Tag: Awaken From Spiritual Slumber

¹⁰ When Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who followed Him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. ¹¹ I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, ¹² while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” ¹³ And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment. ~ Matthew 8:10-13

So, the centurion goes to see Jesus and explains to Him that his servant is ill and needs a healing. Jesus said, “Sure, I will come with you and heal him.” The centurion was like, “You don’t even need to come. Besides, I’m not worthy for You to come under my roof. Just say the word, and my servant will be healed.” That pretty much floored Jesus. He was stunned when He heard this.

In fact, Jesus states that no one in all of Israel had that kind of faith. This would mean that not even Jesus’ disciples had that kind of faith. The men that walked and talked with Jesus daily didn’t have that type of faith. Even though they witnessed miracle after miracle. Healing after healing. Sign after sign. Wonder after wonder, their faith couldn’t compare to that of a man who had only heard of the good things of Christ.

Many of us in the Church are baffled by this. We can’t understand how the men that walked and talked with God have less faith than a man who had never met Him. But what many of us fail to realize is that we are often the disciples, not the centurion. When we grow up in Church, it’s easy to take the Bible and all of its promises for granted. It’s easy for us to miss out on something deeper with Christ because He’s always been there. When we allow the things of God (going to church, reading your bible, praying, worship, etc.) to become just another routine, then the Word of God slowly becomes less and less important. We slowly become asleep, and our faith slowly dies the deeper into a spiritual sleep we get.

So, when we come to Jesus, we need more than just head knowledge. We need a good real down to earth belief in who He is and what He can do. We need to strive for an unshakeable faith.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Ignite a Deeper Faith.

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¹³ For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. ¹⁴ And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. ¹⁵ So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds. ~ 2 Corinthians 11:13-15

People often try to play around with the occult as if it’s nothing but fun and games. Even some Christians play around with tarot cards, ouija boards, horoscopes, and palm readings because they don’t believe that they’re anything more than just a bit of fun. But all of those things are of the occult. They aren’t games. They’re of the kingdom of darkness, and they have real power. They can truly entangle you in their chains, and the worst part is most don’t even know it.

The occult doesn’t always show up in dark gothic wear, holding a solid black skull enticing you to the dark side with blood, guts, and glory. No, instead, most of the time, the occult entices us dressed in regular clothing and holding a plate of cookies. And when we eat the cookies, we don’t even realize that the poison is slowly killing us. The worst part is that so many of us never wake up from that spiritual slumber, and that spiritual comma leads us to a spiritual death. How? Because the occult slowly convinces us that it’s not evil. That it’s light. That it’s good. That it can’t separate us from God because it isn’t bad at all. In fact, it may just even be a game.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Watch Out For The Trap.

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¹⁶ But as the Ark of the Lord entered the City of David, Michal, the daughter of Saul, looked down from her window. When she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she was filled with contempt for him. ²⁰ When David returned home to bless his own family, Michal, the daughter of Saul, came out to meet him. She said in disgust, “How distinguished the king of Israel looked today, shamelessly exposing himself to the servant girls like any vulgar person might do!” ²³ So Michal, the daughter of Saul, remained childless throughout her entire life. ~ 2 Samuel 6:16, 20, 23^NLT

David was dancing unashamedly before the Lord in worship, celebrating that the Lord’s presence would be dwelling in his place, in the city of David, yet Michal could not discern what David was doing and what was happening in the spiritual. She only saw through her eyes of jealousy and contempt that David was making a spectacle of himself before the servant girls; she was caught up with appearances before mankind.

It seems that, like her father Saul, the spirit of the Lord was not with her, and she had no discernment. She had never seen worship like that before and didn’t understand it, so she felt contempt for the man of God, and lack of spiritual discernment caused her to lose out on the blessing the Lord had for her that day. Instead of giving birth to something great, like a future king, she gave birth to nothing. We have to be careful what we say about the man of God or a move of the Holy Spirit; we need to pray for discernment so that we don’t miss out on our blessing.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Don’t React Like Michal.

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² And he said to them, “I am 120 years old today. I am no longer able to go out and come in. The Lord has said to me, ‘You shall not go over this Jordan.’” ~ Deuteronomy 31:2

When Moses reached a certain age, he was no longer able to go in and come out. Even though Moses was constantly in the presence of God, he still fell into a spiritual slumber, unable to go in and come out. Moses became too focused on the people and lost focus of the LORD and His will for him and his people. In doing so, he allowed the quarreling of the congregation to cause him to fail to uphold the LORD as holy when he struck the rock instead of speaking to it. He allowed the confusion and rebellion of the people of Israel to stop his faith.

