Tag: Devotionals

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Join The Righteous

“10And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. 11And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ 12But when he heard it, he said, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.’” ~ Matthew 9:10-13

When you feel like you’re not good enough to be saved, remember Jesus went to the least of those in His time. He didn’t go to the Pharisees and Sadducees, He went to the fishermen, the tax collectors, those who would be deemed insignificant. Jesus went to the lowest of the low, Samaritans.

Why did He go to these types of people? Well, verse 12-13 tells us why. Jesus didn’t come for the righteous, but for the unrighteous. Jesus said this because He knew that they looked down on the tax collectors and sinners because they saw themselves as righteous. He said this so that they could understand that Jesus came not just for them, but for all people. He came for the sinners.

We’re all sinners, Jews, Gentiles, addicts, alcoholics, murderers, adulterers, fornicators, thieves, everyone. Jesus came for all of us. No one is too sick for this doctor. Because this doctor is perfect. He makes no mistakes. He does the impossible. He does what is best for His patient. He will never do any of us harm. He will never turn us away because we can’t pay Him. Why? Because it’s already paid for in full, we need only accept His free gift.

Jesus is the Good Doctor. Jesus is our Savior. He loves us so much, that before we even commit tomorrow’s sins, He created a way for forgiveness. He created the plan of forgiveness before we fell into our sinful ways. Before we fell prey to addiction, lust, anger, murder, adultery, God created a way that we may still come to Him. A way that we may be saved so that we wouldn’t stay sick. So that we wouldn’t die in our own filth, but instead live, and live more abundantly.

Salvation isn’t for the righteous, but the unrighteous, that we may be made righteous through His Holy Spirit. We don’t have to continue empty, but God made a way that we can all be filled through the Son and by the Holy Spirit. All we have to do is accept that free gift of salvation by confessing our sins and declaring Jesus Christ as our God and Savior.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Join The Righteous.

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Are You Getting Fed?

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to Him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But He answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to Him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” 7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

8 Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.’” 11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to Him. ~ Matthew 4:1-11

Notice when the Devil showed up? It wasn’t when Jesus was full. It wasn’t when He was strong. The Devil showed up when Jesus was weak. When He was hungry. We have this idea that The Devil won’t or shouldn’t attack us at our weakest moment, but that’s precisely when the best time to attack is.

When you watch a lion stalk its prey, it doesn’t go after the strongest gazelle; instead, it goes after the weaker gazelle. It attacks the prey that it feels it would be able to destroy and devour the easiest. And that’s exactly what the devil does with us. He waits for us to be weak. He waits for us to be hurting. He waits for us to be hungry. Because then he has a better chance of overcoming us. And the worst part is that a lot of the times we allow him to without a fight.

With every attack, Jesus defended Himself with scripture. How many of us can say that? We quote one scripture and then give up. Jesus is God, and it took Him three scriptures and a rebuke for The Devil to flee Him.

See we read the verse “resist the Devil and he shall flee you,” but we forget that we have to resist him more than one time. Depending on how strong your Spirit Man is and how weak your flesh is, will determine how long it takes for The Devil to flee.

For instance, if you don’t seek God daily, spending time in both worship, prayer, and reading the bible, you will be easily overtaken. Why? Because you haven’t fed your Spirit Man, so he is weak. You have to take time with God to strengthen your Spirit Man, or your flesh will always allow you to be overtaken.

See Jesus was hungry, but only in the physical sense. Jesus’ Spirit Man was well fed. Was strong. Was alert. Jesus knew that He had to strengthen His Spirit Man so that He could take on and overcome every sin known to man. We may not have to face every sin known to man, but we do have to face sins that continuously overcome us. And the only way to defend ourselves is by reading scripture, spending time in worship, prayer, and fasting.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Feed Your Spirit.

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Mirroring Esther

“Esther had not made known her kindred or her people, as Mordecai had commanded her, for Esther obeyed Mordecai just as when she was brought up by him.” ~ Esther 2:20

Esther was a grown woman, but when Mordecai told her not to do something, she obeyed. She didn’t do as she felt right; she did as Mordecai felt right because he raised her. She obeyed from when she was a child, and she obeyed when she was a grown woman. She didn’t feel less of a woman. She didn’t feel less of a person, but instead, she listened and obeyed her elder. She had respect for her elder.

