Devotionals Archives

October 8, 2024October 8, 2024

Remember God Sees

¹⁰You felt secure in your wickedness; you said, “No one sees me”; your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray, and you said in your heart, “I am, and there is no one besides me.” ~ Isaiah 47:10

The Scripture says that ‘you felt secure in your wickedness.’ That word wickedness pertains to that which is not morally pure or morally good, nor is it morally right. It further implies that this evil hinders or severs a relationship with a person or principle that is proper or has morals.

For instance, it is morally wrong to take the life of a defenseless little baby still safe and secure in its mother’s womb. Yet, some in the Church will fight you tooth and nail to defend a woman’s right to murder her own child. It’s her body, after all. But I digress.

Now, according to the definition of wickedness that we just read, it should, at the very least, hinder a relationship or, at best, sever the relationship with those who have proper principles or good and proper morals. Yet, that is not what we are seeing in the Church today. Morals are thrown out the window, and identity politics are led in the front door.

It’s not what you stand for, it’s how you look, or what party you associate with. The Scripture implied that those who felt secure in their wickedness felt like they would never get caught. No one will ever know because “No one sees me,” they said. But, rest assured, God sees. Therefore, cling to righteousness, lest you be separated from Christ for all eternity because of wickedness.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Remember God Sees.

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Don’t Succumb

⁸ We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; ⁹ persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; ~ 2 Corinthians 4:8-9

There’s a show called Downton Abbey, and within this show, one of the main characters’ husband dies in a car crash right after she gives birth. He was on his way home to get the rest of the family to see their new baby boy, but he never made it home. That destroyed this main character. She was once strong and confident, but now she is scared and unsure of herself. She and her brother-in-law, who lost his wife (her sister) during childbirth, get into an argument of sorts one day, and this is what he told her:

You’re frightened of being hurt again. But let me tell you this. You will be hurt again, and so will I, because being hurt is part of being alive.

Pain is a part of this life. It was never intended for mankind, but it has become an unavoidable part of our lives since Adam and Eve were removed from the Garden of Eden. Pain is an unavoidable side effect of Adam’s sin in the Garden of Eden. We can’t erase it. We can’t run away from it. It’s something that each one of us has to go through. We have to endure, lest it consume us, as it did the main character of Downton Abbey.

She gave up on work as well as love. She just gave up in life, completely. The fact of the matter is life is hard. It’s easy to give up. It’s easy to allow pain and suffering to consume us, but that’s not our destiny. That’s not what God has called us to. Yes, pain and suffering is unavoidable, but succumbing to them is a choice.

We, the Church, the body of Christ, are blessed and highly favored. We are the very bride of Christ. We may be struck down, but we are not destroyed. We may be persecuted, but we are not abandoned. We are in the hands of the Living God. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last. He is the Good Shepherd who has given Himself for His sheep.

Therefore, when troubles come our way that begin to weigh us down and try to consume us, we have to lift the burdens off of us and lay them at the feet of Jesus. We have to cast our anxieties upon Him because He cares for us.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Don’t Succumb.

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Obtain Truth

¹⁰ … your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray, and you said in your heart, “I am, and there is no one besides me.” ~ Isaiah 47:10b

Secret knowledge makes one wiser than those who are in the dark. And that kind of ‘knowledge-power’ can make one arrogant, haughty, and overconfident.

There is a game played with a whole bunch of players called werewolf. In the game where everyone gets a card with the word ‘villager’ written on it, but two players get a card with the word werewolf written on it.

Then, someone runs the game to ensure that no one is cheating. Then the leader says, “Okay it’s nighttime everyone please close your eyes. Now, werewolves, choose someone to kill.” After the person is chosen, the one in charge of the game says, “Okay, it’s morning, and announces that a certain person was killed during the night.”

All the players now have a conversation about who the werewolf is and who they are going to kill. The game continues until either both werewolves are killed or all but two villagers are killed. More times than not, the werewolves win. What is the purpose of the game?

Well, the game was invented by a Russian sociology student who wanted to prove his thesis that an uninformed majority will always lose the battle of information against an informed minority. Which proves that someone having hidden information can completely manipulate a large group of people, and that’s what they have done, with the secret meetings.

Knowledge is power. As long as we refuse to seek knowledge, we will never have true freedom in this world. We have to seek to open our eyes to the truth. Obtaining truth is the key to fixing our world. Why? Because when we have truth, we won’t fall for deceitful lies.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Obtain Truth.

