Devotionals Archives

September 28, 2024October 8, 2024

Prepare Yourselves

¹⁸The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth. ~ Revelation 11:18

The Bible seems to indicate that God believes that His earth is being deliberately destroyed, and He will deal with those who are destroying it. The Scripture said that the time had come for God to destroy the destroyers of the earth. What does that mean, except that there is a time and a season for everything under heaven, and their time, the destroyers of the earth, will come?

I believe that all that is happening is fulfillment of the signs of the times and speaks of the late season that we are living in. In other words, it is past the eleventh hour. It is, in fact, ticking to midnight. These happenings and these signs herald the Good News that Jesus is on His way—He is coming back real soon. We need to encourage ourselves with this.

See, 2,000 years ago, when Jesus walked this earth during His earthly ministry, He Himself promised that “I’ll be back.” That did not originate with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Jesus Himself said, “I will soon return.” He further stated that the one who endures until the end will be saved (Matthew 24:13).

Jesus is coming back to judge the living and the dead (2 Timothy 4:1), and we need to be ready for His return. Although there is chaos in the world, let not your heart be troubled. Yes, things are happening around us that are way out of our control. Events and phenomena are occurring that are perplexing. Sometimes, it seems like all hell has broken out against us.

But let not your heart be troubled. You might feel alone, but here is the truth. Yes, Jesus was taken up into heaven, but that same Jesus who was taken up into heaven in a cloud on the day of Ascension over 2,000 years ago will return in like manner to get us so that where He is, there we shall be also (Acts 1:10-11). Therefore, we must be the voice crying out, “Prepare yourselves, for the return of the LORD is at hand, and His judgments are with Him, to repay good with good and to repay evil with evil.”

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Prepare Yourselves.

Back to Encouragement?

Back to Daily Bread?

Dwell In Your God-Given Promise

2 Corinthians 11:14
[14] And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

Chapter 18 of 2 Kings tells of some of the events in King Hezekiah’s reign. More specifically, in the fourteenth year of his reign, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them (2 Kings 18:13).

But before that, he had taken Samaria, which was the capital of the Northern kingdom and dispersed the Israelites out of the land and into captivity.
Now, he has turned his greedy little eyes Southward with a strong desire to take Jerusalem. So, he sends his high-ranking officials up to Jerusalem, since he was now fighting in Lachish, with a message for the people of Judah.

Surrender to me, and I will spare your lives, was basically the message. He was trying to do was to intimidate both the people and the soldiers sitting on the wall.
He tried to intimidate them into surrendering by telling them that their lives would be spared, if they surrendered, in hopes that they would surrender without him having to fight another war.
He tells them to make peace with him. In other words, they were to surrender and sign a peace treaty with him. And then, Judah was to stay in the city and enjoy their food, and drink, and water until he came and took them to another place, just like their own homeland.

The enemy works the same way today. The entire land of Israel (including the kingdom of Judah) was the heritage, the promise of the Israelites. A land following with milk and honey. A land filled with all that they could ever need. A good land. King Sennacherib wanted to conquer them and remove them from that land, and take over the land permanently. He promised them another land like it so that they wouldn’t miss their God-promised land.

We all have a promised land from God. We all have a heritage and inheritance that God has promised us, but the enemy doesn’t want us dwelling in the promises of God. Why? Because when we are a problem for him. If we are dwelling on the promises of God, then we are building the Kingdom of God. So what does he do? He comes in not as a threatening enemy but as a smooth negotiator. Look, I’ll give you something of equal or greater value. All you have to do is make the deal with me.

So many take the backhanded deal, thinking that they are making a deal with a friend, not realizing that the enemy has just deceitfully transformed himself into an angel of light just so you could trust him. Don’t let the enemy fool you. Don’t give up your God-given promises for the temporary pleasures of the world. They won’t last, and they aren’t worth it.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Dwell In Your God-Given Promise.

Back to Spiritual Warfare?

Back to Daily Bread?

