Tag: Devotionals

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Obtain Truth

10 … your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray, and you said in your heart, “I am, and there is no one besides me.” ~ Isaiah 47:10b

Secret knowledge makes one wiser than those that are in the dark. And that kind of ‘knowledge-power’ can make one arrogant, haughty, and overconfident.

There is a game played with a whole bunch of players called werewolf. In the game where everyone gets a card with the word ‘villager’ written on it, but two players get a card with the word werewolf written on it.

Then, someone runs the game to ensure that no one is cheating. Then the leader says, “Okay it’s nighttime everyone please close your eyes. Now, werewolves, choose someone to kill.” After the person is chosen, the one in charge of the game says, “Okay, it’s morning, and announces that a certain person was killed during the night.”

All the players now have a conversation about who the werewolf is and who they are going to kill. The game continues until either both werewolves are killed, or all but two villagers are killed. More times than not, the werewolves win. The goal of the game; what is the purpose of the game?

Well, the game was invented by a Russian sociology student who wanted to prove his thesis that an uniformed majority will always lose the battle of information against an informed minority. Which proves that someone having hidden information can completely manipulate a large group of people, and that’s what they have done, with the secret meetings.

Knowledge is power. As long as we refuse to seek knowledge, we will never have true freedom in this world. We have to seek to open our eyes to truth. Obtaining truth is the key to fixing our world. Why? Because when we have truth, we won’t fall for deceitful lies.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Obtain Truth.

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Call On Jesus

14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. ~ Ephesians 3:14-19

I want us to fully understand what Paul is writing here, because it is very important. Paul said for this reason I kneel before the Father. But for what reason? The reason is, the Ephesians were becoming a little discouraged because of Paul’s suffering for the Gospel. And if Paul, a mighty man of God would go through such suffering, is it worth it. So, it is for that reason, so that the Ephesians would not be discouraged about serving God because of Paul’s sufferings basically for them.

He wrote, “I want you to understand this.” Understand what? Understand the love that God has for us. Because if you can understand that love, and understand the width, the height, the depth of Jesus’ love that surpasses all knowledge, then you will be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

If you don’t understand the love of God, then you will think that God is always out to get you. He is up there just waiting in the wings of heaven waiting for you to mess up, and splat, He has you. But that is not how the love of God works.

God actually looks for someone doing what is right so that He can bless them. And those who are doing wrong? Well, He looks for an intercessor who will pray and intercede for the people who are doing wrong so that He will not have to carry out His swift and terrible judgment on them.

God never interferes with what is going on on earth, unless we ask Him to. He said the Heavens are His, but He has given earth to mankind. It’s our job to take care of the earth and those who dwell on it, and when we cannot get the job done, we call on Jesus.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Call On Jesus.

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Make It High Priority

22 How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? ~ Proverbs 1:22

There is none as blind as those who refuse to see. Even when the evidence stares them dead in the face they still refuse to see, or even take a look. The Proverb ends with God promising that whoever listens to Him will dwell secure and will be at ease and will be without dread of disaster.

One thing we can always rest assured of is God is for us and not against us. God always has our best interest at heart. He does not see dollar signs when He looks at us, nor does he look at us with disgust. But as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear Him (Psalms 103:13).

God will never deceive you, nor will He ever lie to you. We can fully trust Him. He does not have a hidden agenda. God wants us to be obedient to His commands, and to love Him and love each other. Have you thought about that love in terms of eternity? Have you placed it as a high priority?

What I mean is, have you consciously sat and considered the question, where will I spend eternity? Because you will spend eternity in one place or the other. Either you will spend your eternity in paradise with Jesus, where every need is supplied and every tear wiped away. Where there will be no more hunger and no more thirst, or even heartaches, because there will be no more sad goodbyes. Or the alternative is to spend eternity in a lake of fire being tormented and in severe anguish forever and ever with no chance of parole or ever getting out.

The bottom line is this, Jesus is coming back real soon, and His rewards are with Him. Those who know Jesus as LORD and Savior will be saved, those who have rejected Him, or who have just plain waited too long, will be sent to the Lake of Fire.

If you want to spend eternity in paradise with all of your needs met, now is your opportunity. All you have to do is repent and accept the free gift of Salvation that has already been offered to you. This is one action you don’t want to put off, as tomorrow isn’t promised to any person, but eternity is promised to everyone.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Make It High Priority.

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Let Truth Flourish

2 Thessalonians 2:13-15
13 But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. 14 To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.

If you will not search for the truth and believe the truth, you are destined to believe the lie. So, how do we overcome deception?

Be thankful to God, be sanctified by the Spirit, and believe in the Truth. God’s Word is truth. It is not nullified by science, science is nullified by God’s Word. Jesus is the Word that became flesh. Truth is the only antidote for lies, and lies cannot flourish where free speech prospers.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Let Truth Flourish.

