Tag: Awaken From Spiritual Slumber

“³¹Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, ³²but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” ~ Luke 22:31-32

Jesus knew Peter’s faith would not hold, but He told Peter “when you have turned again strengthen your brothers.” When you turn back, turn back stronger. When you turn back, turn back and help others who are weak. When you turn back, don’t allow that fall to consume you, don’t allow yourself to be full of shame. Instead, learn from it. Be strengthened by it. Become stronger than before. Failure is more than just missing the mark. Failure is learning how to get back up.

Don’t be afraid of failure because in our weakness that is when He is strong. You learn from your mistakes. You can grow from your mistakes if you allow God to strengthen you. Don’t be defeated. Don’t allow your mess up to keep you down but get back up for Jesus has prayed for you. God believes in you so much that He took the time to pray for you.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Get Up.

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“‘⁴⁴Come now, let us make a covenant, you and I. And let it be a witness between you and me.’ ⁴⁵So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. ⁴⁶And Jacob said to his kinsmen, ‘Gather stones.’ And they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there by the heap. ⁴⁷Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed. ⁴⁸Laban said, ‘This heap is a witness between you and me today.’ Therefore, he named it Galeed, ⁴⁹and Mizpah, for he said, ‘The Lord watch between you and me, when we are out of one another’s sight. ⁵⁰If you oppress my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no one is with us, see, God is witness between you and me.’ ~ Genesis 31:44-50

I think that’s crazy that Laban would make a covenant with Jacob, who served a different God, but still make the covenant around Jacob’s God. I mean that just shows how powerful the name of God is. Even though people may not worship Him, deep down they know that He is the one true God. He is the great I AM. He is Yahweh. He is Jehovah. I think that that’s amazing (in a sad not so good way) how that’s true today.

God put it in all of us that He is God. He put in all of us His voice. He stamped His masterpiece with His name, just as Andy, in Toy Story, stamped the bottom of his toys with his name. The sad thing is, just as Woody’s name was painted over, many people paint over God’s name on their soul.

They try to deny their conviction until it’s almost completely gone so that they can go on living their lives the way they want. They can go on worshiping whatever gods they want. But the thing they forget, is even though they may try to paint over it and cover it, God’s name is still there. And when they stand on Judgment Day, they have nothing to say because God has marked them from before they were even formed in the womb. Don’t allow your false gods and idols to cover up the one true God.

Peace. Love. Go forth and Erase the Paint.

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“¹⁷And as they brought them out, one said, ‘Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away.’ ²³The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. ²⁴Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven. ²⁵And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. ²⁶But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.” ~ Genesis 19:17, 23-26

I wonder how many people become spiritually frozen because they keep looking back at their past. I wonder how many more awakened church members there would be, or how many more awakened spiritual gifts there would be if we would just let go of the past that God is trying to destroy for our benefit. But it’s hard, our flesh wants us to open that door God has shut. Or go back down that same path that just took us years to get off of. Or to look back at the past and hold on to it, instead of letting God destroy it and wipe it clean as He has promised to do. Why do we allow our flesh to dictate our lives?

Is it because we don’t truly want to change? Is it because we actually love that part of us? I think it’s because we ask God for forgiveness, but we stop there. We ask Him to destroy the past, but we don’t work towards destroying the past within ourselves. In other words, we don’t fight against our flesh because it’s hard, it’s intimidating, it’s scary, it’s tiring. But we have to fight. Imagine if Lot’s wife had fought her flesh and let go of her past, what would be different? Her daughters probably wouldn’t have gotten their father drunk and slept with him creating all those enemies for the Israelites. I wonder what would happen if we didn’t look back and spiritually freeze; I wonder how many enemies we would have saved ourselves and our children from, how many obstacles we wouldn’t have had to go through.

So today I challenge you to not look back. I challenge you to let go of the past and give it to God. And when that thought comes into your mind to just take a peek, cast it down. When that desires stirs up to step back on that path, get on your knees and pray. When the temptation to turn back to your old habits comes your way, do as Jesus did, quote scripture, and then pray. But whatever you do, don’t stop fighting.

Peace. Love. Go Forth, and DON’T Look Back.

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“And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” ~ 1 John 2:17

Ever notice how it is never ‘whoever loves God will abide with Him forever’? It’s always whoever does the will of God. We always say we love God and we put God first, but we don’t follow all of His commandments. We make exceptions and excuses for those we love, we make exceptions and excuses for those we admire, and we make exceptions and excuses for ourselves.

