Devotion: You Can Do All Things Through Christ

Paul, while speaking with the Philippians, thanked them for their concern for him and the gifts they sent to him (Philippians 4:10-20).  He told them that he had learned the secret to living in every situation, stating that he could do all things through Christ who strengthened him (verse 13).  But what does this statement, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” actually mean for us?  Jesus explains it this way:

“I am the true Vine, and my Father is the Gardener.  He lops off every branch that doesn’t produce.  And he prunes those branches that bear fruit for even larger crops.  He has already tended you by pruning you back for greater strength and usefulness by means of the commands I gave you.  Take care to live in me, and let me live in you.  For a branch can’t produce fruit when severed from the vine.  Nor can you be fruitful apart from me.  Yes, I am the Vine; you are the branches.  Whoever lives in me and I in him shall produce a large crop of fruit.  For apart from me you can’t do a thing.  If anyone separates from me, he is thrown away like a useless branch, withers, and is gathered into a pile with all the others and burned.  But if you stay in me and obey my commands, you may ask any request you like, and it will be granted!  My true disciples produce bountiful harvests.  This brings great glory to my Father” (John 15:1-8 TLB).

Because we are in Christ, who is the true vine, he explains how we are able to do all things through him.  Because we are in him and because we obey his commands, we are allowed to make any request we like and it will be granted to us.  Now, we know that some will place restrictions on “make any request we like and it will be granted to us” part, but if you are in Christ, you will only seek to do those things that are within the will of God and those things that are pleasing to God.  Notice what happens to those who separate themselves from the vine and are not in him; they don’t get pruned, but loped off.

We pray that this inspirational 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: How Do I Know When I Have Faith?

What an interesting question, “How Do I Know When I Have Faith?”  According to the scripture, “God has dealt to every man the measure of faith” (Romans 12:3 KJV).  Some translations say, “God has dealt to every man a measure of faith.”  We know that this will sound like a play on words, but we assure you that it is not.  It is important that you understand the difference between the two translations because the difference will help you to honestly measure the correct amount of faith that has been given to you.

When using the word “the,” which is a definite article that is used before a noun to express specificity to its reference, you get the sense that God has dealt to everyone “the same amount of faith.”  No one has been given more faith than anyone else has; we all have been given “the same amount.”  On the other hand, when using the word “a” or “an,” which are indefinite articles that are used before a noun to express non-specificity to its reference, you get the sense that God has dealt to everyone “a random or varied amount of faith.”  So, how can you be sure that you have been dealt “the measure of faith” and not some random amount?  How can you be sure that you have been given enough faith or that you have been given your fair share?

According to scripture, “there is no respect of persons with God” (Romans 2:11), which means we can safely say that God, who treats everyone the same, did not shortchange anyone when it came to faith; he gave us all “the same amount of faith” and not some random amount.  Now, if “the measure of faith” given to you by God is the size of a mustard seed (Matthew 17:20; Luke 17:6), then you have all the faith that you need.

The only thing left for you to do is to activate your faith and then, build up your faith, which are both lessons for another time.  Scripture tells us, “faith comes by hearing (listening) and hearing (listening) by the word of God” (Romans 10:17), and we know what happens when we attend to the word of God, giving ear to it (Proverbs 4:20-22).

Today’s inspirational message should help to answer the question, “How Do I Know When I Have Faith?”  As always, 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: Speak God's Word

God tells us, “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).  We have previously mentioned that when we attend to God’s words, giving ear to them, we learn that they are life unto those that find them, meaning his words are full of abundant life to those that hunt for, look for, or seek those words. We find in this passage that God has asked two more things of us; that we do not allow his words to depart from our eyes and that we keep them close to our hearts.  However, the purpose for having to follow these commands is most important for us.

Scripture tells us, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh” (Luke 6:45).  Basically, this is saying, whatever you have abundantly stored in your heart will eventually come out through your mouth.  Therefore, if you have God’s words stored abundantly in your heart, then when you speak or in your time of need, God’s words are what you will speak.  If you do not have his words abundantly stored there, then it won’t be his words that you speak, but someone else’s words.

Nevertheless, here is the icing on the cake.  God tells us, “For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it” (Isaiah 55:10-11).  When we speak God’s words, we actually return his words to him, and according to God, they do not return to him void but will accomplish what they were intended to accomplish, which is to produce fruit in the earth realm for his children.  So, fill your heart with God’s words and when you speak or in your time of need, God’s words are what you will speak.  Then watch what kind of fruit, treasures if you will, those words produce or bring forth in your life.  God guarantees that you will see a difference.

We pray today’s inspirational message will help you understand why it is important for us to give attention to God's words.  We pray that this devotional 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: A Perfect Friend

Jesus told us, “As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.  If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.  These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.  This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.  Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.  Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.  Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you” (John 15:9-15).

Did you notice that Jesus said we are his friends?  That’s right, Jesus called us his friends, but there appears to be a qualifier to us being called his friends.  A“qualifier” is “something that has the ability to restrict, limit, alter, or modify the meaning of something else.”  Imagine that, something in the word of God that actually restricts, limits, alters, or modifies the meaning of those who are called Jesus’ friends.  For us, that qualifier says, “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you” (John 15:14).  To be Jesus’ friend, we must do all that he has commanded of us, that by keeping his commandments, we will continually be in his love just as he was in the Father’s love because he kept the Father’s commandments.

