Devotionals Archives

October 25, 2022June 27, 2023

Pay Attention to the People

¹ But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. ²For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, ⁴treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. ~ 2 Timothy 3:1-5

Paul lists several last-day characteristics. Lovers of self. Lovers of money. Proud. Arrogant. Abusive. Disobedient to their parents. Ungrateful. Unholy. And several other things. These will be the characteristics that will run the world. The majority of people will fall into, at the very least, one of these categories. We can see it all around us today. People can no longer call sin, sin. We can no longer correct with love because it’s called hate. People who were standing for what is right are standing against it because of money.

The love of many is growing colder and colder. We’re running out of time to seek ye first the Kingdom. The world is getting darker and darker. Evil is being called good, and good is being called evil. Jesus will soon be breaking that eastern sky. He will soon be coming back to get His people. Are you ready? Are your family members ready? Are your neighbors and co-workers ready? This is the time to get ready. Seek the LORD while He can still be found. Don’t wait for tomorrow, for tomorrow is promised to no one. Today is the day of Salvation. Don’t wait for tribulation to come your way to turn to God. Turn to Him while it’s still summer and all is well.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Pay Attention To The People.

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Light Your Lamp

²¹For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. ²²The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, ²³but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! ~ Matthew 6:21-23

Jesus warned that our bodies are run by our eyes, and our souls will spend eternity based on the actions and desires of our hearts. Why? Because our bodies are a housing place for either good or evil. Either light or darkness. Our eyes dictate the level of light that enters our bodies. Jesus wasn’t just referring to sins like porn when He was explaining the lamp of the body, but also our focus.

See, if we only focus on the things of this world, such as financial gain, job promotions, earthly relationships, etc., our hearts will only desire these things. Therefore, our souls will be tied to a dying world that will be judged and found wanting.

Desiring these things, in itself, isn’t bad. It only becomes a problem when these things are put before the LORD and His Kingdom. Jesus said to build the Kingdom of God first; then, these will be given to us. He wasn’t saying, don’t have goals or desires. He was saying, build God up, and God will build you up. James even clarified further that we don’t have things because we don’t ask for things. We can have desires, goals, and wants. We’re to even ask our Heavenly Father for these things, but above all else, we have to first build the Kingdom of God.

Seeking a relationship with God should be the first thing we do when we wake in the morning and the last thing we do before we go to bed at night. But if all our eyes and hearts are focused on our own carnal desires and goals, then our soul isn’t getting light. Why? Because Jesus is the only Light, and His Light is the only light that can light the darkness of this world that has corrupted us all. So, seek Him first above all else, then He will provide your needs and desires.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Light Your Lamp.

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Keep Your Vow

⁴When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. ⁵It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. ~ Ecclesiastes 5:4-5

So many of us take for granted that the LORD is holy, so we make vows or promises to Him that we don’t keep. We often think about these vows or promises as just specific actions we vow or promise to do, but what if it’s more than that? When we accept that free gift of salvation and begin our walk with God, we’re making a vow to Him. We’re making a promise that we’re never going to turn away from Him. That we’ll always follow Him, but so many of us take this vow for granted and get drawn away by the world and all of its shiny toys.

Maybe if we focused more on who God is and not on what our flesh wants, maybe we wouldn’t forget our first love. Maybe we would be able to withstand the temptation of the evil one. Maybe we will be able to be one of the five virgins that make it into Marriage Supper of the Lamb instead of one whose oil has run out.

We, the Church, are the soul of the world. If we can’t keep our vow to God that we will always follow Him, then how can we lead the world to His light? We’re dividing ourselves over what has been established as sin from before the Law of Moses was even given. We’re dividing ourselves over feelings and emotions rather than uniting over the love we have for our Creator. Our vow to follow Christ and all that He does is more than just empty words or even a promise. It’s a covenant between us and God that we will follow Him from this day on and forever. Never let the temporary things of this world draw you away from the eternal things of God.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Keep Your Vow.

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Obey All His Commands

¹⁵I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! ¹⁶So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. ~ Revelation 3:15–16

They say come as you are. The songs say come as you are. And we do. We come as we are, but we do not, we cannot, and we must not stay as we are. We must change as we are led by the Holy Spirit. But why? If we do not grow, we will become lukewarm, and the LORD will spew you out of His mouth.

