Devotion: A Member Of The Body

Many believers have been taught we are supposed to “be of one body, one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God,” but is this truly the case?  Are the so-called believers truly “of one body?”  We, as so-called believers claim to worship the same God, follow the same Jesus, and be touched by the same Holy Spirit, yet our beliefs are so different.  And while we “politely tolerate” each other, our pride does not allow us to come together as one.  The statement, “That’s not how we do things here” instantly blocks any attempts at unification.  But aren’t we supposed to be a body of like-minded people with one common purpose and one common goal?  Apparently, we missed that memo and have missed the point as well.

Scripture records that Jesus, when he ascended upon high, he gave certain gifts to man. “Some of us have been given special ability as apostles; to others he has given the gift of being able to preach well; some have special ability in winning people to Christ, helping them to trust him as their Savior; still others have a gift for caring for God’s people as a shepherd does his sheep, leading and teaching them in the ways of God (Ephesians 4:11 TLB).

But it is the purpose of these gifts that we find most intriguing and what is to be accomplished by them.  “Why is it that he gives us these special abilities to do certain things best?  It is that God’s people will be equipped to do better work for him, building up the Church, the body of Christ, to a position of strength and maturity; until finally we all believe alike about our salvation and about our Savior, God’s Son, and all become full-grown in the Lord—yes, to the point of being filled full with Christ.  Then we will no longer be like children, forever changing our minds about what we believe because someone has told us something different or has cleverly lied to us and made the lie sound like the truth.  Instead, we will lovingly follow the truth at all times—speaking truly, dealing truly, living truly—and so become more and more in every way like Christ who is the Head of his body, the Church.  Under his direction, the whole body is fitted together perfectly, and each part in its own special way helps the other parts, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love” (Ephesians 4:12-16 TLB).

So, if you be one who has been given a special ability or gift to do certain things by Christ, then you have but one job and it has been clearly spelled out; “the building up of the Church, which is the body of Christ to a position of strength and maturity.”  If you be a member of the one body, then you too have a role to play as well.  Paul begs us “to live and act in a way worthy of those who have been chosen for such wonderful blessings as these.  Be humble and gentle.  Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.  Try always to be led along together by the Holy Spirit and so be at peace with one another” (Ephesians 4:1-3 TLB).  Imagine a body perfectly fitted together, with each part helping and working with all of the other parts so that the whole body is healthy, growing, and full of love.  Imagine a body where “finally we all believe alike and come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.”  Imagine that!

Again, we pray that today's 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: Is Money Your God?

Most of us have heard the phrase, “Money is the root of all evil.”  Stated this way, this phrase leads us to believe that “money” itself is “the root or cause of all evil.”  According to scripture, it is “the love of money” that is “the root or cause of all evil” (I Timothy 6:10).  The actual wording brings to light a slightly different interpretation where “the love of money” is the root cause of all kinds of evil and not money itself.  It is this “love of money,” this desire in people to be rich that is the first step of a downward spiral that causes all kinds of wrongdoings just to acquire this money.  Those who covet after money, fall into temptation and do all kinds of unwise, destructive, and malicious things that eventually hurts them, all to satisfy this desire to gain access to money.  Because of their “love of money,” these same people have turned away from God, have been led astray from the faith, and have inflected themselves with countless sorrows that eventually lead to their ruin and destruction.

Scripture tells us “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind” (Luke 10:27), but this is one commandment that is hard to obey if you have a “love for money.”  You see, if you have this “love of money,” then you cannot love the Lord God with all of your heart, soul, strength, or mind.  Jesus told us that no man can serve two masters, because he will either love the one and hate the other or he will keep or hold on to one and have no respect for the other (Matthew 6:24).  God tells us that we are “to have no other gods before him” (Exodus 20:3), but this “love of money” is like having another god before God, where you love something else with all of your being instead of loving God, which is a very big “no-no.”  It is important to note that money, in and of itself, is not the root or cause of all evil, but it is this “love of money” that ends in man’s ruin and destruction.

So, we have to ask, “Do you serve money or does money serve you?”  As always, we forever pray that our 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: Trust In God

“Faith” is defined as “trust in somebody or something, especially without logical proof; trust in somebody that you consider worthwhile and truthful; and accepting that something exists when there is no physical proof of its existence or of its reality.”  We can honestly say that having faith in somebody or something is the same as having trust in the same.

