Spiritual Archives

June 1, 2022June 1, 2022

Obey Over Sacrifice

¹⁷And Samuel said, “Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. ¹⁸And the Lord sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go, devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ ¹⁹Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the Lord?” ²⁰And Saul said to Samuel, “I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. I have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. ²¹But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.” ²²And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. ²³For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.” ~ 1 Samuel 15:17-23

We all know the saying, “It is often easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission,” but is this the Truth? From the moment that Saul disobeyed the LORD and then tried to make it up to the LORD by making a sacrifice, things went from bad to worse. Saul was like a lot of us today. We think that because God loves us and He shows us grace that it’s better to live our lives in fear of the unforgiving world instead of the forgiving God.

Like Saul, every time we sin and just think we can ask for forgiveness after, we fail to realize that we can’t receive forgiveness without the shedding of innocent blood. Could this be why rebellion is the sin of divination? Because we treat shedding the blood of the innocent as a magic potion that erases all of our sins instead of what it truly is, a sacrifice. Obedience is better than sacrifice, not because God wants mindless robots following Him but because He doesn’t want the shedding of innocent blood.

When we begin to get used to living in sin with the idea of just asking for forgiveness later, we’re spitting on the innocent blood that has to be shed for our forgiveness. The innocent blood that was shed 2,000 years ago on calvary. We have to stop treating the precious blood of Jesus as if it was a magic potion that can just wash away our mistakes so we can live our lives however we want and start treating it as it is. It is the very embodiment of true love, for God Himself poured out His own blood that we might be saved. This isn’t a gift we should take advantage of, but that should be revered. A gift that should fill us with praise and thanksgiving for our God.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Obey Over Sacrifice.

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Have Confidence in Christ

¹ There was a wealthy, influential man named Kish from the tribe of Benjamin. He was the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, of the tribe of Benjamin. ²His son Saul was the most handsome man in Israel—head and shoulders taller than anyone else in the land.²¹Saul replied, “But I’m only from the tribe of Benjamin, the smallest tribe in Israel, and my family is the least important of all the families of that tribe! Why are you talking like this to me?” ~ 1 Samuel 9:1-2, 21

Saul was from a great family of influence and wealth. He was more handsome than any other man in Israel, even being head and shoulders taller than them, yet he saw himself as no one. He had no confidence in who he was. This is how a lot of us are today. We are sons and daughters of God Almighty, yet we don’t see our own self-worth. We look at ourselves through tainted eyes that can’t see who God has formed us into and who He is shaping us to become.

So many of us miss out on our potential and our call because we are too busy holding onto rejection from our past or shame of past regrets. When rejection or shame tries to sneak in, we have to remind ourselves who we are in Christ Jesus. We are sons and daughters of the Most High. We have a purpose and call for our lives from the Creator Himself. Our debt has been paid with the precious blood of God Almighty Himself. Don’t let the stronghold of rejection or regret keep you from seeing who you are in Christ Jesus.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Have Confidence in Christ.

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Call On The Word

¹⁷and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God ~ Ephesians 6:17

The Sword of the Spirit is our greatest weapon. It’s our defensive and offensive weapon. Why? Because the Sword of the Spirit is the Word of God, and Jesus is the Word of God. He isn’t dead but alive. He is the King of kings and LORD of lords. He is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the one who was, who is, and who is to come. He is the Word made flesh. Our greatest weapon is the Word of God because it is Jesus. The Word is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword, because every time we quote Scripture, we are calling on Jesus to come to our rescue.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Call On The Word.

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Be Led By The Spirit of Truth

²⁴Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, ²⁵because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. ²⁶For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; ²⁷and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. ²⁸And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. ~ Romans 1:24-28

So many believe that we are to only show a love that doesn’t correct nor discipline, but is this the kind of love God has sent us to show the world? Look at the outcome of mankind suppressing the Truth about God. Their hearts were darkened; they became fools exchanging the glory of the immortal God for images. God then gave them up to their lusts because they exchanged Truth about God for a lie and worshiped the creature instead of the Creator. For this reason, God gave them up to dishonorable passions.

