Tag: Devotionals

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Cling To Sound Doctrine

1 But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. ~ Titus 2:1

As an online Church, we get firsthand encounters (through the comment section) that we wouldn’t necessarily see in person. Now, don’t get me wrong, we are expecting to one day have a physical church, but for now, the LORD is showing us things and preparing us for the future. So, with that said, my eyes have been opened more and more temperature of the majority of people who claim to be Christians. The majority that I come in contact with are those who will argue their belief to the ground but never be able to show you one single verse to prove their belief.

What a sad state of the world. We are to be Christ to the world, and Christ is the Good Doctor (Mark 2:17). Let’s now put that into perspective. Imagine going to the doctor because you hurt your ankle, and instead of doing tests to see what’s going on with your ankle, your doctor walks in, looks at you, and says you need brain surgery. He hasn’t done a single test but yet is jumping to a conclusion that doesn’t fit the evidence before him that he refuses to acknowledge. Would you go to that doctor?

The majority of us have become like doctors today who don’t try to fix problems, don’t know the root or cause of a problem, yet will put you on addictive and harmful prescription medication that doesn’t fix the problem. This is what we do when we push beliefs that we can’t defend or even find evidence for in Scripture and refuse to accept the evidence shown to us. If we are going to be Christ to the world, we have to be able to show the Word of God to the world. That can only start by first being a student and a studier of the Word of God, to make sure what you are being taught is truly from the Word of God.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Cling To Sound Doctrine.

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Don’t Be Caught Lacking

15 Instead, you should say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 But as it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So it is sin to know the good and yet not do it. ~ James 4:15-17CSB

My whole life, I’ve heard my parents say LORD’s willing when speaking of our future tasks. I myself have even said, but not enough around a certain person that she even told her husband she’s never heard me or my mother say it. When I search through my phone, I have message after message of me and my parents saying LORD’s willing, but I don’t have any to her saying it. This struck me as odd.

See, I was put in her life to help guide her in the Word of the LORD and help her grow in Christ, but I can’t find a message of me saying LORD’s willing to her. This could easily be something that anyone could say was just a coincidence, but I don’t believe in coincidences. I believe in spiritual warfare.

When you become comfortable around someone, and you don’t know why they’re in your life, you stop being intentional with every word you speak. To my own shame, it wasn’t me who showed her or taught her LORD’s willing; it was her husband; she called me to see if he was right. I say to my shame because he had learned it that night and was being intentional with every word he said, making sure to use it so as not to be arrogant, as James says.

I, on the other hand, wasn’t being intentional because I didn’t even realize until recently my purpose in her life. While I was proud of her husband for his desire to grow in the LORD, I felt disappointed in myself that the enemy could remove an important covering phrase from my vocabulary when talking to the person who needed to hear it most.

As Christians, we have to yearn for and earnestly seek the Spirit of Discernment so that the Holy Spirit might be able to speak through us, even in things that we wouldn’t necessarily see as big. We have to be intentional with our words and focused on our purpose in people’s lives so that the enemy has no room to trip us up in our words or actions or the lack thereof.

Dear LORD, please forgive me for all the times that I’ve been unintentional with my words. Please forgive me for every time I’ve missed the role I have to play in someone else’s life. Please fill me with Your Holy Spirit and with the gift of discernment. Teach me to discern right and wrong. What I need to do and what I need not to do. Who is in my life, and whose life I am in. Teach me to strengthen my spirit man that I might not be caught lacking. Teach me to be a light in this darkness. Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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It’s Not Always About You

7 For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. ~ Romans 14:7

I have a friend who I was extremely close to but eventually pushed and put a halt to our friendship because I wasn’t being lifted up. I felt like I was just being torn down. Like they just wanted me in their life to lean on me but it wasn’t reciprocated. This bothered me a lot because I was expecting to have a friend, an older sister, I could go to in hard times, and we could help each other, but it wasn’t like that at all.

This became very discouraging to me. I felt so discouraged that I went to my mom and told her, “I have friends now, but I’m still alone.” I stopped communicating with her in the way that she was used to. Less involved and talkative, so our conversations became fewer and fewer. My mom kept encouraging me by telling me to try to overlook her shortcomings because she believed our friendship was important. One day after she told me that, I went to my computer, sat down, and began to write a song where I was pouring out my frustration with her, and I felt like God was opening my eyes to see (as I’m freestyling in the microphone) that the friendship wasn’t about me. It wasn’t for me. It was for her.

See, I was expecting a big sister I could lean on, but God had other plans. He didn’t put her in my life for me to have someone to lean on. He put me in her life so that I could be someone she could lean on. Someone she could learn from and grow because of. It wasn’t until I stopped expecting my own desires for the friendship and changed the way that I saw our relationship that I was able to speak with her and not feel distant and far off.

The people in your life aren’t always there for your benefit. Sometimes, you’re in their lives for their benefit.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Look For God’s Reasoning Instead Of Your Own.

