Devotion: Fight The Good Fight Of Faith

One of the biggest enemy’s in “fighting the good fight of faith” is what is called “sense-knowledge.”  “Sense-knowledge” is the kind of knowledge that is based on physical evidence.  This enemy forces us to concentrate only on those things that can be perceived by our five senses.  We only believe those things that we can see, taste, smell, hear, or touch.  “Sense-knowledge” requires us to rely upon physical evidence as the motivator for our belief system, which in turn drives our faith in God.  By allowing this enemy to grow within us, we in turn, place our trust only in “the witness of the senses or what the senses are telling us.”  But is this the kind of faith that God requires of us?

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).

We know from scripture that faith actually provides substance or assurance and then evidence.  There is not a lot of difference between assurance and evidence other than the qualifiers for each of them, which involves hope and realities that are unseen, respectively.  Everything in our life that we have learned has come through our five senses or through “sense-knowledge.”  However, “the God kind of faith” is not at all perceived by the senses.  Faith is actually the evidence of the thing hoped for, the evidence that the thing exists but it is not the thing itself.  Faith is the substance or the tangibility of hope.  While hope cannot change your circumstances, it can change your attitude about the circumstances.  Hope is a goal setter and faith is the way to achieve the goal.  You see, we do not need evidence to believe in something that we can physically see, taste, smell, hear, or touch.  The thing itself provides the evidence of the thing’s existence.  Faith is the evidence that something does exists regardless of the witness of the senses or what the senses are telling us.  Again, “the God kind of faith” is not perceived by any of the senses.

“For we walk by faith, not by sight” (II Corinthians 5:7).  “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal” (II Corinthians 4:18).

In order to walk by faith, we must leave the world of the senses.  As we walk by faith, we leave behind what our senses are telling us and completely trust God.  This is key component to “the God kind of faith,” completely trusting in him.  When we take up this walking by faith, our mind is not focused on the things that can be seen.  Our mind is not focused on the troubles around us.  The things that are seen or perceived by our senses are temporary in nature and can only be seen for a time.  When we walk by faith, our mind should be focused on those things that cannot be seen, for the things that are not seen or perceived by our senses are eternal and everlasting.  Some people will disagree with this assessment because their faith is based one hundred percent on their “sense-knowledge” or what some would call “head faith.”  Again, this type of faith requires one to rely upon physical evidence as the motivator for his or her belief system, which in turn drives his or her faith in God.  When we walk by faith, we are not walking by our senses when it comes to the things of God.  This is the kind of faith that God requires of us, this is that “God kind of faith.”

“Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses” (I Timothy 6:12).

In all of this, we see that faith contingent upon “sense-knowledge” or “head faith” has several limitations and can become a hindrance to our faith.  Focusing our mind on only those things that we can see, taste, smell, hear, or touch or physical evidence will limit or hinder our faith and is just another one of the many enemies to our faith that we need to overcome in our efforts to “fight the good fight of faith.”

Today’s inspirational message just might give you a new perspective on what it means to “fight the good fight of faith.”  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

Devotion: Have A Happy Life

“The good life is the healthful life, the merry life.  Life is health, joy, laughter” (Jean Bodlin).

Everyone wants to have a good life, a life that is healthful and merry.  Is it possible to have a happy life?  What must we do to have a good life?

“The thief cometh not (except), but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10: 10).  “Beloved, I wish above all things (I pray in all things) that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth” (III John 1:2).  “For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:  let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it” (I Peter 3:10-11).  “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof” (Proverbs 18:21).  “My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.  Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.  For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh” (Proverbs 4:20-22).  “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct (make smooth or straight) thy paths.  Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.  It shall be health to thy navel (body), and marrow (strength) to thy bones” (Proverbs 3:5-8).

Jesus came so that we might have life, and in having this life, we might have it in greater measure and more abundantly.  A life where above all things, all is well, we prosper and are in good health just as our soul prospers because of the word of God.  Yes, this is true.  However, if we want to be happy and have a good life, we must be very careful of what we say.  We must learn to control our tongue.  We know that death and life are in the power of your tongue; therefore, we must learn to use it, that being our tongue, wisely.  We must guard our lips from telling lies, turn away from evil, do what is good, and above all, live in peace.<

God tells us that if we listen carefully and give ear to his sayings, keeping them in the midst of our hearts and mind not allowing them not to depart from our eyes, then we will find that God words are life unto those who find them and health to all their flesh.  We must immerse ourselves in his word; we must hunt for, look for, and seek the answers that he has provided us through his instruction manual.  In all of this, we must open our mind, open our heart, and seek the wisdom of God that we may see the truth; the truth that he has been trying to reveal to us for many years.  Just maybe, these are the only words that we should allow our tongues to speak.

