Devotion: Recognize Your Enemy

When you are ready to come to God, it be “you” who repents of your sins, who confesses with your mouth, and who believes with your heart.  When you are ready, it be “you” who is wants to submit to God, to praise him, and to worship him.  When you are ready, it be “you” who humbly comes before God and it be “God” who accepts you as you come, who forgives you of your past sins, and who wipes clean your slate.  But more importantly than anything else, it be “God” who reconnects his Spirit with your spirit, giving new life to your spirit.  And for those of you who have experienced this, you know the feeling that comes upon you when this happens.  You get this fire all up in your spirit as if it has been supercharged.  You get this unbelievable desire to serve, praise, and worship God for everything that he has done for you.  But this is when the real war begins and when all of your battles start.

And so the war begins but there be more to this war than you could ever imagine.  Most believers do not know that we war on two fronts.  On the one front, our newly found spirit nature wars with our flesh, our old sinful nature.  On the other front, we war against persons without bodies.

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12).

We wrestle against the evil rulers of the unseen world, which include the mighty satanic beings, the great evil princes of darkness, and a huge number of wicked spirits who rule this unseen world.  And while we see the daily struggles of those who succumb to poverty, sickness, and death, the primary battle involves depression, fear, discouragement, low self-esteem, worry, anxiety, confusion, doubt, and many other tactics.  This battle takes place in the arena of your mind and is unavoidable.  It knows no bounds, no gender, no age, no race, and no religion.  It attacks everyone.  For on this battleground the war is waged for the control of your soul.

Your mind is the road by which the evil rulers of the unseen world gain access into your life, your personality, your emotions, your family, your finances, your marriage, your body, and your home.  They specialize in trying to keep you in bondage through the control of your thought-life.  They know that which controls the mind, controls the soul.  As you fail to maintain your thought-life, you will live far below the standards that God has set up for you.  Your mind plays an important role in your walk of faith; therefore, it is tremendously important that you guard your mind and your thought-life.  Everything hinges on your mind and controlling your thought-life.  Your thoughts will always precede your actions.

We are warned to be sober and watchful because we have an adversary.  This adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring lion looking for those whom he can devour (I Peter 5:8).  So, how does this adversary come against us?  Well, his tactics have not change since the first temptation and there are really no secrets to his approach.  He tries to control you through your mind, with thoughts, ideas, and suggestions.  These thoughts, ideas, and suggestions are usually tied to your five senses.  Your sense of taste, touch, smell, hearing, and seeing, offers him an avenue into your mind and are the areas he tempts in order to gain control of your thought-life.  When you give in to the lust of the flesh (your sense of taste, touch, smell, and hearing), the lust of the eyes (your sense of seeing), and the pride of life (your mind where you think you are special because of what you look like, what you have, and/or who you are), you become carnally minded and forgo all that is spiritual (I John 2:16).  Your five senses play a major part in your self-fulfilling, sinful evil nature and greatly contribute to your carnal mind.  Your carnal mind only wants to satisfy your fleshy physical needs and appetites, like that itch that cannot be satisfied; the more you scratch, the more you itch.  And we discovered from a previous discussion that “carnal mindedness was enmity against God,” bent on only following our evil flesh nature and never wanting to obey or please God (Romans 8:5-8).

The battleground has been set, the arena has been staged, and the battles have begun.  This battle is totally unavoidable and will never end.  But we need to know our enemy and we need to know that he is very predictable.  The same things that he used on the first man in the Garden of Eden are the same things that he uses today.  And because of this information we should not be ignorant of his devices (II Corinthians 2:11).  Learning his tactics, his weapons, his devices, and understanding his mode of operation will put us in a good position to win the battle.

We pray that this inspirational message will be a blessing to you as well as informative.  If blessed by this message, please share so that others may be blessed as well.  Amen.

