Tag: Spiritual

³ His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence, ~ 2 Peter 1:3

Everyone who has accepted Jesus as LORD and Savior has been given a certificate of adoption that will be cashed in at the final trumpet when the dead in Christ will rise first, and those of us who are alive and remain are caught up to meet them in the clouds to be with Jesus.

It’s the Second Coming. We have all the privileges of sonship. We have all the privileges of being heirs and joint heirs with our LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ. We have the keys to the kingdom. There is absolutely nothing that our God withholds from us. We are His children.

We do not have our full adoption as yet. We enjoy all the privileges … we enjoy all the rights that come with adoption. We call God our Father, and Jesus our LORD. We are filled with the Holy Spirit. We walk in miracles. We perform signs and wonders. We are healed in Jesus’ Name. Our adoption, however, is not yet legally finalized. We are still working out our salvation with much fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12b).

Therefore, do not take advantage of the Spirit of Grace, but instead earnestly seek the face of the LORD. Don’t take your salvation for granted. It is not yet yours forever, it can still be freely given up by you. So, don’t take it for granted. Don’t feel as if you cannot be cut off, for if He did not spare the natural branches, why would He spare those of us who have been grafted in.

Dear LORD, please help me to seek You even more so as that day draws nearer and nearer. Please turn my heart of stone to a heart of flesh that I might not sin against You. That I might not throw away my salvation for temporary failing desires of the flesh. Encourage my heart and let my spirit not grow faint within in me. Help me to run the race set before me with endurance and faith. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

²⁴ Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ²⁵ For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. ²⁶ For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? ²⁷ For the Son of Man is going to come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will repay each person according to what he has done.” ~ Matthew 16:24-27

It’s often argued that once we accept salvation that’s it. You’re sealed forever. And if you sin and fall away, then obviously you were never saved in the first place. Now, I want you to think about this, if we can’t give up our salvation or be separated from Jesus, that would mean that we have no control over our soul and our own destiny, but this isn’t the case at all. God has set life and death before us, and it is our choice to choose or to reject.

In fact, Jesus blatantly says we have to deny ourselves, pick up our cross, and follow Him. It wasn’t a suggestion. It was a command. He didn’t just say believe in me. Accept my free gift of salvation. Just have faith. No. Jesus said you have to perform a physical and spiritual action in order to retain your salvation. Faith is not just a “I believe, and that’s it” word because even the demons believe and shutter. It is an action word. Faith without works is dead (James 2:20).

There is nothing in Scripture that hints at us not being responsible for retaining our salvation. Yes, we can never obtain salvation on our own, but once we accept salvation we are expected to run the race set before us, not just live our lives however we want to. So, do not be deceived, your actions directly impact your relationship with God and therefore, your eternal destination.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Work Out Your Salvation.

⁴⁸ That very day the Lord spoke to Moses, ⁴⁹ “Go up this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, opposite Jericho, and view the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel for a possession. ⁵⁰ And die on the mountain which you go up, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died in Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, ⁵¹ because you broke faith with me in the midst of the people of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, and because you did not treat me as holy in the midst of the people of Israel. ⁵² For you shall see the land before you, but you shall not go there, into the land that I am giving to the people of Israel.” ~ Deuteronomy 32:48-52

Throughout their time in the wilderness, a Rock followed them in order to provide them with drinking water as they journeyed for 40 years. The LORD told Moses to speak to the Rock so water may come out of it, but instead Moses struck the Rock. Not once, but twice. And the LORD told him he would never enter the Promised Land. It was too late for another chance.

This wasn’t just disobedience. This was anger-driven disobedience. Moses had, once again, let his anger get the best of him, and the LORD had had enough.

So, instead of leading the people of Israel into the Promised Land he had to go to the top of Mount Nebo, in the Land of Moab, and die a premature death. His body wasn’t ready, but that physical act of disobedience caused a spiritual reaction that ended up costing him his promise and his very life.

Every action has a spiritual reaction. It can be positive or negative. It can affect even the generations to come. Moses’ descendants aren’t remembered. The priesthood didn’t come through them. So, be careful what you choose in this life, it can affect all around you and all who are to come.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be Careful To Obey. 

¹ On the first day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work. It is a day for you to blow the trumpets, ² and you shall offer a burnt offering, for a pleasing aroma to the Lord: ~ Numbers 29:1-2

Tomorrow evening at sundown marks the beginning of the Feast of Trumpets that will last until Wednesday evening at sundown. The Feast of Trumpets is one of seven God-sanctioned feasts. Passover. Unleavened Bread. Firstfruits. Weeks. Trumpets. The Day of Atonement. Tabernacles. Four of these seven have already been fulfilled.

