Tag: Spiritual

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Seek Consistently

5 And He said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; 6 for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’? 8 I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.” ~ Luke 11:5-10

It’s the three-strand cord explained in obscurity. So, I will decipher it for you. Now, the friend asks his friend for a very specific number of loaves – three… to be sure.

Jesus said that the friend will not get out of his bed to give him what he asks for because he is his friend… but because of his incessant asking and his continual knocking, he will give him all that he needs – this friend is super persistent.

Now imagine, if the friend had let his head drop, his shoulders slump, and had turned around and walked away. He would have been out of luck. He would have left there empty-handed.

And I’m very much afraid that that is what happens to a whole lot of us Christians. We don’t persistently knock. We won’t continually ask. We fail to consistently seek.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Seek Consistently.

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A Weighted Bread

27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the LORD in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the LORD. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. 31 But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged by the LORD, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. ~ 1 Corinthians 11:27-32

The physical manifests in the spiritual, and the spiritual has either rewards or consequences. Now, let us consider the significance of what Paul just said. Two words jump out at us as we read that:

  1. Unworthy
    • Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the LORD in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the LORD.
  2. Discerning
    • 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.

This is the only time that those two particular variations of those words are used in the New Testament. However, the lemma for discerning is used several times. But as it is, Paul is saying that this is a very solemn time. It’s not a time for fun and games, and playing pattycake. It’s a time to inspect yourself and ask the hard questions that require honest answers.

Am I living a Christian life? Am I sexually pure? Meaning I’m not sleeping with someone who is not my spouse. I’m not engaged in pornography or illicit behavior. Am I mixing the occult with the things of God? Am I walking in love, righteousness, and holiness? Is there any unconfessed sin in my life? A sin that nobody knows about— but me: Hatred? Lust? Any ungodliness at all?

This is the time to search your heart and ask as David asked in Psalms 139:23-24. An introspective evaluation must take place. Otherwise, Paul is suggesting that eating and drinking in an unworthy manner, along with not discerning the body of Christ, will make you terminally ill and eventually cause you to die.

Subsequently, the other side of the coin is that if you do eat worthily and discerningly, you will receive life. But not just life, but life more abundantly, because Jesus is “The Bread of Life.” Meaning, you will receive the three-strand cord of Jesus’ atoning and redemptive work as described by the prophet Isaiah 53:5. The atoning work of Jesus gives us unlimited access to the Throne of Grace.

Thank You LORD for giving me the opportunity to approach Your Thone of Grace without fear but in confidence. Thank You LORD for Your sacrifice that has given me this opportunity. Please search me. Fill me with Your Spirit that I might be convicted within myself of all sins I have given into. Please help me to see them and overcome them. Open my eyes to their dangers and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. Help me to take Your communion only with a pure heart and a right spirit within me. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Forsake Que Sera Sera

48 That very day the Lord spoke to Moses, 49 “Go up this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, opposite Jericho, and view the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel for a possession. 50 And die on the mountain which you go up, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died in Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, 51 because you broke faith with me in the midst of the people of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, and because you did not treat me as holy in the midst of the people of Israel. 52 For you shall see the land before you, but you shall not go there, into the land that I am giving to the people of Israel.” ~ Deuteronomy 32:48-52

It’s now been 40 years since the people of Israel left the land of Egypt. Moses has died and Joshua has received the heavy mantle of leading the people of Israel into the land of Canaan, The Promised Land. How did we get here?

Moses led the people of Israel in the wilderness faithfully for forty years. Neither their clothes nor sandals wore down (Deuteronomy 29:5). Yet Moses never made it into the Promised Land. Why? Throughout their time in the wilderness a Rock followed them in order to provide them with drinking water as they journeyed 40 years. The LORD told Moses, speak to the Rock so water may come out of it, but instead Moses struck the Rock. Not once, but twice. And the LORD told him that because of his actions he would die on Mount Nebo. He would never step into the promised land, but only see it from a distance.

