Tag: Spiritual

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Keep Going In Christ

19 The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they encamped at Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. ~ Joshua 4:19

On the 10th day of the 1st month of the Israelite year, they crossed over the Jordan into Gilgal. That would be the day they were to select either the lamb or the goat for the Passover sacrifice, which would be slaughtered on the 14th day of the month.

The 10th day of the 1st month can be thought of as the DAY of CHOOSING. Spiritually, what was happening was that God was choosing these people that day.

Remember that their fathers were all rejected because of unbelief and disobedience. So now God was selecting or choosing these people to enter the Promise that He had given to them and their forefathers several hundred years before. From the time of Abraham.

Then Paul likened the passing through the water to baptism into Moses (1 Corinthians 10:1-5). Those who were baptized, coming through the Red Sea, were now all dead, so these new Promise-Receivers had to be baptized.

Now, after they cross over and are symbolically baptized into Moses, they are circumcised on a mountain (Joshua 5:2-3). In prophecy, a hill or a mountain always represents places of worship. This act of circumcision was an act of worship to the LORD. An act of submission and acceptance of the covenant of God.

Therefore, consecrate yourself for the LORD. Turn your eyes away from evil and your feet away from the world. Seek the LORD and all of His righteousness. Don’t be conformed by the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

When we decide to follow God, we have to make sure to never turn away. We have to be on guard defending our faith and our relationship with Christ, lest we lose it as the first generation of Israelites to leave Egypt did. They didn’t make it into the promised land. They never experienced the blessings of the LORD and the victories the second generation did. Therefore, cling to Christ. Don’t allow yourself to fall into a spiritual rut, lest you spiritually fall asleep and spiritually die.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Keep Going In Christ.

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Let The Message Change You

51 “You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are always resisting the Holy Spirit. As your ancestors did, you do also. 52 Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They even killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become. 53 You received the law under the direction of angels and yet have not kept it.”  54 When they heard these things, they were enraged and gnashed their teeth at him. ~ Acts 7:51-54CSB

The people stayed silent and listened to Stephen’s message. He started with Abraham and made his way to Moses. The people didn’t contest anything he said, but when Stephen mentioned that they were the problem. That they killed the Messiah. That they were in the wrong, they were enraged. They were angered. Stephen had struck a nerve.

See, people are okay with hearing the historical references of the Bible. They’re even okay with hearing a moral story from the Bible. People only have a problem when you personalize the Bible. When the Scriptures are used to convict the conscience and change lives, that’s when people have a problem. That’s when people become angry because they’ve become attached to their flesh. The flesh becomes addictive. It becomes a stronghold that keeps you bound.

The message of Christ isn’t just to feel good and tickle our ears. The message of Christ is to lighten the darkness and change the lives of those who hear it. It’s not to make you feel comfortable in your sin; it’s to convict you of your past sins and change your life.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Let The Message Change You.

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His Strength

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. ~ Ephesians 6:10-11

AI, that Adulterous and Idolatrous city. Adultery is the same as spiritual Idolatry, and Idolatry is the same as spiritual adultery, and it comes in many forms.

  • Fornication
  • Sexual perversion
  • Pornography
  • Money
  • Power
  • Your job/work
  • Family
  • Car
  • House
  • Electronics
  • Games
  • Spiritual laziness
  • Sports
  • Celebrities
  • Concerts
  • TV
  • Ministry

When the men went up to fight AI, they were deceived into thinking they had it covered, not realizing they had a breach in their armor. Let us put on the full armor of God so that in the day of adversity, we will be able to stand.

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Shake The Giants

17 And Jesse said to David his son, “Take for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers. 18 Also take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand. See if your brothers are well, and bring some token from them.” 19 Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. 20 And David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper and took the provisions and went, as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the encampment as the host was going out to the battle line, shouting the war cry. 21 And Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army. 22 And David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage and ran to the ranks and went and greeted his brothers. 23 As he talked with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him. ~ 1 Samuel 17:17-23

I recently had a conversation with my cousin, who describes himself as a Hebrew Israelite, and his wife, who is a self-proclaimed Muslim. They both deny the Godhood and the deity of Jesus. They both tried to argue from different standpoints why salvation and Jesus don’t make any sense. My cousin argued from the standpoint that a God who flooded the earth wouldn’t allow man to nail Him to a cross and kill Him. She argued that if Jesus was God and died for our sins, then there would be no more sin in the world, and all people would be perfect.

So, I did as my father taught me and gave an answer for each and every question they had using Scripture and not just my own opinions. After I gave my answers, I was told by my cousin’s wife that it didn’t make any sense, and no one died for anybody. So, I simply asked her what the Quran says about Mohammed. Does it not say that he didn’t know what Allah would do with him or them? Does it not say that Mohammed died and was buried? She was reluctant to answer my questions, but she agreed and answered. I then asked about Jesus. I asked if the Quran does not testify that He went into Heaven alive. To which she then had to concede and say it does. I then posed one last question, “If Jesus was taken into heaven alive and Mohammed died and was buried, why would I follow the dead man instead of the man taken into Heaven alive?”

