Devotional Archives

November 3, 2023November 3, 2023

You Can’t Fool God

⁸ You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. ~ Psalms 90:8

This is a Psalm written by Moses, the man of God, who spoke face-to-face with God and lived. He said that God brings all of our Secret Sins out into the light of His presence. What did Moses mean by that?

God is not fooled by our charades. Nor is He fooled by our playing church. Just because our sins may only be in our mind, in our thoughts, in our imagination, or done in the dark behind closed doors does not mean that God does not know about them.

You can fool some of the people most of the time, you can fool most of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool God any of the time. Make no mistake, the Scriptures teach us God will not be mocked, and neither can He be deceived. Therefore, don’t take His silence as weakness, for it is mercy in this present life.

Dear LORD, help me to place my heart before You. Show me the way to You. Help me not to deceive myself in believing that You don’t see my sins. Forgive me of each of my secret sins and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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You Don’t Have the Right

¹⁶But to the wicked person, God says: “What right have you to recite my laws or take my covenant on your lips?” ~ Psalms 50:16

Listen to what God said to the wicked person, “What right do you have to recite My laws or to take up My covenant on your lips?” That is scary stuff. If a wicked person doesn’t have the right in this life to even recite God’s laws or to take up His covenant on their lips, how much more will they not have access to His promises after they die?

If you continue to reject God and His word, then God will reject you. It’s not that He doesn’t love you because He does. It’s not that He hasn’t given you the opportunity because He has. But today is the day of salvation. Tomorrow is not promised to any man.

But someone will say, “God has taken away our right to cite His laws or take up His covenant on our lips. Therefore, He has taken away our opportunity.”

No, not at all. What He is saying is you don’t have the right while you are still in your sins. If you had all of the privileges of salvation and all the rights of sonship without actually being redeemed, it would make you even more lost. That is the reason why God had to drive Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden after they sinned because He didn’t want them to stretch out their hand and eat from the Tree of Life. Why? Because they would be eternally lost in their sins. It’s all about mercy. It’s not God’s will that any perish. He wants everyone to accept His free gift of life that Jesus purchased when He was crucified on the cross at Golgotha.

Therefore, cleanse the inside, and the outside will follow. Be obedient in the commands of God, and you can partake of His holiness and participate in His promises. For then His eternal love will surround you, and the blood of Jesus will cleanse you.

Father, I have sinned. I know that I am not a perfect person. I’ve tried to mix the unclean with the clean. I repent of my sins and accept the free gift of Jesus Christ. Wash me in the precious blood of Jesus, that I might be clean. Thank You, LORD Jesus, for dying for me and redeeming me from darkness. Keep me in Your everlasting love and teach me to differentiate between light and darkness, good and evil, right and wrong. Guide me in everything I do. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Share Your Testimony

¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. ~ Matthew 28:19-20

I recently read the testimony of an ex-gang member who got saved in prison. He talked about how when he met Jesus, he refused to look back. He shared his faith with anyone willing to listen, even if it got him killed in prison. He would lead Bible studies in prison, pray for inmates, and even going as far as to witnessing to the guards. He was a man on a mission to share his testimony with as many people as he could.

He didn’t care if it got him killed. Christ changed his life for the better, and he wanted to share that with anyone willing to listen. He truly picked up his cross and followed Christ with all that was within him. Whereas we who are free are more in bondage than he who was locked up. How? Because of fear. Fear keeps us silent. It keeps us from sharing our testimony. His single testimony created a mini-revival in his prison. Revelation 12:11 tells us that we overcome the devil with the blood of the Lamb (salvation) and the word of our testimony (sharing what Christ has done for us).

There’s a reason the world tells us to keep religion out of the workplace, schools, government, and even society as a whole. Because if each Christian were to begin to tell anyone willing to listen what Christ has done for them, then the world would begin to change. We would see a revival in the land. We would see the glory of God begin to manifest in our lives and those around us. We would see God move in our midst. If we are a part of the Church, then we already have salvation; we already have the blood of the Lamb. Now, all that’s left is for us to begin to share our testimony with others.