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Call On Jesus

¹⁴For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. ~ Ephesians 3:14-19

I want us to fully understand what Paul is writing here because it is very important. Paul said, for this reason, I kneel before the Father. But for what reason? The reason is, the Ephesians were becoming a little discouraged because of Paul’s suffering for the Gospel. And if Paul, a mighty man of God, would go through such suffering, is it not worth it? So, it is for that reason, so that the Ephesians would not be discouraged about serving God because of Paul’s sufferings basically for them.

He wrote, “I want you to understand this.” Understand what? Understand the love that God has for us. Because if you can understand that love, and understand the width, the height, the depth of Jesus’ love that surpasses all knowledge, then you will be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

If you don’t understand the love of God, then you will think that God is always out to get you. He is up there just waiting in the wings of heaven waiting for you to mess up, and splat, He has you. But that is not how the love of God works.

God actually looks for someone doing what is right so that He can bless them. And those who are doing wrong? Well, He looks for an intercessor who will pray and intercede for the people who are doing wrong so that He will not have to carry out His swift and terrible judgment on them.

God never interferes with what is going on on earth, unless we ask Him to. He said the Heavens are His, but He has given earth to mankind. It’s our job to take care of the earth and those who dwell on it, and when we cannot get the job done, we call on Jesus.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Call On Jesus.

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Make It High Priority

²²How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? ~ Proverbs 1:22

There is none as blind as those who refuse to see. Even when the evidence stares them dead in the face they still refuse to see, or even take a look. The Proverb ends with God promising that whoever listens to Him will dwell secure and will be at ease and will be without dread of disaster.

One thing we can always rest assured of is God is for us and not against us. God always has our best interest at heart. He does not see dollar signs when He looks at us, nor does he look at us with disgust. But as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear Him (Psalms 103:13).

God will never deceive you, nor will He ever lie to you. We can fully trust Him. He does not have a hidden agenda. God wants us to be obedient to His commands, and to love Him and love each other. Have you thought about that love in terms of eternity? Have you placed it as a high priority?

What I mean is, have you consciously sat and considered the question, where will I spend eternity? Because you will spend eternity in one place or the other. Either you will spend your eternity in paradise with Jesus, where every need is supplied and every tear wiped away. Where there will be no more hunger and no more thirst, or even heartaches, because there will be no more sad goodbyes. Or the alternative is to spend eternity in a lake of fire being tormented and in severe anguish forever and ever with no chance of parole or ever getting out.

The bottom line is this, Jesus is coming back real soon, and His rewards are with Him. Those who know Jesus as LORD and Savior will be saved, those who have rejected Him, or who have just plain waited too long, will be sent to the Lake of Fire.

If you want to spend eternity in paradise with all of your needs met, now is your opportunity. All you have to do is repent and accept the free gift of Salvation that has already been offered to you. This is one action you don’t want to put off, as tomorrow isn’t promised to any person, but eternity is promised to everyone.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Make It High Priority.

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Let Truth Flourish

¹³But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. ¹⁴To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁵So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter. ~ 2 Thessalonians 2:13-15

If you will not search for the truth and believe the truth, you are destined to believe the lie. So, how do we overcome deception?

Be thankful to God, be sanctified by the Spirit, and believe in the Truth. God’s Word is truth. It is not nullified by science; science is nullified by God’s Word. Jesus is the Word that became flesh. Truth is the only antidote for lies, and lies cannot flourish where free speech prospers.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Let Truth Flourish.

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Check Where You’re At

⁴ … Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. ~ James 4:4b

You have to understand, the world is not for you, unless you are a part of it. That means that if you are a child of God, the world does not care about you. Why not? Because we are not a part of it, or so James tells us. Therefore, if the world has embraced you, check your Christianity, it is likely you have made yourself an enemy of God.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Check Where You’re At.

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There’s No Sacrifice Left

²⁶For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, ²⁷but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. ~ Hebrews 10:26-27

The writer of Hebrews says, “Do not go on sinning, for if you do go on sinning, you will nullify the sacrifice of the cross. And if you nullify the sacrifice of the cross, you will void the salvation that Jesus has lavished on us. And if you void the salvation that Jesus has lavished on us, then there is nothing left to look forward to, except for the fearful expectation of the judgment of the Lake of Fire.”

So, what does it mean to go on sinning deliberately? The Scriptures says that if you know the right thing to do and you refuse to it, then you are sinning.

Therefore, it would be in your best interest to read the Bible to see what it says about right or wrong so that you will know what the right thing is so that you can do it. Do not rely on a man or a woman to tell you. Yes, listen to your preachers, listen to your pastors, listen to your evangelists, but do as the Bereans did and search the Scriptures daily to see if what Paul was teaching them was accurate. You, too, must read your Bible for yourself so that you will not be deceived or led astray.

