Tag: Spiritual

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Outwitted By Satan

11 in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes. ~ 2 Corinthians 2:11

In the animated Western comedy, Rango—a sheltered chameleon—accidentally ends up in the desert town of Dirt, where he invents a tough gunslinger persona. He quickly becomes the town’s sheriff after accidentally killing their arch-nemesis—a hawk. But things take a turn for the worse when he uncovers a dark and sinister plot against the citizens of Dirt… He discovers that the water shortage is no accident but part of a scheme by the corrupt mayor.

We too have what we can consider a corrupt mayor; his name is Satan—the devil. The Bible states that he stalks around seeking someone to devour. But Paul says that we are not unaware of his schemes. Meaning, we know what he is up to, because the Word of God tells us what he is up to: He comes to steal, kill, and destroy. If your things are being stolen- your time, your finances, your relationships, and what have you- it is most likely the devil. You are working really hard, but something that should take you an hour takes you two, and you can’t figure out why—there’s an enemy stalking around, seeking someone to devour.

In the movie Rango, it was their corrupt mayor. Behind his polite, grandfatherly smile, he was deliberately starving the entire town of precious water by secretly shutting off the emergency valve on the water pipeline and thereby creating an artificial drought that turned fertile land into worthless wasteland, and the citizens of Dirt had no clue.

It’s the same with us. The devil masquerades as an angel of light, but he brings darkness wherever he goes. He turns green, lush pastures into barren wastelands that soon become worthless. He comes only to steal, to kill, and to destroy. He presents himself as benign, but all the time he is scheming and plotting. Paul said we are not unaware, but to be unaware, we must first acknowledge that there is a devil and he is alive and active. Second, we must not be intimidated to attribute to him what is his—theft, death, and destruction. But we have a steady and faithful promise from our God: when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit will raise up a standard for us, and will fight on our behalf when the enemy is too strong for us. So, let us believe, and let us seek the face of our God and turn to Him with all our hearts.

Father, we ask you to bring us relief. We are battered by life’s storms; we are harassed by spiritual forces, and we are unaware of the enemy’s schemes. Please open our spiritual eyes to see clearly, so that our prayers may be more specific. In Jesus’ Name, I pray, amen.

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Crucify Pride To Grow

18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. ~ Proverbs 16:18

Lately, little snippets from shows like Kitchen Nightmares have been popping up on my reels, and one thing that I’ve noticed is most of these restaurants are failing because of pride. Any kind of criticism sends them off the deep end, and they attack the customers, staff, Ramsey, anyone who shows them the error in their ways. They’re hot-headed, quick-tempered, angry, unteachable people. And when their business fails, they don’t understand. They can’t comprehend why it failed. So, they have no other option but to blame everyone except for themselves. Taking responsibility is something they struggle with; I’ve yet to see one do so.

In life, we are going to make mistakes. We’re going to fail, but we have to learn from those failures. From those mistakes. The only way we can do that is by acknowledging that it was, in fact, a mistake or failure. Then we learn from it. Whether that new knowledge comes from a new understanding that you see, or from someone else explaining or showing you, it doesn’t matter; you are still learning.

As humans, we have to be able to take responsibility in order to grow. Without growth, we become stagnant. We begin to stink to those around us. We no longer fulfill our purposes in life. Therefore, we have to accept responsibility in order to grow. In order to move forward in life. To some, taking responsibility is difficult. It feels like you’re ripping yourself to shreds, and in a way you are. You are ripping down your flesh. Crucifying it. Putting it into subjection, so that pride will no longer have a place in your life. So that anger will no longer control you. So that you might not be stagnant in life.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Crucify Pride To Grow.