You don’t have to be a theologian. You just have to tell others what Christ has done for you. Yes, I believe every Christian should study the Scriptures daily, but you don’t have to know everything before you can share your testimony. You could have gotten saved that same night and begin sharing all that God has done for you. There is power in talking about Christ and what He’s done for us.

Dear LORD, help me to never remain silent when it comes to You or the things of You. Teach me to be bold and confident. Raise me up so that I might not be afraid. Help me to speak truthfully of all the good things You have done for me, and may the words of my testimony be like a fire kindling a flame of love for You within all who hear and listen. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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The Accursed Things

¹²Then they brought the captives and the plunder and the spoil to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the people of Israel, at the camp on the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. ¹³Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the chiefs of the congregation went to meet them outside the camp.¹⁴And Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, who had come from service in the war. ¹⁵Moses said to them, “Have you let all the women live? ¹⁶Behold, these, on Balaam’s advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the Lord.” ~ Numbers 31:12-16

In the book of Numbers, Israel wars against Midian, the LORD commanded Moses to avenge the people of Israel on the Midianites. But when Israel went out to fight, they killed the kings, they killed the soldiers, but the women, they kept alive along with their children. They plundered all of Midian’s goods and destroyed and burned all of their encampments.

Then, after the fighting was finished and they came back to camp, the first thing that is listed is the captives. They brought the captives and the plunder to Moses and Eleazar and the congregation of the people of Israel. They brought the things that were devoted to destruction into the congregation of Israel. In other words, they brought the things of darkness into the presence of the LORD their God.

The soldiers brought the accursed things into their own territory and into the presence of God, knowing that it was this very thing; these were the very women who had caused Israel to sin against their God in the first place. This is the same thing we are doing when we bring:

Tarot Cards
Ouija Boards
Horoscopes
And yes, Halloween and its paraphernalia into our homes

We have essentially brought the accursed things into our lives, which opens up spiritual doors, just like Moses told the soldiers.

To the soldiers, it seemed like a small matter. They thought this is the most humane thing to do; Moses will be pleased with us. When in reality, they were displeasing the LORD.

We think the same way when we claim, oh, brother Kenny, get over yourself. It’s only a pumpkin; God isn’t gonna be angry with us for carving a silly pumpkin.

But that is how Satan presents evil. He makes it appear innocent. It’s nothing; God won’t even notice, much less care. Well, let me just tell you, God does notice, and God does care, and if it defiles you, then that is cause for discipline. Because whom God loves, God disciplines.

Father, open my eyes to see, my ears to hear, and my mind to understand and know the things that please You and the things that displease You that I may always be found in the center of Your good and perfect will. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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All That He Counsels

¹⁶So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. ¹⁷For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. ¹⁸I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. ¹⁹Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. ~ Revelation 3:16-19

It’s the weakness of the Church that brings on the Great Tribulation, so do you suppose that we will be kept from what we ourselves have caused:

By our Pride.
By our prayerlessness.
By our lack of holiness.
By our alliance with darkness.
We have become lovers of self rather than lovers of God.
A proud and stiff-necked people.
Who love to tickle ears and have our own ears tickled.

We fool ourselves when we think we are so holy because we have hundreds of thousands of adoring fans, sitting in beautiful expensive buildings sitting on soft pews, and sipping our lattes, but Jesus said that we are:

Wretched
Pitiable
Poor
Blind
And naked

And He counsels us to buy from Him:

Gold refined by fire so that we may be rich.
And white garments so that we may clothe ourselves and the shame of our nakedness may not be seen.
And salve to anoint our eyes, so that we may see.

This last day Church is not all that we are cracked up to be. We are like the Pharisees and Scribes of Jesus’ day, for we honor God with our lips, but our hearts are far from Him (Matthew 15:8).

