tell of the goodness of God. But why is that? Are we too busy trying to be like the world that we no longer are trying to save the world?

Church leaders are guilty of the same sins the world is guilty of, and some have taken it even further. God instructed His people, His Church, to come out from among them and touch no unclean thing. But the Church has stained her garments with the juices from the fruit of evil. Once in the book of Isaiah, God looked around for one man to stand in the gap to intercede for the nation so that He might not destroy it, but He found no one either willing or able. So, in Isaiah 6, He asks again, “Whom shall I send and who will go for us?”

God is always looking for someone to rise up, someone to stand up, and someone to go and tell. Is that someone you? Will you rise up? Will you stand up when no one else will? When all are satisfied slumbering, will you get up and seek the face of God on behalf of someone, maybe a close relation, or a good friend? Maybe for your country and your government leaders. Do you complain about what’s happening in the world and especially in your country, or are you seeking the LORD, are you standing in the gap for your country and calling upon His Name that He might not destroy or bring His wrath? Will you say, here am I, use me?

Father, here am I, if You can use anything, use me. I will go where You send me, and I will say what You tell me; only be close to me and help me hear and understand Your voice and instructions, in Jesus’ Name, amen.

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Hear The Trumpet Blast

Joel 2:12-14 ESV

12 “Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; 13 and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and He relents over disaster. 14 Who knows whether He will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind Him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the LORD your God?

The LORD is merciful; He is not willing for anyone to perish. He said that He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 33:11). But men love darkness more than they tolerate the light. As it was then, so it is now, men refuse to heed God’s warning.

They decline His invitation to repent and to seek Him. They reject the offer to draw near to Him so that He can and will draw near to them. They want another way. A way free from personal responsibility.

They despise the way of the cross. They loathe holiness and hate righteousness. It’s their way or no way, so they turn and go their own way, rejoicing in their own will and delighting in their own strength.

Therefore, there’s coming a trumpet call. A day of reckoning. A day of great darkness and gloom. A day of intense dread and terror when the Spirit of the LORD shall be taken up, and the dead in Christ shall rise, and we who are alive and remain shall be caught up to meet our LORD Jesus in the clouds, and there we will be with Him forevermore (1 Thessalonians 4:16).

For those of us who are being saved… it will be a day of great joy, and much rejoicing. But for those who refuse to heed the alarm—those who reject the trumpet call to repentance, and who remain in their sins… it is a day of dread, fear, and trembling — a day of thick darkness and great gloom.

For on that day, the LORD, the LORD Jesus Himself, will come and take His Bride away, and those who have refused His salvation will be left behind.

The door will be closed. And it will be locked. And no one else will be let in. The opportunity has passed. The chance of repentance is gone—it’s over. Your choice has been made. The lines have been drawn in the sand. And now, it’s over.

So, the LORD who said, “Come all ye who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest,” will also say, “Depart from Me, I never knew you.”

And those who hear those harsh words of hopeless despair will go away into eternal punishment in the lake of fire that burns forever, and ever.

The opportunity is now. The time of repentance is now. Today is the day of salvation. The trumpet call has gone out, the alarm has been sounded. Are you ready? Are your family members ready? Co-workers? Friends? Neighbors? Today is the day of repentance, tomorrow is promised to no man.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Hear The Trumpet Blast.

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The Lack of Vision

18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: But he that keepeth the law, happy is he KJV (Proverbs 29:18).

This is one of the most misused or misinterpreted verses in the Bible. It is widely used as a call for leadership to cast vision or as a confirmation to set goals and objectives. But this word, translated “vision,” is not from an earthly source but rather a God-given vision or revelation.

It’s actually a subtle call for pastors and church elders to humble themselves and seek the LORD for a fresh word from His lips and new anointing from His hands. It’s a call to study the Scriptures and show yourself approved. It’s a call for holy men and women everywhere to lift their hands in worship and seek, and knock, and ask, and then when you receive, to obey.

God is not interested in just giving a vision or a revelation for the sake of giving. He is interested in what you do with it. How you handle His commands. God is not in the habit of speaking just to hear Himself talk. It is for our own good and our own spiritual growth. Many times God will speak no more until the last instructions that He gave are followed. And truly, what is the use of someone giving fresh, new instructions or revelations when the receiver treats them as common and not worth the follow-through?

