Devotion: God Cannot Lie

“Integrity” is defined as “the quality of possessing and steadfastly adhering to high moral principles or professional standards; uncompromising adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty; or the state of being complete or undivided.”  If we had to sum up God’s nature in a word, “integrity” would definitely be at the forefront.  What words come to mind when you think of summing up the nature of God?  Regardless of the words selected, they only define the nature of God, those intrinsic qualities or characteristics that make God who he is.  Here are our top most important characteristics and the ones that are used as “the standard of measure” as we seek to discover the nature of the Most High God.  First, we found in scripture that “there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts” (II Chronicles 19:7).  We also found where God says, “For I am the Lord, I change not” (Malachi 3:6).  And we found where scripture says, “it is impossible for God to lie” (Hebrews 6:18).

But these wonderful characteristics should not be confused with the abilities of God, for he is fully capable of doing anything he so chooses.  Surely, those who are believers cannot question the sovereignty of God.  The same can be said about the abilities of the one who created all things that are.  Normally we do not make it a habit of speaking for God because God’s words speak for themselves.  However, there are times when the significance of those words gets lost in translation.  God has the ability to be unfair, immoral, unrighteous, and to do evil and bad things.  God also has the ability to change anything that he chooses to change, especially his mind, if he chooses to change it.  And God has the ability to lie as well, if he wants or chooses to.  But the God that we serve, the sovereign God of all creation has chosen not to do any of the abovementioned things because of integrity.  That’s right, we said because of integrity, for our God is one of integrity.

This is all about the nature or character of the God we serve and what he wants man to know about him.  Can you imagine serving a god who was unfair, immoral, unrighteous, and did evil and bad things?  What about serving a god who had respect of person or whose favor could be brought for a price?  How about serving a god who constantly changes his mind or one whose mind could be changed at all?  No, it would be very difficult to serve a god who does any of these things, because you would not know what to do from day to day.  Yet, there are some who have attributed these very traits to the God they claim to serve.  And then there are those who use these very traits as reasons for standing in opposition to God.  This is why our God has chosen to be the One of integrity; that way, his children would recognize him over all others.  Keep these characteristics in mind as you continue your Christian walk.  God wants his children to know and recognize him above all.  If this message is a blessing to you, please share it so that others may be blessed by it as well.

Enjoy your blessings. - KW

Devotion: Who Is Right?

God warns us that “there will come false Christs and false prophets who will give great signs and do great wonders, so much so that if it were possible, these things could turn the very elect from the true way” (Matthew 24:24; Mark 13:22).  This is a very illuminating and a very powerful passage.  The fact that the great signs and great wonders of the false Christs and the false prophets are so convincing, it is a little disturbing that these things could possible trick the very elect.  And while many believe they are the very elect, the possibility does exist that they may not be what they think they are.

The scriptures also tell us that “not everyone who says, Lord, Lord will enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 7:21-23).  Yes, they will make claims of prophesying, casting out demons, and doing all sorts of wonderful works in Jesus’ name, but the Lord will say to them, “I never knew you, therefore, depart from me you that work iniquity.”  Does this mean that the many who claim to be are not what they profess to be?   Have they been deceived by following the wrong “so-called messenger of God?”  Here is the disturbing part, they, the many who make the claim believing they are, will not find out any of this until the end, when it will be too late.

Imagine believing yourself to be a believer only to find out what you believed you were, you were not.  Imagine believing yourself to be a follower of Jesus only to find out that the one whom you claimed to follow was not the one that you needed to follow.  Imagine all that you believed was based in untruths, based in deception, based in lies, and based in fiction; all manufactured by the great deceiver himself, all for the sole purpose of taking you out of the kingdom of heaven.  Imagine not even being aware of any of this until it was too late.