Make Sure They Know Who You Are

⁵ Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, ⁶but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. ⁷And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ ⁸Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. ~ Matthew 10:5-8

Jesus had given His twelve disciples authority over demonic spirits; therefore, it would be safe to assume that they used their authority to cast out demons as well as heal the sick. The sons of Sceva were operating at this level of faith, but they did not know Jesus as LORD and Savior. Therefore, the demon said, “… Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” (Acts 19:15)

Demons recognize a child of God as they did in Acts 16:17 with Paul and his companions. They also readily recognized Jesus and ran up to Him and fell down at His feet proclaiming, “You are the Holy One of God (Luke 4:34).” Something that the religious leaders of the day struggled to do. They neither recognized Him as the Holy One of God, nor did they proclaim Him to be.

When you are a Christian, you are under the protection of Jesus Himself. Demonic spirits cannot jump on you and beat you senseless as they did to the seven sons of Sceva, the high priest. They recognize the spiritual mark that God places on us, His children, and they certainly did not see one on Sceva’s seven sons. That is why they were like, “Who are you?” The Seven Sons of Sceva didn’t have God’s mark on them, His shield of protection around them.

This is the importance of your relationship with Christ Jesus. Our power and authority are only found in Him. Without Him, we are nothing. That is what the sons of Sceva learned the hard way. The unclean spirit wasn’t asking who they were, as in he had no idea who they were, but in the sense of “who do you think you are?” “Who are you to me?” “Why should I obey you? Jesus, I know. Paul, I know. But you? Who are you to me?”

We are in a spiritual war. Each and every one of us. It may not be the same experience as the sons of Sceva, but it’s just as life and death, if not more. Each day we get up, we battle unclean spirits that desire to overtake us and make us a slave to them. Anger, hate, lust, sexual immorality, addiction, etc., all of these unclean spirits try to consume us and turn us into their slaves. The only way we can overcome, is through Christ Jesus. I want to ask you a very important question, “Does the Kingdom of Darkness know who you are?”

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Make Sure They Know Who You Are.

Back to Spiritual Warfare?

Back to Daily Bread?

To Be Crucified With Christ

¹⁹For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. ²⁰I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. ²¹I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. ~ Galatians 2:19-21

Paul is referring to the law that says, the soul that sinneth it shall die (Ezekiel 18:20). The law brought awareness to sin, and with awareness came death. But through Christ, we have all been made alive, not to live for our own selves, but to live for our LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ. So, we crucify the flesh, which is a spiritual term and not a physical one. To be crucified with Christ means that we no longer live for our own selves, but we live to please Christ.

Why? Because it was Christ who loved us so much that He was willing to come to this old dusty earth to die a horrible, horrific death so that we might live in glory with Him. So, Paul is assuring us that we are not saved through close adherence to the law, but in obedience to Jesus’ commandments to “Love the LORD our God with all of our heart and all of our soul and with all our mind” (Matthew 22:37), and to “Love our neighbor as ourself” (Matthew 22:39).

Then, the Apostles and elders in Jerusalem laid down this law for us gentile believers. They said, ²⁸For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: ²⁹that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell” (Acts 15:28-29).

Paul said that he did not nullify the grace of God, but rather, he lived to please the LORD. And that is the message for today. Obey these commandments that have been given to us. Love the LORD. Love your neighbor. Don’t eat what is sacrificed to idols. Don’t eat blood. Don’t eat what is strangled. And keep away from sexual immorality. We are assured that if we keep away from these things, we do well.

Father, thank You for loving us. Thank You, LORD Jesus, for dying on the cross for us. I want my flesh to be crucified with Christ so that I can live to please the LORD Jesus. Help me as I strive to live for You, my God. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

Back to Growth?

Back to Daily Bread?

Today Is That Day

¹ Working together with Him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. ²For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. ~ 2 Corinthians 6:1-2

Paul said that they, working together with Him, appeal to us. Working with whom? With the LORD God Almighty, that’s who. Paul made it clear that he was not working alone, but he was working with Almighty God to spread the Gospel of truth so that we might hear and believe and thus be saved. God is not willing for any of us to be lost. For God Himself said, “In a favorable time, I listened to you, and in a day of salvation, I have helped you.”

