Tag: Awaken From Spiritual Slumber

¹³  And the LORD said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, while their hearts are far from Me, and their fear of Me is a commandment taught by men, ¹⁴therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.”  ~ Isaiah 29:13-14

Some people read this as a rebuke from God. But if you think about it, it is not a rebuke at all. God is acknowledging their desire for fellowship with Him, though it is a bit skewed or distorted. Listen to what He said, “The people draw near with their mouth and honor Me with their lips …” That is speaking of praise and worship. That is speaking of them seeking Him. They even have a seemingly healthy fear of Him. The problem is, their hearts are far from Him, and their fear is a commandment taught to them by their teachers, or at least their leaders, those who guide them spiritually. They do not know God personally for themselves, nor do they know His commands or even how to truly worship Him.

I heard a testimony from a Muslim who was actually in prison because of his involvement with Jihad. He was so intent on finding truth and making a connection with God to serve Him that he was praying more than 5 times a day and reading the whole Koran 10 times in a week. He was extremely devoted and actually had powers where he knew the conversations in other prison cells without him being there. To make a long story short, Jesus appeared to him in his cell and revealed Himself to this violent and murderous man. This man was not seeking Jesus personally, but he was seeking truth. He wanted to be close to God and had a desire to do His will. That is how it was with those people. They were not on the right track per se, but they had a desire to draw close to Him, and they desired to fear Him. They just did not have the right people in their lives to direct them to the right path.

Jesus told a parable about the Good Shepherd and the one lost sheep. In the parable, the Good Shepherd realized that one of His sheep was missing. He left the 99 other sheep and went in search of the one missing sheep. When He found it, He was happy and placed it on His shoulders and took Him back to the sheep pen to be reunited with the other sheep. That is exactly what is happening here.

Look at what God says, and I will paraphrase, “Because they have done these things, with a desire to know Me, but have no one to teach them, I Myself will show them My wonder upon wonders. And I will take away the false teaching that they have been taught.”

The bottom line is this, if you have a strong desire to know Him, even if you are off course, He will reveal Himself to you. Therefore, let me encourage you today that if you truly want to know God in a personal way, you can. Just start with reading the Bible. Not skimming over the Bible or reading it recreationally. I mean, if you have a true desire to know Him, to know Jesus, He will let Himself be found by you, but you must put in the effort.

Heavenly Father, I love You and desire to know You intimately. Please strengthen my desire and help me to learn to sincerely seek Your face. Hear me when I call, and answer me when I pray, in Jesus’ name, amen.

²² He follows her impulsively like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer bounding toward a trap ²³ until an arrow pierces its liver, like a bird darting into a snare  — he doesn’t know it will cost him his life. ~ Proverbs 7:22-23^CSB

Early one morning, I had a dream that I was cooking, and the food was smelling good, but then when I moved on of the plates, something started to move on the plate as well. It was a tiny viper. I immediately went to kill it but slithered right onto the floor. I felt so unalarmed that I even made a joke about cooking it up and eating it too, but then when I somehow cut it in half, all of these worms started slithering out of its body and going in all directions, really freaking me out. The head of the snake just kind of slithered away, and I never actually killed it. The fright from the was woke me right up. A lot of us are like me in this dream.

See, according to different sources such as Animal Planet and National Geographic, a viper at a baby stage is more dangerous than a fully grown viper. Why? Because when they bite, they release a lot more of their venom in that bite than an adult. And the person who is bitten will die. In my dream, the snake looked so tiny that the dangers of the snake didn’t even cross my mind, so I didn’t take it seriously. Then the event escalated and no longer was it just the baby viper I had to worry about, but now I had to worry about all of the worms seeking a new host as well.

Sometimes, sin looks extremely innocent and non-threatening. It looks silly and like a joke, causing us to put our guard down and even joke about it. Not at all being concerned with our safety or the safety of those around us. And if we keep joking and playing around with it, it will bite us, and we will spiritually die from the bite.

Therefore, as Paul told us, avoid every kind of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:22), even if it seems innocent enough that you could get away with. Usually, sin that seems innocent is the most deadly. Why? Because we don’t realize it will cost us our lives.

Therefore, study the Scriptures daily and meditate on them. Pray and seek the LORD so that He might open your eyes to the dangers of the baby vipers around you. Fast and worship so that you might build up your spirit, man, and he might be able to help you overcome your flesh.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Don’t Play With The Viper.

¹² There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. ~ Proverbs 14:12

Spiritual slumber is the main cause of the state of the Church today. I heard a story of a lady who was living in sin and she explained that even though she read in the Bible that it was a sin, but because she felt no conviction about it, she felt like it was okay. Here’s the problem with this, if you have spiritually fallen asleep you will not recognize that you are on the wrong path. Because the thing that is presented to you might feel good. It might even seem good, but the end of that road is death.

See, spiritual slumber will numb your connection to the Holy Spirit. It will numb your connection to the Good Shepherd. You will no longer hear His voice or feel His gentle nudge that you’re being deceived. When our flesh has reigned without any restraint for a long time, our spirit man inside weakens to the point that he doesn’t respond to the gentle whisper of God.

