Devotionals Archives

May 29, 2021May 29, 2021

Change

¹⁴What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? ¹⁵If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, ¹⁶and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? ¹⁷So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. ¹⁸But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. ~ James 2:14-18

James made an earthly/physical comparison with the spiritual. He said that if it is not enough to wish someone well who is starving or freezing to death without doing something about it, then it is not enough just to believe. Therefore, you are saved for good works and not by good works.

Faith without action is dead. Because, once we are saved, that isn’t just the end of it, and we just have a free ticket to Heaven. Instead, we have to continue our spiritual growth. We have to fulfill the great commission. We have to put our faith into action. Unless we live our lives for Christ and become more like Christ, we are not changed. And if we are not changed, then we have no part in Eternal Life.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Change.

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Strongholds of our Past

⁶ Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. ~ Proverbs 22:6

We often take this verse as just what we need to do for our children, but this verse is for all of us. Why? Because how we spend our free time as young people or as young Christians in our faith will be how we spend our free time as grown-ups, never maturing into meat-eating Christians as the author of the book of Hebrews condemns.

We have to make sure that we are continuously putting our bodies into subjection. We can’t allow our flesh to dictate our lives because if we do, we miss all that the LORD has in store for us. These are the days of preparation. Today is the day of Salvation. What is done in the dark will be brought to light. What we do in our youth will be what we do as we age because the habits and strongholds become stronger and stronger.

LORD God, help us to break the strongholds of our past that have kept us enslaved to our flesh. That has stopped us from growing in our relationship with You. Soften our hearts that we may love You more than I love my own flesh. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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His Name is in His Temple

¹⁶ For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that my name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time. ~ 2 Chronicles 7:16

The LORD promised Solomon that He would put His name in the Temple Solomon built, as well as His eyes and His heart. He promised His name, which is a stronghold, a fortress, to remain in a house built by human hands. So, how much more will the name of God be put in a Temple built by His own hands?

¹⁹ Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, ²⁰for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20

We are Temple of God, so how much more would He put His name in the Temple He made with His own hands. The Temple He formed and died for. The Temple He washed clean and renewed with His own blood and Spirit. So, whom shall we fear when the name of God and blood of Jesus covers us and protects us?

God, Himself, is with us no matter where we go. God Himself is in us, changing us, fighting for us, and protecting us. No matter what comes your way, we have nothing to fear because we are not alone. Even when we feel afraid or feel like the entire world is crashing down around us, we can find confidence in our God. In our creator who overcame the world so that we can overcome through Him.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Do Not Fear.

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Today’s Laxness Breeds Tomorrow’s Failures

¹ In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. ²It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. ³And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” ⁴So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. ~ 2 Samuel 11:1-4

Today’s laxness breeds tomorrow’s failures. King David had become lax. He wasn’t where he should have been, which led him to the sin he then committed. The Scripture says that it was the time when kings go off to war. Back in those days, it was the kings who led their armies into war. The king himself, or the emperor like Alexander the Great, led the charge themselves, slept in the field with their troops, ate the MREs, and were away from home and family along with their soldiers.

David led his army bravely as well, but on this occasion, he was not where he was supposed to be. He wasn’t with his troops. Instead, he stayed back at home and sent Joab out to do what he should have been doing himself. We, too, will fall into temptation when we are not doing what we are supposed to be doing.

We can liken this situation to a failure in his private time. This is a big one. When we fail to have private time, that is private prayer and worship and mediation; we will fail to have a public time. No one excels publicly until he/she first excels privately. The same is true in that no one falls publicly unless they first fall privately. What we do in the dark will be brought to light. Good or bad.

LORD God, help us to prepare ourselves privately that we might manifest Your light publicly. Give us the desire to worship You behind closed doors so that out in the open, others might see You through us. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Do You Know Who You Believe In?

^12bBut I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me. ~ 2 Timothy 1:12b

Paul doesn’t say he knows of whom he has believed in, but rather, he says he knows whom he believed. Making it a personal connection. It’s not like he just heard about God or that he knows God from a distance. It’s not like how we say we know the latest movie star or the popular musicians. We know about them, but we don’t actually know them, and they don’t know us.

But Paul, on the other hand, has a personal relationship with Jesus. He knows Jesus personally, and Jesus knows him personally. They have a personal relationship. This is the knowledge we need to have. Not what Jesus has done for someone else, but what He has done for me. We need to know God, like how Paul knew God.

Every day is a new battle for our souls, and every day someone will win that battle. Who we seek after and what we seek after will determine the outcome of each battle. We have to make sure that we are constantly seeking after God, just like we would our best friend, because there is no greater friend than God.

LORD God, please help me to seek You and love You as You alone deserve. Help me to yearn for a relationship with You like Paul and the early Church did. Help me to truly know You so that we might have the faith to stand each day in confidence, knowing who we believe. So that when trials and tribulations come, we can stand firm, unwavering from our faith in You. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Move Mountains

⁵² “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. ⁵³ Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? ⁵⁴ But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?” ~ Matthew 26:52-54

Jesus could have used His divine power to achieve His objectives, but then He wouldn’t have been functioning as fully man, but as God, and God is not our Kinsman Redeemer, Jesus is our Kinsman Redeemer because of how the law of Kinsman Redeemer works, and I’m saying this without challenging the fact that they (the Holy Trinity) are one and the same yet are all separate individuals.