We play the “God loves everyone” card. We play the “judge lest you be judged” card. We play the “I go to church” card. We play the “I love God” card. But what does that matter? What does any of that matter, if you aren’t obeying His commands? Jesus said in John 14:15 “if you love me you will keep my commands.” Do we do that? How can we truly love Jesus when we constantly cheat on Him with sin? If this is like a marriage, would you stand for your spouse, or spouse-to-be, constantly cheating on you with another person? What if every time they do it, they remind you that they love you? What if they say, “it’s no big deal because you’re an understanding and loving person”?

If you wouldn’t stand for it, why do you think God would? Because you have spiritually fallen asleep. Now your flesh has taken over, and sin wants to control you, so together they help your brain rationalize why the things that God calls sin isn’t actually sin. They paint a negative picture of God in your head. They make Him out to be the too strict parent that doesn’t want their child to have any fun or enjoy life. They paint Him as a buzz kill. Or they paint Him as an overlooking, non-spanking, God loves everyone, everything goes kind of parent. God loves us, that’s indisputable, and He wants us to love Him. But God wants us to love Him and show Him we love Him by staying faithful to His Son, Jesus.

That means giving up each and every sin that you have. That means giving up alcohol. That means giving up drugs. That means giving up cigarettes. That means giving up pre-marital sex. That means giving up each and every idol you worship. That means reading your bible every day. That means praying every day. That means worshiping every day. That means having quiet time every day. That means putting God first, above everything, even yourself. Don’t allow the things of this world to keep you from reuniting with Jesus Christ.

The things of this world will pass away. Even the Earth itself will pass away. Don’t allow the temporary temptations of a temporary world keep you from the everlasting love of Jesus Christ, His Father, and The Holy Spirit. Choose today whom you shall serve, for tomorrow, is promised to no man.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be FAITHFUL.

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“⁹ As Paul spoke on and on, a young man named Eutychus, sitting on the windowsill, became very drowsy. Finally, he fell sound asleep and dropped three stories to his death below. ¹⁰ Paul went down, bent over him, and took him into his arms. ‘Don’t worry,’ he said, ‘he’s alive!’” ~ Acts 20:9-10

While Paul was preaching, Eutychus, the young man, got drowsy and fell asleep. Eutychus was hearing the Word of God but wasn’t engaged. His mind was somewhere else, and he couldn’t keep his focus on the Word of God any longer, and he fell asleep. A lot of us are like Eutychus, we go to Church every Sunday, we read our Bible, but we’re not getting anything out of it. We aren’t growing, we aren’t on fire, we aren’t filled with that passion anymore, so we fall asleep. When we fall asleep, we spiritually die, as Eutychus died. But here is the saving grace, even if you have fallen asleep and are spiritually dead, you can be resurrected. Paul simply took him in his arms and spoke, “he’s alive,” and the young man lived.

The key to knowing whether you are spiritually dead or not is by how your Spirit reacts to the Gospel. Your Spirit should be on fire for God, so it should be excited by the things of God since that is its food. Therefore, if you are bored during Church, you no longer feel that excitement you did when you first got saved, or reading your Bible feels more like a chore and you can’t focus, or maybe praying feels impossible because you just fall asleep during your prayers or your mind is always somewhere else, then you are Spiritually Asleep.

But don’t be discouraged, there is hope, you can be revived, all you have to do is rekindle the flame. How do you do that? Repent and return to God. Why? Because if you are spiritually asleep or spiritually dead, then you no longer have a relationship with God and something else has taken His place in your life, which is why you no longer have that fire you once did. Once you repent, your heart will begin to beat in you again, once again igniting the flame.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Ignite The Flame.

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“¹³ For merely listening to the law doesn’t make us right with God. It is obeying the law that makes us right in his sight.” ~ Romans 2:13

Often times we get caught up in the motions and no longer follow God, we instead simply believe that He exists. Our love for Him slowly dwindles, and we are stuck in a routine. We go to church every Sunday, but we have no relationship with God. We listen to the message be preached, but we don’t take it passed that. But we justify not living a life pleasing to God, by saying we go to church or we read our Bibles.

But what good are those things without a relationship with God? It’s about knowing Him, not knowing of Him. We have to fight daily to do what is right. We have to make time for God. We have to fight to make the right choices day in and day out. Don’t allow yourself to fall into a spiritual slumber because you are spiritually lazy. Fight for your relationship with God as if nothing else matters, because nothing else matters.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Do More Than Listen.

