Devotion: Be Thankful For What You Have

It has been said that the more thankful you are, the more you attract things to be thankful for.  It has also been said that those who take life day by day, complain very little, and are thankful for the things in life are happy.  Scripture tells us to “always give thanks for everything to our God and Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20 TLB).  Maybe this is why those who are thankful for the things they have in life are happy truly.

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.  If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (I John 2:15-17).

Scripture tells us that in the last days, there will be perilous times and that it will be very difficult to be a Christian.  In those days, the scriptures say:

“For people will love only themselves and their money; they will be proud and boastful, sneering at God, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful to them, and thoroughly bad.  They will be hardheaded and never give in to others; they will be constant liars and troublemakers and will think nothing of immorality.  They will be rough and cruel, and sneer at those who try to be good.  They will betray their friends; they will be hotheaded, puffed up with pride, and prefer good times to worshiping God.  They will go to church, yes, but they won’t really believe anything they hear.  Don’t be taken in by people like that.  They are the kind who craftily sneak into other people’s homes and make friendships with silly, sin-burdened women and teach them their new doctrines.  Women of that kind are forever following new teachers, but they never understand the truth.  And these teachers fight truth just as Jannes and Jambres fought against Moses.  They have dirty minds, warped and twisted, and have turned against the Christian faith” (II Timothy 3:2-8 TLB).

But we know that this world will fade away and everything that people crave, all those evil, forbidden things will fade along with it.  We also know that those who are pleasing God and doing the will of God will live forever.  Therefore, for this reason, we should be thankful.  God is working things out for us, even when we don’t see it or feel it.  We just need to keep our faith in God and be thankful for all that he has given us.  There is always something to be thankful for, Amen.

“And be thankful.  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.  And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:15-17 ESV).

No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus (I Thessalonians 5:18 TLB).  Devote yourself to prayer being watchful and thankful (Colossians 4:2 NIV).  And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him (Colossians 3:17).  In that wonderful day you will say, “Thank the Lord!  Praise his name!  Tell the world about his wondrous love.  How mighty he is!”  Sing to the Lord, for he has done wonderful things.  Make known his praise around the world (Isaiah 12:4-5 TLB).

Every struggle that you have gone through in your life has brought you to where you are today and made you into the person that you currently are.  Today, you should be truly thankful for each of those hard times because believe it or not, each one has made you stronger.  Therefore, thank God for his unspeakable gift that is too wonderful for words (II Corinthians 9:15).  Remember, in all things, be thankful, for there is always something to be thankful for, Amen.

We forever pray that our commentary will abundantly bless you, greatly inform you, and that you will be the better for having read it.  If blessed by this message, please share so that others may be blessed as well.  Amen.

Enjoy your blessings. - KW

Devotion: Redeemed By His Blood

There is so much that was accomplished when Jesus died on the cross.  Our redemption was just one of many things that Jesus accomplished on the cross.

“When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human race.  His sin spread death throughout all the world, so everything began to grow old and die, for all sinned (Romans 5:12 TLB).  For this one man, Adam, brought death to many through his sin.  But this one man, Jesus Christ, brought forgiveness to many through God’s mercy.  Adam’s one sin brought the penalty of death to many, while Christ freely takes away many sins and gives glorious life instead.  The sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to be king over all, but all who will take God’s gift of forgiveness and acquittal are kings of life (reign in life ) because of this one man, Jesus Christ.  Yes, Adam’s sin brought punishment to all, but Christ’s righteousness makes men right with God, so that they can live.  Adam caused many to be sinners because he disobeyed God, and Christ caused many to be made acceptable to God because he obeyed” (Romans 5:15-19 TLB).

Man, Adam to be more specific, not by God, changed the original creation, the original nature of mankind.  However, it has been God’s plan, hidden since the beginning of time, to reconcile mankind back to him.  Jesus was a part of this plan.

“And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation” (II Corinthians 5:18-19).

It was God, who was in Christ Jesus that reconciled his creation back to its original state.  But it was the obedience of Jesus Christ, even unto death (Philippians 2:10) that enabled us to be reconciled back to God (Romans 5:10).

“And since by his blood he did all this for us as sinners, how much more will he do for us now that he has declared us not guilty?  Now he will save us from all of God’s wrath to come.  And since, when we were his enemies, we were brought back to God by the death of his Son, what blessings he must have for us now that we are his friends and he is living within us!  Now we rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God—all because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done in dying for our sins—making us friends of God” (Romans 5:9-11 TLB).