“And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God” (Mark 11:22).  Jesus is telling us to have faith in God, which is the same as him telling us to have “trust in God.”  We know that God is a god of faith, for “without faith it is impossible to please him” (Hebrews 11:6).  Therefore, if we trust in God then it is possible for us to please God.  Imagine that, a little trust can go a long way to pleasing God.

Faith or should we say trust is required in order to have a relationship with God.  Faith or trust is necessary for anyone who wants to know God.  Scripture tells us to trust in the Lord with all our heart and in all of our ways submit to God and he will direct us, making our path straight and crowning our efforts with success.

“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 thy paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

“Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.  Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.  Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.  And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday” (Psalm 37:3-6).

Faith is a choice.  Believing is a choice.  Trust is definitely a choice.  You can choose to believe or you can choose not to believe; that choice is yours.  As for us, we choose to believe and we choose to place our faith or our “trust in God.”

We pray that today’s inspirational message will bless you and inform you.  If you are blessed by this message, please share so that others may be blessed as well.  Amen.

Enjoy your blessings - KW

Devotion: Don't Judge By Appearance

So often we hear people, believers and non-believers alike, using the phrase “Judge not, lest ye be judged” or a similar phrase because either, they don’t want to pass judgment on someone or they do not want judgment passed on them.  We find in scripture, “Judge not, that ye be not judged.  For with what judgment (condemnation) ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete (use), it shall be measured to you again” (Matthew 7:1-2), but has this passage been misinterpreted?

The passage appears to be a warning to us to be careful how we pass judgment on others and not a commandment to never pass judgment.  The passage clearly warns us that with whatever judgment we use, the same judgment will be used against us and with whatever measure we use, the same will be measured to us.  In Leviticus, we find that “we are to do no unrighteousness in judgment but in righteousness, we are to judge our neighbor” (Leviticus 19:15), which is a little contrary to the meaning of the popular misinterpreted “judge not, lest ye be judged.”

In passing judgment, we are to have no respect of person, meaning we treat all the same regardless of power, wealth, or position.  Scripture tells us, “Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbor” (Leviticus 19:15).  “Ye shall not respect persons (show partiality) in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God's: and the cause (case) that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it” (Deuteronomy 1:17).

Scripture tells us that it is not good nor is it wise that we have respect of person or that we show partiality in our judgment towards anyone (Proverbs 24:23; Proverbs 28:21).  God told Samuel not to look on a man’s countenance or on the height of his stature, for God does not see man as man sees man.  While man looks at the outward appearance of man, God looks at the heart of man (I Samuel 16:7).  This means that we too must look at the heart of man.  Scripture tells us, “As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the person” (Proverbs 27:19).  Scripture also tells us that “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).  So, by looking at the heart and not at the appearance, we will certainly “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment” (John 7:24).  The whole point of the passage appears to be that when we judge others, we need to make sure that we “judge them in righteousness and not in unrighteousness.”  The story of Jesus and the prostitute comes to mind (Luke 7:36-50).  You should check this story out; you just might see things in a different light.

We forever pray that our inspirational messages abundantly bless you, greatly inform you, and that you are 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: On Earth As It Is In Heaven

Because we have had so many questions about “the will of God,” we now attribute everything that happens to it being “God’s will” as to the reason things happen the way that they do.  If there is a tragedy, a disaster, or a catastrophic event we are quick to say that, “it was God’s will” that these events happened, but are these true statements.  The sovereignty of God is one of the most misrepresented concepts in religious teachings and it has greatly contributed to our misinterpretation, misunderstanding, and confusion about “the will of God.”  While it is true, that God is sovereign, with supreme authority and supreme power, able to operate totally independent of any part of his creation, everything that happens does not happen because it is “God’s will” that such things should happen.

For example, most Christians believe, know, understand, or have concluded that hell is the future home to the wicked.

“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (II Peter 3:9).

According to this passage, it is not God's will that any should perish.  However, it is God’s will that all should come to repentance and avoid going to hell.

“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10 NIV).

We pray for God’s will to be done here on earth as it is done in heaven.  In heaven there is nothing bad; no bad things to overcome; none of the things that trouble us here on earth.  So, we need to pray that the will of God be done here in the earth as it is done in heaven because even though God is sovereign, his will is not an automatic thing.  If God’s will be an automatic thing, then no one would go to hell, since it is not his will that any should perish.  But we know that people will be in hell, not because God did not want them, but because they did not want God.