Enjoy your blessings - KW

Devotion: Eternal Life

There is a phrase that was coined to define a so-called believer who confesses and believes in Christ Jesus, but lives a lifestyle that does not appear to glorify God while claiming the forgiveness and acceptance of God.  Some know this phrase as “the carnal Christian.”  But before any of you get on that high horse and start labeling people, we need to determine if this phrase is biblical or something that man created.  According to the dictionary, the word “carnal” is defined as “relating to the physical needs or strong desires of the body or the flesh in contrast to all that is spiritual.”

“For we are conscious that the law is of the spirit; but I am of the flesh, given into the power of sin.  And I have no clear knowledge of what I am doing, for that which I have a mind to do, I do not, but what I have hate for, that I do.  But, if I do that which I have no mind to do, I am in agreement with the law that the law is good.  So it is no longer I who do it, but the sin living in me.  For I am conscious that in me, that is, in my flesh, there is nothing good: I have the mind but not the power to do what is right.  For the good which I have a mind to do, I do not: but the evil which I have no mind to do, that I do.  But if I do what I have no mind to do, it is no longer I who do it, but the sin living in me.  So I see a law that, though I have a mind to do good, evil is present in me.  In my heart I take pleasure in the law of God, but I see another law in my body, working against the law of my mind, and making me the servant of the law of sin which is in my flesh.  How unhappy am I! who will make me free from the body of this death?  I give praise to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.  So with my mind I am a servant to the law of God, but with my flesh to the law of sin” (Romans 7:14-25 – BBE).

Here we have biblical evidence supporting the “carnal” part of our phrase “carnal Christian,” but can this be applied biblically to the definition of a Christian?  According to the dictionary, the word “Christian” is defined as “a person who believes in Jesus Christ as his or her savior.”

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).

Here we have biblical evidence supporting the “Christian” part of our phrase “carnal Christian.”  We trust that from these passages you can see that “a person who believes in Jesus Christ as his or her savior but is dominated by the physical needs or the strong desires of the body or the flesh in contrast to all that is spiritual” is by definition, “a carnal Christian.”  And yes, we have a little experience in this area.  You see, we have been that “carnal Christian.”  We accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, were baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and believed it or not, we were sanctified or at least that was what we were told.  We regularly attended church, was very active with our membership, and we were well versed in the Scriptures or at least we thought we were.  We believed that we were saved and considered to be righteous, and we were taught that nothing could take our salvation from us.  And if we failed, all we had to do was to get down on our knees, ask to be forgiven, and we would be forgiven.  But it was the following verse that gave us revelation into the destructive nature of the carnal Christian lifestyle, or so we thought.

“For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.  For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.  So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:5-8).

What we did not realize was those who allowed themselves to be controlled by the things of the flesh lived only to please themselves, which in itself leads to death.  We did not fully understand that our carnal Christian lifestyle actually did not and never could obey or please God because our “carnal mindedness was enmity against God,” bent on only following our earthly thinking and our evil flesh nature.  But thank God for his grace and mercy and for revealing the truth to us.  We found that being spiritually minded, making the effort to follow after the Spirit actually led to us being controlled by the things of the Spirit.  But more important was the revelation that when we were led and controlled by the Spirit, we wanted to live our life doing those things that were pleasing to God, which in itself leads to life and peace everlasting.  So, here is the biggest revelation from God.  That “Carnal Christian” definition mentioned above is actually the man-made definition of the term and not the biblical definition of it.  But that’s a story for another time.

We pray that our inspirational message will give you a slightly different perspective on obtaining life and peace everlasting.  We pray you will be blessed, informed, and all the better for having read this.  If blessed by this message, please share so that others may be blessed as well.  Amen.

Enjoy your blessings - KW

Devotion: Think You Know Something?

Did you know that God has told us to seek wisdom, to seek the know-how, and to get the ability to use good sense in our thinking, in our judgment, and in our actions?  Did you know that God has also told us to get understanding, to get the ability to perceive and to get the ability to explain the meaning or nature of things?

“Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.  Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.  Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding” (Proverbs 4:5-7).

