Tag: Awaken From Spiritual Slumber

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.

¹⁰ … your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray, and you said in your heart, “I am, and there is no one besides me.” ~ Isaiah 47:10b

Secret knowledge makes one wiser than those who are in the dark. And that kind of ‘knowledge-power’ can make one arrogant, haughty, and overconfident.

There is a game played with a whole bunch of players called werewolf. In the game where everyone gets a card with the word ‘villager’ written on it, but two players get a card with the word werewolf written on it.

Then, someone runs the game to ensure that no one is cheating. Then the leader says, “Okay it’s nighttime everyone please close your eyes. Now, werewolves, choose someone to kill.” After the person is chosen, the one in charge of the game says, “Okay, it’s morning, and announces that a certain person was killed during the night.”

All the players now have a conversation about who the werewolf is and who they are going to kill. The game continues until either both werewolves are killed or all but two villagers are killed. More times than not, the werewolves win. What is the purpose of the game?

Well, the game was invented by a Russian sociology student who wanted to prove his thesis that an uninformed majority will always lose the battle of information against an informed minority. Which proves that someone having hidden information can completely manipulate a large group of people, and that’s what they have done, with the secret meetings.

Knowledge is power. As long as we refuse to seek knowledge, we will never have true freedom in this world. We have to seek to open our eyes to the truth. Obtaining truth is the key to fixing our world. Why? Because when we have truth, we won’t fall for deceitful lies.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Obtain Truth.

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²⁶ For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, ²⁷ but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. ~ Hebrews 10:26-27

The writer of Hebrews says, “Do not go on sinning, for if you do go on sinning, you will nullify the sacrifice of the cross. And if you nullify the sacrifice of the cross, you will void the salvation that Jesus has lavished on us. And if you void the salvation that Jesus has lavished on us, then there is nothing left to look forward to, except for the fearful expectation of the judgment of the Lake of Fire.”

So, what does it mean to go on sinning deliberately? The Scriptures says that if you know the right thing to do and you refuse to it, then you are sinning.

Therefore, it would be in your best interest to read the Bible to see what it says about right or wrong so that you will know what the right thing is so that you can do it. Do not rely on a man or a woman to tell you. Yes, listen to your preachers, listen to your pastors, listen to your evangelists, but do as the Bereans did and search the Scriptures daily to see if what Paul was teaching them was accurate. You, too, must read your Bible for yourself so that you will not be deceived or led astray.

There is so much deceitfulness in the world today, and it’s no different in the Church, therefore, your only hope of truth is in the Bible. Do not believe the lie that the Bible is outdated, or has changed to the point of being unreliable, or untrustworthy. Believe me, if God is real, and He is, He is more than able to preserve His Word and He did.

Listen to this, Jesus is the Word that became flesh, and He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He will not and cannot change; therefore, neither will His Word change. His Word is unchanging, immovable, indivisible, and infallible; it will remain the same forever and ever.

Therefore, do not listen when society tells you that it is okay to live a certain lifestyle; rather, read the Word of God to see what it says about what they said. Do not participate in everything that those who live to promote the pleasures of life say is acceptable to God or tell you that is what Jesus would do. Read the Word of God for yourself, and the Spirit of Truth will reveal to you and open your eyes because He has promised to fill those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

Remember, the return of Jesus is closer now than ever before, and we must be ready to receive Him, so that He will receive us into His kingdom.

Heavenly Father, please open my eyes to see and recognize lies. Help me to see and recognize truth; Your Word is truth. Help me to cling to Your truth and obey Your Word. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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²² How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? ~ Proverbs 1:22

As Wisdom glides along the crowded streets, she desperately warns the people. She cups her hands and yells, “The return of Christ is at hand, get yourself ready and get your house in order, for now is the time of salvation.” But no one even notices. No heads are turned. No eyes are shifted in her direction. No conversations are broken. Life goes on pretty much the same as always. There is no change.

Yet, she continues her heralding.

“Prophecies foretold in Scripture are coming to pass. Therefore, seek and you will find. Call upon Him while He is near. Do not wait. Do not hesitate, for His return is nigh at hand.”

But no one even notices her as she glides by. So, she changes her strategy and cries out again:

“There are more and more scientists coming out stating that studies show that wireless and Bluetooth products are causing an increase in brain cancer, and radiation can cause health issues.”

But still, no one pays attention or even halfway listens. Then, Wisdom screams at the top of her lungs,

“At least look into the matter. At least check out the facts. Do a little homework for yourself and do not rely on the opinions of those who stand to profit off of you and call it philanthropy.”

But again, no one pays attention or even looks up from their leisurely conversations. This is our reality today. We are being lulled asleep by the distractions of this world, as wisdom is screaming at the top of her lungs for us to pay attention to her guidance and warnings, but we never do.

Wake up. Today is the day of salvation. Tomorrow is promised to no man. Today is the day of following Christ and living for Him, standing up for righteousness, and telling someone about His goodness. Today is all we have; tomorrow may never come. We need to live each day as if it’s our last so that when we stand before the throne of grace, we will have no regrets.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Heed Wisdom.

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²² How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? ~ Proverbs 1:22

While Wisdom screams at the top of her lungs, those who are spiritually asleep will never hear her call. Wisdom calls out to each of us. She gives each and every one of us the opportunity to know and understand the Truth. To see through the lies, deceit, and trickery of the enemy, but if we have closed our ears to righteousness, calloused our hearts, and sewn our eyes shut, then we will never hear her call.

I’ve read many different stories of people who converted to Christianity from Islam, Buddhism, and Atheism. Even though each of these belief systems is vastly different, each one of these conversion stories has one key thing in common, they’re looking for the Truth, regardless of what the Truth is. Jesus promised that if we seek, we will find, and if we knock, the door will be opened to us. Each of these people did exactly that. They sought out the Truth, not the truth of their own beliefs, but The Truth. When they sought, Wisdom began to call to them, and their eyes began to open to The Truth.

Therefore, we can understand that there is none as blind as those who refuse to see. Even when the evidence stares them dead in the face, they still refuse to see or even take a look. This is because they have spiritually killed themselves, taking away the very opportunity to hear Wisdom’s call.

If we want to truly hear from God and grow in our walk with Him. We have to seek His Truth. Not our truth, not the truth of the world, not the truth of church tradition, not the truth of our ancestors, not the truth of society, not the truth of culture, but The Truth of God. Only The Truth of God is trustworthy and perfect without flaw or corruption. Why? Because His very nature is good, perfect, love, and light.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Seek Only The Truth.

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