She wasn’t a fan of this question, so my cousin attempted to come to her defense, stating that Mohammed knew things he shouldn’t’ve known, and therefore, you have to at least wonder. She then chimed in, saying that that was proof from God. I then pointed out that that isn’t actually evidence of anything, as there are writings from ancient Asia that describe brain surgery that modern scientists don’t understand how they knew these things. Just because someone is given knowledge doesn’t mean that they received that knowledge from God. She then proceeded to tell me that I need to let people believe what they want to believe and stop trying to convert people.

I didn’t go to my aunt’s house looking for a conversation with my cousin and his wife. In fact, I didn’t even know they were there. I went there to try to find something to fix my phone with, but instead of finding anything to fix my phone, I found myself in a debate with my cousin, his wife, and the lady who cooks for their family. It doesn’t matter where you are or what your plans are, sometimes, the Devil will try to shake up your faith, and if you haven’t prepared you’re faith will be shaken.

David didn’t go to fight Goliath; David went to bring food to his brothers. But he had prepared in private, so when it came time to face the giant, he was ready. Our lives involve battles upon battles upon battles. Some will be simple and easy; others will be three giants against one of you. And if you’ve prepared in private, you’ll be able to defend yourself against each giant that comes your way. Not only will you be able to defend yourself against their attacks, you will be able to attack back and shake the giants who attacked you.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Shake The Giants.

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Avoid Russian Roulette

19 Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the Lord God of Israel and give praise to him. And tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me.” 20 And Achan answered Joshua, “Truly I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I did: 21 when I saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar, and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels, then I coveted them and took them. And see, they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath.” 22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and behold, it was hidden in his tent with the silver underneath. 23 And they took them out of the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the people of Israel. And they laid them down before the Lord. 24 And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver and the cloak and the bar of gold, and his sons and daughters and his oxen and donkeys and sheep and his tent and all that he had. And they brought them up to the Valley of Achor. 25 And Joshua said, “Why did you bring trouble on us? The Lord brings trouble on you today.” And all Israel stoned him with stones. They burned them with fire and stoned them with stones. 26 And they raised over him a great heap of stones that remains to this day. Then the Lord turned from his burning anger. Therefore, to this day the name of that place is called the Valley of Achor. ~  Joshua 7:19-26

I saw a video the other day where a little small dog would jump the neighbor’s fence just to provoke the two dogs next dog, which were much bigger than himself. When the two dogs came charging out, he would jump back over, and they would chase each other up and down the fence. Him on one side, and they on the other. To the small dog it seemed like fun, but I wonder what would have happened if he got caught on the wrong side of the fence?

That is what Achan did. He played the Russian Roulette game and lost. He got caught on the wrong side of the fence.

Adultery and Idolatry always go together; they are synonyms. Adultery is spiritual idolatry, and idolatry is spiritual adultery, as we saw earlier. They’re interchangeable. God always likens idolatry to sexual unfaithfulness to Him.

Therefore, be careful when playing games with your soul. It may seem like you’re winning and are unstoppable, but that’s all just an illusion to keep you playing the game so that one day you’re so far gone that you won’t even realize the bullet has struck you and you’ve spiritually died.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Avoid Russian Roulette.

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Defeating Spiritual Adultery

In today’s world, there are two main enemies plaguing society. These two are two faces of the same coin. They go hand in hand: adultery and idolatry. Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he opens our eyes to the spiritual warfare around each and every one of us in his message, Defeating Spiritual Adultery.

Joshua 7:2-5
Joshua 4:19
1 Corinthians 10:1-5
Joshua 5:2-3
Genesis 34:23-29
Joshua 7:2
1 Corinthians 5:6
Proverbs 24:33
Ezekiel 16:17
Ezekiel 32:17-21
Ephesians 6:13-18
1 Corinthians 6:18
1 Corinthians 10:14
Matthew 5:28
Joshua 7:6
Joel 2:13
Joshua 7:13
Exodus 19:22-23
1 Corinthians 5:7
Romans 12:2
Ephesians 4:20-24
Joshua 8:10-12
Mark 1:35
Psalms 5:3
Psalms 119:147

Defeating Spiritual Adultery

Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, “Go up and spy out the land.” And the men went up and spied out Ai.And they returned to Joshua and said to him, “Do not have all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not make the whole people toil up there, for they are few.” So about three thousand men went up there from the people. And they fled before the men of Ai,and the men of Ai killed about thirty-six of their men and chased them before the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them at the descent. And the hearts of the people melted and became as water.

Joshua 7:2-5

1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

1 Corinthians 10:1-5

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Call It Into Action

29 The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the sojourner without justice. 30 And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none. 31 Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have returned their way upon their heads, declares the Lord God.” ~ Ezekiel 22:29-31

God made a long list of wrongs and called out the iniquities that both the people and the priests were guilty of. But He doesn’t want to bring a swift and terrible punishment on them as He would be justified in doing.