And the word translated “perish” actually means people become morally unrestrained, lawless, or run wild without God’s guidance. So, the writer is saying that when God’s word is neglected or rare, as in the days of Eli, the people will throw off God’s restraint and run wild, as they did in Aaron’s day when they made the golden calf. In the days of Eli, Eli’s two sons were without restraint, sleeping with the women who served at the Tent of Meeting, taking the sacrificial meat, and sometimes by force. They did things that greatly displeased the LORD, and He put them to death for it.

Then, the verse finishes with, but happy, or blessed is he or she who keeps God’s laws. Our command from Jesus is to love one another, love our neighbor, and love even our enemy. We are instructed to bear fruit and to win souls. Are you doing that today? Are you sharing the Good News with friends and family? Are you taking someone with you when our LORD Jesus returns to get us? If not, you need to.

Father, give us revelation lest we run wild. Restrain our mortal flesh that is prone to leave the God that we love, and who first loved us. Help us to see, hear, and obey the revelation that you give or send, or that we receive. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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Start With Your Mind

[28]  I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” [29] (When all the people heard this, and the tax collectors too, they declared God just, having been baptized with the baptism of John, [30] but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.) [31]  “To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? [32] They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, “‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’ [33]  For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ [34] The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ [35] Yet wisdom is justified by all her children.” ~ Luke 7:28-35

Jesus was called a drunkard and a glutton by the Pharisees. The Pharisees were the teachers of the law. The ones who studied the Scriptures earnestly. The strictest party of the religion. These and the lawyers, those who argued, defended, and held others accountable to the Law. These not just called, but accused the LORD Jesus of being a drunkard and a glutton. Now, whether or not they realized when they said it doesn’t matter, it was said. When they accused Him of these things, they were condemning Him to death. Look at what the law says about drunkards and gluttons.

[18] If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and, though they discipline him, will not listen to them, [19] then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives, [20] and they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ [21] Then all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall purge the evil from your midst, and all Israel shall hear, and fear.

Deuteronomy 21:18-20

The Father already audibly declared Jesus His only begotten Son. By accusing Jesus of being a drunkard and a glutton, they were accusing Him of not obeying the voice of His Father. They, the elders, were making a judgment on behalf of that entire generation that Jesus was a rebellious son who does not listen to His Father. Jesus declared that He does nothing of His own accord, but only what He sees His Father doing (John 5:19-29).

We will be judged by our words (Matthew 12:36-37). Not just our actions, but the words let we allow to come out of our mouths. Solomon warned that life and death are in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21). Jesus said it’s not what goes into a person’s mouth that defiles them, but what they allow to come out of their mouth (Mark 7:14-23). The Pharisees and lawyers knew Solomon’s verses, and now Jesus was calling them out for the words they had been speaking. Words they would be judged for if they did not repent.

Our words aren’t just empty phrases we put together, speak, and then they just vanish into thin air. No. They linger. They stay. They have power. Therefore, we cannot just speak them carelessly. So, what are we to do? Stop them before they come out of our mouths by monitoring and controlling our thoughts. Paul tells us to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5-6).

Peace. Love. Go forth and Start With Your Mind.

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My Blind Servant

Who is blind but My servant, Or so deaf as My messenger whom I send? Who is so blind as he that is at peace with Me, Or so blind as the servant of the LORD? (Isaiah 42:19 NASB1995)

If you think about this statement by the LORD, it is pretty frightening. He is not talking about the blindness or the deafness of the heathens, or those who hate Him. No, God is talking about His own people, His own servants. The one who is supposed to be working for Him. The one who should have a close relationship with Him. But instead of closeness, we find distance. Instead of intimacy, we find lukewarmness.

Just because we claim a relationship with the Almighty God does not mean we have one. God’s people, the ones who should know Him intimately and serve Him wholeheartedly, are the very ones who are trampling the blood of Jesus underfoot and making the Name of the Holy One something common. That’s why God asks the question in Isaiah 1:5, “Why will you be struck anymore?”

In other words, why continue to rebel after, with His own blood, He has washed you, cleansed you, and made you His own. Why rebel? Why disobey and receive just punishment, punishment that He takes no pleasure in?

It is not God’s will that anyone perish, but all come to repentance. But many people refuse to come, while others refuse to draw close to God because they love the pleasures of the world too much.

Let us forsake evil and turn from rebellion and lukewarmness and cling to God and pursue holiness.

