Devotionals

Walk in the spirit

Gal 5:16

I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh

.NKJV

Have you ever wondered why when you tell a child not to do something specific they will almost always without exception be compelled to do that thing that you just said don’t do and afterward they wind up suffering the consequences for doing it? If you think about it for a moment you'll remember that it is in our human nature to want what we can’t have; I believe it’s programmed in us from the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Even as Christian adults we still find ourselves doing things we ought not be doing and mostly it’s because we read that scripture quoted above (Gal 5:16) backwards, I think we thought it said “don’t fulfill the lust of the flesh and you’ll be able to walk more in the Spirit.” but reading it like that only causes us to focus on not doing the “don’ts”…(don’t do this, don’t do that, this is wrong and that's wrong, so don't do it) and focusing on those things will cause you to gravitate toward those “don’ts” because of our nature and before you know it your sucked in and become trapped in sin. Friends, let’s focus on doing the “do’s” (The things we should be doing) and if we focus on the things we should be doing all the time, all the “don’ts” that we were so concerned about will simply fall away from our lives and that is really when we will begin to walk in the spirit as the scripture says and not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Are you going thru a trial?

James 1:2,3

2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

Friend, are you going through a trial?? Something testing your faith? Most Christians want a miracle to happen to get them out of whatever they are going through but remember, your faith doesn't grow by miracles, signs and wonders, your faith grows by testing and you gain endurance to run this race called "life". Miracles are for signs and wonders and for God to show that He is in the business of saving folk.

If you are praying for the deliverer to deliver you from something, (some sickness or disease) He's trying to lead you by the hand to the doctor for prescriptions and to the drug store to purchase nyquil and dayquil to make the symptoms subside as you heal, because with God you heal faster than most others do, and when you're well in a few days vs. weeks you have a testimony that God is greater than the devil and He delivered you from the hand of the enemy and after that test, your faith grows in God's swift deliverance and you recover even faster next time, till one day you never get sick again and that, dear friend is how the kingdom of God works on a daily basis.
wj

Working together

‭‭Nehemiah‬ ‭4:6‬‬‬ “So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.”

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I remember the great flood of 1993. My midwestern town was one of many that were affected. It took long hours of filling sandbags and building a wall to keep the flood waters out of our homes. As the flood waters rose we needed help. Neighbors, friends and people we didn’t even know came to our aid. A large sign at the end of our street said it all, “God bless the sandbaggers”.

Just as he sent volunteers to help us fight the floodwaters, God sent Nehemiah to Jerusalem. The Jews living there were in danger. Jerusalem had been conquered, its walls breached and gates destroyed. Under Nehemiah’s leadership the people rebuilt Jerusalem. While some repaired the walls or replaced the gates others stood guard against enemy attack. Whether building walls to save a neighborhood or building walls to save Jerusalem it takes a lot of people with God’s help to get the job done.

Let your light so shine

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven. Matthew 5:16

Every true Christian is a light to those around him or her. In their hearts they carry a torch of love, joy, kindness, truth, compassion and empathy to those who are hurting. As we go through this life we seek to brighten the darkness in the hearts of others. However, we must be careful to keep our eyes and hearts upon our Lord and be in daily communion with Him lest our torch we carry grow dim. The world and all its distractions will always try to put out our torch.

“Finally be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.” Ephesians 6:10

Stay in His word, grow daily in Him, pray at all times and your light will so shine and not go out.

Develop your potential

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might Ecclesiastes 9:10

Websters 1828 American dictionary defines “Potential“ as an existing possibility, not in act. Potential cannot be defined without form. Like concrete it must have something to pour into, something to give it shape and make it useful. To develop potential properly you must have a plan and pray over that plan, you must have a purpose, and you must be doing something.

Many people are unhappy because they aren’t doing anything to develop their potential. In fact, many of them never develop their potential because they don’t do anything except complain that they are not doing anything.

If you want to see your potential developed to its fullness, don’t wait until everything is perfect. Do something now! Start laying your hand to whatever is in front of you. You cannot start at the finish line. You must start at the beginning and grow into what God has called you to do and you will be successful.

Service toward God

Matt 8:14-15

Now when Jesus had come into Peter's house, He saw his wife's mother lying sick with a fever. So He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served them.

NKJV

I believe we can learn a lot about what God expects from us by taking a lesson from Peter's Mother in Law. I believe this scripture is indicative of what the average Christian ought to be like today, just as Jesus healed Peter's Mother in law and she rose up and served them (Jesus and His disciples), when a person gets born again, Jesus revives us from the dead, we are made brand new and that is a better deal than being healed and we should be so grateful for the new life given to us that we want to serve Him in any way we can.

Service to God is a necessity if we are ever to live our lives in total and complete victory over the devil and our flesh, here's why; You see, going to church is more than just coming and sitting in the pew all the time, if that is what you do then you are only getting half the picture. Sitting under the word of God is very important but you need to serve your brothers and sisters in the faith as well. Volunteering in the local church in any capacity causes us to become intertwined with each others lives, as we serve one another we become part of the body fitly knitted together. There is a bond of kinship through adoption and we are more apt to care for one another when we stumble instead of allowing a brother or sister to fall away from the faith.