Passover in the Crucifixion. Unleavened Bread in Christ takes away our sin. Firstfruits in the Resurrection of Christ (the Barley Harvest) & The establishing of the Church (the Wheat Harvest). Weeks in the giving of the Holy Spirit.

There are three feasts left to be fulfilled. Trumpets. The Day of Atonement. Tabernacles. These 3 feasts are fall feasts. In Joel 2 we see the prophecy of the coming of the LORD and then we see a promise of rain. The spring rain brought the promise of salvation. The latter (or autumn) rain will bring the fulfillment of salvation, which starts with the Feast of Trumpets.

The Feast of Trumpets is the first day of the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar, which is the month of Tishri. A holy assembly, which is a holy gathering of a people with a reading or recitation. A burnt offering to the LORD for a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

So, what does it foreshadow? At the last trumpet blast, the dead in Christ will rise and then those of us alive will rise to Christ. We will be caught up to Him in the clouds. This is the Second Coming of Christ. We are gathered to Christ in the air as He comes with the voice of an Archangel and the blowing of the trumpet of God. The Burnt Offering as a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

There’s a belief right now that the Rapture will take place this year during the Feast of Trumpets. It came from a vision from a pastor in Africa. While I do believe in visions, I don’t believe in shaping my beliefs around someone else’s visions without first checking their visions with the Word of God. When Jesus was asked what would be the sign of His coming, He said the last sign would be the Great Tribulation. In fact, He tells His disciples that His coming will take place immediately AFTER the Tribulation of those days.

In recent years, we’ve used the book of Revelation to attempt to prove the Rapture by quoting Revelation 3:10. This is Jesus speaking to the 6^th of the 7 Churches in the book of Revelation. The Church of Philadelphia. They claim that because Jesus says He will keep them from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, this proves the Rapture, but if you notice it says the He will keep them from the hour of trial, not take them out of the hour of trial. In other words, the hour of trial has been pushed back for them, not that they are taken out of it.

The other very important part of this is that they are not the last Church. There is one more Church after them. The Church of Laodicea. If you remove the Church, then that would mean that there is not a church left. The claim is that these are those who will be saved during the Tribulation, but Jesus tells this Church that He will spit them out of His mouth. That they will be spit out of His mouth because they refuse to choose. They refuse to be either hot or cold. First and foremost, they are the Church that doesn’t find God but gets rejected by God. They don’t seek God because they’ve missed the Rapture, but they are spit out of the mouth of Jesus because they refuse to choose. To be either hot or cold.

Which honestly describes the Church today. We’re the Church that doesn’t want to speak out because they’re afraid of offending someone. They don’t want to tell others about Jesus because we don’t want to push our religion on others.

The Church of Laodicea isn’t a church that is on fire for God because of Tribulation. It’s a Church that believes that it’s good. That it doesn’t need anything from God, when it’s in fact not good. When in fact it ushers in the Tribulation itself. Tribulation isn’t God’s wrath; that’s seven bowls described in Revelation 16. Tribulation is the world’s wrath on the Church who refuses to keep it in check.

Don’t take my word for it. This Feast of Trumpets takes some time to search the Scriptures for yourself. Never just take the word of someone telling you, this is so, but search as the Bereans did with Paul when he taught them.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Prepare For The Trumpets.

2 Peter 3:9 ESV

[9] The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

Ezekiel 33:11 ESV

[11] Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?

I recently watched a video of a man calling for people to pray for God’s vengeance. He said it’s time the Church gets angry and prays for God’s vengeance if we want revival. He even went as far as to say that if you pray for Charlie Kirk’s killer to find Jesus and repent, then you are a masochist freak who believes they have to lose every battle. He said we should be praying that he meets Jesus and Jesus melts him for all eternity. As I watched, I realized this is why there will be so many people shocked on Judgment Day. There will be so many people shocked at the Second Coming of Christ.

Instead of searching the Scriptures for the heart of God, we create our own version of what we want God to be in our own minds. Imagine saying all of this and firmly believing that it is the will of God that this man die in his sin, and then proceed to pray it. That’s not the will of God. The Father sent the Son so that the whole world would be saved. God says He takes no pleasure in the destruction of the wicked. God says His desire is that none perish, but all come to acceptance.