God says He knows their deeds. God knows all of our needs. There is nothing that catches Him by surprise or that He is unaware of. Nothing escapes the attention of God. He knows all of our ways, all of our thoughts, and all of our motives. He knows where we are and what we are doing. He knows all things.

No one can hide anything from God. Everything is open and laid bare before Him, and He weighs all of our words, all of our acts, and all of our thoughts in the balance, and He ponders or considers all of our ways. He is a great God. Loving and kind. Merciful and forgiving, but we have to be obedient to His word and all that He commands us. Don’t waste the time you have left. Don’t be deceived by this world. Nothing can compare to the plans God has in store for you.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Obey All His Commands.

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Be More Than Knighted

²¹And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, ²²and who has also put His seal on us and given us His Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. ~ 2 Corinthians 1:21-22

One of my favorite movies is A Knight’s Tale. The whole plot of the movie is about a young man, the son of a thatcher, who fakes papers of nobility so that he can joust and his friends and he will not starve because they’re poor. The more he wins, the more one of the nobles becomes angry and envious.

During this time period, it was a crime to endanger the royal family, and the prince was in disguise so he could compete in the joust. Everyone who found out that it was the prince withdrew, except for this one pauper pretending to be a knight. It made the prince smile that he wouldn’t withdraw even though he knew that he was the prince.

At the final joust, the young pauper was exposed and placed in the stocks as a punishment. The same people that were once cheering his name were now throwing food at him as he lay there in bondage, helpless. His friends tried their best to get the people to stop, but the people wouldn’t listen to them. Then the prince shows up. He has the young man released, and he says,

He may appear to be of humble origins, but my personal historians have discovered that he descends from an ancient royal line. This is my word. And as such, is beyond contestation.
Prince Edward,
A Knight’s Tale

After this, he knights this peasant, the son of a thatcher, and from then on, he is known as Sir William. Many of us have a similar story. We start going to church, reading our Bible and even begin to seek God through prayer. And just when we think things are going good, the Devil comes in and shows us all that we’ve ever done, said, and thought. Then he binds us up in the stocks of shame and regret. But just like the prince came looking for the young man that had shown him kindness, so does Jesus come looking for the one that sought Him out. The prince freed and knighted the peasant man on his word alone; Jesus frees and makes us heirs with Him based on much more than just His word. He frees us, washes us clean, and makes us sons and daughters of His Father in Heaven by His blood that He shed for us.

If, during medieval times, the word of royalty could not be contested, how much more would the word of our God who created those royals and all else not be contested when He said, ‘you are mine’ to all who believe? Don’t allow the Devil to come in and steal your name, for your name is ‘Child of The King.’ And the King Himself has spoken these words to you, so don’t let a noble steal your inheritance.

Get up from the stocks of shame and guilt. You are redeemed. Your past has been washed clean. Don’t return to it. Move forward. Live your life as the child of God you were created to be. Dwell in freedom.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be More Than Knighted.

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Accept and Believe

¹⁶For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because He has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. ~ John 3:16-18

John 3:16 is probably the most quoted verse of all time. The love of God is shown in this verse as John details God extending His hand to mankind and offering us a way out of death. The following two verses explain in detail two things:

1. The need for salvation
2. The path to salvation

John made it clear that we need salvation, and without it, we will perish. Then he explained that God made a way for us to have or receive this salvation, but we must do something in order to obtain it. That something is to believe and accept the free gift of salvation in Jesus Christ. Therefore, without this free gift of salvation, we will not inherit eternal life, but rather we will perish forever. And that is the reason why we all need salvation.

Here’s the encouraging part, none of us have sinned too much for God to forgive. Christ died for all sinners. Therefore, we can be filled with hope that the free gift of salvation is for all who believe. All you have to do is to repent and accept the sacrifice of Jesus. You don’t have to clean yourself up first; Christ will clean you up. All you have to do is accept and believe.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Accept and Believe.