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Exclusive Faith

3 But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of the fathers’ houses of Israel said to them, “You may do nothing with us to build a house for our God; but we alone will build to the LORD God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us” ~ Ezra 4:3

Listen to what Zerubbabel declared concerning a secular, and if I may say so, heathen king: “We alone will build to the LORD God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.” Zerubbabel was not being unkind for the sake of pride. He was making a clear and necessary distinction. Those who approached them were not part of the covenant people. They had no rightful share in the work. Therefore Zerubbabel and the leaders with him refused their help. The rebuilding of the house of God would be done by those to whom the command had been given, and by them alone.

We who belong to Christ also have a mandate from our King and God. He has commanded us to preach the Good News of His kingdom in all the world, so that people may hear, believe, and accept the sacrifice of our LORD Jesus on the cross of Calvary. In this way His Church is to be built upon the firm foundation of Jesus Christ and His shed blood. The work is holy. The foundation is exclusive. No other name is given under heaven by which we must be saved.

Yet in our day we often act as though the opposite were true. We want to include all those who have no genuine part with us—Muslims, Hindus, those who blend other religions with a claim to follow Christ, and anyone who prays to other gods. Because we are politically correct, we are afraid of offending anyone. Therefore, we become so inclusive that we will not exclude anyone, no matter what. We treat a simple profession—“I am a Christian, I believe in Jesus”—as automatic inclusion, regardless of lifestyle or unrepentant ways.

But Jesus Himself warned us that this is not how it works. Not everyone who cries “LORD, LORD” will enter the kingdom of heaven. Many will claim His Name while remaining strangers to His authority. True faith requires more than words. A person must forsake and leave behind all falsehood and wickedness. He must come to Jesus to have his sins forgiven, and his heart sprinkled with the shed blood of the Lamb. Then he must live for the LORD exclusively, because Christ has purchased us with His own death and resurrection and has given us eternal life. There is no room for divided loyalty.

Heavenly Father, I come to You asking for Your forgiveness. Teach me Your ways that I might serve You with a pure heart and clean hands. In Jesus’ Name, I pray, amen.

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The Person In The Mirror

19 As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man. ~ Proverbs 27:19

King Solomon uses an everyday picture—the reflection of a face in still water—to teach a deeper truth. When we look into a mirror, we see an exact representation of ourselves. What we see is the same face everyone else sees. In the same way, Solomon says, a person’s heart reflects who they truly are. What is inside—our motives, desires, attitudes, and character—eventually shows itself in our words and actions.

There’s a funny scene in the movie Daddy’s Home 2 that illustrates how easily we can miss this. Brad is trying to give his co-dad Dusty some hard truths. He points him toward a mirror and says, “The only person who can ruin your Christmas is looking back at you from that mirror.” The problem is, because of the angle, Dusty only sees Brad’s face staring back at him. They keep adjusting the mirror, but every time Dusty looks, it’s still Brad. Finally, Brad gives up in frustration and says, “Forget the mirror exists!”

Brad’s point was clear: the only person who could spoil Christmas was the one looking back from the mirror—not his dad, not anyone else. Yet Dusty kept seeing someone else—Brad.

We often do the same thing spiritually. We look in the mirror of our hearts, and instead of seeing ourselves, we see someone else’s face. So, we shift the blame: “It’s their fault… my childhood… my parents… my circumstances.” We refuse to take responsibility for what is actually in us.

But Proverbs 27:19 will not let us off the hook. The heart of a person reflects the person. No one else gets to dictate the condition of our heart. The face we must face is our own. So, let us look straight into the mirror—honestly, without excuses—and take responsibility for what we see. Then, by God’s grace, we can repent, learn, grow, and move forward in Christ.

Heavenly Father, help me to look honestly at my own heart. Give me courage to take responsibility for my own actions, attitudes, and words. Change me from the inside out, and help me grow more like Jesus. In Jesus’ Name, I pray, amen.

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Watch Out For Antichrist

22 Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. ~ 1 John 2:22-23

The Spirit of Antichrist is something often misunderstood. It’s not a coming human ruler. It’s not just a spirit that claims God has no Son, but that divinity of the Son. See, we often look at verses from our worldview and understanding and not in the context of the time period and culture it was written in and to. Calling Jesus the Son of God was blasphemous, not because the Son is a ruler over man or because He is a kind of lesser god, but because it is claiming that Jesus is equal with God (John 10:33-39).