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Check Where You’re At

4 … Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. ~ James 4:4b

You have to understand, the world is not for you, unless you are a part of it. That means that if you are a child of God, the world does not care about you. Why not? Because we are not a part of it, or so James tells us. Therefore, if the world has embraced you, check your Christianity, it is likely you have made yourself an enemy of God.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Check Where You’re At.

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There’s No Sacrifice Left

26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. ~ Hebrews 10:26-27

The writer of Hebrews says, “Do not go on sinning, for if you do go on sinning, you will nullify the sacrifice of the cross. And if you nullify the sacrifice of the cross, you will void the salvation that Jesus has lavished on us. And if you void the salvation that Jesus has lavished on us, then there is nothing left to look forward to, except for the fearful expectation of the judgment of the Lake of Fire.”

So, what does it mean to go on sinning deliberately? The Scriptures says that if you know the right thing to do and you refuse to it, then you are sinning.

Therefore, it would be in your best interest to read the Bible to see what it says about right or wrong, so that you will know what the right thing is, so that you can do it. Do not rely on a man or a woman to tell you. Yes, listen to your preachers, listen to your pastors, listen to your evangelists, but do as the Bereans’ did and search the Scriptures daily to see if what Paul was teaching them was accurate. You, too, must read your Bible for yourself so that you will not be deceived or led astray.

There is so much deceitfulness in the world today, and it’s no different in the Church, therefore, your only hope of truth is in the Bible. Do not believe the lie that the Bible is outdated, or has changed to the point of being unreliable, or untrustworthy. Believe me, if God is real, and He is, He is more than able to preserve His Word and He did.

Listen to this, Jesus is the Word that became flesh and He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He will not and cannot change, therefore, neither will His Word change. His Word is unchanging, immovable, indivisible, and infallible, it will remain the same forever and ever.

Therefore, do not listen when society tells you that it is okay to live a certain lifestyle, but rather, read the Word of God to see what it says about what they said. Do not participate in everything that those who live to promote the pleasures of life say is acceptable to God or tell you that is what Jesus would do. Read the Word of God for yourself, and the Spirit of Truth will reveal to you and open your eyes because He has promised to fill those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

Remember, the return of Jesus is closer now than ever before, and we must be ready to receive Him, so that He will receive us into His kingdom.

Heavenly Father, please open my eyes to see and recognize lies. Help me to see and recognize truth, Your Word is truth. Help me to cling to Your truth and obey Your Word. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Allow For Sadness

35 Jesus wept. ~ John 11:35

There’s a movie called Inside Out. The movie is centered around a young girl, Riley, who’s having a great life when, all of a sudden, she moves from her hometown to a whole new state. Within Riley’s mind are five emotions that help Riley become Riley. Fear, Jealousy, Anger, Sadness, and Joy. The entire plot of the movie is centered around Joy trying to find a way to change and/or remove Sadness so that Riley will only feel joy. As the movie progresses and hits its climax, Joy realizes that Sadness is a necessary emotion for Riley to feel. She realizes that Sadness can actually help Riley. This is true for so many people.

We try our best to bury sadness. We don’t want to deal with the pain or grief that sadness brings because it hurts. But sadness is a part of life. When we allow ourselves to embrace and face pain, grief, disappointment, sadness, then we allow ourselves to move past these feelings. Instead of suppressing them and letting them fester. Instead of letting them grow out of hand, which then ultimately suppresses our joy.

Sadness doesn’t mean that we’re weak. It doesn’t mean that we’re depressed, nor does it mean that we don’t have joy. Allowing ourselves to naturally cycle through emotions will allow us to naturally move forward with our lives. Throughout the Old Testament we see mentions of Days of Mourning after someone had passed away. Suppressing the natural emotion of sadness won’t stop sadness, it will only begin to consume you and leave no room for joy.

Therefore, allow yourself to mourn, cry, and face the pain of this world, just don’t let it consume. Because all who mourn will be comforted. One day, we will no longer have any more pain, hurt, sorrow, or sadness when Christ wipes every tear from our eyes, but for now, we have to face the pain and lean on Christ until it is all taken away from us.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Allow For Sadness.

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Heed Wisdom

22 How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? ~ Proverbs 1:22

As Wisdom glides along the crowded streets, she desperately warns the people. She cups her hands and yells, “The return of Christ is at hand, get yourself ready and get your house in order, for now is the time of salvation.” But no one even notices. No heads are turned. No eyes are shifted in her direction. No conversations are broken. Life goes on pretty much the same as always. There is no change.

Yet, she continues her heralding.

“Prophecies foretold in Scripture are coming to pass. Therefore, seek and you will find. Call upon Him while He is near. Do not wait. Do not hesitate, for His return is nigh at hand.”