Hopefully, today’s message will definitely offer you a different viewpoint on “the will of God.”  As always, we pray that this message will bless you, as well as inform you.  Please share this message if you are blessed by it so that others may be blessed as well.  Amen.

Enjoy your blessings - KW

Devotion: God Is Not A Liar

Not long ago, we did a study on “The Characteristics of God, his nature, his character, and his personality.”  Among the many things that we discovered, the one thing that we discovered that completely summed up God in a nutshell was that he was “a god of integrity.”  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.”  But here is the most important thing that we found about this integrity thing; it has absolutely nothing to do with God’s abilities.

For example, we find in scripture that “there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts” (II Chronicles 19:7), that “God changes not” (Malachi 3:6), and that “it is impossible for God to lie” (Hebrews 6:18).  We must understand that none of these passages speaks to or has anything to do with the capabilities of God.  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, as well as the ability to lie, if he wants or chooses to.  God is fully capable of doing anything he so chooses, 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 “a god of integrity.”

Can you imagine serving a god who was unfair, immoral, unrighteous, and did evil and bad things?  Can you imagine serving a god who had respect of person or whose favor could be brought for a price?  Can you imagine 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 did 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.  Then there are those who use these very traits as reasons for standing in opposition to God.

Know this, what God has said at the beginning and what he said in past times still holds true today and will continue in the future (Ezekiel 24:14).  What he gave at the beginning, he is still giving today and he will continue to give in the future (James 1:17).  Regardless of his abilities, God has chosen not to do certain things that would bring into question his integrity.  Many of the changes you see today are because man changed what God has said, not God changing what God has said.  Man has changed many things and then used God’s name to do so.  Man has done this so much throughout the years; he is now not able to distinguish the truth from the fiction.  God has not changed his mind about any one thing that he stated in the beginning or changed any one of those things that he put into place in the beginning.  This is why our God has chosen to be “the One of integrity;” that way, his children would recognize him over all others.

Today’s inspirational message speaks briefly about three of God’s characteristics.  We pray that our message will bless you, inform you, and that you will be the better for having read it.  Please share this message if you are blessed by it so that others may be blessed as well.nbsp Amen.

Enjoy your blessings - KW

Devotion: How To Change

There are times when you read a passage of scripture and think that you have the correct interpretation only to find that as you continue your study of God’s word, your initial interpretation was incorrect.  Each of us has had similar experiences, but understanding why this happens is the key to eliminating future occurrences.  Most of us have built our belief system on those so-called fundamental truths we learned when we first believed.  Be they right or be they wrong, those truths were the building blocks to our current belief system, whatever that system may be.  However, there are times when our spiritual foundation fails due to misinformation or misinterpretations and the integrity of our entire belief system is adversely affected.

Our ability to seek and find the truth is limited directly to our ability to think or reason, especially the ability to think outside of the walls of Churchianity, denominationalism, or traditionalism.  Controlled by contrary beliefs, misguided values, unethical practices, or overstated theologies, we hear certain things that trigger predictable responses that automatically closes our minds to new revelations because we see it as a threat to our very basic religious foundation.  Words can be manipulated to say many things, but there are times when our mind manipulates the things we hear or read to suit our belief system, like a self-preservation mechanism that only allows us to process information that does not threaten our core belief system.  Instead of seeking and accepting truth, we seek and accept things that fit into our perception of truth, thus making us easy prey for all the false teachings, doctrines, edicts, and theologies.  We accept them without question and recite things that make us sound intelligent to others, but we lack full revelation and the ability to fully understand them, much less, explain them when questioned (I Peter 3:15).

We are told of a time when man will no longer tolerate wholesome instruction but rather search for “a multitude of teachers who will tickle their ears” in order that they, man, may then satisfy his own lust.  We are told that man will turn his ears away from listening to the truth and instead listen to fables (II Timothy 4:3-4).  We are also told that in the later times, some will fall away from the faith, giving heed to the deceiving spirits and the teachings of demons (I Timothy 4:1).  But the question that we need to ask is how is this possible?  We are being destroyed because we have limited God and limited ourselves.  We have failed to follow the instructions that God has set forth for us in his word.  He has provided for us everything we need in order for us to fully know him (II Timothy 3:16-17) and to worship him in spirit and in truth (John 4:24).  We have failed to open our minds to him, choosing to limit ourselves to that which we think sounds more like something that God would tell us.

But how do we change?  We pray that today’s inspirational message has given you a new perspective “on those things that need to change.”  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