In all that we do, we must trust in the Lord with all our heart, putting God first, and then, he will make straight our way and crown our efforts with success.  We are to turn from evil and be not proud of your own wisdom, but instead, trust and reverence the wisdom of the Lord and as we do, this will be health to our body and strength to our bones.  We are to rely on the word of God because it includes everything needed to grow in maturity, to be perfect (meaning proficient or capable), and to do what God wants (II Timothy 3:16-17).  This type of life is a godly life, a healthful life, and merry life, and truly is a more abundant life.

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: Don’t Wait For Tomorrow

One of the biggest misconceptions in the world is the belief that “there is plenty of time for someone to get right with God.”  So most people put it off and put it off and put it off until, in many cases, “it is too late.”  Part of the reason so many put off this “act of getting right with God” is because they love the darkness more than they love the light.  People enjoy living in their darkness, living in their sins, doing the lustful things that they are doing more than they want to come to the light.

“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.  God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.  There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him.  But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.  And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.  All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.  But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants” (John 3:16-21 NLT).

God loved us so much that he sent forth his son to save anyone who would leave the darkness and come to the light.  Because there is this kind of “euphoric high” associated with the darkness, many continue trying to satisfy their sinful flesh nature much like an addict seeking to satisfy that “relentless itch.”  The “itch” that we speak of here is that desire to obtain the “same level of sinful pleasure” or in the case of the addict, the “same level of intoxication” from their first experience with the darkness.  They stay in the darkness, sinking further and further into the abyss, seeking to obtain the unobtainable.  But there is a price associated with being in the darkness.

“For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).

Here is the interesting thing about being in the darkness, you can choose to stay in the darkness, living in the pleasures associated with being there, but you cannot choose the consequences.  The consequence, the payment, and/or the wage that is earned for playing in the darkness is “death.”

“But what does it say?  “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.  For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame” (Romans 10:8-11 ESV).

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you can be freed from the allure and the addiction of the darkness.  You need only “speak the word and believe” in order to come to the light.

“I am the door.  If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.  I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.  I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:9-11 ESV).  “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12 ESV).  “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).

Jesus is the way.  Jesus is the truth.  Jesus is the life.  Jesus is the door, the way to leave the darkness.  So, before you take your last, make that confession unto salvation and come to the light.  If you continue to wait, if you continue to wait for tomorrow, it could be too late.  Do not wait for tomorrow.

May our inspirational message abundantly bless you and greatly inform you.  We pray 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: Jesus Is Your Righteousness

Recently, we discussed the ministry of reconciliation; the renewing of that relationship that existed with the original man before his fall from God’s grace.  In that discussion we found that “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself” (II Corinthians 5:17-19).  As God reconciled us back unto himself, he also did one incredible thing for us that many are not aware of; “He no longer imputed our sins against us.”  Did you hear what we just said?  Almighty God, the one many believers call “Abba Father,” no longer counts our sins against us.  How incredible is that?  But how is this possible?

“So by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous” (Romans 5:19).  “…by man came also the resurrection of the dead. … even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (I Corinthians 15:21-22).

By one man’s obedience, many have been given the opportunity to be made righteous.  By one man’s obedience, many have been given the opportunity to be made alive.

“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (II Corinthians 5:21).

God offers to impute the righteousness of Christ to the account of a believer, making that person’s record as good or as perfect as the record of Jesus Christ.  God offers to take all of your sins and placed them into Jesus, who knew no sin and in place of your sins, God offers to place the righteousness of Jesus Christ in you.  Yes, that’s right.  Instead of imputing your sins against you, God is imputing the righteousness of Jesus in its place.  Again, how incredible is that?

“Now do you see it?  No one can ever be made right in God’s sight by doing what the law commands.  For the more we know of God’s laws, the clearer it becomes that we aren’t obeying them; his laws serve only to make us see that we are sinners.  But now God has shown us a different way to heaven—not by “being good enough” and trying to keep his laws, but by a new way (though not new, really, for the Scriptures told about it long ago).  Now God says he will accept and acquit us—declare us “not guilty”—if we trust Jesus Christ to take away our sins.  And we all can be saved in this same way, by coming to Christ, no matter who we are or what we have been like.  Yes, all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious ideal; yet now God declares us “not guilty” of offending him if we trust in Jesus Christ, who in his kindness freely takes away our sins.  For God sent Christ Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to end all God’s anger against us.  He used Christ’s blood and our faith as the means of saving us from his wrath.  In this way he was being entirely fair, even though he did not punish those who sinned in former times.  For he was looking forward to the time when Christ would come and take away those sins.  And now in these days also he can receive sinners in this same way because Jesus took away their sins.  But isn’t this unfair for God to let criminals go free, and say that they are innocent?  No, for he does it on the basis of their trust in Jesus who took away their sins” (Romans 3:20-26 TLB).