Today’s inspirational message is about having “a perfect friend” and the only one to fit the bill is Jesus.  He wants to be your friend and now you know what you have to do to be his friend.

“There are friends who pretend to be friends, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24 RSV).

As always, 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: You Are A Child Of God

Do you know what it truly means to be a child of God?  As a child of God, you have the right to the inheritance of the new covenant, a better covenant, built with better promises (Hebrews 8:6).  As a child of God, you have the right to good health, wealth, and total life prosperity (3 John 1:2).  As a child of God, you have a divine inheritance to the best in life, deserving all the Father has to offer.  Jesus tells us that he came that we “might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

However, here is where so many miss the boat because they do not know how to become a child of God.  Not everyone is a child of God.  Only those who have received Christ and believe in his name have been given the right to become a child of God (John 1:12).  Only those who have faith that Jesus is the Christ are born of God and they have been given the right to be called a child of God (I John 5:1).  Everyone else is a creation of God.  Now you know that there is a difference in becoming a child of God and being a creation of God.  Do do not just be a creation; become a child by finding out what it takes to become a child of the Almighty God.  In becoming a child of God, “may you always be doing those good, kind things that show you are a child of God, for this will bring much praise and glory to the Lord” (Philippians 1:9-11 TLB).

We pray that today’s inspirational message will help get you started on the right track to discovering what it means to be God’s child.  We also pray that this message will be a blessing to you and that you will share it with others so they may be blessed as well.  Amen.

Enjoy your blessings - KW

Devotion: Give Attention To My Words

Are you one who has a clear understanding of the things of God or are you one who is just downright confused?  Guess what, this is why God has told us to seek wisdom and know-how (Proverbs 4:5-7).  He tells us that we need to get understanding, get the ability to use good sense in our thinking, in our judgment, and in our actions, and get the ability to perceive and to explain the meaning or nature of things, because once we have these things, then revelation knowledge will come, and we will no longer be confused.  Our problem is that we have not taken the time to truly seek God, to truly find out what he is trying to tell us, or to truly find the meaning of the scriptures that we read.  God tells us to “study to show thyself approved unto God” so that we can “rightly divide the word of truth” (II Timothy 2:15), but most of us do not adhere to this command to study.

The word of truth is given “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 the word of truth 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).  The idea that we are to attend to God’s words hold little meaning for some because they believe that just carrying a Bible with them fits the commandment.  How so very wrong they are.  When we attend to his words, we learn that they are life unto those that find them (Proverbs 4:20-22), which means that God’s words are full, abundant life unto those that hunt for, look for, or seek those words.

God wants us to attend to his words, which means that we need to listen carefully to his words, and we need to pay close attention to what is being said.  This means that there must be more to knowing God then just opening the Bible, reading a few verses or so, and coming out believing that we are knowledgeable about the things of God.  Matter of fact, God tells us to immerse ourselves in his word.  He tells us that we must hunt for, look for, and seek the answers that he has provided us through his instruction manual.  This might mean that we will have to pick that Bible up, open it, and do a little more than just read it.  We may have to dissect it.  If we truly immerse ourselves in his word, while we hunted for, looked for, and sought the answers that he has provided us through his instruction manual, then we would eventually become knowledgeable about the things of God.  So, until we do, I guess we will just be . . . confused.

Today’s inspirational message briefly talks about giving attention to God’s words so that you will “get into the word and you will let the word get into you.”  As always, we pray that this commentary, combined with the message below will bless you, inform you, and that you will be the better for having read it.  If blessed by them, please share so that others may be blessed as well.  Amen.

Enjoy your blessings - KW

Devotion: I Now Believe God Loves Me

Do you know that God loves you?  Do you believe that God loves you?  The two questions may seem redundant, but they are actually different questions.  While many Christians know that God loves them, they have a hard time believing that God loves them.  So many have this problem believing that God loves them because they focus on their faults and failures, never completely understanding that God has forgiven them of all their sins through their faith in Jesus Christ.  People often say, “I am just an old sinner saved by grace,” not realizing that they are confessing to still being a sinner.  When you are saved by God’s grace, God no longer considers you to be what you use to be, which is a sinner.  Yes, you may still commit sin, but you have a new nature, where your old sinful nature was crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20) and you have been redeemed (Galatians 3:13).  And in being redeemed or delivered, you are now considered a new creation (II Corinthians 5:17) having put on Christ (Galatians 3:27).

Scripture tells us “That you are to put away, in relation to your earlier way of life, the old man, which has become evil by love of deceit; and be made new in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, to which God has given life, in righteousness and a true and holy way of living” (Ephesians 4:22-23 BEV).  So, instead referring to yourself as “just an old sinner saved by grace,” maybe it is time to renew your thinking and change your confession.

So, instead of referring to yourself as “just an old sinner saved by grace,” maybe it is time to renew your thinking and change your confession.  Maybe it is time to make this confession, “I was an old sinner with a sin nature, but I have been saved by grace and given a new nature, a righteous nature.”  Since God has declared me righteous, I now believe that God loves me and if you want to know the same, I encourage you to read the fifth chapter of Romans and you will believe that God loves you too.

We pray that today’s inspirational message will give you a new perspective on doing just that.  We pray that this commentary will bless you, inform you, and that you will be the better for having read it.  If blessed by them, please share so that others may be blessed as well.  Amen.

Enjoy your blessings - KW