Dear LORD, thank You for Your grace and forgiveness. Forgive me for not making You the center of my life. Forgive me for putting other things above You and for not giving You the love, respect, and reverence You deserve. Teach me to buy from You all that You have counseled me to. Please guide me in my journey to You. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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A Heart For God

²⁸ “What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ ²⁹ And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. ³⁰ And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. ³¹ Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. ³² For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him. ~ Matthew 21:28-32

I recently heard the testimony of an ex-gang member who found Jesus while in solitary confinement during his rather long prison sentence. He went from a life of gang violence from the age of 11 to finding Jesus in solitary at 18. When he found Jesus, he didn’t take it for granted. He put everything on the line to follow Christ. Everything, including his life. I read how he talked about not only reading his Bible and praying daily in prison but also fasting. He would stay in his cell and pray and read his Bible as the other inmates went to the cafeteria for lunch.

He was what one would describe as an undesirable. A murderer. A thief. Nothing short of a terrorist. But when he found Jesus, everything changed. So many of us who grew up in the church have never even fasted a single day. This young man grew up in violence and never even went to church as a kid, but as he got saved, he studied to show himself approved. This isn’t a new phenomenon either. There’s a real sadness in this truth that we who grew up in the church experiencing the love of Christ oftentimes take it for granted, while those who would be categorized as the undesirables of society seem to rarely, if ever, walk away from grace when they find it.

We who grew up with Christ should be paving the way for them. We should be teaching them how to eat meat, but we ourselves can barely even handle milk. Imagine if we stopped looking at ourselves the way society sees us and started looking at ourselves the way God sees us. We’re all saved the same way, by the redeeming blood of Jesus. We all have to say the same prayer of repentance regardless of how many sins we’ve committed. Our past doesn’t matter. How good we think we are doesn’t matter because we’ve all fallen short of the glory of God. If we could just grasp the weight of our sin and how much Christ really has done for us, we would all be seeking God the way this young man did from inside the walls of his prison cell.

Dear LORD, please soften my heart towards You and Your Word and Your Kingdom. Help me to seek Your face above all else. Renew in me a right spirit and crucify the flesh that tries to hold me back. Give me a heart for You, oh God. Mold me into a vessel that can be used by You. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Do To Others

¹² So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. ~ Matthew 7:12^NIV

We’re taught the Golden Rule from an early age. It’s even taught outside the Church by non-believers. It’s a cliché that is often overused yet is rarely put into practice. It’s very easy to see how people treat us, but it’s often difficult to see how we treat people.

Solomon tells us to cast our bread upon the waters so that in many days it will return to us (Ecclesiastes 11:1). Paul put it this way: what we sow, that we shall also reap (Galatians 6:7). In other words, what you are lacking from other people, do that to them. If you feel that you’re lacking love from your spouse, give them more love. If you feel you’re lacking respect from someone, give them more respect. Do to them exactly what you want them to do to you. And as you do that, place their name before God with your request. Ask God to move in their life and use what you’re doing as a light for them.

It may not change them overnight, but through faith, prayer, and perseverance by the grace of God, they will change. So, stay encouraged and remain diligent. The old saying is true: change always starts with you.

Dear LORD, please help me to be the change I want to see in this world. Help me to treat others how I would like them to treat me. Help me to turn the other cheek and not hold their shortcomings against them as I pray they don’t hold my shortcomings against me. Teach me to be the light in this dark world and strengthen me for the path You have set before me. Please fill me with Your love, mercy, and grace. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Our Creator God

¹⁵ The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶ For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him. ¹⁷ He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. ~ Colossians 1:15-17^NIV

Paul wrote that Jesus wasn’t just the beginning of God’s new creation, being the first to acquire the new eternal, perfect body that we so desire. The body that He received at His resurrection and the body that we will receive at the blowing of the last trumpet on that day when He comes back for us. Not only all of those things but all creation was created through Jesus and for Jesus. We weren’t created for no reason. We weren’t created just to be slaves to sin, fear, anger, lust, etc. We were created for Christ.