Antichrist denies who the Son is. It denies the divinity of Christ. For without the divinity of Christ, there is no salvation. No hope. There is nothing. Man cannot save us. Another god cannot save us. Only the Almighty, Yahweh, the Great I Am has the power and authority to redeem His creation. For He alone created us. He alone is our savior.

This belief is running rampant through the Church right now. Antichrist is deceiving many in the Church and the world. It’s cherry-picking verses out of context and blinding them to the verses that say the Son is One with the Father. Antichrist has only grown stronger over the years as it digs deeper and deeper into the Church and the World, so we must be on guard. We must be awake and aware. We have to be knowledgeable of the Scriptures, lest we ourselves be deceived. Lest we miss an opportunity to deliver a soul from the fires of Hell. Therefore, study your Bibles and memorize Scripture. Seek understanding. Don’t just go on blind faith alone, but learn what you believe and why. Where it is in Scripture and how to defend it.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Watch Out For Antichrist.

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These Are Hard Things

14 Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. 15 And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, 16 as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. 17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. ~ 2 Peter 3:14-18

Paul’s writings are hard. They’re difficult to understand, which adds an even higher chance of misinterpretation to all of his letters. Romans 9 is a chapter that is amongst the hardest to understand. Paul writes what sounds like God creates some specifically for Hell and others specifically for Heaven, and there’s nothing we can do to change that. But is this true? If we read just this chapter alone and nothing else, it sure sounds like that, but in the context of Scripture, it can’t be.

Peter assures us that:

9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

2 Peter 3:9

If God desires all to reach repentance, then He cannot withhold the ability to repent from some or create some specifically for Hell. As Paul is explaining these things, he quotes the book of Exodus.

14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! 15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.

Romans 9:14-16

Paul is quoting Exodus 33:19. The very chapter before the people of Israel had created a golden calf. What was the LORD’s response? He told Moses He was going to consume all of the people of Israel and start over with Moses. So, Moses interceded on their behalf. Then he came down, condemned the people, and then returned to the LORD the next day in hopes of making atonement for their grievous sin. It is during Moses’ intercession that God makes this statement. God says to Moses:

17 And the Lord said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.”

Exodus 33:17

The most interesting part of this is that God tells Moses He will show mercy to whom He will show mercy as a response to Moses hearing that the people will be spared and then asking to see the Glory of God. God then places Moses in the cleft of a rock, covers him with His hand, and then removes His hand so that Moses can see the LORD’s back. See, God tells Moses I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy because not everyone receives mercy. The people didn’t receive mercy because they sought the LORD. It was too late. The LORD was ready to bring judgment on them, but because Moses had sought the LORD while He could be found, He could seek and plead on their behalf.

Sometimes, it’s too late because the LORD has given us chance after chance, and we refused to take it. The LORD gave Pharaoh chance after chance, but Pharaoh continuously hardened his own heart. So, the LORD then gave Pharaoh over to his own desires and refused to have mercy on him. Paul warns us that today is the day of salvation. Not just because tomorrow is promised to no one, but also because tomorrow may be one day too late. He may not be able to be found. You may have hardened your heart so much that the LORD gives you over to that hardness and you have no more hope.

This is where intercession is so important. If Moses would not have interceded, then all of those people in the wilderness would have perished. But because Moses had found favor with the LORD and prayed and sought Him on their behalf, they were given another chance. The LORD looks for only one person to stand in the gap. One person to intercede. Therefore, if you see that family member, friend, co-worker, neighbor who is consistently pushing off the tugging of the LORD, pray for them. Seek His face on their behalf, lest the LORD stop tugging and they lose their opportunity.