Father, forgive me for not seeking You. Forgive me for not drawing close to You. Help me to know who You are, and how to draw close. Help me to turn from the things that glitter and sparkle. The things that draw me away from my God. Please open my eyes so that I am no longer blind or deaf. Thank You, Father. In Jesus’ Name, I pray, amen.

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Clear It Out

19 For seven days no leaven is to be found in your houses.

The Israelites were not to eat any leaven for seven days. They were not to look at it. No one was allowed to have it in their houses. It was to be removed from them entirely.

See, leaven is the same thing as yeast. No yeast was to be found in their houses; they had to get it out.

Yeast is that substance we put in the dough that causes it to ferment and rise, making the bread light, airy, and puffed up. Paul uses puffed up as a metaphor for pride, something that the LORD hates.

See, leaven represents the sin, the junk, the rubbish in our lives. Malice. Pride. Backbiting. Sexual impurity. Hypocrisy. False teachings. We are commanded to correct it and get rid of it, not overlook or tolerate it. This is a command from the LORD.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Clear It Out. 

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See The Need For Justice

18 You shall appoint judges and officers in all your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. 19 You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous. 20 Justice, and only justice, you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land that the Lord your God is giving you. ~ Deuteronomy 16:18-20

15 When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers. ~ Proverbs 21:15

I recently had a very short conversation with the daughter of someone who had gotten into a car accident. Thankfully, there was no serious damage to her vehicle and no injury to her. We were all talking about how the man who hit her car from behind was so scared when the police showed up. They were driving without a license, as well as having entered the country illegally. Her daughter felt that he shouldn’t have any punishment at all, that it’s just a car, and her mom is fine, there’s no need for him to be arrested or charges pressed. I can’t lie, this genuinely annoyed me.

Now, don’t get me wrong. This lady, the daughter, is probably the nicest person I’ve ever met. She’s a genuinely nice person. She’s not someone who comes across as disingenuous or fake, but just a genuinely nice person. Here’s my issue. When we remove consequences from actions, we invite anarchy. We invite chaos into our society. The lack of laws and the lack of enforcement of laws have always led to more problems than good. Just look at the past couple of years. Stores have been looted over and over again. Businesses have shut down because of theft issues that keep happening due to a lack of enforcement of the law.

Yes, we’re thankful that her mother wasn’t harmed and that her car wasn’t too damaged (and was covered by insurance). All of those things are true. But what else is true is that the law was broken, and repercussions are necessary. Someone could have been killed, but by the grace of God, no one was harmed. Enforcing the law doesn’t mean that we don’t forgive them. That doesn’t mean that we don’t love them. That means that we are holding people accountable for their actions, which is the only thing that keeps a society safe. The laws of the land have to be enforced.

We as Christians aren’t to just overlook each and every person’s actions. That’s not how the LORD works, nor His Church. The LORD never just overlooks sin. That was why Christ came, died, and rose again. He cancelled our debt and washed us clean by His blood. He was pierced for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities. Yes, as Christians, we are to turn the other cheek, but we aren’t to ignore laws. We don’t seek personal revenge but rely on the justice system of the land. Without justice, a nation is lost.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and See The Need For Justice.

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Look Deeper Than The Surface

16 The heavens are the LORD’s heavens, but the earth He has given to the children of man. ~ Psalms 115:16

I recently saw a video of a girl eating out at a restaurant, showing that she refused to drink her drink with a plastic straw in order to save sea creatures. When she put her drink down, she pulled her plate of food in front of her and started to eat. What was she eating? Louisiana Seafood Boil. Crab Legs. Shrimp. Crawfish. There were so many comments and reaction videos to this video, making fun of her. And in all honesty, I thought the same thing when I first watched the video, but then I started to think about it. And I actually get her point.

See, she isn’t against fishing and/or catching sea life. She’s against the pollution of plastic killing off, injuring, and hurting sea life. We were put on this earth to take care of the earth and the animals on it, yet the LORD told Noah and Peter to kill and eat. There was never a point in time when the LORD set a law not to kill and eat.

