Devotion: What Are Alms?

We have had several discussions about prosperity, and we keep coming back to this passage, “for it is he (God) that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant” (Deuteronomy 8:18) as we have tried to answer the question, “Prosperity, is it truly of God or is it of the devil?”  We have discussed varying opinions as to the interpretation of prosperity; however, we continually mention that from this passage, it appears that the power to get wealth is of God and that there is a reason for this prosperity.

One of the purposes for the wealth is for us to be a blessing to others through the giving of “alms.”  The giving of “alms” is when we basically “give money or goods to those in need of charity.”

“He who shuts his ears to the cries of the poor will be ignored in his own time of need” (Proverbs 21:13 TLB).  “Anyone who oppresses the poor is insulting God who made them.  To help the poor is to honor God” (Proverbs 14:31 TLB).  “When you help the poor you are lending to the Lord—and he pays wonderful interest on your loan (Proverbs 19:17 TLB)!  “Happy is the generous man, the one who feeds the poor” (Proverbs 22:9 TLB).  “The good man knows the poor man’s rights; the godless don’t care” (Proverbs 29:7 TLB).  “But if someone who is supposed to be a Christian has money enough to live well, and sees a brother in need, and won’t help him—how can God’s love be within him” (I John 3:17 TLB)?

Blessed is he who gives to the poor in their time of need.  He who ignores the calling to help the poor, insults God.  To help the poor is to honor God.  Think of this way, when you give to the poor, you are lending to the Lord, who pays interest on what you give.  When you help the poor, God smiles down upon you, because you show that you have the love of God inside of you.

“Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.  Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men.  Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.  But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: that thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly” (Matthew 6:1-4 KJV).

But be warned, do not make a public showing of your giving as some do.  When you do, you lose the reward from Father God, for your public acknowledgement will be your only reward.  When you give, give secretly, not telling your left hand what you right hand is doing.  When you give as instructed, God will reward you as he promises in his word.

And as we have previously mentioned and say yet once again, we know that today’s message will not settle the debate, but it just might help us “to better understand the purpose for the prosperity.”  As always, we pray that our message will bless you, inform you, and that you will be the better for having read it.  If this message was a blessing to you, please share so that others may be blessed as well.  Amen.

Enjoy your blessings - KW

Devotion: Divorce

What if we told you God was married?  As you read the scriptures, you will find,

“Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt (wing) over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea I sware (swore an oath) unto thee, and entered into covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest mine.  Then washed I thee with water; yea, I thoroughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil.  I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers' skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk.  I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck.  And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head.  Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom.  And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord God” (Ezekiel 16:8-14).

Some of you have been blessed and have received a new revelation from the passage.  Some of you are trying to figure out who it is that God entered into a marriage covenant with.  Some of you have a totally different interpretation of the passage and have not received the same revelation.  Some of you are still in denial even after you have been presented with the biblical proof, still saying, “I don’t believe this.”  For many of you, it would do no good for us to tell you that God was also divorced.  As you read these scriptures, you will see,

“The Lord said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done?  she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.  And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me.  But she returned not.  And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.  And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill (certificate) of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also” (Jeremiah 3:6-8).

While this is not in any way a traditional marriage, when God entered into covenant with Israel, he considered it worthy to be called a marriage and he treated it as such.  Now for you who are still trying to accept the fact that God was married note this; you can only give “a bill (certificate) of divorce” to someone that you were married to.  For those who have an ear to hear, the fact that God was married and divorced may open a whole new level of exploration as you seek spiritual truth and the revelation knowledge hidden in God’s word.  Please bear in mind that we do not point these passages out to advocate for or against divorce, for this is neither our intent nor our purpose.  We know this commentary does not contain any definitive answers.  However, seeing that things, as they pertain to God and his ways, are not always how we understand them to be and not always as we have been led to believe, this just might cause you to revisit the “marriage-divorce thing” that is debated in many religious circles today.

We forever pray that this 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: Help, Mate!

Most of us are familiar with the story we find in the second chapter of the book of Genesis.  You know the one where God is about to make “a help meet for man” because he said, “it is not good that the man should be alone” (Genesis 2:18).  In the subsequent verses (Genesis 2:19-24), God reveal his best solution for a situation that he brings to our attention with his “it is not good” statement, “the loneliness of man.”  God eventually takes a rib from the man, creates a woman from that rib, and now man has “a help meet,” a helper, a companion to overcome something God had said was not good; “man’s loneliness.”  The scriptures go on to say “the man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave (be joined) unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh” (Genesis 2:24).

