Tag: Spiritual

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Live For Today And Look For Eternity

13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words. ~ 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

When you lose people you love, the holidays become bittersweet. It’s almost as if you can’t wait to enjoy the holidays, but as you do, you just want it to end. Almost like it’s too painful or wrong to enjoy the holidays without them. All of those emotions and feelings you’ve been bottling up all year long seem to come crashing down during the holidays, and it’s easy to feel crushed underneath it all. But even in a dark place, there’s still a light at the end of the tunnel.

I’ve noticed a trend in movies and TV shows that when someone dies, those mourning that person will end their conversation with them with, “wherever you are.” What could be a sadder statement? I miss my loved ones dearly. It’s been almost a decade, and there are still those moments when, just for a second, I go to pick up my phone to call them and tell them what just happened, and then it hits me, they’re no longer there.

A lot of pain fills our hearts in the holiday season, but one thing that we have as an ease of the heart is this: we don’t mourn like those without hope because we know that this time without them is just a short time compared to the eternity we will share with them one day. It can be difficult sometimes, but when we focus on today and look to eternity instead of focusing on the past and what could be, we’ll be able to cherish every moment we have with the loved ones we still have with us.

Dear LORD, please ease the pain in the hearts of all who are mourning the loss of loved ones. We know that grief and pain only last for the night, for Your joy comes in the morning. LORD, please let Your sun rise in each and every heart and let Your peace and love surround them always. Please teach each of us to focus on today and to live for the hope of eternity. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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The Heart of The Leper

11 On the way to Jerusalem He was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as He entered a village, He was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance 13 and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” 14 When He saw them He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; 16 and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving Him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 And He said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.” ~ Luke 17:11-19

When the Lepers saw Jesus coming, they stood at a distance, as per the law, and cried out to Him. Lepers had to separate themselves to avoid infecting others with the incurable disease of leprosy. In His great compassion, Jesus healed the ten lepers and sent them to the priests so that they could be pronounced clean by them and they would be accepted back into society and return to their families and to their homes.

This was not arbitrary. It was as per the Law of Moses (Leviticus 13:2–14:32). When they heard Jesus’ instructions to them, they all took off running to find the priests. On the way to the priests, the Scripture tells us that the lepers were all cleansed. Meaning that they were all healed of their leprosy.

But one of them, when he saw that he was cleansed, he stopped running, and being overwhelmed with gratefulness and thankfulness, he turned around and ran back to Jesus to say, “Thank You.” Thank you so much, LORD Jesus. His parents raised him well. Raised him with manners. Raised him to have a grateful heart and not take blessings for granted.

Now, let’s think about this for a moment. The Scripture said as they were going to show themselves, they, meaning all ten of them, were all cleansed. That means that they all acted in faith, but it was only one, after seeing that he was cleansed, turned back to say thank you. When you have an ungrateful heart, you don’t see the good that is done to you or the good that’s done for you. It just doesn’t register. It’s all about you and what you want or what you have. You feel like it’s your right. You deserve it. You are entitled to it! Whatever it is.

It’s easy to look at these nine men who didn’t return to Jesus and criticize them, but how many of us take the time out of our day to thank God for His many blessings, mercies, grace, and love? It’s easy to judge others and say what you would’ve done differently when you’re not in that situation, but it’s much harder to pronounce judgment when you look at yourself honestly, without excuse.

Dear LORD, help me to look at myself through the lens of honesty. Please forgive me for all the times I have been ungrateful. Thank You, LORD, for every good and perfect give You have given me. Thank You for every little and great blessing You have poured down upon me. Please soften my heart and humble me, that I might have a thankful and grateful heart and always hold myself to a higher standard than I hold others. Thank You for Your steadfast love and mercy that renews each morning. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Thanks A Bunch

With each generation, it seems as though the world grows further and further from God. Is there a reason for this? Could it have been prophesied in the Bible? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he shows us the importance of a grateful and thankful heart in his Thanksgiving message, Thanks A Bunch.

Luke 17:11-19
Mark 10:32
Luke 17:13b
Leviticus 13:2-14:32
2 Timothy 3:1-2
Psalms 103:2
1 Chronicles 16:34
Psalms 106:1
Psalms 107:1
Psalms 118:1, 29
Psalms 136:1

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Finding God

13  And the LORD said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, while their hearts are far from Me, and their fear of Me is a commandment taught by men, 14therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.”  ~ Isaiah 29:13-14

Some people read this as a rebuke from God. But if you think about it, it is not a rebuke at all. God is acknowledging their desire for fellowship with Him, though it is a bit skewed or distorted. Listen to what He said, “The people draw near with their mouth and honor Me with their lips …” That is speaking of praise and worship. That is speaking of them seeking Him. They even have a seemingly healthy fear of Him. The problem is, their hearts are far from Him, and their fear is a commandment taught to them by their teachers, or at least their leaders, those who guide them spiritually. They do not know God personally for themselves, nor do they know His commands or even how to truly worship Him.