After the dishonorable passions were planted inside of them, they still didn’t see fit to acknowledge God. That root then began to then take root inside of, so God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. That’s when the floodgates of these other evil things seemed to take grow and bear fruits of unrighteousness and evil, for it says,

²⁹They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, ³⁰slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, ³¹foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. ³²Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
Romans 1:29-32

Definitely sounds like the current state of the world that we’re living in. We have people and churches fighting to make these sins normal and acceptable before God, and if you don’t agree with them, then you’re a hater, bigot, and unkind. We’re to take the stance that we don’t want to partake in any of what they’re pushing. We take the stance to honor Him as the only one true God and give thanks to Him and worship Him so that our hearts won’t be darkened and turn to evil, as Paul warns here in this scripture. That’s why the Truth of God sets you free because only the light can shine into the darkness exposing the lies that we believe about who God is or isn’t. These lies that keep us in bondage and trapped in darkness can only be broken with Truth. Not our own deceiving truth that tickles our ears and never sets us free, but the one and only Truth that is the Word of God that shines the light of Jesus Himself into our lives as we are led by the very Spirit of Truth Himself.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be Led By The Spirit of Truth.

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Let The Sins Go

²²For when Herodias’s daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” ²³And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.” ~ Mark 6:22-23

King Herod had John the Baptist in prison. He wasn’t a follower nor a believer, but he knew that John was a righteous and holy man. So, King Herod refused to kill him and kept him safe, but because he wasn’t a believer and he didn’t have the Helmet of Salvation on his head to protect him, he was susceptible to the Spirit of Deceit.

Think about it. His niece danced for him, and King Herod was so amazed by this dance that he promised to give her anything she requested, even up to half of his kingdom. What dance is worth half of a man’s kingdom unless there is a spiritual aspect in this? This is how it is today.

When we don’t have our minds protected by the Helmet of Salvation, we are like sitting ducks in the middle of hunting season. We see this all over the world today. People who have the ideas of who God is are still being deceived by the ruler of this world. We are unable to see the deceiver before us when we don’t wear the Helmet of Salvation on our heads. We become like King Herod and get ourselves into the exact situation we were trying to avoid.

So, how do we avoid this? We humble ourselves before the LORD, and we build a relationship with Him by giving up the sins that were holding us back.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Let The Sins Go.

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Don’t Strike The Rock

²And he said to them, “I am 120 years old today. I am no longer able to go out and come in. The Lord has said to me, ‘You shall not go over this Jordan.’” ~ Deuteronomy 31:2

When Moses reached a certain age, he was no longer able to go in and come out. Even though Moses was constantly in the presence of God, he still fell into a spiritual slumber, unable to go in and come out. Moses became too focused on the people and lost focus of the LORD and His will for him and his people. In doing so, he allowed the quarreling of the congregation to cause him to fail to uphold the LORD as holy when he struck the rock instead of speaking to it. He allowed the confusion and rebellion of the people of Israel to stop his faith.

Even though Moses believed God and had faith in Him, because he allowed the people to get to him and he disobeyed the LORD, the LORD saw this as a lack of faith as well as Moses taking away from God’s Holiness in the sight of the people.

Today, it’s easy for us to allow the world to anger us and get under our skin, causing us to lose faith in the sight of God. Even if we have faith in our own eyes, disobedience, especially because of frustration with the world, will cause us to fall into a spiritual sleep. This will leave us unable to enter and exit the presence of God as we once did before. So, stay focused on the LORD and His plan. Don’t allow the world to distract you and take away your promises.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Don’t Strike The Rock.

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Try To Be The Salt of the Earth

¹³You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. ~ Matthew 5:13-16

As Christians, we are called to be the salt of the earth, but what does that mean? Well, some people say that salt was so important in ancient times that it actually enabled society to expand; thus, salt came to actually represent great power and value. We are to be that kind of salt that is influential, powerful, and valuable.

We’re influential because our message changes lives, restores relationships, and gives hope to a hopeless world.

We are powerful because we are connected to the ultimate power, Jesus. He said, All authority in heaven and on earth is given onto Him, and He gives us access to that power and authority.