See, fishing isn’t the issue. Hunting isn’t the issue. Overdoing those things is. Pollution is. Think about this, more than one hundred thousand sea mammals and approximately one million seabirds die from plastic pollution each year. An estimated 8 to 14 million metric tons of plastic enter the ocean annually, with projections suggesting this could triple within the next two decades. Recent research indicates that as few as six pieces of rubber can kill 90% of seabirds, while 29 pieces of plastic are often lethal to sea mammals. Plastic has been found in the digestive tracts of nearly 1,300 sea species, including all sea turtle species and every family of seabird and sea mammal. Discarded fishing gear, known as “ghost gear,” kills hundreds of thousands of animals annually, with 640,000 tonnes of such gear entering oceans each year. In fact, scientists warn that by 2050, the weight of plastic in the ocean could exceed the combined weight of all fish in the seas.

This isn’t how we should treat the home the Good LORD above gave us. This isn’t how we should treat His creatures. Eating seafood isn’t the problem; how we treat the earth and the sea is, though. It’s easy to quickly cast a judgment and not really think about what’s being said or what’s happening. We have to learn to think deeper and contemplate more.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Look Deeper Than The Surface.

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Be Sure Of Your Eternity

12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. ~ Philippians 2:12-13

I recently saw a video of a very well-known Muslim apologist admit that the very thing that brought him to Islam turned out to be false, but he will not leave Islam because he found faith. He went on to explain that Allah used this specific belief to draw him to Islam. So, in other words, Allah had deceived him in order for him to believe. And what’s keeping him there isn’t the Truth, but simply blind faith. But faith in what? The one who blatantly lied to him.

I live by the belief that if there is one error in Scripture, then none of it is trustworthy. None of it is Truth. Therefore, if the very thing that brought me to Christianity turned out to be false (the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of my sins and those of the whole world), I’d have to walk away because none of it could be trusted.

If your sacred text from the very mouth of God cannot be corrupted, but somehow contains errors or flaws, then why stay? Why remain believing? Could it be that you receive money from views, engagement, speaking, debates, etc.? Our eternal soul is nothing to play or gamble with. It won’t die; instead, it will last forever in one place or another. A place of rejoicing and peace, or a place of weeping and torment.

Each one of us, the Christian and the nonbeliever, must critique our own beliefs. We have to analyze and study our Scriptures. We have to have faith, but we have to be sure in what we have faith in. If our Holy Book is flawed or has any flawed beliefs within it, we have to get real with ourselves and seek earnestly for Truth.

10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.

2 Peter 1:10

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be Sure Of Your Eternity.

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Avoid The Con

17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover. ~ Mark 16:17-18

I saw a video the other day about a con man who faked prophetic gifts back in the 80s. His wife would tell him who was coming up to the platform, where they lived, what their prayer request was, etc. in an earpiece. So, as they came up, he pretended that God revealed to him all of that information and that they would receive whatever it was that they were praying for. He conned thousands of thousands. Sanctuaries were packed with people seeking something more than the average Christian walk. They were seeking prayers answered and words from the LORD. They were seeking after signs, wonders, and healings.

The worst part is, these people weren’t just random people from the world that don’t know any better. These were church members. They were church going Christians. Men and women who should have known better, but yet, they were still deceived. See, as Christians, we are to know the Scriptures and put them into practice to apply them to our lives. We are to judge the actions of others by those same Scriptures. One promise from the LORD is that we don’t have to rely on man in order to hear from the LORD (1 Timothy 2:5-6). Another is that our prayers will be answered if we ask in the name of the LORD Jesus (Matthew 7:7-11). That healing is the children’s bread (Mark 7:24-30). There are so many promises in Scripture, so why don’t we see them come to pass?

Because each one has a prerequisite. We have to draw near to God and THEN He will draw near to us (James 4:8). Our prerequisite is that we have to give up the things of the world in order to gain the Kingdom of God, which is difficult. It’s hard to deny and crucify the flesh. It’s hard to give up the world that we can see, for the world that we can’t. So, instead of seeking the LORD and going first after His Kingdom and all that comes with it (the blessings, prayers answered, closeness with the LORD, words from the LORD, healings, etc.), we follow those who say they can give it to us for something as simple as money.

It’s easier to write a check than it is to spend an hour in prayer. It’s easier to throw in a hundred dollars than to spend time in worship. It’s easier to follow a man who requires nothing more of you than the currency of this world, than to follow God who requires the currency of the eternal world. So, instead of signs and wonders following us, we follow those who say they have these gifts. We try to have our cake and eat it too. We try to cheat the system. When in reality, we’re only cheating ourselves.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Avoid The Con.

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