Tag: Devotionals

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Where’s Your Undergarment?

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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Call Sin Sin

6 So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. 7 For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. 8 That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God. ~ Romans 8:6-8NLT

In the Church today, we don’t seem to desire the Truth but our own version of the Truth. We want to believe that because God loves everybody, He won’t punish sins. In fact, we argue that the word sin not only doesn’t have a place in our society but also has no place in our churches. We push a corrupted love that directly contradicts God’s word instead of the true love of God. See, love is patient, kind, and doesn’t keep a record of wrong, but love also doesn’t rejoice in wrongdoing. True love corrects because it loves.

If a blind person is walking towards the edge of a cliff and will fall to their death, do you cheer them on because they feel as though they’re walking towards the finish line? No. Of course not. You try your best to stop them. The world is blind because they don’t have the Light of God to guide them in the darkness around us. Many are walking off the edge of the cliff to their death because we, the Church, are too afraid to stand for what’s right. We have to first make a stand for righteousness regardless of the backlash if we ever want to have a friendship with God.

Dear Lord, help us that our flesh does not control us, but that we submit everything to You and that we follow You in all that we do. We don’t want to pretend or play church; we want to be totally Yours. Help us to lead others to Your glorious light, for only you can open their blind eyes. Please remove the fear of rejection from us that only forces us into hostility with You. Strengthen our hearts as we face the nature that tries to overcome each and every one of us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Watch Out For The Trap

13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds. ~ 2 Corinthians 11:13-15

People often try to play around with the occult as if it’s nothing but fun and games. Even some Christians play around with tarot cards, ouija boards, horoscopes, and palm readings because they don’t believe that they’re anything more than just a bit of fun. But all of those things are of the occult. They aren’t games. They’re of the kingdom of darkness, and they have real power. They can truly entangle you in their chains, and the worst part is most don’t even know it.

The occult doesn’t always show up in dark gothic wear, holding a solid black skull enticing you to the dark side with blood, guts, and glory. No, instead, most of the time, the occult entices us dressed in regular clothing and holding a plate of cookies. And when we eat the cookies, we don’t even realize that the poison is slowly killing us. The worst part is that so many of us never wake up from that spiritual slumber, and that spiritual comma leads us to a spiritual death. How? Because the occult slowly convinces us that it’s not evil. That it’s light. That it’s good. That it can’t separate us from God because it isn’t bad at all. In fact, it may just even be a game.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Watch Out For The Trap.

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Don’t Accept Its Presence

7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it. ~ Genesis 4:7NKJV

God said, if you do well, in other words, if you do what is right, if you do the correct thing, will you not be accepted? But you gotta do what is right. You just can’t do any old thing and expect God to accept it. You have to do well. In other words, God is saying that we must always act in a way that is proper and have the characteristics of properness to do what is expected of us.

So, does that mean that we have to be perfect? That we can no longer make mistakes or fall into temptation because God will strike us down? No. It means that we can no longer willingly just give into sin anymore. It means that we keep fighting to overcome evil with good. We have to keep trying to do what is right. We strive to overcome sin instead of playing with sin as if it is something that we can keep around as a pet. We can’t accept the presence of sin in our lives; instead, we have to expel all sin from within us, even if it’s only one step at a time.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Don’t Accept Its Presence.

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Honor Your Parents

12 Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. ~ Exodus 20:12

My great-grandfather lived to be over 100 years old, and because of this, I often hear family members saying that he must’ve really respected his parents. It seems to me that when many of us hear or discuss the fifth commandment, we tend to focus on the idea that we must respect our parents in order to live a long life, but is that really what the verse is telling us?

If we take a closer look at what the commandment actually says, the promise isn’t about the lengthy number of days you will live if you follow the commandment. The promise is that you will live long in the land. What land? The Promised Land. For us Christians today, this isn’t a physical promise but a spiritual one.

The Gospels record an encounter between Jesus and the Scribes and Pharisees in Jerusalem one day. They came to Jesus and tried to condemn Him and His disciples for breaking the traditions of the elders because the disciples didn’t wash their hands before eating. Jesus then asked them why they broke the law for the sake of their traditions. Now, the reason I bring this up is because, first, the law that they broke was the fifth commandment, honoring their father and mother.

The second reason I brought this up is because these Pharisees are never recorded as repenting and accepting the Messiah. So, if they never repented and accepted Jesus, then they never entered the Promised Land. Could it be then that they couldn’t see that the Messiah, Jesus, had come because they couldn’t follow this command? Could the lack of respecting your parents cause you to be spiritually blind and incapable of seeing the Truth even when it staring you in the face?