This wasn’t just disobedience. This was anger driven disobedience. Moses had, once again, let his anger get the best of him, and the LORD had had enough. So, instead of leading the people of Israel into the Promised Land he had to go to the top of Mount Nebo, in the Land of Moab and die a premature death. His body wasn’t ready, but that physical act of disobedience caused a spiritual reaction that ended up costing him his promise and his very life.

Just because God has a plan for your life doesn’t mean that you will see that plan be fulfilled. It is up to you to make the right decision and take the right steps. God has done His part. He planned good things for you and gave the plan to you. It is up to you to follow it.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Forsake Que Sera Sera.

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Watch Your Intellect

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths. 7 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. 8 It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. ~ Proverbs 3:5-8

Something I’ve noticed and been thinking more and more about recently, is that the more book smart someone is, the more they seem to struggle with understanding the Bible and who God is. I guess sometimes God doesn’t fit our logic. Well, I think a lot of the time, He doesn’t. God does things that we just don’t understand. He does things we disagree with. And what I’ve been really noticing is the smarter someone is, the harder it is for them to fully trust God at His Word, so they use their own logic and their own understanding.

Learning and growing intellectually is important but never let that get to your head. Never let it blind you from seeing the Truth of who God is. Never let it create your own truth. It’s very easy to put your own ideas in the Bible. Here’s what I mean. It’s very easy to twist Scripture to make it say what you want, especially when you are very smart. It’s also very easy to believe that what you have twisted and misinterpreted is correct and truth.

So, what should we do? Stop seeking intellectualism? No. We should always seek to become more knowledgeable, but we should always make sure that our source for understanding is God and not our own wisdom. For the foolishness of God is greater than the wisdom of man. So, don’t think more of yourself than you ought, always humble yourself before God seeking His Truth and not your own. Seeking His wisdom and not your own. That is the only way we can walk a straight path back to Him.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Watch Your Intellect.

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Forsake Your Idea of God

14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And He said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” ~ Exodus 3:14

As a child one of the greatest trilogies to be released was Spy Kids. I still watch it as an adult. In the second movie they introduce a character, Romero, who created genetically modified animals such as spider-monkeys, slizzards, flying pigs, etc. He had originally created them to be miniature to sell a unique petting zoo for children, but he accidentally made them grow very large when he spilled chemicals on them. Because of this, he became frightened of his own creation and hid from them ever since.

When he meets the two main characters, Carman and Junie, he poses a question to them, “Do you think God stays in heaven because he too lives in fear of what he’s created?” I think he perfectly sums up the average person today. Not that the average person believes God is afraid of us but that the average person sees God through their own experience and therefore makes false comparisons, creating wrong ideas of who God is and how He sees us.

See, we can’t all just decide how we see God and each person’s own opinions are all right. If one sees Him as loving and good, while the other sees Him as malevolent and evil, those are two contradicting ideas that cannot both be true. So, how can we know whose opinion of God is correct? It’s very simple actually. No one’s opinion of God is right. It’s God’s own description of Himself that is the sole Truth. It doesn’t matter what we think God is or should be or what we what Him to be. It matters who He is.

How do we know who He is? We read the Word He gave us. The Bible. The Word of God that has not been changed nor corrupted. The Word of God that is infallible, without error or contradiction. That is what we base our belief of God on. We throw aside our own opinions for the Truth of God. We deny our flesh, pick up our cross, and follow Him.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Forsake Your Idea of God.

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Open Your Eyes To See

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. ~ Genesis 3:1-6

The enemy uses the same tricks and traps for us today that he has used for millenias. He will highlight what you don’t have and blind you from all that you do have. Even the secular world sees and recognizes this.Take, for instance, Tim Burton’s Coraline. The entire premise of the movie is that evil will slip in when we are unhappy and discontent with life, promising us everything we don’t have, and then stealing the one thing we cannot live without, our souls.