God has taken away your sins and given you the opportunity to have right standing with him.  God has made it possible for you to be righteous in his sight, not by obeying “the law,” which served only to show you that you were a sinner, but by trusting in what Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross.  When you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior, you become “the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ” or because of Jesus Christ.  Because of the cross, Jesus Christ was able to take away your sins, end all separation from God, and give you right standing with God.  Now you know that “Jesus is your righteousness.”  How incredible is that?

As always, we give thanks and glory to God for his wisdom and understanding.  We are so blessed to be able to share with you, those things that God has placed in our hearts.  We continue to pray that the accompanying inspirational message will be a blessing to each of you and that you will be the better for having read it.  If you are blessed by what has been provided, please feel free to share so that others may be blessed as well; for as freely as our Father has given this to us, we freely give so that others may share in the love and be blessed.  Amen.

Enjoy your blessings - KW

Devotion: The Message Of Reconciliation

There is an old cliché (with some variation) that people in many Christian circles repeatedly say, “I’m just an old sinner, saved by grace.”  The problem is that they do not realize that this is actually “an untrue confession.”  Yes, we said “an untrue confession.”  Right this very minute someone is saying to themselves, “But aren’t we all sinners?”  To that, we would have to answer “Yes” and “No.”  We know it sounds a little confusing and it may sound like we are playing on the wording, but let us try to explain.

In our most recent message, we mention how important the words that we speak are.  We mentioned that we have the ability to choose between life and death, blessings and cursings through the words that we speak (Proverbs 18:21).  We even mentioned that our very salvation hinged upon words that we speak or confess not to forgo the required believing on one’s heart (Romans 10:9-10).  However, keep these thoughts in mind, we shall return to them shortly.

Now back the question, “But aren’t we all sinners?”  At one point in each of our lives, the answer would have been “Yes.”  At one point in our lives, we were all considered “to be sinners.”  According to scripture, “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners” (Romans 5:19).  Tradition teaches us “we are all sinners” because we have violated the law.  While we do commit and/or practice sin, we are sinners because we have a sin nature, a nature that was created by Adam.  We know that by man, Adam, came sin and with sin came death.  And these things were passed to all mankind, so that all mankind were guilty of sinning and all men would die.  The fact that God would impute the disobedience of one man to the entire human may seem a little unfair to many of you, but it really is not as unfair as you think.  All of this changed when Jesus went to the cross.

“So by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous” (Romans 5:19).  “For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (I Corinthians 15:21-22).

God offers to impute the righteousness of Christ to the account of a believer, making that person’s record as good (or as perfect) as Jesus Christ’s just as he imputed the sin of Adam to the account of all of mankind making everyone sinners.  Imputed righteousness in place of imputed sin; sounds fair to us.

Now back the question, “But aren’t we all sinners?”  The answer is “No.”  Now, God considers those who are in Christ, to be righteous, imputing the righteousness of Christ to their account, making their record as good (or as perfect) as the record of Jesus.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.  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 5:17-19).

Man, Adam to be more specific, not 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.  And it was God who reconciled his creation back to its original state, not a new state.  For if a man be in Christ, he be a new creature, redeemed for his old sinful nature to a new nature for him, the nature of the original man, before the fall.  This be the ministry of reconciliation; the renewing of that relationship that existed with the original man before his fall from God’s grace.

Because we confessed with our mouth the Lord Jesus and because we believe in our heart that God did raise him from the dead, we accepted the free gift of salvation.  And because we accepted the free gift of salvation, “we are saved by grace.”  And since we are saved by grace, “we are no longer considered just old sinners but the righteousness of God through Jesus Christ.”  Again, we may continue to commit sin, but we are no longer called sinners by God and to continually confess, “I’m just an old sinner, saved by grace” completely nullifies what God says about us and what Jesus Christ did for us.

We pray that today’s inspirational message will give you a new perspective on an old cliché and help you to understand the ministry of reconciliation.  We also 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