Tag: Are You In Need of Cleansing?

³⁹ They answered Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, ⁴⁰ but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. ⁴¹ You are doing the works your father did.” They said to Him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.” ⁴² Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. ⁴³ Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. ⁴⁴ You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. ⁴⁵ But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. ⁴⁶ Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? ⁴⁷ Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.” ~ John 8:39-47

No matter our age or our experience, we are all children. We are either children of God or children of the devil. Some of us don’t even realize who our father is. Each one of us was born of a woman from the seed of a man. And none of us chose our parents; we were each given to a mother and father by God Himself, for it was Him that knit us together in our mother’s womb. Who our physical, biological parents are wasn’t up to us. We didn’t have a say in the matter, but who our spiritual father is, now that’s all up to us.

So, many of us believe that just by the belief that God exists is enough to make Him our Father. We buy into the lie that as long as I believe in God and pray, I’m a child of God. In other words, we’ve made being a Child of God a religion without a relationship. See, it’s not enough to just believe. It’s not enough to just pray. It’s not enough to just go to church every Sunday. You have to also follow Christ. Jesus said that if you loved Him, you would keep His commands. The word Christian itself means to be a mini-Christ. In other words, you have to walk in the same footsteps Jesus did.

How you act and how you speak will determine who your father is. Why? Because your actions determine where your heart is, and your heart determines who you are. If your heart is only evil, then you cannot be a part of God, for there is no evil in God. Therefore, you would be of the devil, for there is no good in him, only evil. This is the one time that you can choose who your father is, and it’s the most important time as well. Because each child will receive their father’s inheritance. Inheritance doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s good. Inheritance is receiving what was first your parent’s. In other words, if your parent has only punishment and curses, then that’s what you will inherit. If your parent only has rewards and blessings, then that’s what you will inherit. How you live your life matters, for you are a child following your father, and you will inherit whatever your father has.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Choose Your Father Wisely.

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⁵ He will wear righteousness like a belt and [faithfulness] like an undergarment. ~ Isaiah 11:5

Isaiah was prophesying about the coming Messiah. He declared that He would not only wear a belt of righteousness around His waist that protected Him on the outside, if you will, but also He would wear a belt of faithfulness like an undergarment. So many times, as the Church, we only focus on how we look to the world. As long as our outer belt looks good and right, it doesn’t matter whether we even have our underwear on at all.

We’ve become like the Pharisees. Jesus compared them to washing the outside of the cup but leaving the inside dirty. This is exactly how a lot of us have become. We’ve lost our faithfulness, our relationship with Christ. We just want to look good for the World as Saul did. He didn’t seem to care that he had done wrong in the sight of God; He only cared whether or not Samuel would go with him before the people of Israel to make a sacrifice. He had his outer belt on, for sacrifice was the righteous thing to do as a response for sinning, but his undergarment of faithfulness wasn’t on. He had no moment of repentance in his heart. There was no faithfulness in him.

LORD God, help us to not just put on a show for those around us. Help us to not just look like a good Christian, but help us to actually live as good Christians. Help us to put on the undergarment of faithfulness so that we might never lose sight of you. For even if we stumble and fall into temptation, You will catch us before we hit the ground if we have a repentant heart. Help us to be faithful to You, oh LORD. Help us to love You and follow You the way You deserve, oh LORD God. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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² Listen, O heavens! Pay attention, earth! This is what the Lord says: “The children I raised and cared for have rebelled against me. ³ Even an ox knows its owner, and a donkey recognizes its master’s care— but Israel doesn’t know its master. My people don’t recognize my care for them.” ~ Isaiah 1:2-3^NLT

Many see the Bible as just a rule book of do’s and don’t’s. They see it as a book of bondage and chains because it plainly lays out right from wrong. What they fail to realize is that the Bible is so much more than that. The Bible is God’s written word to us that we might know the way to freedom and that we might know His heart. God desires for all to be saved, for all to know His voice and follow Him, yet even those who call themselves His children struggle.

The Church today is led astray by culture’s demand for politically correct thoughts, ideas, and actions. They claim that Jesus would support this, and He would support that without giving any Scripture to back their claim, and the Church falls for it. The Church has forgotten the voice of our Good Shepherd. We miss the meaning of true love. We buy into the lie that judgment is wrong and evil without realizing that without judging a tree by its fruit, we’ll never know what kind of tree it is.

One day, Jesus will break that Eastern sky, and He will gather all who know His voice to Him. Don’t miss out on His return because you no longer know His voice. Don’t miss out on Eternal Life because you no longer hear His gentle whisper. Don’t miss out because the world claims to know right from wrong better than Jesus. Don’t let anything cause you to miss out, for eternity without Christ is unlike any pain we could ever experience on this earth.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Listen For His Voice.

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²⁷ Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned? ²⁸Or can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched? ~ Proverbs 6:27–28

The Proverbs ask if you can hold fire to your chest and not get burned. Or if you can walk on hot coals and your feet not be scorched. The simple answer to both of these questions is no. No, you cannot carry fire next to your chest, and your clothes not get burned. Neither can you walk on hot coals, and your feet not get scorched. If, for some dark reason, someone can do that, it is not natural.