Instead, He chose to act as a servant and use the Name of God instead of His own name or power. But before His crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, He basically told His disciples something new, something better is coming your way; just wait and see.

Jesus took the impossible path so that we didn’t have to. This is where the work of the Holy Spirit comes in, as we invoke and use the name of our LORD Jesus. Because when we call on the name of Jesus, mountains move, demons flee, wounds are healed, and we are made new. Jesus gave us His name and His Holy Spirit so that we wouldn’t be left vulnerable and defenseless. When problems come, call on the name of Jesus. He overcame the world so that we could overcome through Him.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Move Mountains.

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Partake in the Gleanings

¹⁴And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us. ¹⁵And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him. ~ 1 John 5:14–15

Jesus came so that He could supply all of our needs on a personal level. From the establishing of the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost), God provided a way for the poor and for the Gentiles to receive some of the harvest. Today, Jesus has paved the way so that we can go directly to God for our needs. There is no longer a divide between people. There are no longer any of us that has to pick up the scraps; instead, every one of us is now equal in the sight of God.

So, if you need something from Jesus, find it in Scripture and believe Him for it. The faith the size of a mustard seed, even though it is the smallest of seeds, is enough to move a mighty mountain because of Pentecost. And this is Pentecost Sunday, a time for signs, wonders, miracles, and many acts of healings. Come receive yours.

Do you want to partake in the gleanings of the fields? Come to Jesus. He is waiting for you with arms wide open. Let your first miracle be the miracle of the New Birth. Listen, we might be God’s enemies, but God is NOT our enemy. He loves us and wants everyone to be saved. It is not His will that any perish.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Partake in the Gleanings.

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Defend Your Beliefs

¹⁵ but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect. ~ 1 Peter 3:15

Now, more than ever, we have to be grounded in the Truth of All Mighty God. We can no longer rely on our parents or their parents to get us into the Kingdom of God and build our faith, but we must not step up and do it ourselves. We must be able to give a defense for our beliefs.

This word defense simply means to ‘make formal justification’ for what you believe. It does not mean to argue, as in ‘to row and disagree or fight,’ but simply be ready to give an answer to people who question our beliefs.

When we are unable to defend why we believe what we believe, then doubt takes root in us. And if doubt takes root in us, then faith begins to dwindle inside of us. And without faith, no one can please God. We must prepare ourselves and build up our faith so that we can defend our beliefs when the time comes.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Defend Your Beliefs.

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The Power of Doubt

¹⁶Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. ¹⁷And when they saw Him they worshiped Him, but some doubted. ~ Matthew 28:16-17

Even though the eleven disciples just saw the resurrected Jesus, some still doubted. Doubt can creep into the hearts of even the strongest believers if we let our guard down. Jesus prophesied about His death and resurrection many times to His disciples, but their own version of who they believed Jesus should be hindered their faith and caused doubt in their hearts. When we put our own beliefs and feelings above God’s Truth, the only Truth, then we weaken our faith. And without faith, no one can please God.

Faith comes by the Word of God, not our version of the Word of God. We have to set aside our own feelings, our own beliefs, our own version of the truth, and accept the Truth. This is how we build our faith. This is how we please God by dwelling in Truth. And when doubt comes, we have to bow down and worship, humbling ourselves at the feet of Jesus, just like the disciples who doubted did. Even though they had doubt, they still humbled themselves before Jesus, and in doing so, Jesus rewarded their humility by strengthening their faith with the Scriptures.

When you doubt, don’t be ashamed because doubt happens to the best of us. When doubt does come, bow yourself down in humility at the feet of Jesus, and He will strengthen your faith. He can use anyone who is willing to be used.

LORD God, please help me to seek Your face in humility so that You may strengthen our faith. Show me the verses that we need to strengthen our faith, just as You showed the verses to Your disciples that they needed to strengthen their faith. Please continue to help me grow in our faith and strengthen our relationship with You. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Remember Your First Love

²I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. ³I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. ⁴But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. ⁵Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. ~ Revelation 2:2-5

Jesus is speaking to the church in Ephesus. He said, “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first” What He is actually saying is, “You have lost your passion for me. You no longer have the fire shut up in your bones.”

They had the actions, but not the passion.

Remember when you first got married? You couldn’t wait to see your spouse. To be with him/her. To talk with them and to hold their hand. Sometimes that’s all you could talk about at work or think about. That was passion.

Now the flames don’t burn as hot; you’re now ok with working late. You don’t sit and talk for hours anymore like you did at first because you didn’t want to go to sleep because it was time taken away that could be spent with the love of your life. It’s your first love; there was passion.

This is how we are with Jesus now, but that’s not how it ought to be. Jesus is our betrothed. We’re supposed to love Him, yearn for Him, seek Him, speak with Him. We’re supposed to be head over heels in love with our bridegroom, who is on His way to bring us to Himself so that we might be with Him forever.

LORD God, please help us to remember our first love. Help us to not seek out the darkness but seek out the light in the darkness. Ignite a passion within our bones once again that we might seek Your face and Your presence. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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