Tag: Are You In Need of Cleansing?

¹⁶ … The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. ~ James 5:16b

Ever asked the question, “LORD, why did You not answer my prayer?” The responding question would be, were your prayer effectual and fervent? Now that sparks the retorting question, “What is an effectual fervent prayer?”

That’s a fair question. So, let us break it down.

The word effectual, according to Webster’s New World Dictionary, means:

1. 1. , or able to produce, the desired effect
   2. having legal force; valid

Therefore, in order for your prayers to produce the desired effect, they must first be legal. So, are your prayers legal?

What I mean is that you can’t live any old way and expect to come into God’s presence, looking and smelling like filth because of your sin-ridden lifestyle. Just to be clear, you can’t steal someone’s wife and shack up with her or be someone’s mistress on the side, thus living in adultery or fornication and believe that God hears your prayers.

Well, He actually hears your prayers, but they are detestable to Him. Neither can you actively have sex outside of marriage, live a homosexual lifestyle, or any other type of sexual immorality and believe you can demand an audience with the LORD or that your prayers will be swiftly answered.

The Scripture says you don’t have the right to enter into God’s presence filled with sin.

This isn’t hate speech. This is a concerned fellow human trying to explain what God expects from us. He has standards and protocols. He doesn’t just accept any old leftover thing. He is God, not just that, but He is Creator God. He wants our best. He demands our best. He requires us to put Him first.

Don’t let the world deceive you with its sugar-coated poison. God wants what’s best for you, even if it’s hard to get there.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Want What’s Best.

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^27b …it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment. ~ Hebrews 9:27b

Short, but powerful. It hits home. It is appointed unto man once to die. We do not have multiple opportunities to get it right. I realize there are religions that teach different concepts of reincarnation, where at death, the body dies, but the soul continues to live and comes back in a different life form or some other type of animal.

The soul continues the life and death cycles until it has enough merit that it reaches perfection and is united with “The One,” the ultimate being. But God, the Great Creator, said from the very beginning that we are all destined to die one time, and there is no coming back, but only the Judgement.

God does not give us any indication or suggestion that there are multiple lives. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it; we are all destined to die. As they say, “No one gets out alive.” What does that mean?

So, please, please understand that we have ONE shot at getting this right. ONE opportunity to get all of the ducks in a row, so to speak. The time is flying by so quickly now that it seems like one day is morphing into the next and that one right into the next, and so on, until it is just a blur.

Don’t let your life pass you by. We’re all given an allotted amount of time to get things right and build a relationship with God, don’t let that time run out. Today is the day for salvation; tomorrow is promised to no one.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Don’t Let Time Run Out.

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¹¹ But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. ¹² Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. ¹³ I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, ¹⁴ to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. ~ 1 Timothy 6:11–14

Paul instructed Timothy to “take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession.”

Paul understood that they only had the one opportunity to get it right. One opportunity to build up treasure in heaven that lasts for all eternity. People work so hard here on earth building up treasure and wealth that someone else will get instead of building up true wealth that lasts forever.

Jesus warns us not to work for wealth that fades but build true wealth so that we will have a good eternity. This life won’t last forever. Tomorrow is promised to no man. Today is the day of Salvation.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Think About Tomorrow.

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¹¹ Israel has sinned; they have transgressed my covenant that I commanded them; they have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen and lied and put them among their own belongings. ~ Joshua 7:11

There was no distinction between Israel and Achan. God saw the community as one, and if one fails, they all fail, and if one wins, they all win. I’m sure the Israelites began to question and deny doing it, and if you look at it from their point of view, they didn’t physically do anything. Yet, one man’s sin caused the whole community to suffer.

Sometimes we say, “It is my business; it’s not hurting anyone.” Or “He’s only hurting himself; leave him alone.” But on the contrary, no one lives to himself, but all are in this fight together. No man is an Island. We must be conscious of other members of the family and our community.

No one knew the reason; they just couldn’t figure out or understand why. How could this even happen to them? Who would do a thing like that? Who would take the dedicated things of God?

After the men of AI beat up the Israelite army, Joshua tore his clothes and fell facedown before the ark of the LORD. He and all the elders of Israel stayed there until that evening. Then Joshua started questioning God about His intentions concerning the Israelites. And you know what God told him? That the entire community of Israel was guilty and had sinned because of one man.

Nothing has changed today. Today our actions still affect those around us. So, when we act, we have to think of the potential consequences that could fall on those around us.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Think About Others.

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¹⁰ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. ~ Proverbs 9:10

The fear of the LORD is no longer taught in our churches or homes. Instead, we teach that God loves everyone no matter what we do, so we don’t have to worry about living in sin. Why? This is often because we don’t understand what the fear of the LORD is. We don’t truly understand what it means to fear the LORD.

The fear of the LORD is not the kind of horror you feel at the sight of a mob of vicious men walking toward you and your family bent on total destruction and annihilation. But it is the fear of the LORD, mixed with a love and reverence for the LORD, that keeps you from sinning because you know that His judgments are true, yet His mercies are renewed every day.