Therefore, we can’t always go based on our feelings. Matter-a-fact, very few times, rarely, can we ever trust our feelings. Why? Because the heart is the most deceitful of all, and who can even understand it (Jeremiah 17:9)? Therefore, we must walk by faith and not feelings. We have to go by what the Scripture says and not what we feel. Otherwise, we will be led astray by those feelings.

We have to follow Scripture every day and deny our flesh. We have to build up our spirit man with worship, reading and meditating on the Scriptures, and prayer, along with fasting. We have to crucify our flesh daily so that it won’t overtake us and control us, but rather that we will control it and force it to obey Christ. This is the only way we can truly grow in Him and learn His voice, so that we can feel true conviction and see through the enemy’s deception.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Crucify Til Awaken.

³ For all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living. ~ Revelation 18:3

In the End Times, Mystery Babylon will lead the whole world astray with the wine of the passion of her sexual immortality. The kings, or the elites of the earth, have committed immortality with her, which also includes idolatry. That is exactly what is happening today, on a lesser scale.

The whole world is being led astray. It’s preparing for the world to accept a new form of god and a new form of culture; Christianity isn’t mainstream or even allowed. It’s preparing for a time when the whole world will turn against the Church.

How is it preparing? Just as Mystery Babylon will have the influence over the commoners and elites, the elites today have influence over the commoners. We, the regular people of the earth, are heavily influenced by the elites, a lot of times we don’t even know it. They use celebrities and influencers, and when they fail, subliminal messaging in the schools, music, TV shows, movies, etc. Their propaganda is everywhere. It’s hidden in plain sight.

But, as Paul said, we aren’t ignorant of the Devil’s schemes. We know his ultimate goal is to separate mankind from God. Therefore, we must stay awake. We must stay on guard, watching, praying, seeking the LORD, and battling the darkness through spreading the Light of Christ. The world’s desire is for evil, so we must cover ourselves, our families, and loved ones in the precious and Holy blood of Jesus. We must stay awake and wake up those of us who have fallen asleep. The hour of trial is not yet here, but it is knocking at the door. Therefore, stay awake and prepare yourselves for the many deceptions of the enemy to come.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Stay A Watch Guard.

⁵ For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. ⁶ So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:5-6

There was a time when the Church separated itself from popular culture. It did not let the dictates of society compel them to act or think in a certain way. Instead, they relied on Scripture combined with the teaching of the Church elders.

But today’s Christians are so caught up in politics and political parties that they are more loyal to them than to God, ethnicities, fame and fortune, wealth and riches, movie stars and music stars. The worst part is the Christians of today will defend all of these distractions and false idols tooth and nail, even against the Word of God. It has caused their hearts to grow lukewarm, at best, and have completely lost their way entirely, at worst.

They no longer give their full allegiance to the LORD, nor do they hold His holy Word in high esteem, reading and studying it every single day. Why? Because when we constantly give into our flesh and stop feeding our spirit man, our flesh begins to take over and give way to spiritual slumber.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Ignore The Lullaby.

¹⁴ Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. ¹⁵ I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. ¹⁶ The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? ¹⁷ Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. ¹⁸ Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? ¹⁹ What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? ²⁰ No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. ²¹ You cannot drink the cup of the LORD and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the LORD and the table of demons. ²² Shall we provoke the LORD to jealousy? Are we stronger than He? ~ 1 Corinthians 10:14-22

Paul, out of great concern for the Corinthian Church, was trying to get the Saints there to understand that it is impossible to partake from two tables: the table of the LORD and the table of demons. He called it idolatry, and then he warned his readers to flee idolatry. God warned the Old Testament believers to flee idolatry as well.

Paul said, “Look, you are sensible people. You can understand what I am saying, so judge for yourselves. Do not just blindly take what I am saying but weigh it against Scripture and with reason. The problem with today’s Christians is that they get too caught up in the worldview of popular culture, by which they judge everything and all standards.

You were born that way. God does not make mistakes. God wants you happy. It’s your body, it’s your choice. They use society’s morals to judge instead of God’s standards. Look, culture changes with whoever is in charge or whoever has the loudest and most pronounced voice.

Over and often, we see the trend in the Old Testament where the Israelites followed the LORD and obeyed His Law as long as the leader, or the judge, or the king, or whoever it was that was in charge was still alive, but then as soon as he died, they went right back to doing wrong. This is the importance of keeping Christ as your Shepherd and not the world as your shepherd. Therefore, cling to the Word of God and stand firm on the Scriptures.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be Careful Who Your Shepherd Is.

²² The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. ²³ But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. So if the light within you is darkness, how deep is that darkness! ~ Matthew 6:22-23^CSB

A phrase I’m hearing more and more as a defense for “Christians” to live as the world without getting too much backlash from the Church is “Going to the party isn’t the problem. Even Jesus partied with sinners. You just gotta leave before the Devil shows up.” Is there any truth to this statement? I would say, no, not really. Jesus never partied with anyone. Jesus ate and drank with sinners, and that’s about it. The key, though, is actually paying attention to what Jesus did when He was around sinners. Jesus always found the opportunity to correct their way of living.