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Stop Spitting

19 And He said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” ~ Matthew 4:19

Have you ever spit into a lake or pond and watched all the fish rush to consume your spit because they think it’s food? The fish are hungry, jumping at any chance of possible food thrown their way. This is the world we live in as well. So many people swarm spit, following a large crowd because they’re hoping that they might just be getting fed. They’re hungry. They have an emptiness in them, and all they want is to fill it.

Jesus said that He is the bread of life. He said that man doesn’t live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. He is the Word of God. So many people get caught up with mysticism, magic, and darkness because they don’t know that no matter how much they consume of that spit, they’ll never be nourished and satisfied.

No other religion or belief system is afraid of offending the world the way that Christians in the West are. We’ll even chastise and verbally attack a Christian who shares the Gospel and the love of Christ with another person. We condemn them and tell them that they need to be tolerant of other people’s beliefs like Jesus was. Jesus never gave the people empty words that lead to death. Peter said Jesus alone had the words of life because Jesus alone understood that the hungry fish needed bread and not spit.

Every time you condone, endorse, affirm, or tolerate sin, you’re spitting into the water, expecting to give nourishment to the fish around you. You’re doing nothing more than feeding them empty words that you will one day have to answer for yourself.

Dear LORD, teach me to give real food to the world. Help me not to be afraid of offending or pushing people away. Teach me to love people the way that You do, always striving to share the true Word of God with them. Help me to never spit into the water again but to throw in the bread of life. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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We Are Known And Loved By God

7 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. ~ Luke 12:7

We callously read this verse without actually thinking about what Jesus is saying here. Let’s just pause for a brief moment and ponder what our LORD is telling us. He says, “Why,” not asking a question, but making an almost unbelievable statement as in, can you believe this? “Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered.” Who does that? God does! He loves us so much that the very hairs on our heads are numbered and known to Him, and not one falls out without Him knowing.

If we can just grab hold of that concept, it should bring a sense, or a feeling of great joy and self-worth that Almighty God, Creator God, Father God loves us that much to take the time to know the number of our very hairs on our head. Jesus is striving to help us get a hold of what is important. It’s not this life or hardships; it’s not even about successes. It’s about eternity, and God wants us to spend eternity with Him.

He proves His love in several ways, and one is that He knows the number of hairs on your head, and not one falls out without his knowledge and re-tallying the sum. Now, if He knows that, then He certainly knows what is going on with us. What our needs and burdens are. Who is persecuting us? Our lack of daily adequate finances, and He cares. So, tell Him your troubles, your worries, your concerns. He cares for you. He loves you with an unfailing love.

Heavenly Father, please help us to understand this huge concept of Your great love for us. Help us not take Your great love for granted but to be overwhelmed with such great salvation that You have lavished upon us. Help us to stir up the eternity that You have placed in our hearts. In Jesus name, I pray, amen.

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Never Quench Hope

8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways.” This is the Lord’s declaration. ~ Isaiah 55:8CSB

I remember a little while back; I was having a conversation with someone about the current state of the US. He saw no hope for our country. My response was that so many people have woken up in the last 3 or 4 years that probably would’ve never woken up if it had never happened. His response was, “So?” I could hardly believe it. I was in shock. This wasn’t a nonbeliever. This was a Church-going man trying to lead his family in the way of the LORD. Sadly, this is the temperature of the Church.

Many of us want a revolution. We want the Messiah to break that eastern sky and bring justice to the earth. We want the justice system fixed and evil put in its place, but we really don’t wanna pray for it. We don’t really wanna fast to see it happen. And if we don’t see it happen the way that we want it to go, then we refuse to rejoice in the hope that God gives us. If we’re not careful, we’ll find ourselves in the same boat as the men and women of Jesus’ day and age.

They had the Messiah there with them. God in flesh and bone walked and talked with them, teaching and healing them, but because He didn’t come the way they wanted or bring the kind of deliverance they wanted, they turned their backs on Him. They even went as far as to order His execution at the hands of the Romans.

If we want change and a move of God in our lives and in our nation, we have to pray and fast for a move. Then we have to trust and believe God that the move He makes is for our good and not our evil. That no matter how He sees best to intervene, we will accept it in faith because His ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. He knows the beginning and the end. He alone can dictate what is best for His people. So, when you look out into the world and see the evil, fast and pray, then stand in faith on promises of God, always rejoicing in each eye opened and every heart changed.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Never Quench Hope.

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The Tongue’s Power

21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits. ~ Proverbs 18:21

The tongue has the power to speak life or to speak death. That’s a very frightening thought, if you think about it, that our tongues hold that much power. I want you to stop and think about what I just said for just a moment. Our words are life, and they are death, and people throw words around as if they count for very little or for nothing.

