Tag: Devotionals

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Become One

1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. ~ Acts 2:1

When the day of Pentecost had fully come, one person was not professing one thing, and another person prophesying something else. They were all in agreement with the promise. They were all of one mind.

You may be saying to yourself, Oh, brother Kenny, why are you so old school? We don’t have to all agree. Look, the Scriptures ask, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” (Amos 3:3 KJV).

In other words, we will never experience “The Hope of Pentecost” unless we all agree together as one church body. And unless we understand what we believe, live what we believe, and agree to what we believe, we will never experience what Jesus has for us the hope of Pentecost with signs and wonders, miracles, and many great acts of healing. We must believe and agree together so that we will receive the promise. We must become one body, mind, and goal in Christ Jesus.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Become One.

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Be Transformed

Genesis 1:31

[31] And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

When God looked at all of His creation at the end of that last workday, He said, “It is good.” Everything God created was good. Including mankind. Then we corrupted ourselves. So, what was God to do, leave us to our own demise? No. He put the salvation plan into motion.

On the day of Pentecost, God’s salvation plan took a big step as He sent His Holy Spirit. His Holy Spirit dwelling in us and with us, transforming us into the original plan of the Image of God.

2 Corinthians 3:18

[18] And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

Our God did not abandon us, even though He could have. Instead, He made a way for us to be forgiven and redeemed from our past. To be saved from our iniquities. To be transformed into exactly who God originally created us to be.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be Transformed.

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Be Reconciled

Genesis 11:1-9

[1] Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. [2] And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. [3] And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. [4] Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” [5] And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. [6] And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. [7] Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” [8] So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. [9] Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.

When it comes to Pentecost, we usually just associate it with Acts 2, but there’s so much more to Pentecost than just Acts 2. Pentecost was the founding and establishing of the Church. The body of Christ. It was the bringing together of many nations to create one people, unified together with one mind and goal, to build the Kingdom of God. As God poured out His Spirit and gave birth to His Church, He undid the division at Babel.

At Babel, humanity unified together to try to ascend to heaven in their own power and strength. They built a tower, not to reach God in worship, but to make a name for themselves. They tried to invade heaven out of pride, as if to make themselves like gods. Around 2000 years later, God unified mankind and elevated them spiritually to sit with Him in Heaven. What mankind tried to achieve at Babel, God gave to those willing to follow Him.

God doesn’t reward the prideful nor does He punish the humble. When the 120 got together in the Upper Room unified in obedience to Christ Jesus, God descended from on high and dwelt with them and in them. He sealed them with His Holy Spirit together as one people and spiritually elevated them, undoing the punishment of Babel.

God doesn’t forget our previous mistakes or punishments. He remembers them and always gives us a way to undo them. As long as there is breath in our lungs, there is hope for restoration. There is hope for reconciliation to God.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be Reconciled. 

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Desire

27 And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” 28 And Joshua the son of Nun, the assistant of Moses from his youth, said, “My lord Moses, stop them.” 29 But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put His Spirit on them!” 30 And Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp. ~ Numbers 11:27-30

16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: 17 ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; 18 even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.’ ~ Acts 2:16-18

The Day of Pentecost came around 1200 to 1400 years after Moses. It took almost 1500 years for Moses’ prayer to be answered. His prayer that all people could have the Spirit of the LORD on and in them. Moses was long gone, but the desires of his heart were fulfilled. God didn’t forget about Moses’ prayer. He didn’t forget about his desire. God fulfilled it on the Day of Pentecost when He poured out His Spirit on all flesh.

Your prayers may not come to fruition in your lifetime. You may not see them come forth, but they aren’t forgotten. They haven’t been thrown out or discarded. God has never forgotten us. He has never abandoned us. When we delight ourselves in the LORD, He gives us the desires of our hearts.

If God remembered Moses’ desires and brought them to fruition almost 1500 years after he was gone, how much more will He fulfill the desires of His Church? Those whom He dwells with and through. Those who He has washed in His blood and redeemed for His purposes.

Pentecost isn’t just about the founding of the Church. It’s about promises being fulfilled and God’s never-ending love and devotion to His people.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Desire.

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Be Available

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. ~ Acts 2:4

For ten days 120 people went into the Upper Room and spent time with the LORD in unity. They waited together with one goal in mind, to wait for the promised Holy Spirit. These 120 were the first official members of the body of Christ, yet they weren’t all named. Matter-a-fact, the majority are not named. These weren’t high society overly important men and women, these were just common people.

God doesn’t just use the important, influential, high society men and women. God uses willing hearts who are obedient to His call. We don’t need a huge bank account, important name, or large platform in order to be used by God. You don’t need to be extraordinary—you just need to be available.The Spirit will do the rest.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be Available.

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Be Grafted Into His Vine

20 And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the LORD for the priest. ~ Leviticus 23:20

In the Law of Moses, the LORD gave seven feasts for Israel to keep year after year. During the Feast of Weeks, the is directing the Israelites to wave all the other required offerings along with the two loaves of bread of the firstfruits. Why does this matter to us today? The Law of Moses foreshadowed the coming of the good things fulfilled in Christ Jesus.

The loaf, or the bread, waved as a wave offering is always a representation of the body, or the spiritual body. To take it a step further, the wheat represents the Church. Therefore, the two loaves that were waved by the priest were made from the wheat harvest and are representative of the Church as firstfruits of the wheat harvest.

Jew and Gentile together form the Church as a firstfruits of His creatures. Even though Israel is the LORD’s chosen people, He made a way for all people to be grafted into the vine. He made a way for all people to be saved. Why? Because we are all His creation and He loves each and every one of us. How do we know this? Because Jesus died for all, Jews and Gentiles alike, in Him there is neither Jew nor Gentile, but one Church in Christ Jesus.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be Grafted Into His Vine.