The greatest thing that anybody can do is to accept the salvation that is offered to him or her. For God Himself said that today is the day of salvation. You are not promised tomorrow. You are not even promised another five minutes. We are only promised the present, for once the clock ticks, that time is now in the past, and the next second is the future, and we are not promised it.

Therefore, it would behoove each one of us to make our election sure. It is essential for us to ensure that we are right with God. Why? Because there is coming a day when the LORD Jesus will come back to get all of those who love Him and are watching and waiting for His return. Those who love Him will be with Him forever and ever, but those whose name is not found in the Lamb’s Book of Life will be sent to the Lake of Fire, and there they will spend their eternity.

Maybe you have been saved for many years now, but your love for Jesus has waxed cold, or maybe lukewarm at best. You go through the motions, not realizing that you have drifted away from Him. Paul is appealing to you, do not receive the grace of God in vain. Do not let your love for Him grow limp, or your strength grow weary in doing good. But work hard for the LORD, do what He has called you to do, for you do not know the hour on which He will return.

So, remember, today is the day of salvation. Now is the time to get right with your God; you may not get another chance.

Father, I ask for Your forgiveness. I repent of my sins and renounce all of my transgressions. Help me to live my life for You and not be left behind. I understand that today is the day of salvation, now is the acceptable time. I want my life to reflect You, LORD Jesus, so help me. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

Back to Growth?

Back to Daily Bread?

Flow

¹³Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the LORD Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” ¹⁴Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. ¹⁵But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” ¹⁶And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. ~ Acts 19:13-16

The seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish high priest, were not Christians; they were, in fact, followers of Judaism like their father, a Jewish high priest. Even though they weren’t following Christ, they saw the power of His name and began imitating Paul and successfully casting out unclean and evil spirits. How is this possible? Because when someone combines ο pistis (the faith) with the name of Jesus, evil and unclean spirits must evacuate their stronghold on that person or that particular place.

The problem here, however, with the sons of Sceva, was that they may have had the faith, but they didn’t have the authority. See, they did not know Jesus. They knew of Him. They knew of Paul. And they knew of the power of His name, but that was it. They had no relationship with Christ. The other problem was that they didn’t realize that some spirits are stronger than others. So, while they were successfully casting out weaker, unclean, and evil spirits when they faced a stronger spirit, they couldn’t cast out the spirit because they didn’t have the authority.

See, faith can only take you so far. Faith is the foundation, but you can’t live on just a foundation, you need walls and a roof as well in order to keep you safe and secure from the elements. Therefore, you also need a relationship with Christ, which leads to spiritual authority and covering. If you live on just the initial faith that gets you salvation, you’ll never grow. If you don’t grow, you’ll be stagnant. If you’re stagnant, you’re doing nothing with the faith given to you, and you’ll be cut off. Why? Because every branch that does not produce good fruit is cut off from the vine.

Therefore, keep growing. Build on your faith. Build on your relationship with God. Don’t remain stagnant, but instead be like a stream of flowing water. The more you grow in your relationship with Christ Jesus, the more your faith will grow. The more your faith will grow, the more your authority and protection in Christ will grow. These are all intertwined in one another and can’t truly be separated. Therefore, grow each one so that you may be able to stand strong against any spiritual attack by the enemy.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Flow.

Back to Spiritual Warfare?

Back to Daily Bread?

Seek Out His Power

¹⁵And He said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. ¹⁶Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. ¹⁷And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; ¹⁸they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” ~ Mark 16:15-18

Notice that there are five signs that Jesus said will follow the believer. Now, the number five is the number of the Church. Meaning that these signs are for His Church. They are for us. Jesus said as much when He said, “And these signs will accompany those who believe.”