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“¹⁰ For the Lord has poured out upon you a spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes (the prophets), and covered your heads (the seers). ¹¹ And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, ‘Read this,’ he says, ‘I cannot, for it is sealed.’ ¹² And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, ‘Read this,’ he says, ‘I cannot read.’¹⁸ In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see.” ~ Isaiah 29:10-12, 18

Could it be a spirit of slumber that has covered the whole world? In the day and age that we live in, where prophecies are being fulfilled and the days are grower more and more evil, people don’t seem to recognize the signs of the times. Isaiah says that God will pour out upon those who refuse to believe, or to obey, a spirit of deep sleep.

We need to wake ourselves up and prepare for battle. For Satan, our adversary, is prowling around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Seek the LORD so that your eyes may be opened, and your ears may be uncleared so that you may see the signs of the time. For Jesus didn’t leave us unaware of when He would return, but He promised that we would see the signs and we would know that our redemption is near.

LORD God, please open our eyes that we may take notice of the signs that are happening in our day and age. Open our ears that we may hear and differentiate between true and false prophets. Guide us, LORD Jesus, so that we may one day hear you say, “Well done my good and faithful servant.” Teach us to see the truth in all situations. In the precious and Holy name of Jesus, I pray, Amen.

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“Then all the military leaders, including Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people, from the least to the greatest, approached ² Jeremiah the prophet. They said, ‘Please pray to the Lord your God for us. As you can see, we are only a tiny remnant compared to what we were before. ³ Pray that the Lord your God will show us what to do and where to go.’” ~ Jeremiah 42:1-3^NLT

The people of Judah had turned to other gods, other desires, other teachings, and had forgotten their first love. When they were afraid of the Babylonians, they were prepared to leave and go to a land that they were never meant to return to. When they went to the Prophet Jeremiah, they asked him to pray to the LORD his God. Did you catch that? They separated themselves from The LORD God. From the only God.

They had strayed so far, that they had fallen asleep spiritually. They no longer had that connection to God. Instead, they had replaced that connection with other false gods and idols. How many of us have drifted off into a spiritual sleep that we no longer have a connection to God? That we can no longer relate to God as our God?

Turn to God. Repent. And He will awaken you. He will protect you. And He will set you free from all of your troubles, pain, hurt, sadness, sins. He will take it all from you, just call out His Name.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Stop Separating Yourself From God.

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“⁸ Therefore it says, ‘When He ascended on high He led a host of captives, and He gave gifts to men.’” ~ Ephesians 4:8

When Jesus died, that wasn’t the final story. He didn’t just sit in Hades twiddling His thumbs as He waited to be risen on the third day. No, He witnessed to those who were in Paradise with Him, such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Daniel, etc. All of those who had died, He witnessed to that they may have life as well.

See Jesus didn’t come to just save the living, but also the dead. He took the time to witness and release those who had died from the chains of Hades and death, and He will take the time to release you from the same chains that squeeze the life out of you. No matter how dead you are in your sin, if you listen you will be able to hear Jesus’ whisper to you in the wind to arise.

No matter how far a loved one has strayed, Jesus is still calling to them. While there is breath, no amount of Spiritual Death is too much for Jesus to overcome. He already defeated the grave, you only have to accept His hand to join His train of captives and awake.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Join His Train.

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“So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.” ~ Romans 14:12

The Apostle Paul, speaking on behalf of the Creator and Judge, basically said, “It doesn’t matter whether you believe or don’t believe. It doesn’t matter whether you’re ready or not ready. It doesn’t matter whether you want to or don’t want to, you will stand before Almighty God and give an account of the things you did and didn’t do.”

So, if that is the case, and we know that is the case, what kind of lives should we be living? We should be living the kind of lives that are pleasing and acceptable to the LORD. The writer of the book of Hebrews concurred when he wrote “…it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” (Heb 9:27)

So, make no mistake, we will all stand before the judgement seat of Christ. Therefore, we ought to live lives that are worthy to be called Christians. And not selfish, or wicked lives. Do not let the deceiver fool you into apathy, beguile you into breaking one of God’s commandments or laws. But rather, in all things, let love guide your decisions, and let the knowledge of God choose your side.

Father, give us the spirit of discernment that our eyes may be opened to schemes and tricks of the evil one. Help us to make decisions not based on secular information, biases, or desires, but rather on Your written word, which is The Truth, in Jesus’ Name, I pray, amen.

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