People will let words like:

  • I will never succeed
  • I can’t do anything right
  • I will never make friends
  • I am a born loser
  • I will never get over this sickness
  • This is killing me

Just roll off their tongue as if it was water on a duck’s back, so to speak, without us even thinking about it. Listen, you don’t have to know it in order to speak it into being.

Words are alive because they are breath, which is spirit. Therefore, words will never die. That’s why the words of our prayers can come up before God as a memorial years after they have been spoken.

That’s also why the prayers of:

  • The saints long dead
  • Grandmothers
  • Grandfathers
  • Parents
  • Holy men and women of God

Will come to pass eventually because they are words that were spoken.

On the flip side, that is the same reason why curses, also known as generational curses, can plague generation after generation after generation because words have the power of life or death, and if they are life or death, that means they do not die, but they can be canceled.

Dear LORD, please forgive me for every careless word I’ve spoken about myself or other people. Please cancel each and every curse I’ve spoken, whether out of anger or idle talk, in the mighty name of Jesus. Please let life be the words I speak out of my mouth instead of death. Let my words be holy and pleasing to You, LORD God. Bridle my tongue. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Transformed

2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. ~ Romans 12:2

When you are born again, that is, when you first accept Jesus as LORD and Savior of your life and become a Christian or a Christ-follower, you don’t automatically know the will of God. The will of God is not somehow automatically downloaded. It must be developed.

The word “test” is a verb meaning to try so as to certify or to make certain of the genuine, trustworthy will of God. The same word can be used for a person who is said to have been tested in battle. So, why is it necessary to renew your mind?

Well, the easy answer is so that you can be transformed. But what does that mean, to be transformed? It simply means not to let yourself be forced into the mold of society’s ever-changing standards, values, and morals.

In short, Paul is saying, “Do not let society shape your behavior or your way of thinking.” Society, or culture has a way of pressuring its populace into validating its morals and ethics by forcing them to accept in their minds and confirm with their actions society’s version of right and wrong.

Dear LORD, please transform me by renewing my mind. Give me the strength to cast down thoughts that aren’t of You. Fill me with discernment so that I might know the Truth. That I might easily differentiate between right and wrong. Open my eyes so that I might see the Truth, even when the world tries to hide it from me. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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The Keyboard Warrior

35 And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” ~ Matthew 9:35-38

I recently posted a short that collected over 3,000 views. To say the least, I was ecstatic, but the more views I got, the more comments I received that were filled with insults, digs, and hatred simply because my views differed from theirs. The more I read, the more my heart began to break, not because my feelings were hurt or because I was offended by their comments but because they are people claiming Christianity. That means that they are supposed to represent Christ to the world.

Imagine if I was an unbeliever and this was me digging into the Bible for the first time; I would be completely turned off by Christianity because of these people. The internet has allowed us to feel comfortable insulting, mocking, and hating others. We don’t think twice before we spew hatred in the comment section while still arrogantly saying that we are Christians.

Imagine how many souls they come in contact with every single day and how many of those souls they’ve turned away from Christianity because of the bad fruit that they bear. The more I think about it, the more my heart aches. There’s a reason the laborers are few. It’s not because there aren’t enough people who know about Christ; it’s because there aren’t enough people who know Christ.

Here’s what I mean. It’s not because people don’t know about Christ that the laborers are few; it’s because our hearts are so cold that we don’t love enough to labor in the fields. We know who Christ is. We know His name. His book, but we don’t know Him. We know things about Him, but we don’t have a relationship with Him.

Christ then goes on to admonish us to pray that the Father will send laborers. He’s not saying praying that more souls will hear about Christ, but that laborers will come. Yes, we’re praying for those who have never heard, but we’re also especially praying for those who have heard and accepted but haven’t changed. Those who are still filled with hatred. Those who refuse to accept correction or guidance. Those who cherry-pick. Those who know of Him but have yet to pick up their cross and follow Him.

Dear LORD, please forgive me for all the times I didn’t share Your love with people. For all of the times that I was a poor witness for You. Please, LORD, have mercy on Your Church and begin to open the spiritually blind eyes. Melt the cold hearts of those who represent Christ to others. Raise up a standard in all of Your Church that we might not turn others away because of our hatred and mockery, but that they would know You are God because of our love and our good works. Fill your field with laborers, LORD God, so that souls might be harvested. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Combat With Humility

6 But He gives greater grace. Therefore He says: God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. ~ James 4:6CSB

Shame enters us when we dwell in sin and are conscious of it. To combat this shame ourselves, we become prideful. We try to justify our own sin and force others to accept and affirm it as well. If anyone protests or disagrees, that shame (fueled by pride) comes to the surface and gives birth to anger.

Pride is not the opposite of shame, but its source. True humility is the only antidote to shame.

Uncle Iroh

Only when we humble ourselves before the LORD will our sins be washed clean and the power of shame broken within us. Pride gives shame its power, but humility uproots shame and destroys it. Shame cannot stand when we dwell in the perfect love of God that can only be accessed through humbling ourselves before our God.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Combat With Humility.

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