Just as the enemy slipped in some doubt with Eve, enough for her to eat the forbidden fruit, it is the same with us today. The enemy blinds us from all that we have and focuses us on all that we don’t. Focusing us on the disappointments, the let downs, the emptiness, blinding us from the love, blessings, and gifts from above.

Just as Coraline’s end was death, if she had completely fallen into the trap of the Beldam, so will our end be death if we completely fall into the trap of the enemy. See, the enemy will show you temporary happiness, excitement, and satisfaction. The end however will be death. An eternal death.

Are you being fooled by the enemy or have you seen through the enemy’s disguise? Seek the Scriptures, pray, spend time with the LORD and you will find the answer.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Open Your Eyes To See.

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Seek Food And Security

4 But He answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” ~ Matthew 4:4

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. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, ~ Ephesians 6:10-18

No matter how long or how short of a time my dog is outside, as soon as she comes in, she checks one of two things immediately. If she heard, saw, or smelled one of us in the kitchen or eating food of any kind, she checks her snack bowl to see if someone gave her something. She could’ve just finished eating, and it wouldn’t matter. She’s checking for food. The other thing she checks is the front window that can see the door, driveway, lawn, etc. These are the two things she checks, without fail, as she comes inside. Food and security. How many of us can say the same thing? How often do we check our own spiritual food and security?

Paul tells us that we are in a spiritual war, whether we like it or not. Whether we signed up or not. We are each born into a spiritual war. That means that in order to even begin to fight back in this spiritual war, we need a spiritual weapon, we need armor to protect ourselves. How do we obtain armor? By feeding our spirit and starving our flesh. When we feed our spirit, we strengthen our faith, righteousness, and our connection/relationship with God. How do we do this? By reading, studying, meditating on, and putting into practice the Word of God.

When we learn the Word of God, it begins to change us. It begins to strengthen our faith because we learn who God is through His Word. He didn’t leave us here to figure things out by ourselves. To just guess and each one deciding what is right and wrong in their own eyes. No. God has given us the tools, plans, and Words from His very own lips in order to help us find Him. So, dwell in the Word and put on the armor, so that this war might not overtake you.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Seek Food And Security.

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Find True 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 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. ~ 2 Timothy 4:3-4

Tonight, many Christians will dress up with their children and take them trick-or-treating. They will go door to door dressed up asking for candy. What’s the big deal? They’ll say God is God regardless of the day. Here’s the thing. It’s not about the day but the celebration. A celebration rooted in Paganism and lighted up for the Church to participate in.

We even received a comment claiming that Halloween is a Christian Holiday that has been darkened by the world. They then went on to say they see no issue with allowing your children to dress up, have fun, and get candy, just don’t let them dress up demonically. Here’s the problem with that, the origins of Halloween aren’t Christian, they’re Pagan. It’s the ancient Gaelic Festival of Samhain where they would dress up demonically, including masks, in order to hide from demonic entities. They would leave out sweet treats on their front porch in hopes of appeasing these dark forces on this dark night.

The festival was later changed to All Hallow’s Eve by the Roman Catholic Church when they colonized the area, making the next day All Souls Day. They attempted to lighten up the darkness, by changing its name and parts of the festival. This then was brought over to America with Gaelic immigrants and eventually became the Halloween we know today.

God looked over His people and lamented, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” Today is no different. They like the people of God of the past are destroyed by lack of knowledge, not because they have no access to it, but because they reject it. They don’t want the Truth, they want their ears tickled. They want their own thoughts, opinions, and desires to be justified and supported.

We’ve been given very clear instructions to pick up our cross and follow Christ, not justify the desires of the flesh. We are told to crucify the flesh and hold every thought captive to obey Christ, not allow our thoughts and opinions to dictate our beliefs. We are to be the body of Christ, it’s time we begin to act like it.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Find True Knowledge.

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A “Hallow” Deception

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? 23 “All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. ~ 1 Corinthians 10:15-23

As Halloween gets closer you see more and more of a division in the Church. One side is shouting we want to celebrate Halloween, while the other says we (the Church) has no business celebrating darkness and Pagan holidays. One side argues that Halloween is just a fun holiday for kids to dress up and get candy, while the other claims that just because you lighten up darkness doesn’t mean it’s not still darkness. But what does the Bible say?

