Tag: Devotionals

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Claim Your Aroma

15 Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. 16 To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume. ~ 2 Corinthians 2:15-16a

So many of us are desperate for the world’s approval over God’s approval. Why? Because we’re physically here on earth. We’re physically living among the world, not physically living in Heaven where God abides. Because most of us only look in the physical and not in the spiritual, we miss out on what’s right in front of us. Our body may live in the physical, but that’s not who we are. We are our souls. We are our spirit, and both our soul and spirit abide and are subject to the spiritual. Does that mean that the physical and the spiritual aren’t connected? By no means. What we do in the physical will affect the spiritual, sometimes instantly. But if we only live by the physical, we’re walking, living, and acting blind.

We have to start looking at our actions and others’ reactions differently. If the LORD God says that this is right, we do it, and the world gets upset at us, we have to ask ourselves, why? The reason the world hates what God calls good is that the world isn’t of God. We have been called out of the world; therefore, the world hates us because we are no longer like the world. Ted Dekker wrote a novel series called The Circle. Within The Circle, he explained the world of sin and the kingdom of Heaven in physically for us to imagine what it may look in the spiritual. For instance, those who were of the world had skin that was stink, cracking, and decaying, yet to them, it was a sweet aroma. Those who had been saved and washed clean through redemption had sweet, smooth, soft skin, yet to those of the world, their aroma was stink and foul. This is the best depiction I’ve seen in a novel of how sin and righteousness would manifest physically in our world.

So, don’t be discouraged. Don’t be dismayed. Don’t allow the taunts of the enemy to break you down, for if the world hates you, it’s because they hate Him who sent you. If you’re following the LORD and doing as He has called you to do, and the world rejects you and speaks all manner of evil against you, remember that they did the same to Christ, and He overcame. Therefore, we have this confidence that we will overcome as well, for Christ Himself lives in us and through us. Don’t lean on your own understanding or even your own physical eyes. Focus on the spiritual and what God has called you to do. If you do this, God will be with you in all things. And if God is for you, who can be against you?

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Claim Your Aroma.

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Watch For The Third Temple

15 So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, 18 and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 19 And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! 20 Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. 22 And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. 29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. ~ Matthew 24:15-22, 29-31

2,000 years ago, the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans. We still await the building of the third temple. What many Christians don’t realize is that the building of the third temple is one of the signs of Jesus’ return. Many Christians also don’t realize that the Jews are preparing to build that third temple. They’re getting the special paints, lumber, bricks, etc. needed in order to build the temple as commanded by God so many years ago. The third temple isn’t far from becoming a reality. In fact, I believe that we will see it built in our time. If this is true, then that would mean Jesus’ return is soon at hand.

Are you prepared for Jesus’ return? Are your family and loved ones ready? Are your neighbors and co-workers ready? Don’t be fooled. That day isn’t far off. And for all who don’t believe, it’s a day of much terror and fear, for the kings of the earth will see the Lamb of God seated upon His throne full of glory, and they will cry out to the rocks to crush them. None can escape the wrath of God nor the coming judgment unless they bow down at the feet of Jesus, repent, and then get up and follow Him. There’s no way around it. The only way to salvation is through Jesus. Don’t be one of those who are taken by surprise when Jesus comes like a thief in the night, taking His bride to be with Him. Be prepared. Be on guard. Stay awake, for the end is close at hand.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Watch For The Third Temple.

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Go Back To Go Forward

1 After this, David asked the Lord, “Should I move back to one of the towns of Judah?” “Yes,” the Lord replied. Then David asked, “Which town should I go to?” “To Hebron,” the Lord answered. 1 Then all the tribes of Israel went to David at Hebron and told him, “We are your own flesh and blood.” 3 So there at Hebron, King David made a covenant before the Lord with all the elders of Israel. And they anointed him king of Israel. ~ 2 Samuel 2:1; 5:1, 3 NLT

King Saul was dead, and it was time for David to officially take the throne as king of all of Israel. When David asked the LORD where he should go to be anointed as king of Israel, the LORD told him to go to Hebron. So, what’s so special about Hebron? Hebron was where Abram settled and built an altar to the LORD. It’s the place where the Hebrews were established. God took David back to the place where it all began. The question now begs, why? Could it be that God was establishing David as king in the same place that He established Abraham as the father of the Hebrews because God was symbolically starting over?

Keep in mind that Israel had judges, prophets, and another king before David, yet it was David that God said He would establish one of his descendants on his throne forever. It was Abraham whom God made the original covenant that we are still under, and we are still called children of Abraham. Sometimes God takes us back to a significant place in order that He might, in a sense, start over. No judge, prophet, or other king of Israel has been or will ever be established as these two men have been. Even when giving Jesus’ ancestry, Matthew, inspired by the Holy Spirit, writes that there were fourteen generations from Abraham to David. Who else is remembered and/or honored in this way that they are a timeline for the Messiah Himself? No one.

Sometimes God takes us back to the past of our ancestors because He is establishing us in ways that we may not understand and that time. So, if God tells you to go somewhere or do something that feels as if it may just be repeating history, follow His instruction. If you don’t, you may miss out on the blessing of one that came before you.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Go Back To Go Forward.

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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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