Now that we have been brought back to God, through the blood of the son, Jesus Christ, we can rejoice in our new relationship with God.  Because of what Jesus did on the cross, dying for our sins, we are now new creation.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (II Corinthians 5:17).

For if a man be in Christ, he be a new creature, redeemed for his old sinful nature to a new nature for him, a spiritual nature, that nature of the original man, before the fall.  When someone becomes a Christian, he becomes a brand new person inside.  He is not the same anymore.  A new life has begun.

“But thank God, Christ has redeemed us and brought us out from under the doom of that impossible system of laws by taking on the curse himself.  Yes, Christ purchased our freedom from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us when he hung on that wooden cross.  Because Christ purchased our freedom, we now can share in the blessings belonging to Abraham, who was full of faith and accepted God’s promise.  It is through the blessings of Abraham that we of like faith might receive the Spirit that God had promised to give” (Galatians 3:10-14 TLB).

Because of Jesus, I am accepted, I am alive, and I am forgiven.  Because of Jesus, I am now heaven bound.  Because of Jesus, I am a child of the most high God.  Because of Jesus, I am all of these things.  And because of Jesus, I am redeemed.

As always, we pray that our inspirational message will abundantly bless you, greatly inform you, and that you will be the better for having read it.  If blessed by this message, please share so that others may be blessed as well.  Amen.

Enjoy your blessings - KW

Devotion: Make Prayer A Habit

Prayer is what we use to communicate with God.  Prayer is not a monologue, where we are the only ones speaking and God is doing all the listening.  No, this is not all there is to prayer.  There is a lot more to this form of communication than that.  Prayer is actually a conversation that we have between our heart and God.  It is not just a one-way conversation where we do all the talking.  Prayer with God should be like having a conversation with your mother, with your father, with your brother, with your sister, or even with your best friend.  We should be able to communicate with God in a similar way.

Recently, we mentioned that there was a “right way” and a “wrong way” to pray.  In that commentary, we also mentioned that for us to enjoy the benefits of prayer, we needed to learn how to pray.  Besides learning how to communicate with God, we need to learn to allow God to speak to us.  We also need to learn to listen to God as we allow him to minister to us.  Bottom line, we need to learn how to pray.

Learning to pray is a lot like learning to ride a bicycle, learning to drive a car, learning to use a computer or any other thing that we have had learned to do in our lifetime.  Through practice and routinely performing the task, we have learned to become proficient at those tasks.  It is same with prayer; we have to develop our prayer life so that we can become proficient in it.  We have to learn so that it, prayer becomes a habit for us./span>

“Pray without ceasing.  In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (I Thessalonians 5:17-18).

We are told to pray without ceasing.  Keep in mind that prayer is just a conversation between God and us, so basically God is telling us to “communicate with him without ceasing.”  God is telling us that we should not cease to be in constant contact with him, constantly having a conversation with him.

We should never face the day until we have faced God in prayer.  In the same token, we should never end the day until we have done the same, faced God in prayer.  Throughout the day we should do the same thing, face God in prayer.  Before we attempt to do anything, we should pray or communicate with God.  Can you see the theme here?  We should be in constant contact with God, having a conversation with God, constantly facing God in prayer.  Scripture tells us to “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer” (Romans 12:12 NIV).  Prayer should always be our first response to everything and never use as our last resort because we have become desperate and run out of options.  We should devote ourselves to prayer and to being in constant communication with God.  And do not forget to talk to God with a sense or an attitude of thanksgiving, because in everything we are to give thanks.  We should never underestimate the power of prayer, especially when we do it the way God wants us to do it.  Cease not to pray.  Cease not to constantly communicate with God.  Pray without ceasing.  Make prayer a habit

As always, we pray that our inspirational message will abundantly bless you, greatly inform you, and that you will be the better for having read it.  If blessed by this message, please share so that others may be blessed as well.  Amen.

Enjoy your blessings - KW

Devotion: Temporary!

“Temporary” is defined as “lasting for only a limited period of time; not permanent.”  That is exactly what this life is, temporary, lasting for only a limited period of time.  That is exactly what this world is, temporary.  That is exactly what the things of this world are, temporary.  That is exactly what the offerings of the world are, temporary.  Those of you who love this life, who love this world, who love the things of this world, and who love what this world offers fail to understand that all of these things are but for a limited time period.  They are all temporary, not permanent.

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.  If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (I John 2:15-17).