But no one even notices her as she glides by. So, she changes her strategy, and cries out again:

“There are more and more scientists coming out stating that studies show that wireless and Bluetooth products are causing an increase in brain cancer, and radiation can cause health issues.”

But still, no one pays attention or even halfway listens. Then, Wisdom screams at the top of her lungs,

“At least look into the matter. At least check out the facts. Do a little homework for yourself and do not rely on the opinions of those who stand to profit off of you and call it philanthropy.”

But again, no one pays attention, or even looks up from their leisurely conversations. This is our reality today. We are being lulled asleep by the distractions of this world, as wisdom is screaming at the top of her lungs for us to pay attention to her guidance and warnings, but we never do.

Wake up. Today is the day of salvation. Tomorrow is promised to no man. Today is the day of following Christ and living for Him; standing up for righteousness and telling someone about His goodness. Today is all we have, tomorrow may never come. We need to live each day as if it’s our last, so that when we stand before the throne of grace, we will have no regrets.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Heed Wisdom.

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Prepare Yourselves

18 The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth. ~ Revelation 11:18

The Bible seems to indicate that God believes that His earth is being deliberately destroyed, and He will deal with those who are destroying it. The Scripture said that the time had come for God to destroy the destroyers of the earth. What does that mean, except that there is a time and a season for everything under heaven and their time, the destroyers of the earth, will come?

I believe that all that is happening is fulfillment of the signs of the times and speaks of the late season that we are living in. In other words, it is past the eleventh hour. It is, in fact, ticking to midnight. These happenings and these signs herald the Good News that Jesus is on His way—He is coming back real soon. We need to encourage ourselves with this.

See, 2,000 years ago, when Jesus walked this earth during His earthly ministry, He Himself promised that “I’ll be back.” That did not originate with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Jesus Himself said, “I will soon return.” He further stated that the one who endures until the end will be saved (Matthew 24:13).

Jesus is coming back to judge the living and the dead (2 Timothy 4:1), and we need to be ready for His return. Although there is chaos in the world, let not your heart be troubled. Yes, things are happening around us that are way out of our control. Events and phenomena are occurring that are perplexing. Sometimes, it seems like all hell has broken out against us.

But let not your heart be troubled. You might feel alone, but here is the truth. Yes, Jesus was taken up into heaven, but that same Jesus who was taken up into heaven in a cloud on the day of Ascension over 2,000 years ago will return in like manner to get us so that where He is, there we shall be also (Acts 1:10-11). Therefore, we must be the voice crying out, “Prepare yourselves, for the return of the LORD is at hand, and His judgments are with Him, to repay good with good and to repay evil with evil.”

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Prepare Yourselves.

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Dwell In Your God-Given Promise

2 Corinthians 11:14
[14] And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

Chapter 18 of 2 Kings tells of some of the events in King Hezekiah’s reign. More specifically, in the fourteenth year of his reign, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them (2 Kings 18:13).

But before that, he had taken Samaria, which was the capital of the Northern kingdom and dispersed the Israelites out of the land and into captivity.
Now, he has turned his greedy little eyes Southward with a strong desire to take Jerusalem. So, he sends his high-ranking officials up to Jerusalem, since he was now fighting in Lachish, with a message for the people of Judah.

Surrender to me and I will spare your lives, was basically the message. He was trying to do was to intimidate both the people and the soldiers sitting on the wall.
He tried to intimidate them into surrendering by telling them that their lives would be spared, if they surrendered, in hopes that they would surrender without him having to fight another war.
He tells them to make peace with him. In other words, they were to surrender and sign a peace treaty with him. And then, Judah was to stay in the city and enjoy their food, and drink, and water until he came and took them to another place, just like their own homeland.

The enemy works the same way today. The entire land of Israel (including the kingdom of Judah) was the heritage, the promise of the Israelites. A land following with milk and honey. A land filled with all that they could ever need. A good land. King Sennacherib wanted to conquer them and remove them from that land, and take over the land permanently. He promised them another land like it so that they wouldn’t miss their God-promised land.

We all have a promised land from God. We all have a heritage and inheritance that God has promised us, but the enemy doesn’t want us dwelling in the promises of God. Why? Because when we are a problem for him. If we are dwelling on the promises of God, then we are building the Kingdom of God. So what does he do? He comes in not as a threatening enemy but as a smooth negotiator. Look, I’ll give you something of equal or greater value. All you have to do is make the deal with me.

So many take the backhanded deal thinking that they are making a deal with a friend not realizing that the enemy has just deceitfully transformed himself into an angel of light, just so you could trust him. Don’t let the enemy fool you. Don’t give up your God-given promises for the temporary pleasures of the world. They won’t last and they aren’t worth it.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Dwell In Your God-Given Promise.

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