Who is that? The “… those who believe…” It is us, the Church. The Church of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Also, I want you to please notice that Jesus did not say, these signs will accompany you, or these signs will accompany my apostles, or my chosen ones, or any specific set of people. But rather, Jesus said these signs will accompany those who believe and use His Name.

Oh, wait, brother Kenny, Jesus did not say to use His Name. Okay, granted, but He sure inferred it or implied it when He said,

… those who believe: in my name, they will …

Meaning that, first, you have to be a believer. You can’t be a believer without believing. Christians were called believers before they were called Christians. Then He says, “In my name, they will …” Meaning that we must use His name to accomplish the things that we have been given authority over.

Now, that also means that these signs were not for a specific people for a specific time as those who have no power try to advocate. They claim that all those signs ceased to exist when the last apostle died. But the Scriptures does not say it was for a specific time nor was it only for the apostles, but for those who believe. Jesus was very specific with that. When we operate in the power of Jesus, then signs will follow.

In short, no power, no signs. Therefore, we must seek the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul said the Kingdom of God isn’t a matter of talk but power. Jesus said that walking in power is a sign that you follow Him. So, why would we not seek the power of God?

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Seek Out His Power.

Back to Growth?

Back to Daily Bread?

Seek Only The Truth

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

While Wisdom screams at the top of her lungs, those who are spiritually asleep will never hear her call. Wisdom calls out to each of us. She gives each and every one of us the opportunity to know and understand the Truth. To see through the lies, deceit, and trickery of the enemy, but if we have closed our ears to righteousness, calloused our hearts, and sewn our eyes shut, then we will never hear her call.

I’ve read many different stories of people who converted to Christianity from Islam, Buddhism, and Atheism. Even though each of these belief systems is vastly different, each one of these conversion stories has one key thing in common, they’re looking for the Truth, regardless of what the Truth is. Jesus promised that if we seek, we will find, and if we knock, the door will be opened to us. Each of these people did exactly that. They sought out the Truth, not the truth of their own beliefs, but The Truth. When they sought, Wisdom began to call to them, and their eyes began to open to The Truth.

Therefore, we can understand that 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. This is because they have spiritually killed themselves, taking away the very opportunity to hear Wisdom’s call.

If we want to truly hear from God and grow in our walk with Him. We have to seek His Truth. Not our truth, not the truth of the world, not the truth of church tradition, not the truth of our ancestors, not the truth of society, not the truth of culture, but The Truth of God. Only The Truth of God is trustworthy and perfect without flaw or corruption. Why? Because His very nature is good, perfect, love, and light.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Seek Only The Truth.

Back to Spiritual Slumber?

Back to Daily Bread?

Good Desires Are Not Always God Desires

⁸ However, the LORD said to my father David, “Since it was your desire to build a temple for my Name, you have done well to have this desire. ⁹ Yet, you are not the one to build the temple, but your son, your own offspring, will build the temple for my Name” ^CSB ~ 2 Chronicles 6:8-9

Solomon is referring to 2 Samuel chapter 7, where it states that after David had built himself a fine palace made out of cedar and God had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, he considered where he was living and where the Ark of God dwelt. The Ark was actually in a tent, while David lived in a fine house. He was convicted of it because David loved the LORD.

So, David calls Nathan the prophet and explains what he was thinking. Basically, he wanted to build the Temple of God. Nathan hears and thinks to himself this is a noble desire and to be sure it is a noble desire. So, Nathan the prophet said to David the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you” (2 Samuel 7:3). But that night, the Word of the LORD came to the prophet Nathan and basically said that it was not David’s job or assignment to build Him a house, or the Temple of God. He had too much blood on his hands, so God would raise up his son, Solomon, to build the Temple.

Here is the moral of the story. Good desires are not always God’s desires. No matter how noble the cause, or how Godly the outcome, a good desire is not always a God desire. Meaning that what was in David’s heart was indeed noble and Godly, but it was not placed there by God because God had reserved that job for someone else, namely, David’s son Solomon.