Paul told us of such things.  He told us that it was “no great thing for men to appear as false apostles, workers of deceit who were able to transform themselves to appear as Apostles of Christ.”  He told us that even “Satan himself is able to transform into an angel of light, so it is nothing for his servants, his ministers to transform into ministers of righteousness” (II Corinthians 11:12-15).  And it is these servants of Satan, these ministers of righteousness that have deceived the many, the many who believe they are following Christ, who believe they are saved, and who believe they are part of the family.  But the question for us becomes, “With so much confusion in the Christian community, which ‘so-called messenger of God’ are we to believe?”

God warns us not to believe every spirit, which is great advice.  He tells us “to test the spirits to see whether they are of God but so few of us do so” (I John 4:1).  However, there is one major problem, a flaw, if you will with this testing of the spirits.  The testing of the spirits does absolutely nothing if the answers to the test are not available to the one performing the test.  A teacher who gives students test will already possess the correct answers before giving the test, which enables the teacher to determine if the answers from the students are correct or not.  In order to test, you must have some knowledge of the truth, for without it, you place yourself in a position where the wolves will devour you.  Knowledge is power and misinformation will lead to destruction.

God has warned us “to beware of these false prophets that come to us in sheep’s clothing because inwardly they are but greedy voracious predators” (Matthew 7:15).  But have we gotten things so mixed up that we listen to and believe, without question, the wolves in sheep’s clothing, and try our best to discredit the true men and women of God, that is, to not believe or not accept, as truth, the gospel that they speak.  So, “Who is right and whose teachings should we listen to?”  We will have to try to answer those question at another time. We just wanted to share a little revelation knowledge that we got from “studying the word of God” (II Timothy 2:15).  God has instructed us “to study his word to show ourselves approved unto him,” meaning he wants us to investigate, analyze, and question his word.  God wants us to find all that we can find about his word, which will help us “to rightly divide the word of truth.”  We were thinking that the last time we had to study in such a manner, in the manner that God requires us to study, was when we were in school.  Maybe it is time for us to go back to school.  If this message is a blessing to you, please share it so that others may be blessed by it as well.

Enjoy your blessings. - KW

Devotion: What Is The Kingdom Of God?

We hear a lot about the kingdom of God, but do we really know what it is?  Most are very familiar with the statement, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:24), which has been interpreted to mean that a person with riches cannot enter into the kingdom of God.  But as we read the same account in the book of Mark, we see that Jesus was actually referring to those who were controlled by their riches, “those who trusted in their wealth entering into the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:24).  We see from scripture that this young man “had great possessions” (Matthew 19:22), but the truth of the matter is that “his great possessions actually had him” and that is why it was hard for him to gain entrance into the kingdom of God.  Jesus knew that he valued his riches more than he valued entering into the kingdom of God.

We also see Jesus telling Nicodemus, “Except a man be born again (from above), he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).  These are pretty strong words from Jesus telling us that he who is not born again cannot even “see the kingdom of God,” where “to see” is in the sense of “being aware” of the kingdom.  To be “born again” means “that you have been born anew, not from the seed of man but from the eternal seed of God,” a new birth, if you will, “born of water and of the Spirit” (John 3:5).  This new birth, this birth from above comes through “the word of the living and unchanging God, for his word lives and abides forever” (I Peter 1:23).

For those who are born anew, born of the Spirit, are “they who live by the way of the spirit and have given their mind to the things of the Spirit.”  However, those who are not born anew are “they who live by the way of the flesh and have given their mind to the things of the flesh” (Romans 8:5).  Scripture tells “the flesh desires to do those things against the spirit and the spirit desires to do those things against the flesh, for they are contrary to each other.”  According to scripture, “the works of the flesh are clear to see and understand, which include these things: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such things” (Galatians 5:17-21).  Scripture also tells us “not to be deceived because those who live by the way of the flesh will have no part in the kingdom of God.”  We are warned “not to be deceived or have any false ideas about this because no one who follows the desires of the flesh will inherit the kingdom of God” (I Corinthians 6:9-10).