We’ve gotten to a point in our society where we are defensive and angry when our elders try to help us or give us instruction. We’re so filled with pride that we feel as though we know everything. We’ve become easily offended, and no one can help guide us, because we’re grown, and we know best. We’re so prideful that we would rather fail and be unusable by God than to be corrected or guided by another.

We don’t take into consideration that God doesn’t always come down and speak to us face to face, but instead, He’ll use other people to help us. Iron Sharpens Iron. Being obedient isn’t easy, but it’s necessary. It was said to King Saul that it is better to obey than to sacrifice because a sacrifice is worthless if it is not in accordance with obedience. I’m not saying to blindly follow everyone who’s older than you either. What I am saying, is that you shouldn’t just blindly push anyone’s advice away, but take everything with a grain of salt.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be Like Esther.

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Praise Him In The Midst of Trouble

“But Job replied, ‘You talk like a foolish woman. Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?’ So in all this, Job said nothing wrong.” ~ Job 2:10 NLT

Here’s where our growth as Christians comes in, we only want comfort not hardships, joy not sadness, or laughter and not pain. But in this life, we will have hardships, troubles of many kinds, because the prince of this world is Satan and not God. Oh yes, “The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, for He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers” (Psalms 24:1-2).

Everything you see belongs to God because He has created everything and everything is in subjection to Him even though we do not see it at present, just like the writer of the book of Hebrews taught. But the Earth is ruled under the enemy, Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:4, “4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” Jesus states this same idea earlier, John records it in John 12:31, “31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.”

So make no mistake, trials and temptations are going to come but remember this: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2-4).

No one gets stronger without working out, and no one develops without practice. The same is true in the spiritual, you won’t grow if you are always on the mountain top. We need mountain tops and the valleys, we need sunshine and rain, we need good and bad in order to grow and develop.

Heavenly Father, teach us to be faithful in bad times and the good. Help us to praise on the mountain top as well as in the valley. May we never get too comfortable where we are that it stunts our spiritual growth. And may we never complain in times of trouble or times of discipline.

In Jesus name, Amen.

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Bring The First

“9 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘10 Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest, 11 and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12 And on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering to the Lord. 13 And the grain offering with it shall be two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, a food offering to the Lord with a pleasing aroma, and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, a fourth of a hin. 14 And you shall eat neither bread nor grain parched or fresh until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.’” ~ Leviticus 23:9-14

How many of us have successful businesses? How many of us never worry about their income? I’m gonna go with less than half think like this. How many of us give the first fruits to God? Here’s what I mean. The very first paycheck you earn from that business or the very first amount you earn from the first product you sold. How many can say they give that to God? Probably even less. Why is that important?

Because by bringing the firsts, you are bringing your entire business before God so that He can bless it. So that it can be prosperous. So that it can reap more than you ever thought. Now I know that it sounds crazy to give the first to God. It sounds absolutely crazy, but it’s absolutely necessary. How can we expect God to bless our business, when we can’t even bring it to Him so that He may bless it.

When you sow into God, God blesses what you have sowed, so that you can reap. Ecclesiastes 11:1 tells us to “Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days.” Sow into God, and God will bless what you have sown, and you will reap exponentially.

And the firsts are different than the tithe. Why? Because the tithe is a tenth of what you have earned. But the first is the entire first you have made. If it’s a restaurant, the first you make from selling to your first customer, that’s the first. The first you get from the first car you wash. That’s the first. It’s gonna take a lot of faith. It’s gonna take a lot of trust. And it’s gonna take overcoming Mammon. But God promises that when we give to Him, He will give to us. We expect God to bless us first, then we will bring an offering. But that’s not how it works. You have to set the offering down before God can burn it up and accept it. You have to first provide the sacrifice so that God can provide the fire. You have to first open up yourself so that God can fill you up. We have to meet God’s standards before He can bless us. God doesn’t lower His standards. Neither does He go back on His Word, but He watches over it to make sure it has done what He has spoken. Take a step out in faith and see what happens.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Bring Your Firsts.

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His Will

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ ~ Matthew 7:21-23

Doing the will of the Father who is in Heaven is a lot more important than we think or teach. A lot of the time we’ll say we need to go to church to be saved. Or we need to read our bible. Or quiet time. Which yes they are all true. But what seems to be one of the most important, if not the most important, is “doing the will of the Father.”