So, God told Nathan to go back to David and tell him that he did well to want to build the temple, but you are not the one to do it. Instead, here is what I will do for you. I will build you a lasting house, a dynasty that will last forever. The Promised Messiah will come through your lineage, and through Him, your throne, O David, will be established forever.

Here is the takeaway. If David had persisted on doing that good thing even though it was noble and righteous, he would have been out of God’s will, and therefore, he would be in blatant rebellion against God. Therefore, whatever we do, no matter how noble or how God-focused it may seem, take it to God in prayer. You may not be the one called to do that particular thing. God may have someone else slated for that job. The bottom line is, whatever you do, first, season it with prayer. Talk to God about it.

Heavenly Father, please help me to know Your good and perfect will. May I always remember to take my plans to You in prayer that I may be sure that I am in Your good and perfect will. Thank You that I can be a part of what You are doing in the Earth, and that You have chosen me as part of it. Help me to know my part and not falter nor fail in what You have called me to do; in Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

Back to Growth?

Back to Daily Bread?

Trust And Obey

²²And the Philistines came up yet again and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim. ²³And when David inquired of the LORD, he said, “You shall not go up; go around to their rear, and come against them opposite the balsam trees. ²⁴And when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then rouse yourself, for then the LORD has gone out before you to strike down the army of the Philistines.” ²⁵And David did as the LORD commanded him, and struck down the Philistines from Geba to Gezer ~ 2 Samuel 5:22-25

When David was anointed king over Israel, the Philistines heard about it and went in search of him, apparently to execute him. Remember, David was actually living with the Philistines, the enemy of the Israelites, because King Saul was hunting him in order to kill him. The Philistines even gave him and his men the city of Ziklag (1 Samuel 27:6). It is likely that they even considered him their friend and ally because when he was anointed king of Judah, the Philistines stayed where they were because Abner, along with Israel, had anointed Saul’s son king of Israel. But as soon as Ish-bosheth was assassinated and David was anointed king of Israel, they went in search of him. David then inquired of the LORD, shall I go up and fight against the Philistines? And the LORD said go, and so he went and defeated the Philistines (2 Samuel 5:17-21).

The Philistines regrouped and tried again, according to 2 Samuel 5:22-25. This time, when David inquired of God whether he should go up and fight the Philistines, God answered no. Do not go up and fight, but go behind them and wait. Then, when you hear the sound of marching in the balsam trees, rouse yourself, for then you will know that your God has gone out before you to defeat your enemy, the Philistines. And David did as God instructed.

Remember that David is a warrior; his instincts are to get up and fight. Com’on men, strap on your swords; we got a fight in front of us. But God said no, not this time, don’t do what you do best, but rather, wait for me, and you will have victory. It’s difficult to just sit and wait, not knowing what is going on or how long you will have to wait. Especially right after having such a great victory as the one earlier against the same Philistines. The words, “I can do all things,” springs to attention in the mind in times like those.

You have to rest in the assurance that God can use anything and anyone. This time, He chose to have David wait, which is a lesson in trusting and obeying, even when it seems almost nonsensical. If the general of today’s army told his men that is what he was doing, waiting for a certain sound in the tops of certain trees, they would probably lose all confidence in their commanding officer. But, the Word of God says, …to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams (1 Samuel 15:22b^NIV). For David, his full confidence was in God, and for his men, their confidence was in knowing that David had a relationship with God and heard from Him.

So, the next time you feel like running on ahead with a certain project or a certain way of doing things because you’re good at it, pray, listen, and wait for the LORD. He doesn’t always do things the same way every time. He is a God of variety and color. It does not matter how silly it seems to others or even to yourself, but if you get a word from God, follow that word and trust and obey, no matter how silly or how nonsensical it may sound to others or to you.

Heavenly Father, thank You that you can use anything and everything, anyone and everyone. Nothing is too difficult or too easy, but all things are possible for You. Thank You, Father, that you work everything to the good of those who love You. Teach me to wait on You. Teach me to trust and obey. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

Back to Faith?

Back to Daily Bread?