While this commentary did not reveal what the kingdom of God is, we now know that unless we are “born again or born from above,” we cannot even see much less enter into the kingdom of God.  It does, however, make one think of the kingdom those who live by the way of the flesh and have given their mind to the things of the flesh will inherit.  If this message is a blessing to you, please share it so that others may be blessed by it as well.

Enjoy your blessings - KW

Devotion: Jesus Does Not Force Us Out Of Our Boat

More information on “the power of choice.”  Scripture tells us to “Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind” (Romans 14:5).  We all must walk our own path, one that no one else can walk for us.  That is exciting and scary all at the same time.  What if I choose the wrong path?  What if the path I choose leads me to a place that I really do not want to be?  How can I know, beyond any shadow of doubt that I am on the right one?  Every day we are faced with choices, a sort of crossroad if you will, where we have to decide to go right, go left, do a U-turn, or simply stay the course by going straight ahead.

Most of us solicit advice from friends and loved ones and we carefully weigh out the options before deciding which path to take.  But the bottom line is, regardless of the influences in our life, we choose our own paths in life.  This makes us totally responsible for the choices we make and the consequences that go along those choices, be they good or be they bad.  Life is all about our choices and the consequences that follow.  Think about judgment day when“each of us will stand personally before the judgment seat of God” (Romans 14:10).  How do you think you will be judged?  Do you think you will be judged based on the things that you have done and the choices that you have made?  Or do you think you will be allowed to pawn those choices off on another?  No, we will not be able to pawn our choices off on anyone else, not even God.  “Each person will have to give an account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12).

Wouldn’t it be great if we had a road map that would help us to choose the right paths for the best results?  But we do.  God has provided us with a road map for that very purpose.  This road map is given to us “to tell us what to believe (for doctrine), what is wrong (for reproof), how to correct wrong (for correction), how to live (for instruction in righteousness).”  We are to rely on it because “it contains everything we need to grow in maturity, to be perfect (meaning proficient or capable), and to do what God wants” (II Timothy 3:16-17).  And if we carefully adhere to this roadmap, “we will make our way prosperous and we will have good success” (Joshua 1:8).  But once again, it comes down to choice, your choice.  You can choose “to accept the free gifts of grace (forgiveness) and righteousness (acquittal) that Jesus provided for us (Romans 5:15-19), “this gift of salvation” (Romans 10:9-10), which leads “to life everlasting” (John 3:16-17) or you can choose an entirely different path.  The beauty of choice is that you get to make it.

“Immediately after this, Jesus told his disciples to get into their boat and cross to the other side of the lake while he stayed to get the people started home.  Then afterwards he went up into the hills to pray.  Night fell, and out on the lake the disciples were in trouble. For the wind had risen and they were fighting heavy seas.  About four o’clock in the morning Jesus came to them, walking on the water!  They screamed in terror, for they thought he was a ghost.  But Jesus immediately spoke to them, reassuring them.  “Don’t be afraid!” he said.  Then Peter called to him:  ‘Sir, if it is really you, tell me to come over to you, walking on the water.’  ‘All right,’ the Lord said, ‘come along!’  So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus.  But when he looked around at the high waves, he was terrified and began to sink.  ‘Save me, Lord!’ he shouted.  Instantly Jesus reached out his hand and rescued him.  ‘O man of little faith,’ Jesus said.  ‘Why did you doubt me?’  And when they had climbed back into the boat, the wind stopped.  The others sat there, awestruck.  ‘You really are the Son of God!’ they exclaimed” (Matthew 14:22-33 TLB).

Most of you are familiar with the story of Jesus walking on the water.  But here is a little something that you may not have thought about.  Even though Peter asked Jesus to bid him to come to him on the water and Jesus did bid Peter to come, Jesus did not do anything to force Peter out of the boat.  Peter choose to step out of the boat of his own accord.  And if you did not notice, it was the same with his faith.  When Peter stepped out of the boat, his faith was, “strong, completely maxed out.”  Who among you have faith strong enough to step out of a boat and then expect to walk on water?  Somewhere along the way, Peter chose to allow his faith to wane and that was when he “began to sink.”  The beauty of choice is what he got to make.