When you don’t know the heart of God, you allow the evil in your heart to influence your idea of God. When you don’t know God, your own evil desires paint a false picture of God that lines up with what you want, not who God is. If this young man in custody is in fact the killer, I pray he admits it, takes responsibility, and repents. I truly do. Hell isn’t a place we should wish on anyone. It isn’t something we should pray anyone experience. The wrath of God is fierce. It’s like nothing on this Earth because He’s not of this Earth.

Therefore, we should pray for God’s mercy on his soul. Yes, I do believe in the death penalty on this earth for a crime of this magnitude, but I do not wish the death penalty on his eternal soul. May the LORD have mercy on him and may he turn from his sin and run to Christ, who already canceled the debt of sin for us all on the cross.

Christians who are seeing the revival right now, aren’t the ones seeking God’s vengeance but His mercy. There’s a revival going on across the world right now. There’s atheists, lukewarm believers, agnostics all deciding to go to church again, some after as long as 30 years others after 10 years of not setting foot in church. The churches were packed Sunday. Worship has broken out all over the streets in cities across the world. We don’t need the LORD’s vengeance for revival. We need God’s mercy, grace, and love.

Dear LORD, thank You for Your mercy and Your grace. Thank You for forgiving me of my sins against You. Help me not to desire judgment, but seek mercy. Help me to see the True You and not the You I have created in my own mind. Show me who You are, oh God, teach me Your ways. Soften my heart to the things of You. Let my heart break for what breaks Yours. Let my heart not grow weary and my angry get the best of me. Instead, LORD, help me to understand righteous anger isn’t against humanity but against the dark forces behind it. For our enemy is not flesh and blood but spiritual beings in the unseen realm. Help me to remember that LORD. Teach me to pray. Teach me to love. Teach me to forgive. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

¹ About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. ² He killed James the brother of John with the sword, ³ and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread. ⁴ And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people. ⁵ So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church. ~ Acts 12:1-5

The last two days have felt like a nightmare that we just can’t wake up from. The kind where you’re moving in slow motion. Nothing quite makes sense. And you keep trying to wake yourself up but just can’t. No matter what you do, your body stays asleep. That’s how it feels right now. That’s how it felt since around 1:30pm on Wednesday afternoon. Just limbo. The craziest part is, I’ve never even met Charlie Kirk. I’ve never even had the privilege of attending one of his events. Yet I feel such a great heaviness of loss as if he were a close friend or family member.

I’ve seen others express the same feelings, so I know I’m not the only one. As I sit here writing this devotional, all I think is, why? Why was his death so impactful? Why has it burdened so many hearts? Was it the way he was murdered? Was it the gruesome heart-wrenching video? Charlie Kirk wasn’t just your average person, just another face in the crowd. He was a voice of Truth on college campuses, a hero of many young and old, and a courageous defender of the faith.

I think the shock, that something like this could happen in America. Today. A free country, really does add weight to his assassination. Things like this just don’t happen. Yet it did. For the entire world to see. Even more so, he was a faithful Christian. He spoke of Jesus and the goodness of God every opportunity He had. As Christians, watching one of our own fall defending and proclaiming Truth is hard. It’s personal. It’s close to the heart.

I’ve seen comments and videos saying it’s time to become radical. It’s time to fight back. But the only thing we should become radical in is prayer. The only fight we should take up is with a spiritual weapon. When James, the brother of John, was mercilessly killed by the sword under King Herod, he didn’t stop there. He then had Peter arrested. He was preparing to kill Peter as well. They’ve just taken our James. It’s not time to allow the weight of grief, pain, or fear overtake us. It’s time to do what the earlier Church did and pray effectual fervent prayers. We are to bombard heaven with cries of mercy and protection for the saints of God. For all who speak for righteousness. For all who stand up against evil. It’s time to become radical, absolutely, but not in the flesh. Not with guns. Not with hateful words. But with prayers. Prayers for the LORD coming to defend His people. Prayers for the LORD to bring justice. And prayers for the salvation of the wicked because they truly don’t know nor understand what they do.

Dear LORD, as we mourn, grieve, and ponder in disbelief, come to our aid. Strengthen the hearts of the broken hearted. Wipe away the tears of the grievers. Hear us from heaven, oh God, and heal our land. Let justice prevail. Let what has been done in darkness be brought to light. Let what has been done for evil be turned to good. Let this horrific assassination cause a revival in the world, especially the United States of America, like we have never seen before. Comfort our broken and tired spirits. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.