Dear LORD, I’m sorry for all of the times I have hardened my heart. For all of the times I ran from Your call and refused to humble myself before You. I’m sorry for all of the times that I gave in to my flesh and sinned knowingly. Please forgive me. Please give me another opportunity to be saved. Another opportunity to seek Your face. Draw me close to You, LORD. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

Dear LORD, please don’t give up on [insert name here]. Please soften their heart and do not give them over to their own flesh. Please tug at their heartstrings. Keep them up at night with thoughts of You. Distracted throughout the day with You on their mind. Call out to them, LORD, that they might hear Your voice and come to You. Remember Your Will that none should perish, but all come to acceptance. Remember Your plan that You have for their lives. Please LORD, intervene in their lives, even now as I pray. Let their hearts be not content with this world but uneasy in all of its false splendor. Draw them close to You. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Obedience

22 …be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. ~ James 1:22-25

James is clear: you can listen to the Word of God and read it all you want, but if you do not put into action what you have heard and learned, you are only deceiving yourself. Samuel told King Saul that it is better to obey than to sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22). Jesus Himself declared in Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” In other words, it is all about obedience.

When Samuel said ‘to obey is better than sacrifice,’ the Hebrew word translated ‘better’ is tov—good, pleasant, excellent, beneficial. Obedience is not just preferable; it is the higher-quality, more excellent response God desires.

So we must ask ourselves: Am I being obedient to the commands of Jesus? Each one of us must evaluate our lives, our actions, and our intentions. We must examine the reasons why we do what we do, ensuring that we are not acting from selfish motives that bring only a momentary and temporal reward. Obedience, by contrast, carries an eternal reward.

The bottom line is this: hearing the Word of God alone profits nothing. But hearing coupled with action—true obedience—brings eternal benefits. No one who hears the good he ought to do yet continues in opposition should expect a good reward. Only those who hear and immediately put the Word into practice will receive both an eternal reward and a blessing here and will be prosperous in whatever they do, according to Psalm 1. Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for the Word that cleanses me. Help me to be a doer of Your Word and commandments. Let me not stray away from Your Word, but hold fast to the good things You require of me. In Jesus’ Name, I pray, amen.

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A Divided Heart

32 So they feared the Lord, and from every class they appointed for themselves priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places. 33 They feared the Lord, yet served their own gods—according to the rituals of the nations from among whom they were carried away. ~ 2 Kings 17:32-33

The people maintained a form of godliness, but their hearts remained divided. They feared the LORD yet continued to serve their own gods according to the rituals of the nations. Jesus stated it plainly: “No one can serve two masters. Either you will love the one and hate the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other” (Matthew 6:24).

In his book, “The Great Divorce,” C.S. Lewis describes a Ghost—a visiting soul from the gray town of Hell—who carried a red lizard on his shoulder. The lizard symbolized lust (or any persistent sinful desire) that he could not control. It would twitch its tail and would whisper temptations in his ear, keeping him from fully embracing Heaven. Unable to quiet it, no matter how hard he tried, he planned to leave Heaven and return to Hell, knowing such behavior would not be tolerated there.

A bright, burning angel approached and repeatedly asked, “May I kill it?” The Ghost hesitated, making excuses and feeling sorry for the whimpering lizard; he refused. The creature even promised dramatically to behave if spared. Eventually, in desperation, the Ghost consented. The angel seized the lizard and killed it, causing the Ghost intense agony. But then a transformation occurred: the Ghost became a solid, magnificent, joyful man, and the dead lizard was resurrected as a beautiful, powerful white stallion with a golden mane, on which the man joyfully rode deeper into the mountains of Heaven.

Like those ancient Israelites, we often want Heaven and God—yet we refuse to kill the lizard on their shoulders. We have our little pet sins that purr and coo on our shoulders as we stroke them and pet their heads. They whisper temptations in our ears and slowly lead us off the path of righteousness. But our pet lizards must die if we intend to ride deeper in the mountain of Heaven.