Even though Moses believed God and had faith in Him, because he allowed the people to get to him and he disobeyed the LORD, the LORD saw this as a lack of faith as well as Moses taking away from God’s Holiness in the sight of the people.

Today, it’s easy for us to allow the world to anger us and get under our skin, causing us to lose faith in the sight of God. Even if we have faith in our own eyes, disobedience, especially because of frustration with the world, will cause us to fall into a spiritual sleep. This will leave us unable to enter and exit the presence of God as we once did before. So, stay focused on the LORD and His plan. Don’t allow the world to distract you and take away your promises.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Don’t Strike The Rock.

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¹⁴ So the men took some of their provisions, but did not ask counsel from the LORD. ¹⁵ And Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live, and the leaders of the congregation swore to them. ~ Joshua 9:14-15

Joshua had taken over as leader of the people of Israel, they had just entered the Promised Land, and they had just defeated Jericho and AI. The LORD was with Joshua wherever he went, and that’s where Joshua made his first mistake. Because Joshua knew the LORD was with him wherever he went, he became spiritually complacent and didn’t go to God with every matter. He began to lean on his own understanding and wisdom, and in doing so, he forgot to ask for the wisdom and understanding of God. This led to Joshua opening up the door to be deceived by the Gibeonites.

Today we fall into the same spiritual complacency that leads to spiritual slumber. When we know God is with us always, it’s easy for us to begin to lean on our own understanding and forget to seek God in all things. When we don’t lay everything before God, we miss the Gibeonite in our midst that’s deceiving us, and we make a spiritual pact with them. This gives the enemy the right to dwell in our lives, and if we’re not careful, we may never realize it.

While it’s easy to rely on our own understanding and wisdom to be able to discern what we hear and see, we have to make sure we always seek God’s counsel because the deceiver is always out there masquerading as light. Yes, God is with us everywhere we go, but He doesn’t cause every thought or feeling that comes to our hearts and minds. So, we can’t just put our trust in what we see or in what we hear or feel. We have to always seek God for confirmation regardless of how small the situation may seem to us.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Seek God’s Counsel.

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¹ While Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. ² These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. ³ So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. ⁴ And the Lord said to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people and hang them in the sun before the Lord, that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.” ⁵ And Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you kill those of his men who have yoked themselves to Baal of Peor.” ~ Numbers 25:1-5

The people of Israel fell into temptation because of the Moabite women. They forgot the God whom they served because of the culture around them that caught their eye. This led to the death of everyone who fell into this temptation, and it’s no different today.

The culture around us is filled with exotic forbidden fruit that tempts us into spiritual death so that we don’t even notice that our culture no longer has a place for God. We fall into such a deep sleep after indulging in the forbidden fruit that we don’t even realize that our culture is filled with worshiping and sacrificing to other gods. In fact, we don’t even realize that we’ve joined in and bowed down to these false gods.

When we live in a physical world, it’s easy to forget that every physical action has a spiritual effect. What we do in our physical lives affects our spiritual lives, whether we think it’s a big deal or not. The only way to know if you’ve fallen prey to the gods of this world is to seek the God of the entire universe. Search through Scripture, ask God to wake up your sleeping spirit, and pray for discernment and guidance.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Unyoke From Baal of Peor.

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¹² Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. ~ Revelation 22:12

Jesus warns us at least three times in Revelation chapter 22 alone that He is coming back very soon. He doesn’t want His return to sneak up on us. He doesn’t want us to be unaware of the signs of His coming. Nor Does He want it to “sneak up on us” like Christmas does.

You know, like how we watch the calendar tick down every year, and then two weeks before Christmas, we exclaim, “Wow! Christmas just snuck up on me.” No, Christmas didn’t just sneak up on you. You watched it crawl up. Well, these days, it runs up.

Jesus does not want us to be like that. He wants us to be ready. He wants us to use the gifts that we were given. The talents, the resources, the minas that He has blessed each and every one of us with.

God has blessed you so that you may be a blessing to others. If you aren’t being a blessing, you’re not investing your mina. So, use what the LORD has given you to further His kingdom and reach as many people as possible before His return. Don’t let Him come back and find you asleep and your talent unused. Use them for the glory of God, and He will come back with rewards for your good. Rewards that cannot be taken away, nor will they perish.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Invest In Your Talents.