Don’t let traditions, self-desires, rebellion, stubbornness, or any other stronghold keep you from seeing and recognizing the Truth. For without accepting and following the Truth, there is no salvation. No freedom. No Promised Land. If we can’t honor our parents, who are on earth and we see every day, how can we honor our Heavenly Father, who is in Heaven? It’s never too late to begin to honor your parents. It’s never too late to start fresh and new.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Honor Your Parents.

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Believe In His Love

16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. ~ John 3:16

The promise that God loves you dearly is backed up with action. The death of Jesus by crucifixion on a Roman cross is proof that Jesus/God/The Father loves you more than you will even begin to understand.

Take that promise in times when the devil comes to torment your mind that no one loves you. And just encourage yourself that the LORD, the God of all creation and supreme ruler of the whole universe, loves you and died for you.

All you have to do is believe, and He will do the rest. He will forgive and wash you clean. He will comfort and give you peace. He will watch over and keep you safe. There is nothing that your God will not do for you.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Believe In His Love.

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Hear Good Advice

13 The next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening. 14 When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?” 15 And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God; 16 when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I make them know the statutes of God and His laws.” 17 Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good.” ~ Exodus 18:13-17

Moses’ father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people of Israel. Moses was the only person leading all the people of Israel, and his father-in-law told him it wasn’t good. Why? Because he was taking on too much. He was taking on roles that weren’t intended for him. Even though Moses was hearing directly from God, he still needed the advice of his father-in-law. God still used someone else to correct Moses. No matter how close we are to God, we are never too close to Him that He won’t use another person to correct us and give us advice.

Does that mean all advice is good advice? By no means. We should take all advice and instruction back to God and His Word. This is the importance of having a close relationship with God because the closer you are to God, the stronger your Spirit of Discernment will be. So, don’t just take advice blindly; neither should you refuse to take any advice. In all matters, you should go to the LORD for guidance. No matter who gives you the advice, including us here at HoldToHope, always pray that the LORD will give you the Spirit of Discernment that you may know the Truth from a false statement.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Hear Good Advice.

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Guard Above All Else

23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. ~ Proverbs 4:23

All that you think. All that you say. All that you do comes from your heart. If that is the case, would you not agree then to guard your heart is the most important thing you can do? You have to make sure you guard your heart. You can’t let any and everything get stored in there. It is not a catch-all drawer or a junk drawer.

That’s why it is so important that you consider what you watch on tv or what you read in books. Or even what you talk about. It all gets stored in your heart, and guess what? The abundance in your heart comes out of your mouth.

You cannot misinterpret Scripture the way you want it to go or what you want it to say, just to suit you and your purpose. You have to properly or correctly decern the Scripture. You cannot come to Jesus on Sunday and then live any old way you want during the week. This is why you have to guard your heart. You have to read, study, and meditate on the Scripture. This is the only way you can truly change.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Guard Above All Else.

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Watch What You Think

20 My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. 21 Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; 22 for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body. ~ Proverbs 4: 20-22

King Solomon admonishes his hearers/readers to pay close attention to what he is saying because they are not just mere words. He is not just trying to sound philosophical or wise, but what he is saying is very important.

How important? So important that he advises not to let them out of your sight. You know how folks say, “I’ll keep it on the back burner?” Well, King Solomon is saying do not do that, but rather keep this on the front burner. Keep this in your heart so that it is ever on your mind. Why? They are life to those who find them.

What you focus on will either make or break you. It’s your thoughts that will decide your actions. So, watch what you think about. Guard your mind. Focus your thoughts and time on God and His word so that you may be changed by the renewal of your mind. For what a person thinks, that is who they are.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Watch What You Think.

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Ask In His Name

23 In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, He will give it to you. 24 Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. ~ John 16:23–24

Jesus explains to His disciples that in that day. What day was Jesus referring to? The days after His death, burial, and resurrection. In other words, after He had been glorified and ascended into heaven. In that day, they would have access straight to the Father again, just like Adam and Eve had in the beginning. They would not have to go through a high priest because, at His death, the veil in the Temple was torn in two.

Jesus, Himself, promises that if we ask anything in His name, He will do it for us, and He cannot deny His own words, neither can He neglect His own promises. Not only once but several times, He reiterated the promise showing that it was not a slip of the tongue or a mistake in speaking. It was and is His solemn promise.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Ask In His Name.

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