There is so much deceitfulness in the world today, and it’s no different in the Church, therefore, your only hope of truth is in the Bible. Do not believe the lie that the Bible is outdated, or has changed to the point of being unreliable, or untrustworthy. Believe me, if God is real, and He is, He is more than able to preserve His Word and He did.

Listen to this, Jesus is the Word that became flesh, and He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He will not and cannot change; therefore, neither will His Word change. His Word is unchanging, immovable, indivisible, and infallible; it will remain the same forever and ever.

Therefore, do not listen when society tells you that it is okay to live a certain lifestyle; rather, read the Word of God to see what it says about what they said. Do not participate in everything that those who live to promote the pleasures of life say is acceptable to God or tell you that is what Jesus would do. Read the Word of God for yourself, and the Spirit of Truth will reveal to you and open your eyes because He has promised to fill those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

Remember, the return of Jesus is closer now than ever before, and we must be ready to receive Him, so that He will receive us into His kingdom.

Heavenly Father, please open my eyes to see and recognize lies. Help me to see and recognize truth; Your Word is truth. Help me to cling to Your truth and obey Your Word. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Allow For Sadness

³⁵Jesus wept. ~ John 11:35

There’s a movie called Inside Out. The movie is centered around a young girl, Riley, who’s having a great life when, all of a sudden, she moves from her hometown to a whole new state. Within Riley’s mind are five emotions that help Riley become Riley. Fear, Jealousy, Anger, Sadness, and Joy. The entire plot of the movie is centered around Joy trying to find a way to change and/or remove Sadness so that Riley will only feel joy. As the movie progresses and hits its climax, Joy realizes that Sadness is a necessary emotion for Riley to feel. She realizes that Sadness can actually help Riley. This is true for so many people.

We try our best to bury sadness. We don’t want to deal with the pain or grief that sadness brings because it hurts. But sadness is a part of life. When we allow ourselves to embrace and face pain, grief, disappointment, sadness, then we allow ourselves to move past these feelings. Instead of suppressing them and letting them fester. Instead of letting them grow out of hand, which then ultimately suppresses our joy.

Sadness doesn’t mean that we’re weak. It doesn’t mean that we’re depressed, nor does it mean that we don’t have joy. Allowing ourselves to naturally cycle through emotions will allow us to naturally move forward with our lives. Throughout the Old Testament we see mentions of Days of Mourning after someone had passed away. Suppressing the natural emotion of sadness won’t stop sadness, it will only begin to consume you and leave no room for joy.

Therefore, allow yourself to mourn, cry, and face the pain of this world, just don’t let it consume. Because all who mourn will be comforted. One day, we will no longer have any more pain, hurt, sorrow, or sadness when Christ wipes every tear from our eyes, but for now, we have to face the pain and lean on Christ until it is all taken away from us.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Allow For Sadness.

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Heed Wisdom

²²How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? ~ Proverbs 1:22

As Wisdom glides along the crowded streets, she desperately warns the people. She cups her hands and yells, “The return of Christ is at hand, get yourself ready and get your house in order, for now is the time of salvation.” But no one even notices. No heads are turned. No eyes are shifted in her direction. No conversations are broken. Life goes on pretty much the same as always. There is no change.

Yet, she continues her heralding.

“Prophecies foretold in Scripture are coming to pass. Therefore, seek and you will find. Call upon Him while He is near. Do not wait. Do not hesitate, for His return is nigh at hand.”

But no one even notices her as she glides by. So, she changes her strategy and cries out again:

“There are more and more scientists coming out stating that studies show that wireless and Bluetooth products are causing an increase in brain cancer, and radiation can cause health issues.”

But still, no one pays attention or even halfway listens. Then, Wisdom screams at the top of her lungs,

“At least look into the matter. At least check out the facts. Do a little homework for yourself and do not rely on the opinions of those who stand to profit off of you and call it philanthropy.”

But again, no one pays attention or even looks up from their leisurely conversations. This is our reality today. We are being lulled asleep by the distractions of this world, as wisdom is screaming at the top of her lungs for us to pay attention to her guidance and warnings, but we never do.

Wake up. Today is the day of salvation. Tomorrow is promised to no man. Today is the day of following Christ and living for Him, standing up for righteousness, and telling someone about His goodness. Today is all we have; tomorrow may never come. We need to live each day as if it’s our last so that when we stand before the throne of grace, we will have no regrets.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Heed Wisdom.

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Tag: Devotionals

Remember God Sees

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