And even though this union is God’s best for mankind, the union has had some issues from the very beginning and those issues have carried over throughout the years.  If you remember, Adam, instead of manning-up and taking responsibility for what he had done, blamed the woman, telling God “the woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat” (Genesis 3:12).  This was not exactly the response that Adam was supposed to give when God asked him if he had eaten of the tree that he was commanded not to eat of.  It appears that the man did not fulfill his responsibility when it came to the commandment of God or his obligations to his “help meet,” whom he claimed was “now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh” (Genesis 2:23).

God would later instruct the man as to how they should treat his “help meet.”  But not to worry ladies, God also left instructions for you as to how you are to treat the one you were created for, but unfortunately this will not be covered in today’s devotional.  Scripture tells us, “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it” (Ephesians 5:25).  It also tells us, “So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies.  He that loveth his wife loveth himself.  For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church” (Ephesians 5:28-29).  We are told, “Husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered” (I Peter 3:7).

To our brothers in the body of Christ, today’s inspirational message is for you.  Hopefully, it will give you insight into just how you are to love “the help meet” that God created because “it is not good that the man should be alone.”  To our sisters in the body of Christ, understanding this message will give you insight into just how you are to be loved by the one God created you for as well as helping you to understand God’s instructions for you.

We forever 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: God Is Not Angry With You

One of the hardest concepts for many believers to understand is the concept of God’s grace.  Grace is this wonderful free gift that God has given to us.  And because of this wonderful gift of grace, we have been saved.  “Because of his kindness, you have been saved through trusting Christ.  And even trusting is not of yourselves; it too is a gift from God.  Salvation is not a reward for the good we have done, so none of us can take any credit for it” (Ephesians 2:8-9 TLB).  God’s grace is extended to us because of what Jesus Christ did.  It is not extended to us because of something that we did; it was a free gift from God.

“But God is so rich in mercy; he loved us so much that even though we were spiritually dead and doomed by our sins, he gave us back our lives again when he raised Christ from the dead—only by his undeserved favor have we ever been saved—and lifted us up from the grave into glory along with Christ, where we sit with him in the heavenly realms—all because of what Christ Jesus did.  And now God can always point to us as examples of how very, very rich his kindness is, as shown in all he has done for us through Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 2:4-7 TLB).

All of this “amazing grace” is given to us free from God and we do not need to do anything to earn it; we just need to accept it.  Many believers are still trying to make themselves righteous with God by keeping the old Jewish law but it is actual grace that makes us right with God, not by keeping the law.

“The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).  “Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law.  And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law.  For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law” (Galatians 2:16 NLT).

So, trying to keep the law will not make you right with God.  Did you know, “the person who keeps every law of God but makes one little slip is just as guilty as the person who has broken every law there is” (James 2:10 TLB)?  And, there is no amount of work a person can do to earn his or her righteousness.  It all comes through the grace of God.

“We were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, and slaves to our desires and various pleasures too.  We were spending our lives in evil behavior and jealousy.  We were disgusting, and we hated other people.  But when God our savior’s kindness and love appeared, he saved us because of his mercy, not because of righteous things we had done.  He did it through the washing of new birth and the renewing by the Holy Spirit, which God poured out upon us generously through Jesus Christ our savior.  So, since we have been made righteous by his grace, we can inherit the hope for eternal life” (Titus 3:3-7 RSV).

So it by his grace, the free gift, that we are saved through faith, faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 10:9-10).

“And he guarantees right up to the end that you will be counted free from all sin and guilt on that day when he returns” (I Corinthians 1:4-9 TLB).  “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead.  Now we live with great expectation” (I Peter 1:3 NLT).

While this commentary may not give you the complete understanding of God’s grace, it will get you headed in the right direction.  Just remember, “God is not angry with you.”  We pray that this message will give you a different perspective as well as add to your understanding.  May this inspirational message bless you abundantly as well as inform you.  If blessed by this message, please share so that others may be blessed as well.  Amen.

Enjoy your blessings - KW

Devotion: Harvest Is Coming

Most of you are familiar with the principle of “seedtime and harvest.”  You know that principle which God established that says, “For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7).  With this principle, the words that we speak can produce a crop much like that of the farmer who planted seeds in a field and it is from this crop that we reap a harvest, be it good or be it bad.  The same applies to the things that we do, where our actions are also like seeds, producing a crop from which we reap a harvest, be it good or be it bad as well.  It is important to note that the crops we produce can be “good or bad,” depending on what we have sown.

Basically, we continually have a harvest ready to come in, always based on the things that we say and/or the things that we do.  While these crops can be good or they can be bad, it is amazing how quickly we will distance ourselves from “a bad crop,” even though we are the ones responsible.  We are the ones that planted them, but we are quick to blame others and/or even blame God for the bad crops that appear in our lives from time to time.  There is a harvest coming and it will come from the seeds that you have planted either by your words or by your actions in the past few days, weeks, months, or even years.  The question for you is “What kind of harvest will it be?”

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

Enjoy your blessings - KW

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