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¹ But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. ² I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, ³ for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? ~ 1 Corinthians 3:1-3

Many believe the longer you are in Christ, the more of an elder you are, but according to the Scripture, that isn’t what makes you an elder. As humans, it’s easy for our minds to think in an earthly manner, which is why Paul tells us he speaks to us in certain ways. For instance, we think of an elder in a physical sense. You are older in age. Therefore, you are wiser. The problem is that we don’t take into account the spiritual growth of the person in question. It’s not about the amount of years we’ve served Christ but about the amount we’ve grown spiritually in Christ.

Moses wasn’t the oldest Hebrew man alive; that’s not why God chose him to lead. Jacob was not the eldest brother, nor was Abraham. It has never been about physical age with God. God used young children to declare who Christ was upon the earth in the temple. It has always been and always will be about personal relationships and spiritual growth with God.

When we go just based on the physical, we give an opportunity to spiritual slumber to sneak in and sweep us away. We stop listening and growing because we feel we know it all. We stop seeking and searching for a closer relationship with God because we’ve had one with Him for so long. God isn’t interested in the length of time spent with Him but in what you do in that time. Peter wasn’t the first disciple Jesus called, yet He was a part of His inner circle and arguably His best friend. Paul was never a disciple of Jesus, yet it was Him Jesus to be the greatest apostle who ever lived. It wasn’t because these men were old in age but because they sought the Truth.

The truth of the matter is age, in this case, is just a number. The real elder in Christ is one who has the attributes and characteristics of Christ; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control. Not those easily angered or filled with envy. Test your spiritual age by seeking God for true wisdom and asking Him to open your eyes to any ungodliness within you. When you do, your eyes will begin to awaken, and you will soon no longer need milk.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Seek Solid Food.

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¹² He said therefore, “A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. ¹³ Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come.’ ¹⁴ But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’ ~ Luke 19:12-14

Jesus has physically left the earth, and the whole world is shouting, ‘We don’t want this man to reign over us.’ They even murder and persecute His followers because they want nothing of Jesus in their world. This hatred for Christ is becoming more and more prevalent to the point that the hatred of Christ is making its way into the Church itself. How is this possible? Because the Church has tried so hard to be accepted by the world that we’ve turned our back on our own God.

The lies of the enemy have lulled us into such a deep sleep that we don’t even realize that it’s us that is attacking and hurting Christ. It’s us, His own citizens, that is whipping Him and nailing Him to the cross. We’re now the ones shouting, ‘We don’t want this man to reign over us,’ and we don’t even realize it. We have become spiritually dead, unable to discern right from wrong or the voice of Shepherd from the voice of the Evil One. The enemy has tickled our ears with teachings that suit our desires, and we’ve declared Jesus to be a hater, liar, and unworthy of our praise. We’re so asleep we don’t even realize that we’ve turned our back on the Savior of the whole World.

So, wake up, for Jesus is coming back soon. And when He returns to get His children, there will be punishment on all who shouted, ‘We don’t want this man to reign over us’ regardless of the supposed good they’ve done in the world. Nothing we do is good, especially if we can’t even discern who the Good Shepherd is. There is only one who is good, and that is our God, who is above and who lives in those who love and follow Him. So, seek the Good Shepherd while He can still be found. Seek Him that He might awaken you from sleepwalking through your life.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Ask Him To Reign Over You.

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²⁶ Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins. ~ Hebrews 10:26^NLT

So many believe that because Jesus loves them, they can live however they want, but look at what the author of the book of Hebrews writes. If we have received the knowledge of the Truth, or in other words, accepted Jesus’ free gift of salvation and become saved but continue sinning, Jesus’ sacrifice no longer covers any of those sins.

When we accept the Truth, we have to turn from our ways. We can’t remain asleep and dead in our sins. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is Eternal Life. Don’t allow the things of this world to lull you to sleep with a lullaby of lies. Don’t fall into the same trap as Eve found herself in when she fell prey to the Serpent’s false truths. We may not die immediately when we sin after salvation, but the more we do sin, the more we fall into a deeper and deeper spiritual sleep that only leads to death. Wake up, for the fruit of this world is poisoned, and the fruit of God is life.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Stop Eating Poison.

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