How many of us can say we are doing God’s good and perfect will? How many of us can say that we are doing what God has called us to do? How many of us can say that “I am doing what God called me to do, every day of my life?” I’m sure not too many. Why? Simply, we weren’t taught how to. We were taught that we need to do God’s will, but not how to do that. Not how to find out our calling. Not how to hear His voice when He is speaking.

Are you where God wants you to be, or are you following in your parent’s footsteps because it’s the family business? Or maybe just doing it because it will bring security? Or maybe following your own selfish desires?

I’d urge each and every one of you to take a second and evaluate your plans. Are they following the will of God, specifically for your life? But how do you know? Spend time with God, and He will tell you. Jesus said, “My sheep know my voice.” As you build up your relationship with Him, the voice of God will become clearer and clearer every day.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and do His Will.

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Decide

1 On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, 2 and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 4 And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”

5 And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” 6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. 7 They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.

8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” 9 For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” 11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him. ~ Luke 5:1-11

Simon had come in from fishing was washing his nets. He hadn’t caught any fish, and a stranger steps into his boat and starts preaching. When He’s done preaching, He tells Simon to go out and lower his nets into the deep. Imagine you were out fishing all night, never caught anything, then this man gets into your boat starts preaching, then tells you to go fishing again. Would you listen to Him? Would you do what He tells you to do?

Before Jesus was even established as Savior or Christ, Simon knew there was something different about Him. So, Simon did as Jesus asked Him. It may not have made sense to him, but because Jesus asked him, he did it and received a greater reward than he could have ever imagined.

How often does God tell us to do something, and we respond with ‘we’ve already done that, and it didn’t work.’ We forget that without God, things may not work, but as soon as God steps into the picture, the miraculous happens. We can have confidence that God will not let us down. We can have confidence that God will not fail us. We can have confidence that God will not lead us astray.

Faith is believing and doing the miraculous. It’s by faith that miracles happen. It’s by faith that strongholds are broken. It’s by faith that the impossible is possible. It’s by faith that we are saved. Before Simon knew that Jesus was even the Messiah, he had faith that Jesus was more than just some nut preaching on his boat. Two thousand years later, we have the stories, the scriptures, the documentation, but do we have the faith? I guess it’s up to each of us to decide.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Decide.

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Build Eternal Treasure

16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” ~ Luke 12:16-21

We see those who are rich, famous, wealthy and we envy them. They don’t have to struggle. They don’t have to worry about their bills. They don’t have to worry about not being able to afford presents for their family or themselves. They can do anything that they please. They have everything.

Ever notice that those people are constantly searching for more. They’re never satisfied. They keep building more and more wealth for themselves, but it’s never enough. It never satisfies them. They are constantly working for more when they already have everything. They aren’t satisfied.

We may not be the wealthiest. We may not be the richest, but we have Jesus. That hole that they’re trying to fill, we have that filled. The Holy Spirit fills us. He gives us Joy. Peace. Patience. Kindness. Goodness. Gentleness. Faithfulness. Self-Control. He satisfies us, but the wealthy who only seek to build themselves are without any of that. But most importantly, they are without eternal salvation. They are without freedom.

We build our riches up in Heaven, where moth does not devour, and the worm does not destroy. They build their treasures on Earth never once taking into account that that cannot go with them to eternity. The only thing going to eternity, is them. Their soul. That’s it. They can’t take their riches with them to the Judgment. They can’t bribe the Good Judge with their wealth. They go into eternity empty-handed and will have to stand before the throne of God with nothing to show for their life.

Tomorrow is promised to no man. Today is the day of Salvation. Choose today whom you shall follow, but you cannot serve both God and Mammon (money). Build up your riches in Heaven, for where your treasure is, so will your heart be.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Build Eternal Treasure.