We have salvation that the angels in heaven long to even understand or grasp. We are a beloved creation. We are so loved that He spiritually seats us with Him so that we can overcome all things through Him. So that we might be able to fulfill our God-given call.

We weren’t mistakes. He intentionally created each and every one of us with a purpose and call. Not a single one does He desire to lose, but instead, He desires each and every one of us to come to acceptance through Christ Jesus. We are each loved and desired by our gracious Creator.

Dear LORD, thank You for creating me. Thank You for giving me a purpose. Thank You that I’m not alone, even when it feels that way, for You have never left nor forsaken me. Thank You that You’re a good, loving Father who only wants good things for me. Teach me to find those good things and follow Your good path for my life. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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The Love Of Darkness

¹¹He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him. ~ John 1:11

¹⁹And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. ~ John 3:19

For 400 years, the Jews experienced a silence from God. There was no prophet. There was no word from the LORD. There was only silence. Then suddenly, John appeared on the scene, and then Jesus, God in the flesh, walked the path John cleared for Him. How did the Jews react? John the Apostle wrote that Jesus came to His own, but His own rejected Him. Jesus adds that they rejected Him because they loved the darkness more than the light in John 3:19. 400 years of silence had caused their hearts to grow cold, their ears to grow deaf, and their eyes to grow blind. The Messiah they had waited for from the time of Abraham was there in their midst, but they couldn’t recognize Him.

The Church is the same way today. We’ve been waiting for the return of Christ for the past 2,000 years. We’ve been waiting for Him to come to redeem us from the wickedness of this world so that we might be with Him forever and ever. As time passes by and with each and every new generation, the heart of the Church grows colder and colder. The eyes of the Church grow blinder and blinder. The ears of the Church grow deafer and dealer. We can no longer differentiate between good and evil. We even go as far as to desire to change the very Word of God in order to fit our own beliefs, wants, and desires.

Jesus is coming back real soon. Even if He doesn’t return in our lifetime, though I believe He will, we are each just one single breath away from eternity. Each breath we take is a gift from God, prolonging our lives. It’s His mercy and grace that keeps our hearts beating. Tomorrow is promised to no one. We can’t afford to allow our hearts to grow cold, our eyes to grow blind, and our ears to grow deaf. Where we spend eternity is solely up to what we do on this earth. If we deny Jesus with our words or actions, then He will deny us. We can’t afford to waste a single moment loving the darkness instead of loving the light.

Dear LORD, help me to not grow cold. Give me ears to hear, eyes to see, a mind to understand, and a heart willing to follow You regardless of how much it costs. Teach me to love You. Strengthen me so that I might not grow weary of doing good. That I might not lose hope. That I might not lose faith. That I might dwell in Your loving presence forever. Give me a spirit of discernment that I might know the difference between right and wrong, good and evil, light and darkness, no matter what those around me say. Teach me to follow Your voice and Your voice alone. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Knowing Which Battle

⁶ For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. ⁷ For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. ⁸ Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. ~ Romans 8:6-8

The flesh is a rough enemy to fight because your flesh is a part of you. You can’t get rid of it. It’ll always be there nagging at you, trying to pull you down. Oftentimes, we confuse the flesh with spiritual oppression. We blame the Devil for everything, even when it’s not him but ourselves.

Derek Prince once said:

You can’t crucify a spirit, and you can’t cast out the flesh.

That means that there’s a difference between the flesh and spiritual oppression. And as Christians, we have to know the differences in order to overcome. Otherwise, we’re just blindly fighting a losing battle. We have to have discernment to know the difference between our own flesh and spiritual oppression so that we might be able to know how to fight our enemy because not all enemies fall the same way.

Dear LORD, please help me to be aware of the difference between my flesh and spiritual oppression. Teach me when to crucify and teach me when to cast out. Please give me a spirit of discernment so that I might be better equipped to serve you. Help me to focus on the matters of the Spirit and not on matters of the flesh. Teach me to love Your Word and Your Law so that I might not sin against You. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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