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Join His Plan

Leviticus 23:15-21

15 You shall count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering. 16 You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall present a grain offering of new grain to the LORD. 17 You shall bring from your dwelling places two loaves of bread to be waved, made of two tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour, and they shall be baked with leaven, as firstfruits to the LORD. 18 And you shall present with the bread seven lambs a year old without blemish, and one bull from the herd and two rams. They shall be a burnt offering to the LORD, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the LORD. 19 And you shall offer one male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old as a sacrifice of peace offerings. 20 And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the LORD for the priest. 21 And you shall make a proclamation on the same day. You shall hold a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work. It is a statute forever in all your dwelling places throughout your generations.

This passage describes a special festival that God instructed His people, the Israelites, to celebrate called the Feast of Weeks, or Shavuot. It was a time to thank God for the wheat harvest and worship Him with offerings.

But there’s something even bigger going on here. These feasts weren’t just about crops or sacrifices—they were like a map pointing to Jesus and God’s plan to build His Church (Hebrews 10:1).

God’s feasts and rules in the Old Testament, like Shavuot (The Feast of Weeks), were shadows pointing to the real thing—Jesus Christ. They showed God’s people what He would do through His Son.

The Feast of Weeks, or Shavuot, happened 50 days after Passover. In the New Testament, this is called the Day of Pentecost.

On Pentecost, after Jesus rose from the dead, God poured out His Holy Spirit on His followers. That was the birth of the Church!

For hundreds of years, God’s people, the Israelites, celebrated Shavuot, not realizing it was a shadow of the Holy Spirit coming to live in us and unite us as God’s family.

The two loaves in Leviticus, offered during Shavuot, can remind us of how Jesus brings all people—Jews and non-Jews, or what is called gentiles—together through His love and the gift of the Holy Spirit. God’s plan was always to make us one family, forgiven and filled with His Spirit.

Sometimes, God’s plans aren’t always clear to us. Sometimes, it isn’t even fulfilled in our lifetimes. Even though we may not always know God’s plans, we can know one thing, His plans are for our good and not to harm us, but to give us a hope and a future. So, follow the plan of the LORD, even if you’re not quite sure where He’s leading you.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Join His Plan.

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Seek True Friendship

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

[9] Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. [10] For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! [11] Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? [12] And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Trusting other people is one of the hardest things for me. Why? Because people will always let you down. It’s in our human nature. We’re not perfect so we often fail ourselves and others. This causes me to not want to let others in. I’ve tried to have close friends I can depend on but things always end negatively. It’s exhausting. The Devil knows this, so he whispers “You’re better off alone.”

If the enemy can isolate you from the rest of the Church, then he can better keep you from reaching your full potential. So, he uses people around you in order to hurt you. To convince you that you are meant to be alone, but don’t believe it. Don’t give in.

Even though people will let you down and they will hurt you, you can’t separate yourself from the Church or the world. We are the light of the world and the salt of the world. We are called to be in the world but not of it and one with the Church, as we are one body in Christ. Therefore, guard your heart, strengthen your discernment, and pray for relationships.

Pray the LORD will send good, loving, loyal people into your lives that can grow with you. People that will build you up and that you build up. People who will rejoice in your victories and you can rejoice in theirs. People who don’t want to cause you stress or anxiety but want to be a shoulder you can lean on and a hand you can hold in, and vice versa.

The enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy but God sends people into your life that can help you and you can help.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Seek True Friendship.

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Don’t Miss Lessons

2 Timothy 3:16-17

[16] All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, [17] that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

I’ve noticed a recurring argument from the world. If Jesus didn’t address a sin, then it doesn’t actually count as a sin. This is an argument of desperation in order to ease the conscience of those living in sin. When our conscience screams the Truth at us, it’s difficult to continue until you silence the Truth in you with lies. Here’s the problem with that, not every teaching of Jesus was recorded (John 21:25), and not every teaching was necessary for the Jews of Jesus’ day, as it wasn’t a part of their culture.

This is why Paul had to detail each letter to the specific city he was writing to. This is why the Bible is really just several different writers writing to several different people facing several different sins and circumstances. So, when we isolate the Bible down to simply what Jesus verbally said during His 3 ½ year earthly ministry, we miss a lot.

Jesus never spoke about, or at the very least it’s never recorded addressing rape, incest, pedophilia, etc. Shall we overlook all of these sins as well? Of course not. When we try to limit the Bible down to one writer, speaker, or book, we miss out on so much. We miss out on the entire heart of God.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Don’t Miss Lessons.

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Turning A Cheek

38 You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you. ~ Matthew 5:38-42

Turning the other cheek is one of the hardest teachings in the commands of Jesus. It forces you to completely deny and crucify your flesh. Your flesh wants to defend itself. It wants to get revenge. We can see this from the very beginning. Repaying evil for evil, with no restraint. This was the purpose of the Law of Moses.

God began reigning in the flesh by confining revenge to “an eye for an eye” and “a tooth for a tooth,” so that no one would take a life for an eye without facing punishment again. God was preparing us for His final Law “turn the other cheek.”

See, we are called to be the Light of the World. The World hates us, because it hates Christ whom we represent. Therefore, in order to reach the world, we must not act like the world. The world doesn’t fight fair. It’s manipulative, deceptive, and wicked. If we give into our natural urges to slap back and get revenge the world will respond. It will call us out. It will hold us to a standard it dare not hold itself to.

So, what are we to do? Turn the other cheek. Fight your natural instinct. How? Remind yourself that no revenge can compare to the vengeance of the LORD God Almighty. So, be different. Be Christ to the world.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Turn A Cheek.

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