We are not supposed to love this world neither are we to love the things of this world, but for many, the world and the things of this world are exactly what they love the most.  They love those things that gives them a sense of pleasure as they try desperately to appease their fleshly desires, but the problem is that “the lust of the flesh” is temporary.  They love those things that gives them a sense of pleasure through what they see, that desire to have all that they see, but again, the problem is that “the lust of the eye” is also temporary.  They love those things that gives them a sense of pride, making them think they are special because of what they look like, what they have, and/or who they are, and the problem that “the pride of life” is temporary as well.

“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?  Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul” (Mark 8:36-37)?

So many try to gain the world and the things of this world, but at what price?  What will it profit a man when he has gained the world but lost his soul in the process?  Temporary happiness isn't worth the long-term pain to come (Revelation 20:10-15).  Nothing that is gained through this world last forever, all things are for only a limited period of time.  Nothing here is permanent, it is all temporary.

“These troubles and sufferings of ours are, after all, quite small and won’t last very long.  Yet this short time of distress will result in God’s richest blessing upon us forever and ever” (II Corinthians 4:17 TLB)!

Though it seems like some things go on forever, all things are temporary.  It is the same with the struggles we have with poverty, sickness, depression, fear, discouragement, low self-esteem, worry, anxiety, confusion, doubt and the like, they are all temporary.  Though they seem to last forever and many endure such things their entire lifetime, these are but light afflictions and are all temporary, lasting for only a limited period of time.  It is the same with death itself; it too is a temporary thing.

“So we do not look at what we can see right now, the troubles all around us, but we look forward to the joys in heaven which we have not yet seen.  The troubles will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever” (II Corinthians 4:18 TLB).

Temporary means exactly that, “lasting for only a limited period of time; not permanent” and that is what this life is, what we are, and what this world is, temporary.  Temporary is what all the things that we see are, “lasting for only a limited period of time; not permanent.”  Let us look not at the things we see right now, the troubles that we see in the world, the things that we see in the news, social media, and the like, for all things are but temporary.  Let us focus our attention on the things that are not seen, the joys of heaven, for those things, which are not seen, are the things that are eternal and the things that will last forever.

“But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives.  And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior” (Philippians 3:20 NLT).

We thank God for this inspirational message that he also provided and the avenue that he has given us to share his word.  We continually pray that God’s grace will be upon you and that these devotionals will be a blessing to you.  If you are blessed by them, please share so that others may be blessed as well.  Amen.

Enjoy your blessings. - KW

Devotion: Jesus Is Lord

Jesus is Lord.  Yes, that is right; we said that Jesus is Lord.  Scripture tells us that there is power in the name of Jesus.

“Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things (those) in heaven, and things in (those on) earth, and things (those) under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11).

We see that when God raised Jesus up to the heights of heaven, he highly exalted him and gave him a name that is above every other name.  God gave him a name that at his name that every knee, the knee of those in heaven, the knee of those on the earth, and the knee of those under the earth would bow.  God gave him a name that every tongue would confess, acknowledging that Jesus the Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father.  Basically, God bestowed a name to him that at the mere mention of the name Jesus, every knee, no matter where that knee may be, would bow and every tongue would confess that Jesus is Lord, all to the glory of God the Father.

“If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9 NIV).

For those who want to be saved, they must confess, “Jesus is Lord,” while believing in their heart, that God raise him from the dead.  Isn’t it interesting that your salvation is connected to your acknowledgement that “Jesus is Lord.”

“I pray that you will begin to understand how incredibly great his power is to help those who believe him.  It is that same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in heaven, far, far above any other king or ruler or dictator or leader.  Yes, his honor is far more glorious than that of anyone else either in this world or in the world to come.  And God has put all things under his feet and made him the supreme Head of the Church—which is his body, filled with himself, the Author and Giver of everything everywhere” (Ephesians 1:19-23 TLB).

God has placed Jesus in a position of the highest honor, at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far over all rule, authority, and power as well as above every name that can be named, not only in the present world, but also in the world to come.  God has placed all things under his feet and has made him the head of the Church, which is his body.

“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18).

All power in heaven and in the earth has been given to Jesus, because “Jesus is Lord.”  Yes, that is right, we said it once and we are saying it again, “Jesus is Lord.”

Once again, we are so appreciative and give thanks to God for all he has done for us and all that he is doing with this ministry.  We are truly grateful for all he has provide us and we give praise, honor, and glory to God for each of you.  We pray that this message will bless you, inform you, and that you will be the better for having read it.  If blessed by this message, please share so that others may be blessed as well.  Amen.

Enjoy your blessings. - KW