So you see, church is more than just sitting and listening to preaching, as vital as that is, but you and I need to participate, we need to start bearing fruit and serving God in the local church will produce some of the sweetest fruit in your life and then it flows into your personal life from there, after that you are ready to be a servant in the secular world and that is where you start to change lives by letting your light shine in your daily life, people want what you've got and that my friends is your "in" to give them Jesus. This is all just a part of your reasonable worship to God. So...get in a good church, serve God in a volunteer job (usher, nursery, Sunday school, parking lot attendant etc.) start to produce fruit and just see how many lives can be changed because of your obedience to the word!!

God's plan for our redemption

I know of no better teaching on the subject of God's plan for Man's redemption than this portion of teaching by E. W. Kenyon, It has helped me immensely to understand this mystery.

Christianity is a legal document. The very titles, Old Covenant and New Covenant, are legal terms. Every step in the plan of Redemption, from the Fall Of Man until Jesus Christ was seated at the right hand of the Majesty on High, having redeemed the human race, is simply a series of legal steps perfecting the most remarkable Legal Document mankind has in its possession.

The plan of Redemption cannot he understood unless you read it from the legal point of view. In this plan of Redemption there are three parties to the contract: God, Man, and Satan. God must be fair to Himself, fair to Man, and fair to the Devil.

We understand that God created man, placing him here on the earth, and that He gave him certain legal rights. These rights man transferred to Satan, God's enemy. This brings the Devil into the plan so that he must be dealt with, and the whole scheme of Redemption is God's seeking to redeem the human race from Adam's sin, and doing it in such a way that it will perfectly satisfy the claims of Justice, meet the needs of man, and defeat Satan on legal grounds.

The Fall of Man was a lawful act; that is, Adam had legal right to transfer the authority and dominion that God had placed in his hands into the hands of another. This gives Satan a legal right to rule over man and over creation.

The plan of Redemption is one of the most ingenious and most wonderful of all the many works of God. Notice what He is obliged to do. Man sold himself out to the Devil, making himself a bond slave, and that slavery will last until the lease or period of man's dominion expires. God must in some way redeem fallen man from his sin, and Satan's dominion. He must do it in such a way as not to be unfair to Satan, nor unfair to man. God must recognize and not interfere with man's treacherous act of transference of dominion. It was a legal act, and God has no right to arbitrarily annul it. He must show to Satan perfect justice at all points, and at the same time He must reach man in his helplessness and redeem him.

In order to do this, it is necessary that one come to the earth who is not a subject of Satan, and yet a man, and as a man meet every demand of justice against man. In order to accomplish this, there must be an Incarnation. This Incarnate one must not be a subject of Satan, nor a subject of death, and to this end God sends the Holy Spirit to a virgin in Judah, and she conceives and bears a son. This son is born, not of natural generation but of supernatural. The child is not a subject of death nor of Satan. He has the same type of a body that the first man, Adam, had before he sinned. Every step of the work that was accomplished by this Incarnate One was based upon perfectly legal grounds.

This Incarnate One met the demands, first, of the heart of Deity for a perfect human who would do His will; second, He met the demands of fallen man in that as a man He met the Devil and conquered him in honorable open combat. "Being tempted in all points, yet without sin." He goes on the Cross, and God lays upon him the iniquity of the human race. He, then, with this burden upon Him and under Judgment of God, goes down into Hell and suffers the penalty demanded by Justice.

When He had paid this penalty, He arose from the dead. He conquered Satan. He broke his dominion and took away his authority and power. Then, with the trophies of His triumph, He ascended to the right band of the Majesty on High and laid the tokens of His victory at the feet of His Great Father.

On the ground of this victory, the sinner has a legal right to accept Jesus Christ as a personal Savior. He has a legal right to Eternal Life. He has a legal right to Victory over sin and Satan. He has a legal right to a home in Heaven. He has a legal right to use the Name of Jesus in prayer. He has a legal right to his Father's protection and care. He has a legal right to a son's place in the Family of God. He has a legal right to the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, to the care and protection of the Spirit, and to the intercession and teaching of the Spirit. He has a legal right to be translated at the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus. He has a legal right to immortality for the body. He has a legal right to an inheritance in the New Heavens and New Earth. He has a legal right to live with his Father throughout Eternity.

Poor Man's Mentality

Recently I heard someone say, "I don't need a lot of money or stuff, I just need enough for me, my wife and our two kids and that's enough for me."

Well, that sounds humble enough but really that is a selfish statement made by someone who is unskilled in the word of God.

How can you be a blessing to those around you if you don't have anything? How can you pay off someone’s light bill if you can barely pay your own?

Is it any wonder people (sinners and Christians alike) aren't impressed with living for God?