The same with sin. You cannot play with sin and not get caught in its grasp. Many will say that’s the Old Testament; we now live under the new and better covenant. The only problem with that is that the New Testament says the same thing. Even Paul says just a little leaven will leaven the entire pot. You can’t play with sin and not expect to be influenced, changed, and affected by it. Sin isn’t a toy that you can just play with. Sin is a dangerous predator seeking out prey to destroy. Don’t be fooled by the guise of sin; it’s more than just a thought. It’s more than just a game. It’s your soul, your entire eternity, that you’re playing with.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Play No More.

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³⁵ The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. ~ Matthew 12:35

This word treasure means to deposit that which is valuable. So, whatever you deposit in your heart, or what you store up in your heart, is the treasure that you will bring forth. Because it is from this treasure that you store up in your heart that your mouth will speak, so, garbage in, garbage out. If you let garbage in, then garbage will come out. But if righteousness, then righteousness will come out.

Remember, the Bible says that the eye is the lamp of the body, and if the eye is the lamp of the body, then it would be super important that you protect what you let in through the eye. Therefore, you cannot watch any old thing or listen to any old thing and expect righteous output. Monitor what you let in, and the output will take care of itself.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Monitor What You Let In.

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³⁰ Then he [Saul] said, “I have sinned; yet honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may bow before the Lord your God.” ~ 1 Samuel 15:30

After all that happened to Saul, and even though he acknowledged he sinned, Saul was still concerned about how he looked before the people more than how he looked to God. Saul didn’t even refer to God as his God but as Samuel’s God. In doing this, he separated himself from God and his relationship with God. So many people today are too busy trying to uphold their outward appearance for other people that their relationship with God becomes just for show, and they don’t even realize it.

It’s so easy for us to need validation from those who we see every day and that we know without a doubt are real, rather than the God that we can’t physically see nor touch. It’s the human in us that is seeking out the terrestrial, physical, mortal acceptance around us because that is what we are in communication with every day, but if we change our focus from those around us to the celestial, spiritual, eternal God then who we desire acceptance from will change as well. We have to seek the spiritual to want the spiritual. We have to seek God to want God. The more we draw near to God, the more God will draw near to us. Whom we need acceptance from will determine where we will spend eternity. So, who do you desire acceptance from?

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Desire Acceptance From God.

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¹⁷ So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. ~ Romans 10:17

Today, we often hear that we don’t need the Bible to know God or to have a relationship with Him. But without the Bible, we wouldn’t even know about God. As Paul explained, “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” Without the Word of God, we cannot please God.

This kind of thinking opens us up to the Spirit of Deception because we now base our ideas and descriptions of God on our own desires and biases. As a result, our minds become dark and confused, and our body then follows and is filled with darkness. So what are we to do? All we can do is give up our own thoughts and biases, open our Bible, and ask God to show us the truth as we read His word. This is the only way we will ever truly know God.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Give Up Your Biases.

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 ¹³ Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” ¹⁴ Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. ¹⁵ One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” ¹⁶ Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding. ~ Acts 19:13-16

We always hear that Jesus is for everybody, but is that true? People had heard the reports of the healings, the exorcisms, the mighty signs, and wonders that were being performed simply by invoking the Name of Jesus. So, these boys, sons of a certain Jewish chief priest, tried this. It apparently worked for them for a while, until one day, they ran into a powerful and obstinate evil spirit. They knew the name but did not have a relationship with the person to whom the name belonged. Therefore, they were not covered by the Blood of Jesus and took a severe beating on account of it.

The name was not given to them for use; it was given to Christian believers. It was given and still is given to Christ-followers because only the redeemed of the LORD has been given the authority to use the name of Jesus by which we have been redeemed. So, no, the name of Jesus isn’t just for everyone, but it is for everyone who believes and follows Him. Why does this matter? Because only Christ-followers have been redeemed from sin, washed in the blood, and filled with the Holy Spirit. Only Christ-Followers have been given the power and authority from God Himself. It’s all about a relationship with God. Do you know Him, and does He know you?

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Don’t Be A Son of Sceva.

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³² and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. ~ John 8:32

The Truth will set you free is one of the most well-known Biblical quotes, though, throughout the years, the Truth has become a relative term. It’s now ‘my’ truth, ‘your’ truth, any truth other than The Truth, but here’s the hard pill to swallow, there is no such thing as my truth, your truth, and their truth. There is only truth, and as the LORD Jesus said to His heavenly Father, “Your word is truth.”

If it contradicts God’s word, it is not truth. For truth cannot contradict truth. Neither can there be another truth that contradicts the truth of God because only God’s truth is the real truth. Yes, it might sound narrow-minded. It might sound like the dark ages. But God’s truth is the only truth that will set you free. So, know the truth and be free.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Let The Truth Set You Free.

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