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The Promise of Eternity

¹³Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. ¹⁴For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. ~ Matthew 7:13-14

The reality of eternal punishment often is a miss on us. We can’t fully comprehend how God could allow this to happen, but the Truth is that we choose to go to Hell. We choose to enter through the wide gate. Our eternal dwelling place is strictly left to one person to decide, and that’s us. Each of us will decide where we each spend eternity.

There are only two eternal promises in which one will spend eternity.

One: A place of blissfulness

A place of peace and joy
A place where all your needs will be abundantly supplied
Never to worry or be concerned again
Never to be mistreated or misused
Never to fear or be disrespected ever again

Two: A place of eternal torment

A place of anguish and discomfort
A place without the love of GodForever thirsty
Forever hungry
Forever fear and agony in a perpetual darkness

Chose wisely this day whom you will serve, for the day of the LORD is near and His rewards are with Him.

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Love to Conquer

¹¹ And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. ~ Revelation 12:11

We are more than conquerors through the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. The love for our LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ, is the foundation of our overcoming. We cannot use the blood of the Lamb in spiritual warfare without first loving Jesus.

Therefore, without the love for Jesus, we will not have a testimony. So, our greatest weapon is love for our God because when we love Him, we love what He loves, and He loves people. If we love God, we will seek His Kingdom above all things. If we love God, we won’t chase this old world; we’ll chase Him. Therefore, the love for our God is the foundation to conquer this world and its ruler.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Love to Conquer.

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Leave The Spiritual Pigs

¹¹ And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. ¹² And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. ¹³ Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. ¹⁴ And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵ So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶ And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. ~ Luke 15:11-16

The youngest son took his inheritance and left his father’s house. This is the majority of us today. We accept the generational blessings that come from our ancestors, the spiritual gifts, and the natural talent God has given us, and then we leave His presence. So many of us want the blessings of God, we want the Kingdom of Heaven, but we want it while living in the world. This is the desire of the youngest son. He wants his father’s wealth but doesn’t want to dwell with his father.

So, the son leaves with the generational blessings, the spiritual gifts, and the natural talent and goes off living in the world. But all that the father gave to his son isn’t enough for his reckless living in the world. So many of us take out our inheritance, and we’re successful, we’re influential, and we’re happy, but we’re not joyful. Happiness is relative. It’s dependent on our situation, other people’s reactions and words, the news, etc. But joy is dependent on God, and He does not change.

Many of us are successful in the world, but spiritually we’re sleeping with the pigs. Spiritually we’re broke and broken. We’re struggling with emptiness, brokenness, and depression. We’re struggling with self-doubt, loneliness, anger, and stress. These things can only be filled, fixed, and restored by and with God. Our inheritance without God can only last so long. It can only do so much. God gives us out of the abundance He has, but He can only give out of His abundance if you’re with Him.

The world brings us emptiness and depression, but God brings us a cup that runs over. Those who drink never thirst again. Those who eat never hunger again. Those who come to Him are satisfied, restored, and overflowing with more than we could ever imagine.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Leave The Spiritual Pigs.

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Our Time Is Short

¹²Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short! ~ Revelation 12:12

If we, who are Christians, have loved ones, say our children, who are not serving Jesus, or have not accepted Him as LORD and Savior, then we should be down on our knees day and night with tears and pleas of mercy for them.

It is not God’s will for any to perish. He wants everyone saved, yet many will not be saved because they refuse to believe. They refuse to give up and repent of their sins. Because men love the darkness more than they love the light, this is what’s holding back our loved ones from getting saved.

One of the biggest problems is that they are being educated under the secular educational system, which programs them to believe that there is no God, and even if there were a God, there is no need for God. And this is a worldwide problem. We are living in the last days, so heed the warning God gives us in the book of Revelation. The Devil has come down to the earth in great wrath because he knows he only has a short amount of time left.

If more than a thousand years is a short amount of time for Satan, how much more is the few years we have on this earth to pray for and disciple our loved ones? Pray and fast for your loved ones that the LORD would have mercy on them and soften their hearts towards Him so that they might be saved. Don’t remain idle while they remain on a path that leads to eternal damnation. Stand in the gap for them. Pray for them. Seek the LORD on their behalf. Don’t waste the short time that we have on this earth.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Use Our Short Time.

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Tag: Devotionals

Pay Attention to the People

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