LORD God, help us to fear You the way You deserve. To fear You the way that a child fears their father. Teach us to love and revere You in all that we do. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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²⁴ And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver and the cloak and the bar of gold, and his sons and daughters and his oxen and donkeys and sheep and his tent and all that he had. And they brought them up to the Valley of Achor. ²⁵ And Joshua said, “Why did you bring trouble on us? The Lord brings trouble on you today.” And all Israel stoned him with stones. They burned them with fire and stoned them with stones. ~ Joshua 7:24–25

I want you to notice that Achan’s sin affected his whole family. Achan was the only one that committed the sin, but his whole family, along with all his animals, paid the price. They even took his tent and burned it along with his family.

When everything was over and done, there was not a trace or a remembrance of Achan and his family or his stuff. It was like he never existed. What you do affects those around you. Don’t let your whole family pay the price for your selfishness or your greed.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Remember Your Family.

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⁵Through you we push down our foes; through your name we tread down those who rise up against us. ~ Psalms 44:5

Worship is for God and God alone. Only worshipping God can get us out of our tough times. Only worshipping God can bring us to the other side. But sometimes, other things in our lives try to take that place of worship. I remember one time when I was still in the military, I was at a nightclub called the Pussy Cat, and a live band was playing. They called for everyone to come up to the front of the stage. I went up with everyone else.

Then they wanted everyone to kneel. And everyone started kneeling. I was tempted to as well. But even in my drunken state, I realized that was way too much like worship. I wasn’t saved. I wasn’t even going to church. I wasn’t even thinking about God or church, but I knew worship when I saw it. And I wanted no part of worshipping man.

So, what did I do? I turned around and left. That band wasn’t that good. That is what is happening today. A new altar of worship is being created at these concerts. They aren’t always as blatant as this, but they are there. We have to keep our eyes open. We have to be careful who we listen to and what we do so that no one other than God is getting our worship.

LORD God, please open our eyes that we can see the deceitful tricks of the enemy. Help us to see past his disguise so that we never bend our knee to anyone but You, oh LORD God. Help us to never put anyone above You. In the name of Jesus, I pray, amen.

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²⁴ But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden. ~ Revelation 2:24

In the Garden of Eden, the Serpent lured Eve with the promise of unknown knowledge. No more restraints. Total freedom from God and from limitation. And in return for this knowledge, I believe it was their souls that Satan, that Ancient Serpent bought.

Today nothing has changed. Satan is still selling forbidden knowledge, and people are still exchanging their souls for it. Sometimes it’s not even forbidden knowledge that he’s offering, but just a shortcut to that knowledge. When we replace God with our job, it’s like we are giving our soul up in order to move forward in our job.

We can’t allow ourselves to put anything above our God. We can’t seek the rewards of the world above the things of God. There are still two trees planted in front of us. Which one will you wat from?

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Indulge In Life.

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¹⁴ But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. ~ Matthew 7:14^NIV

The gate to this narrow road is very small. Therefore, it makes it unappealing. Not only that, but one has to look for it. Did you see that? It said only a few find it. Therefore, you have to look for it, or you won’t find it. And many are not looking for it. Very few people, if any, can say they just happened to stumble upon the small gate.

They either have to be looking, as in the case with Lee Strobel. In his own testimony, he admitted that he was an atheist and set out to prove the Bible wrong and Jesus not who he said he was. But he had a praying wife, and so, the facts lead him to the small gate that leads to the narrow road.

You have to be looking, searching, or somebody has to be praying really hard for you. How many of your lost loved ones are you praying for? How many times do you witness? Jesus is coming back soon, but who knows if any of us alive today will be alive when He returns? Tomorrow is promised to no person. Today is the day of Salvation. Don’t wait for tomorrow to pray for a lost loved one. Don’t wait for tomorrow to witness to your neighbor, co-worker, or friend. Don’t wait for tomorrow to bow before the Throne of Grace to repent for your sins. Today is the day of Salvation, don’t wait for tomorrow. Tomorrow may never come.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Do Today.

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⁹ If anyone turns a deaf ear to my instruction, even their prayers are detestable. ~ Proverbs 28:9^NIV

When we don’t listen and obey the Word of God, we become detestable to God. Even our prayers are detestable to Him. Why? Because when we don’t live according to God’s instruction, then we are living according to sin. And if we are living according to sin, then we are slaves to sin. And if we are slaves to sin, then sin is our god.

We can’t serve both God and sin. We have to choose. Life and death are set before each of us. How we live our lives will determine which one we choose. God is a jealous God; we can’t sleep with the enemy every day and then pray and act holy on Sunday. We have to make a choice.

What if you’ve made the wrong choice? God is a jealous God, but He is also a loving and merciful God. Therefore, if you repent, God will forgive you. You don’t have to clean yourself off. He will clean you like only He can do.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Make a Choice.

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