Friends, the bible tells me that God wants my cup "running over" with abundance, (Psalm 23:5) if you’re out on the mission field then yes, you will need to get used to having a lot at times and a little at other times as faithful partners send money and your daily physical needs, but, if you are on the home front you had better have the cash flow to support that missionary who is out doing the works of Jesus, (teaching, preaching and healing). You need enough to pay your own bills and then pay his/her stuff as well.

The devil wants to keep you so broke that you can't carry the gospel across the street, now can you see where that selfish thought comes from?

We may not all be called to the field ministry but we are all called to be givers,

So, get into the bible and find out the great blessings God has in store for you, attend church regularly and grow in faith and that, dear friends will help you lose those selfish thoughts, God wants you to minister to your neighbors and be a blessing to those around you.

So get to it, times a wastin'!!

The compaint Department

James 1:22

Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

Do you find yourself complaining a lot about things in your life not being right, your surroundings not being the way you like it, people not treating you right, politics bothering you but you never really do anything about any of it you just complain about it?

Dear friend if this sounds like you, you are probably dealing with a complaining spirit in your life. It sits on your shoulder and complains to you about everything in your life and then you repeat it out of your mouth telling others around you how unsatisfied you are and the listener in turn doesn’t want to hang around you because you complain too much and then the cycle starts all over because now you complain that no one wants to listen to you, nobody cares. Can you see, a complaining spirit is sent, rather, dispatched into your life to steal, kill and destroy your happiness and your joy. it is a selfish spirit as well because it’s all about you and how everyone does you wrong. So you are dabbling in selfishness when you complain. There is a decided difference between complaining and solving problems and just complaining Just to complain. And it’s important to know the difference so you can root out that wicked and vile spirit that keeps you down. you may or may not believe that there is a spirit involved and that’s OK, whether you believe it or not, there is a solution to this problem. the best and simplest way to root out this selfish spirit of mischief and subtlety is to simply begin to fix the problems that you are complaining about or at least make the attempt to fix them because that demon does not want any action from you it just wants to occupy your mind and your mouth with complaints and therein lies the issue.

Now you need to choose what you will do. Will you let it continue to pester your mind and your mouth and keep your life miserable or will you choose to make some changes and start taking action on those things that your complaining about?
Because the devil doesn’t want to hang around you if you’re going to take action, Because now you’re in faith, faith produces action, his job is to keep you bound up with complaints, he will go and bother someone else If you start taking some action to change your world for the better. So be a doer of the word and not a hearer only put some boots to your faith and watch your complaining be reduced to a minimum and eventually stop altogether.

Made in the image of God Himself

Genesis 1:26 and God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness;

When God made man He made him as close to himself as he possibly could. Since man is made in God's image we have an eternal spirit within us, if we are saved our spirit is regenerated, new and is united or "hooked up" With God, but if we are a sinner then our spirit although still eternal, is hooked up to this world and Satan.

That's why until a person experiences salvation through Jesus Christ and his substitutionary sacrifice on Calvary's cross that said individual will remain a slave to sin under the bondage of their father the devil.

As much as we want to see the world do, act and say the way we Christians do, the world system will never behave like us, but you can believe for God the father to rescue souls from the grips of hell itself by praying for the lost and dying sinners around the globe and then making an impact by being the hands and feet of Jesus as the Bible says you ought to do.

Be the light whereever you go, in whatever situation, in every circumstance of life.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all my friends, in Jesus name.

The Joseph Syndrome

Genesis ch. 37-50

We are not always going to enjoy the places we find ourselves in as Christians, however, It does not matter where you are in life, nor your current circumstances in your life. You just need to remember that God will lift you up and set you high above those circumstances you're in.

Remember Joseph, how he was mistreated all of his life, first by his brothers then being enslaved in Egypt all his life.

I'm quite certain he had a sad spell or two in his life where he felt like he could simply quit and blame God for all his troubles.

But remember that in every circumstance and in every stage of life the great God Jehovah had His eyes on Joseph and every time adversity came up against Joseph God exalted him with great favor into a new position each time till Joseph finally ended up at the end of his life the second in command of the entire nation of Egypt, he was just under Pharaoh in national authority.

Joseph's story isn't designed to tell us we all should be heads of state if we are humble and diligent, it's designed to teach us that rather than whining, moaning and complaining about where we are in life we can expect God to exalt us in the circumstances we are in right now.

God didn't exalt Joseph for Joseph's own selfish reasons either, God exalted Joseph because God had an ultimate purpose for Joseph which didn't involve all the troubles, trials and tribulations in life that Joseph suffered, but God used those troubles, trials and tribulations to bring about the conditions which would save the nation of Israel from extinction during the great famine which was in the land while Egypt was flourishing.

You can be certain that although God didn't create the circumstances you are in He wants to use those circumstances for your benefit so that you can be like Joseph and you can save many souls from perishing as the world sees Jesus lifted high in your life and you become a beacon to the world around you.

Let God use your circumstances today, Focus on those things that are lovely, pure and holy according to Philippians 4:8, put all of your trust in Jesus and make a demand upon the anointing to go to work and bring glory to the name of Jesus in your life today!

Friends, that is God's true design for saving souls.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all, amen!