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The One Who Overcomes

1 So Moses continued to speak these words to all Israel. 2And he said to them, “I am 120 years old today. I am no longer able to go out and come in. The Lord has said to me, ‘You shall not go over this Jordan.’ 3 The Lord your God himself will go over before you. He will destroy these nations before you, so that you shall dispossess them, and Joshua will go over at your head, as the Lord has spoken. 4 And the Lord will do to them as he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when he destroyed them. 5 And the Lord will give them over to you, and you shall do to them according to the whole commandment that I have commanded you. 6 Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” ~ Deuteronomy 31:1-6

Ever notice how even though the enemy was given into their hands, they still had to fight? They still had to show up. Even though they had the battle in their hands and God, Himself was going before them; they still had to fight. They still had to give it their all. Why do we, as Christians, feel as though we shouldn’t have to fight? We feel like we should just overcome without having to fight for it because Jesus said He overcame, so we’ll overcome… but that’s not how it works. If we’re in a spiritual war, then why would we think we don’t have to fight? Does the enemy in a physical war just give up because we say we’ll overcome them? No, of course not. The enemy fights to the death if necessary. So why don’t we think our spiritual enemies wouldn’t do the same?

Now if we do fight, we have to remember the rule to overcoming, to not be afraid. See, fear is like having a double agent whom you tell every one of your weaknesses to, and they inform the enemy. Now, you’re going to be easily overtaken. Why? Because not only has the double agent turned on you, but the enemy now also knows your weaknesses.

That’s how we’ve been fighting our battles, with fear. Fear is not our friend. Fear is a liar. But most importantly, fear is our enemy. It’s the one enemy who easily manipulates us into inviting him in and staying. He’s the one enemy you don’t fight, why because we’ve become accustomed to him. We say things like “oh, I worry because I care” or “you know we’re a worrying family.” In fact, we have taught our children how to invite fear in, so he doesn’t even need to manipulate them into letting him come in. We do this with superstitions.

If you don’t do exactly what you’re supposed to do, something bad will happen to you, so that that adult can keep their full control. For instance, we tell our children or grandchildren, “chicken merry, hawk near” or “if you going swimming on Sunday, you’ll drown” or “if you see an owl outside your house, that’s bad luck” or “if your outside too late at night (especially doing something you aren’t supposed to) a duppy will get you”… see fear doesn’t even chain us up, we do. Then once we’re chained, we chain up the next generation, then the next one, and the next one. Until our entire family is chained up and under a generational curse.

We place ourselves in chains. We place ourselves in cells. So why don’t we take the same key we used to lock ourselves in, and unlock the lock? Because we have become accustomed to that cell. Because we don’t know how to fight. First, you have to get rid of those superstitions. Why? Because that’s all they are, are superstitions. Lies of the enemy we have told ourselves and the generations after us. We have to change the way we think. If we do one thing wrong, God is not going to smite us from the Heavens and watch as we are overcome and destroyed. But instead, He creates a way out, so that we can escape before we are overcome. So that we can find our way back to Him.

God isn’t a God who wants to see us fail. He isn’t a God that He wants to hurt us. He is a God who wants to protect us. Who wants to keep us. So why would He send all of these bad things to happen to us, for no good reason? So in order to overcome fear, you have to learn who God is. He’s like a mother bear when her cubs are in danger because they put themselves in danger, she doesn’t just watch and say I told you so. She runs to their rescue and will fight to the death to save them. Now if a bear can do that, why wouldn’t our Heavenly Father, who formed each and every one of us, do that and more? So first, learn who God truly is. Then retrain your brain. Then unlock those chains and that cell door. Then overcome anything else that dares to stand in your way.

Peace. Love. Go forth and Fight.

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Search

“21 But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. 22 And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. 23 The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s charge, because the Lord was with him. And whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed.” ~ Genesis 39:21-23

Even when we’re in prison, God is with us. Even when we’re at the lowest of lowest, and we allow God to be with us, He will be there. In fact, He’ll do more than just be there; He’ll show you your destiny, your plan, your call if you let Him.

See everywhere Joseph went, he was in charge. In Potiphar’s house, in the prison, Joseph was in charge. His destiny, or call, was to be in charge of all of Egypt second only to Pharaoh. Even though he was in charge in the prison he still had the prison keeper before him, even though he was in charge at Potiphar’s house, he still had Potiphar before him. Everything Joseph did, or went through, mirrored his future.

Even when we’re at our lowest, God still shows us our highest, but it’s up to us to look for it. Sometimes it’ll take a little time to find the best in the worst situations, so I beseech you, search hard and don’t lose hope.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Search.

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