I heard a testimony from a Muslim who was actually in prison because of his involvement with Jihad. He was so intent on finding truth and making a connection with God to serve Him that he was praying more than 5 times a day and reading the whole Koran 10 times in a week. He was extremely devoted and actually had powers where he knew the conversations in other prison cells without him being there. To make a long story short, Jesus appeared to him in his cell and revealed Himself to this violent and murderous man. This man was not seeking Jesus personally, but he was seeking truth. He wanted to be close to God and had a desire to do His will. That is how it was with those people. They were not on the right track per se, but they had a desire to draw close to Him, and they desired to fear Him. They just did not have the right people in their lives to direct them to the right path.

Jesus told a parable about the Good Shepherd and the one lost sheep. In the parable, the Good Shepherd realized that one of His sheep was missing. He left the 99 other sheep and went in search of the one missing sheep. When He found it, He was happy and placed it on His shoulders and took Him back to the sheep pen to be reunited with the other sheep. That is exactly what is happening here.

Look at what God says, and I will paraphrase, “Because they have done these things, with a desire to know Me, but have no one to teach them, I Myself will show them My wonder upon wonders. And I will take away the false teaching that they have been taught.”

The bottom line is this, if you have a strong desire to know Him, even if you are off course, He will reveal Himself to you. Therefore, let me encourage you today that if you truly want to know God in a personal way, you can. Just start with reading the Bible. Not skimming over the Bible or reading it recreationally. I mean, if you have a true desire to know Him, to know Jesus, He will let Himself be found by you, but you must put in the effort.

Heavenly Father, I love You and desire to know You intimately. Please strengthen my desire and help me to learn to sincerely seek Your face. Hear me when I call, and answer me when I pray, in Jesus’ name, amen.

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Don’t Play With The Viper

22 He follows her impulsively like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer bounding toward a trap 23 until an arrow pierces its liver, like a bird darting into a snare  — he doesn’t know it will cost him his life. ~ Proverbs 7:22-23CSB

Early one morning, I had a dream that I was cooking, and the food was smelling good, but then when I moved on of the plates, something started to move on the plate as well. It was a tiny viper. I immediately went to kill it but slithered right onto the floor. I felt so unalarmed that I even made a joke about cooking it up and eating it too, but then when I somehow cut it in half, all of these worms started slithering out of its body and going in all directions, really freaking me out. The head of the snake just kind of slithered away, and I never actually killed it. The fright from the was woke me right up. A lot of us are like me in this dream.

See, according to different sources such as Animal Planet and National Geographic, a viper at a baby stage is more dangerous than a fully grown viper. Why? Because when they bite, they release a lot more of their venom in that bite than an adult. And the person who is bitten will die. In my dream, the snake looked so tiny that the dangers of the snake didn’t even cross my mind, so I didn’t take it seriously. Then the event escalated and no longer was it just the baby viper I had to worry about, but now I had to worry about all of the worms seeking a new host as well.

Sometimes, sin looks extremely innocent and non-threatening. It looks silly and like a joke, causing us to put our guard down and even joke about it. Not at all being concerned with our safety or the safety of those around us. And if we keep joking and playing around with it, it will bite us, and we will spiritually die from the bite.

Therefore, as Paul told us, avoid every kind of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:22), even if it seems innocent enough that you could get away with. Usually, sin that seems innocent is the most deadly. Why? Because we don’t realize it will cost us our lives.

Therefore, study the Scriptures daily and meditate on them. Pray and seek the LORD so that He might open your eyes to the dangers of the baby vipers around you. Fast and worship so that you might build up your spirit, man, and he might be able to help you overcome your flesh.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Don’t Play With The Viper.

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Crucify Til Awaken

12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. ~ Proverbs 14:12

Spiritual slumber is the main cause of the state of the Church today. I heard a story of a lady who was living in sin and she explained that even though she read in the Bible that it was a sin, but because she felt no conviction about it, she felt like it was okay. Here’s the problem with this, if you have spiritually fallen asleep you will not recognize that you are on the wrong path. Because the thing that is presented to you might feel good. It might even seem good, but the end of that road is death.

See, spiritual slumber will numb your connection to the Holy Spirit. It will numb your connection to the Good Shepherd. You will no longer hear His voice or feel His gentle nudge that you’re being deceived. When our flesh has reigned without any restraint for a long time, our spirit man inside weakens to the point that he doesn’t respond to the gentle whisper of God.

Therefore, we can’t always go based on our feelings. Matter-a-fact, very few times, rarely, can we ever trust our feelings. Why? Because the heart is the most deceitful of all, and who can even understand it (Jeremiah 17:9)? Therefore, we must walk by faith and not feelings. We have to go by what the Scripture says and not what we feel. Otherwise, we will be led astray by those feelings.

We have to follow Scripture every day and deny our flesh. We have to build up our spirit man with worship, reading and meditating on the Scriptures, and prayer, along with fasting. We have to crucify our flesh daily so that it won’t overtake us and control us, but rather that we will control it and force it to obey Christ. This is the only way we can truly grow in Him and learn His voice, so that we can feel true conviction and see through the enemy’s deception.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Crucify Til Awaken.