We are valuable because Jesus, God the Son, Himself, came and died to pay the price for us. So yes, we are valuable, if only to God, but who better to be valuable to?

We are more than just flesh and blood, we are the Temple of God Himself, and we each have a God-given call on our lives to be the salt of the world.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Try To Be The Salt of the Earth.

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Seek God’s Counsel

¹⁴So the men took some of their provisions, but did not ask counsel from the LORD. ¹⁵And Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live, and the leaders of the congregation swore to them. ~ Joshua 9:14-15

Joshua had taken over as leader of the people of Israel, they had just entered the Promised Land, and they had just defeated Jericho and AI. The LORD was with Joshua wherever he went, and that’s where Joshua made his first mistake. Because Joshua knew the LORD was with him wherever he went, he became spiritually complacent and didn’t go to God with every matter. He began to lean on his own understanding and wisdom, and in doing so, he forgot to ask for the wisdom and understanding of God. This led to Joshua opening up the door to be deceived by the Gibeonites.

Today we fall into the same spiritual complacency that leads to spiritual slumber. When we know God is with us always, it’s easy for us to begin to lean on our own understanding and forget to seek God in all things. When we don’t lay everything before God, we miss the Gibeonite in our midst that’s deceiving us, and we make a spiritual pact with them. This gives the enemy the right to dwell in our lives, and if we’re not careful, we may never realize it.

While it’s easy to rely on our own understanding and wisdom to be able to discern what we hear and see, we have to make sure we always seek God’s counsel because the deceiver is always out there masquerading as light. Yes, God is with us everywhere we go, but He doesn’t cause every thought or feeling that comes to our hearts and minds. So, we can’t just put our trust in what we see or in what we hear or feel. We have to always seek God for confirmation regardless of how small the situation may seem to us.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Seek God’s Counsel.

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Destroy Your Midianite

¹⁷ Attack the Midianites and destroy them, ¹⁸ because they assaulted you with deceit and tricked you into worshiping Baal of Peor, and because of Cozbi, the daughter of a Midianite leader, who was killed at the time of the plague because of what happened at Peor. ~ Numbers 25:17-18^NLT

When we fall into temptation, it’s difficult to get back up, and usually, it’s because we don’t want to change our surroundings or those who surround us. The people of Israel fell into temptation because of the Midianites, and the only way for them to be able to move forward was to destroy the Midianites who led them astray. Today it’s no different. Today we still have Midianites leading us astray and causing us to worship false gods. They use our ever-changing culture as an excuse to draw us in. They indoctrinate us with lies that cause us to be unable to see ourselves growing sick and spiritually dying like them.

The only way we can truly overcome our sin is to remove the Midianite from our midst. I’m not saying you go out and destroy your tempter or temptation. I’m saying to destroy the friendship or relationship that is constantly dragging you to sin. You can’t hold on to the past as you try to step into the future, or you’ll only fall. You have to purge yourself of the sin around you so that you can move forward into the joy of the LORD.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Destroy Your Midianite.

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Unyoke From Baal of Peor

¹ While Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. ²These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. ³So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. ⁴And the Lord said to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people and hang them in the sun before the Lord, that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.” ⁵And Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you kill those of his men who have yoked themselves to Baal of Peor.” ~ Numbers 25:1-5

The people of Israel fell into temptation because of the Moabite women. They forgot the God whom they served because of the culture around them that caught their eye. This led to the death of everyone who fell into this temptation, and it’s no different today.

The culture around us is filled with exotic forbidden fruit that tempts us into spiritual death so that we don’t even notice that our culture no longer has a place for God. We fall into such a deep sleep after indulging in the forbidden fruit that we don’t even realize that our culture is filled with worshiping and sacrificing to other gods. In fact, we don’t even realize that we’ve joined in and bowed down to these false gods.

When we live in a physical world, it’s easy to forget that every physical action has a spiritual effect. What we do in our physical lives affects our spiritual lives, whether we think it’s a big deal or not. The only way to know if you’ve fallen prey to the gods of this world is to seek the God of the entire universe. Search through Scripture, ask God to wake up your sleeping spirit, and pray for discernment and guidance.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Unyoke From Baal of Peor.

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Tag: Spiritual

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