He doesn’t do it because He does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked. Neither does He find delight in punishing the guilty. God would rather bless than curse. Give than take. Help than hinder. Forgive than punish because His love is a steadfast love. Therefore, God looked for someone, anyone who would stand in the gap and intercede for those wayward people, but He could find none.

Today is no different. God is still looking for intercessors. He’s still looking for someone to stand in the gap and pray for the lost that they might be found. The love of God will move, but only if we will call it into action.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Call It Into Action.

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Be In Tune

15 Elisha responded, “Get a bow and arrows.” So he got a bow and arrows. 16 Then Elisha said to the king of Israel, “Grasp the bow.” So the king grasped it, and Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands. 17 Elisha said, “Open the east window.” So he opened it. Elisha said, “Shoot!” So he shot. Then Elisha said, “The Lord’s arrow of victory, yes, the arrow of victory over Aram. You are to strike down the Arameans in Aphek until you have put an end to them.” 18 Then Elisha said, “Take the arrows!” So he took them. Then Elisha said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground!” So he struck the ground three times and stopped. 19 The man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck the ground five or six times. Then you would have struck down Aram until you had put an end to them, but now you will strike down Aram only three times.” ~ 2 Kings 13:15-19 CSB

Elisha told the king to do two very specific actions: shoot an arrow and then strike the ground with arrows. After the first command, Elisha explained the meaning of the action, but the king missed the importance of the second action.

See, Elisha told the king that the first action was a sign of his victory over Aram, but the king didn’t take into consideration that the second action would be tied to his victory. Therefore, he only struck the ground three times.

The king’s spirit man was asleep. It wasn’t in tune with the Spirit of God, so he missed his opportunity to completely defeat his enemy. Today, we are given the same kind of commands. We are urged by the Holy Spirit to act, but it’s not until we’ve obeyed or it’s too late that we find out the reason for the command.

The only way we can be sure to never miss the opportunity of the LORD is to awaken your spirit man and grow him until he is in tune with the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who guides, leads, and protects.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be In Tune.

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What Is Shavuot?

God gave the Israelites seven feasts to observe. Some of these feasts have already been fulfilled, such as Passover and the Feast of Weeks, but what about the other feasts? The Feast of Weeks isn’t observed today by the Jewish people; instead, they observe Shavuot. What is Shavuot? Why don’t they observe the Feast of Weeks? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he searches through Scripture for answers in his video, What Is Shavuot?

Leviticus 23:15-21

What Is Shavuot?

The Feast of Weeks (Shavuot)

15 You shall count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering. 16 You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall present a grain offering of new grain to the Lord. 17 You shall bring from your dwelling places two loaves of bread to be waved, made of two tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour, and they shall be baked with leaven, as firstfruits to the Lord. 18 And you shall present with the bread seven lambs a year old without blemish, and one bull from the herd and two rams. They shall be a burnt offering to the Lord, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 19 And you shall offer one male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old as a sacrifice of peace offerings. 20 And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. 21 And you shall make a proclamation on the same day. You shall hold a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work. It is a statute forever in all your dwelling places throughout your generations.

Leviticus 23:15-21

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Silence Them

3 Then the sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha and said, “Do you know that the Lord will take your master away from you today?” He said, “Yes, I know. Be quiet.”

5 Then the sons of the prophets who were in Jericho came up to Elisha and said, “Do you know that the Lord will take your master away from you today?” He said, “Yes, I know. Be quiet.” ~ 2 Kings 2:3, 5 CSB

It was time for Elijah to be taken up. It wasn’t private knowledge; others knew of this, and they came to Elisha to tell him Elijah was being taken away that day. They were the sons of the prophets of Bethel and Jericho. Two different times. Two different locations. Two different sets of people came to discourage Elisha, but he stood firm.

They came to him and asked if he knew his master was being taken away from him that day. The man who called Elisha and taught him everything he knew was being taken away, and these two sets of men came to let Elisha know.

Now, their prophecy could’ve discouraged him, but he didn’t allow their words to penetrate his heart or his mind. He silenced them.

Sometimes, people will come up to you to tell you how hard something is going to be or weigh in on how they believe your life will turn out. They may even have your best interest at heart, even though their words are discouraging. Sometimes, people in your life unknowingly allow the devil to use them in order to discourage you, and they don’t even realize it. They may think they’re doing what’s best for you when, in reality, they are defeating you before you can even truly get started.

Just as these sons of the prophets may have thought they were doing good by warning Elisha, so may other people feel the same way when they tell you discouraging things. But just as Elisha silenced them, you have to silence others. Not physically, but spiritually. You give the words they spoke to you and on you to the Lord. You don’t allow their discouraging words to penetrate your heart or mind. Instead, you cover yourself with the armor of God so that you might be protected from the attacks of the enemy. So that you can fill your mind with Truth and not lies. With hope and not fear.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Silence Them.

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