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Know What You’re Worth To Him

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. ~ John 1:1-5

John said that in the beginning was the Word. Who is the Word? Jesus is the Word who became flesh (John 1:14). So, the Word that became flesh was from the very beginning. But the beginning of what? The beginning of creation when time began.

Before creation, there was eternity, but nothing existed. The only existence was the existence of the Trinity who were before the eons of time. Things sprang into existence when God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. It was at this point that time actually started. Jesus existed before time, along with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Jesus prayed to the Father to glorify Him in His own presence with the glory that He, Jesus, claimed He had before the world existed. From before the beginning. The teaching of the Holy Trinity is splashed throughout the Scriptures. So, Who or What makes up the Holy Trinity?

  1. God the Father
  2. God the Son, also known as Jesus Christ
  3. God the Holy Spirit

Why does this matter? Because it wasn’t just anybody who died on the cross for our sins. It wasn’t just anybody that took lashings on His back for our healing. It wasn’t just anybody who took our chastisement upon Himself for our peace. It was God Himself who did these things for us. Why? Because He loves us. He did it for all who would come and accept His free gift of salvation.

So, next time you feel alone, unloved, unseen, unheard, or unimportant, remember that the God of the universe. The God that created all things set off His Godliness, took the form of man, and died so that you would no longer be separated from Him. Then, on the third day, He rose again and gave us the free gift of eternal life. You are seen, heard, and loved by God.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Know What You’re Worth To Him.

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Be In Step With God

5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ~ Philippians 2:5-7

This is the kenosis of Jesus; although He was God, He did not take up the divine attributes and privileges of God but became a humble servant. It does not mean that He did not have them, but that He voluntarily placed them to one side and refused to instate them as so He could fully function as a man and thus complete the redemptive work and satisfy the law as our kinsman redeemer. Remember when Jesus was being arrested and Peter, being Peter, drew his sword and cut off the ear of the High Priest’s servant’s ear? Now, remember what Jesus said to Peter in the Garden of Eden (Matthew 26:52-54)?

Jesus could have used His divine power to achieve His objectives, but then He would not have been functioning as fully man, but as God, and God is not our kinsman redeemer; Jesus is our kinsman redeemer because of how the law of kinsman redeemer works, and I’m saying this without challenging the fact that they (the Holy Trinity) are one and the same yet are all separate individuals. Instead, He chose to act as a servant and use the Name of God instead of His own name or power. But before His crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension He basically told His disciples something new, something better is coming your way, just wait and see.

This is where the work of the Holy Spirit comes in, as we invoke and use the name of our LORD Jesus. No longer is God only close to some and not others. No longer is mankind divided and separated from God as His enemies, now all of mankind has the opportunity to come to Christ and be united to Him. All we have to do is accept God’s free gift of salvation and allow the Holy Spirit to dwell in us and through us. Then, He will be with us in every step of this journey called life.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be In Step With God.

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Lift Your Countenance

2 Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid, ~ Nehemiah 2:2KJV

Nehemiah’s brother, along with some other men, had just returned from Jerusalem and told Nehemiah that the walls and gates of Jerusalem were broken down and burned, and the place was in shambles. And the remnant there in the province who had survived the exile was in great trouble and shame.

It broke Nehemiah’s heart, and his countenance changed from one of joy to one of mourning. What was happening was he was expressing outwardly what he felt inwardly. His equilibrium was in balance.

Now watch this. Countenance is the outward showing of God’s love that is in you and in me which is expressed on our faces through rejoicing. It is our way of expressing thankfulness to God our Father for His numerous blessings on us.

It’s our offering to Him. And now, this is the exciting part; rejoicing is directly related to the harvest. Every feast and every offering. Every harvest time and every sheep shearing time was to be accompanied with gladness and rejoicing.

Rejoice! Because the Lord, your God, has made you glad and has blessed you with good things to enjoy. Rejoice and be glad because the LORD your God has dealt wondrously with you. Meaning, He has given you a bountiful blessing to enjoy; now show thanks. So, remove that frown. Get rid of that downcast face. Look up and rejoice because the LORD our God reigns.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Lift Your Countenance.

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Actively Chase

6 … [it is] those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, [that] shall be satisfied. ~ Matthew 5:6b

We must chase His presence if we expect to apprehend that which we have been apprehended. Think about this for a moment. If the blind men by the roadside in Jericho had not CONTINUOUSLY yelled out to Jesus for mercy, what do you suppose would have happened?

What if they had yielded to the shouts of the crowd to shut up or to be quiet? Do you suppose they would have gotten their healing? I say, No! Jesus would have walked right past them, and they would have missed their last opportunity to receive a miracle if it had not been for Chasing His Presence. Same thing is true with the disciples in the storm (Mark 6:47-51).

Jesus would have passed them by had they not cried out in fear. They were probably hollering for Jesus, as it were, not knowing that it was Him who was passing by then. Sometimes, we don’t always recognize the move of God at first glance because, sometimes, it is only revealed to those who are actively chasing His presence. Therefore, actively chase His presence.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Actively Chase.

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