God has given you the power or authority to choose and with that power comes the responsibility for the consequences that accompany those choices.  We hope today’s message will get you out of that comfort zone and help you realize that God has so much more planned for us in this life than we could ever imagine.  But in order for us to discover these wonderful things, we must first find the roadmap that God has provided for us; it has the ability to change our lives, if we choose to adhere to it.  If this message is a blessing to you, please share it so that others may be blessed by it as well.

Enjoy your blessings - KW

Devotion: Does God Choose When We Die?

Yesterday, we found that God had given us “the power of choice, the power to choose life or death, blessings or cursings” (Deuteronomy 30:19).  According to the scripture, we are told “to therefore choose life.”  Sometimes when studying the scriptures, it is important to see what the scriptures are not saying so that we can determine and fully understand what the scriptures are saying.  In this case, what this scripture does not say is that God is going to make or has already made the choice for us.  This is something that God has given each one of us the power, the ability, and the freedom to do, to choose between life and death.  But doesn’t God decide or choose when we die?  This is one of the many highly debated topics in Christianity and many religious circles, with each position clearly grounded in their beliefs by what they have determined to be scriptural evidence to support their argument.

According to scripture, “Death came into the world because of what one man (Adam) did” (I Corinthians 15:21-22) when he disobeyed God’s prohibition, “causing death to be king (reign) over all” (Romans 5:17) and “causing many to be made sinners” (Romans 5:19).  We see from scripture that death, which was “passed to all men,” is a direct result of one man’s disobedience (Romans 5:12).  And because of Adam’s actions, “it is appointed once or destined for each of us to die” (Hebrew 9:27).  Most people know that Jesus claimed “victory over death” (I Corinthians 15:55-57), but most people do not know that “death is an enemy to God” (I Corinthians15:26) and that “Jesus Christ was manifested that he might destroy the works of him (I John 3:8) that had the power of death and to deliver them, who through this fear of death, were subjected to a lifetime of bondage” (Hebrews 2:14-15).  You will have to read the passages to see whom it is that has the power of death.  The answer just might surprise you.

Because of a statement by Job, many believe that “the Lord gives and he takes away” (Job 1:21), which has strongly been associated with life and death.  There is no debate that God is the giver of life, which in itself is a gift from God.  However, God tells us that his “gifts are without repentance” (Romans 11:29), which means that God does not take back his gifts.  Scripture also tells us that “the number of our days be three score and ten,” which translates to seventy years and “if by reason of strength they be fourscore years,” which is eighty years (Psalm 90:10).  But does any of this translate into God choosing when we die?  Or, do we actually have a say it the process?  This is a determination that you will have to make.

Clearly, we support the belief of choice as opposed to the belief of predestination.  This is not to say that we can stop death from coming because scripture tells us that we are destined to die.  There are choices that we make throughout our lifetime that dramatically affect our lifespan, either by shortening it or by lengthening it.  But regardless of what you read here in this commentary, you need to thoroughly examine and check out all of the information that has been shared with you to make sure that none of it is contrary to the word of God.  Never accept anyone’s interpretation for something that you have not investigated yourself.  Words can be manipulated to say many things, just make sure the ones that you accept are those of God and not those of man.  God tells us that knowing the truth will make us free (John 8:32) and hopefully today’s message will do just that, help you to seek the truth.  If this message is a blessing to you, please share it so that others may be blessed by it as well.

Enjoy your blessings - KW

Devotion: You Choose!

Most people do not believe that we choose what happens to us.  Regardless of how things appear in the world, the truth of the matter is that we do choose what happens in our life.  But this is something that the devil does not want you to know.  You see, the devil wants to steal your divine inheritance and he wants to steal all of your rights (John 10:10).  He does not what you to prosper in this life at all.  He is out to devour you, so he tries to keep you blinded to the truth (II Corinthians 4:4) with deception and lies.  The Bible tells us that “death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21), which suggests that with one’s mouth an individual can speak death into his or her life or the same individual can speak life into his or her life.