Jesus wasn’t out there getting drunk, dancing inappropriately, smoking weed, seeing others talking harder drugs, and having orgies in the back, all while listening to filthy, nasty music filled with cusswords, debauchery, and sexual immortality. No. Jesus sat and had dinner with people, and if He didn’t outright correct their behavior verbally, His presence alone convicted them enough that they repented directly to Him. Jesus never enabled darkness to continue; why?  Because while He was in the world, He was the Light of the World. Now, we have taken that same position that He left when He ascended on High. What does that mean for us?

We don’t justify our actions by twisting the Word of God in order to party and cater to our flesh. No. We stand firm on our faith and be the light of the world. Paul put it best when he said, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” Therefore, we must emulate Christ and what He did. Where, when, how can we witness to anyone at a party? Who are we saving there? Let’s be honest; we’re there for our own fleshly desires and nothing more.

How can we leave a party before the Devil shows up if we don’t know what the Devil looks like? If we struggle with who Jesus is, how can we feel confident that we notice our enemy when he blatantly lies, deceives, and even transforms himself into an angel of light? It’s impossible. How can we reach the lost of we’re right next to them doing the same thing? We can’t. Darkness cannot drive out darkness. It will just lead to more darkness. We are called out of the world so that we might call others out of the world as well. I’ll leave you with this question, “If the light in you is truly darkness, how great is that darkness?” In other words, if you think you’re living a good life, but in reality, you are living a sinful life, how great is that sin within you?

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Imitate The True God.

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. ³² Before him will be gathered all the nations, and He will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ And He will place the sheep on His right, but the goats on the left. ³⁴ Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ ³⁷ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? ³⁸ And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? ³⁹ And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ ⁴⁰ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ ⁴¹ Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ ⁴⁴ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ ⁴⁵ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ ⁴⁶ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” ~ Matthew 25:31-46

There is coming a day of Judgment when Jesus will separate the sheep from the goats. The sheep He will place on His right, and the goats He will place on His left. To those on His right He will say, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” And they will enter eternal life.

But those on His left, he will say, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Then those on His left will go away into eternal punishment (Matthew 25:31-46). What a sad and frightening day for those on His left.

Therefore, we must be vigilant and not fall asleep spiritually, because we do not know when our LORD and Savior will return. And it’s imperative that He finds us awake and doing what He has called us to do.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be Vigilant.

¹⁵ Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, ¹⁶ but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness. ~ 2 Peter 2:15-16

Balaam was a prophet of God who was enticed by King Balak to curse the people of Israel. Balaam, however, refused, saying he could only bless the people of Israel because God blessed them. But the money had his heart desiring to do as the king requested. So, God told him to go on then to Balak, but on the way, the Angel of the LORD stood in his path. Balaam’s desire for the money had blinded his spiritual eyes, and he could not see the Angel of the LORD before him.

Matter-a-fact, Balaam even tried to go straight through the angel of the LORD but his donkey refused to go. So, what does Balaam do? He strikes his donkey. So, the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and the donkey spoke, “Why have you struck me these three times?” Balaam, of course, tells the donkey she (the donkey) is in the wrong, and he wishes he had a sword to kill him with. The donkey asks, “Am I not your donkey? Is it my habit to treat you like this?” Balaam responds with no. Then the LORD opened Balaam’s eyes to see what fate stood before him.

Though Balaam was a prophet of God who heard directly from God Himself, his eyes were shut to the LORD when He appeared before him to bring judgment for his ungodly desires that were taking hold of him. Even though we may be in high positions of authority or are spiritually in a high place hearing directly from God, that does not mean the things of this world cannot lead us astray.  That doesn’t mean our hearts cannot be corrupted, and we fall into a spiritual slumber, no longer seeing our own judgment that’s standing before us, so we lash out at the one who is trying to warn us.

This is one of the lessons of Balaam, you are never too big to fall. You may hear from God, but God may also be turning you over to your sinful desires if you allow them to consume you. Therefore, surround yourself with people like Balaam’s donkey who will try its best to maneuver you out of the way of judgment even when you yourself don’t see it.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Pray For Open Eyes.

1 Corinthians 9:27
[27] But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

If you’ve ever been on a plane, you’ve heard the flight attendants tell you “in case of an emergency, put on your oxygen mask before assisting a child or another person in need.” This line of thinking can also be applied to salvation.

We can’t try to save others unless we ourselves are saved. Why? Because if our oxygen runs out, we’re no help to anyone, not even ourselves. We’ve now become a liability for someone else. A burden for someone else to have to carry because without oxygen we are asleep. If, LORD forbid, the plane goes down, we risk drowning if we don’t have the oxygen mask on.

Everything that we could have helped with, now we are needing help with, and therefore, adding to the stress of others. Therefore, secure your own salvation first, and then the Holy Spirit will be your oxygen mask. He will guide you, protect you, and keep you, as you lead others to Christ.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and First Put On Your Oxygen Mask.