In John 15, Jesus says that our Heavenly Father is the Vinedresser who cuts off every branch that does not bear fruit and prunes the fruitful ones so they bear even more fruit. Pruning is often traumatic and painful, yet it is very necessary if we want to spend eternity with Jesus. As the old song says, “Let the LORD have His way…” We must let Him prune and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Heavenly Father, search me and know my heart. Try me and see if there is any wicked way in me. Purge me, cleanse me, and make me whole so I may follow You with an undivided heart. Prepare me to hear, “Well done, My good and faithful servant.” In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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Don’t Waste This Birthday

13 When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, 14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. ~ 2 Chronicles 7:13-15

15 Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. ~ Matthew 7:15-20

250 years ago, a new country was born. One built on the belief that all men are created equal and endowed with unalienable rights to Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness by their Creator. Men and women willingly gave up their status, wealth, homes, and their very lives in order to ensure that the United States of America would be free from the tyranny of the British crown. 250 years later, there are those who try their best to take these rights away from us each and every day, as they pretend to be acting in our best interests.

They say they are for the people, yet do their best to take away the rights of the people. America wasn’t built in one day. It wasn’t just born out of thin air. It was built on the sacrifice of the brave men and women who wanted a better life for themselves, their children, and their children’s children. They were willing to lose everything, as long as it meant they had freedom. Today, we desire the opposite. We’re willing to sacrifice our freedom for the sake of convenience and empty promises.

The world has dramatically changed in the past 250 years. We’ve become comfortable in our privileges and rights. We’ve become spiritually dead because we don’t know what it’s like to not have the freedom of religion. The freedom of assembly. The freedom of speech. So, we’ve become docile to the point of deep slumber. And as we’ve slept, the wolves have descended. They’re wide awake, taking away everything from us. Even the simplest of things such as the right to collect rainwater.

The enemy will continue to run rampant, as long as the Church remains asleep. As long as we refuse to do anything. 250 years ago, our forefathers risked their lives and all that they had; what are we willing to risk to defend our freedoms? To ensure that our children and our children’s children grow up in a better world than we did? Will we get up a little earlier in the morning to pray? Will we spend a little extra time in our Bibles seeking wisdom from God? Will we begin to spiritually invade the enemy’s camp through prayer, fasting, worship, and time with our God?

Today is America’s 250th birthday. It’s a day that we remember, celebrate, and commemorate the birth of this beautiful nation, but let it also be a day of prayer that it might remember its God and renew its dedication to Him.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Don’t Waste This Birthday.

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Seek Out Knowledge

6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. ~ Hosea 4:6

3 [Jesus] answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?” ~ Matthew 15:3

The more negative comments we receive on our website, the more I realize that the source of these comments is from a place of ignorance. One of the biggest problems in the Church is one that plagued ancient Israel as well, the lack of knowledge. We go based on human tradition instead of the Word of God. Instead of studying the Word of God to show ourselves approved, we ignore Bible verses and stories because they contradict what our tradition says. It contradicts our preconceived notions.

God looked out over His people and said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” I don’t think today is any different. Actually, I think it’s worse. The Bible is accessible in paper and digital form. It is translated into hundreds of languages. There’s really no excuse why we should remain willfully ignorant about the things of God.

So, what’s holding us back? Is it spiritual laziness? Pride, because we don’t want to be wrong? What’s keeping us from growing in the faith? The book of Hebrews chastises the Hebrew people by saying, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food” (Hebrews 5:12). The Hebrew people had been separated and made special because of their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God made Himself known to them. Gave them promises. Gave them revelation and prophecy that He didn’t give to others, yet when the Messiah came, they missed Him. When the Holy Spirit came, they didn’t grow.

The Church has been given so much opportunity to grow. We’ve had revival after revival, yet we drop the ball and remain on milk. We rarely ever make it to solid food. To meat. Why? Ask yourself, what’s holding you back? What’s keeping you from growing in the faith?

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

James 1:5

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Seek Out Knowledge.

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