Did you know that the words that you speak will produce a crop much like that of the farmer who plants a field?  If you plant death, then death is what you will reap, in its full measure.  And if you plant life, then life will be what you reap, in its full measure.  If you plant sickness, then sickness will be what you will reap or if you plant health or healing, then health or healing will be what you will reap, all in their full measure.  The words that we speak are like seeds that are planted in the ground.  And from those seeds, we reap that for which we have sown.  This is why the words that we speak are so important; they really do control the things that happen to us.

We know some of you will find this notion of words controlling what happens to us hard to accept and unfortunately, we do not have enough room to fully cover the topic here but consider this.  If it be possible “for you to be saved by a confession of your mouth” (Romans 10:9-10) not to forgo the believing in the heart part, then do you think it be possible “for you to be condemn by a confession of your mouth as well,” provided the belief in the heart is there?  God has built a system that works based on what a person says, which is an interesting thought in itself.  However, more interesting is “the power that our tongue has” (James 3).  And if that be the case, then death and life are truly in the power of a person’s tongue.

“You have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of your mouth” (Proverbs 6:2 NIV).

Scripture tells us that we have been trapped by what we say.  And you still think what you say is not important.  Scripture tells us that we have been ensnared by the words that come out of our mouth.  There is more scriptural evidence that bear witness to a system that hinges on what you say, be it saying something good or be it saying something bad.  We pray that this message will help you to understand that you really do, “choose.”  Knowledge is power, misinformation leads destruction; always seek truth.

Enjoy your blessings. - KW

Devotion: God Will Save Your Family

There are some believers who share in the belief that they themselves can save those family members or friends that are not saved.  They believe that they have the power, as a believer in Christ, through prayer or other means, to do certain things that will guarantee or ensure a person’s salvation.  We are not attempting to diminish the power or the importance of prayer, but do want to add some clarity to a very much misinterpreted, misunderstood, and very sensitive subject.

We all want to save our unbelieving loved ones and there is nothing that we will not do or try to accomplish this, but in all of our attempts, we must follow the instructions that God has put in place in order for them to be saved.  According to the scriptures, we see that “God is not a respecter of person” (Romans 2:11), which means that God treats everyone the same.  And no, nothing has changed, because God says “he changes not” (Malachi 3:6), which means that whatever God did in the beginning, he is still doing today.

The criteria that God has instituted to receive the free gift of salvation are very clear and very specific.  A person must “confess with his or her mouth, believe in his or her heart that God raised Jesus from the dead in order for that person to be saved” (Romans 10:9-10).  The scriptures go on to say that “it is with the heart that a person believes unto righteousness and with the mouth that the confession is made unto salvation.”  Some believe that prayer or other religious rites or traditional ceremonies will provide salvation to others, but there is nothing scriptural to support such beliefs.

As you meditate on this message, please note that there are things that can be done to help bring a loved one or friend, who is not saved to salvation.  The truth of the matter is that salvation can only be achieved through the acceptance of God’s free gift.  Salvation is not something that can be placed upon or passed on to an individual; he or she must accept the gift according to the instructions found in scripture.  Because of free-will, God will not force anyone to accept him, accept his love, accept his son, or accept his free gift of salvation.  All of these things must be accepted by a free-will choice, not by force or threat.

Therefore, continue to pray, continue to minister, and continue the share to word of God that all who need salvation may be freed from their spiritual blindness and spiritual bondage.  God needs our help to help him save our loved ones.  We are the hands and feet of God, “the laborers that are sent into his harvest” (Luke 10:2) but we must go fully armed and prepared with the truth.  Hopefully today’s message will do just that.  “Knowing the truth will make us free” (John 8:32).  If this message is a blessing to you, please share it so that others may be blessed by it as well.

Enjoy your blessings. - KW