Well, Scripture tells us to not take part in evil. We are told not to follow the pagan world in their practices lest we be led astray. See it’s not what you do claim the celebration means to you, it doesn’t change the true meaning of the celebration. It’s similar to how the Jews today try to change the feasts of God like renaming Yom Teruah to Rosh Hashanah and changing the meaning/observance of The Feast of Weeks (Shavuot). Or how the LGBTQIA+ has claimed the rainbow as their symbol of pride. Just because you say something means a certain thing to you, doesn’t change the actual meaning of that thing. It doesn’t change what it is or what it means/represents.

If you do celebrate Halloween, ask yourself:

Is this helpful to me?
Does it build me up?
Does it bring glory to the LORD?
Am I taking part in Paganism?
Am I trying to eat from both the table of demons and of the LORD?

Darkness is darkness and evil is evil no matter how you try to spin it. Even if you put lipstick on a pig, it will remain a pig. No matter how hard you try, you cannot change the origin of a celebration.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Do Not Be Beguiled.

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Step To Greatness

1 After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel.” ~ Joshua 1:1-2

So, now the people of Israel are without a leader, this is where Joshua comes in. Joshua wasn’t from the Tribe of Judah, but from the Tribe of Ephraim (Numbers 13:1-16). He wasn’t one of the heads of the tribes either. The head of the Tribe of Ephraim was Elishama. So, what made Joshua stand out? He was dedicated to Moses and to God.

When the LORD would come down in the Pillar of Cloud on the Tent of Meeting and the people would rise up, stand outside their tents facing the tent of Meeting and worship, after they were done, they would go on about their day, Moses himself would go into the camp, but Joshua would stay at the Tent of Meeting in the presence of the LORD. He would not leave it.

When the spies went into the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the first time and 10 out of the 12 bring a negative report, only he and Caleb kept faith in the promise that the LORD had given them that land. Now, here’s what I believe set Joshua apart from the rest.

When they first left the land of Egypt, the LORD told Moses to consecrate the people and then He would meet them after 3 days. When the LORD came down great fear and terror filled the hearts of all the people.

The LORD had just spoken the Ten Commandments to the People of Israel. There was fire, thunder, lightning, a loud trumpet, and the mountain itself was smoking. The people were afraid (Exodus 20:18-21). Now when Moses went up to the mountain, he remained there for 40 days and 40 nights. The people then said to Aaron, Moses’ brother, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him” (Exodus 32:1). And what does he create? A golden calf.

They didn’t want a replacement for God Almighty, but for Moses. They didn’t know what happened to him. They just saw that frightening sight on Mount Sinai and heard the thundering voice of God. So, they needed to replace Moses, the mediator between God and them. They had just spent 430 years in the land of Egypt. And during that time, they had become influenced by the Pagan gods of the Egyptians (Ezekiel 16:26).

So, they created a golden calf in the image of the Egyptian god, Apis. Apis was the mediator between man and the greater gods. Now, out of fear they had just rebelled against the LORD’s commandments that they had just received from His own mouth. The very first two commandments they broke 40 days after receiving it. When the LORD told Moses to go down to correct the people, all the people were there except one person. Joshua. Joshua remained at the foot of the mountain patiently waiting for Moses to come down. In fact, Joshua said to Moses, ‘it sounds like war in the camp,’ but Moses had to correct him, ‘no, it sounds like singing.’ Joshua did not defile himself with pagan worship once removed from Egypt.

Every action we choose causes a physical and spiritual reaction. It either pushes us towards or away from our call. Joshua didn’t realize that each step he made led him to have to fill the shoes of Moses at the time he was making them, but God was watching him. He was preparing him for greatness. The LORD is preparing you for greatness as well, are you walking in steps necessary to see that greatness?

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Step To Greatness.

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