Seeking God’s wisdom is the first thing that we have to do, which is a problem for many who profess to be Christians.  They seek God’s wisdom, but it is usually the wisdom of the world that they find, and they do not realize that this is what they have done or what they are doing.  God has pretty much given us everything that we need to know in his word, but we, with our finite worldly wisdom, have rejected his wisdom for the sake of trying to understand that which we really do not understand.  This is not a play on words or a manipulation of words.  This is all about us being manipulated by a worldly wisdom that has limited our ability to understand the thoughts and ways of God.  It is about us not recognizing the revelations that God has given us because they, the revelations, do not agree with what we have been taught or have accepted as truths our entire lives.  This is about us not accepting those things that God has given us to help our understanding because we have been taught that no one can explain or understand the things of God.

Now, if no one can understand the things of God, then why do those same people try to explain those things that they, themselves just said that no one can understand?  Do you think it is to make themselves appear to have a special relationship with God?  Do you think it is to make themselves appear as if they are the only ones who can get divine revelations from God?  Now that is something to ponder.  We need to realize that the Bible is our source of knowledge about God.  We need to know that the whole Bible was given to us by inspiration from God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives; it straightens us out and helps us do what is right.  It is God’s way of making us well prepared at every point, fully equipped to do good to everyone (II Timothy 3:16-17).  The Bible is our instruction manual and our source for all things God.

“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).

In this age of information, we who seek the truth have no reason not to be able to find it provided we do not limit ourselves to the walls of traditionalism or denominationalism.  Limited knowledge leads to a limited life.  A closed mind can only grow within the limits of its enclosure; an open mind grows with endless possibilities.  God tells us “that his people are destroyed because they lack knowledge” (Hosea 4:6).  This lack of knowledge has not come from a shortage of knowledge but from our rejection of knowledge.  If the amount of knowledge is as vast as the oceans, it would be like dipping a cup into the ocean and using what is in the cup as your only source of information.  Everything that you could possibly know would be confined to the limits of that cup.  And just as the ocean has things that can be harmful to us, it also contains things that can be beneficial to us.   Knowledge works the same way; there are things harmful as well as things beneficial.  If we reject every person who makes statements that we do not agree with, then we limit the amount of knowledge available to us.  It is through “studying God’s word” (II Timothy 2:15), using every available resource that we gain the wisdom and understanding to rightly divide the word of truth and pick the harmful items out of the ocean of knowledge.  When we attend to his words, we learn that they are life unto those that find them, which means that God’s words are full, abundant life unto those that hunt for, look for, or seek those words.  Knowledge is power, while misinformation will lead to your destruction.  It is the “truth that will set you free” (John 8:32).

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: The Blood Speaks

Recently, we discussed the power that was in the sacrificial blood of Jesus Christ.  We discovered that he, using his own blood as the payment, was able to go straight into the Holy of Holies to, once and for all, obtain redemption for us and secure our eternal salvation.

“For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.  Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation (propitiation) for the sins of the people.  For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor (aid) them that are tempted” (Hebrews 2:16-18).

Since we were human beings, Jesus Christ, who did not take on the nature of angels, instead took on the same nature as his brethren, flesh and blood.  Being born in human form, it was the only form in which he could willingly give himself to death to rescue us from the penalty of sin and to break the power of the one who have the power over death, that being the devil (Hebrews 2:14).  In dying, he became our High Priest, who went directly before God, once and for all, to obtain eternal redemption for us.  In dying, he became our merciful and faithful high priest, a mediator, who understood what it is like when we suffer and are tempted having experienced suffering and temptations firsthand.

“But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises” (Hebrews 8:6).  “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?  And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance” (Hebrews 9:14-15). “Wherefore then serveth the law?  It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.  Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one” (Galatians 3:19-20).  “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time” (I Timothy 2:5-6).

In dying, Jesus Christ became our mediator to the new covenant, a covenant that had better promises and a better system than the old covenant.  In dying, Jesus Christ made clean the hearts of those who have answered the call, freeing them from the worry of having to obey the old rules and dead works so that they could become servants of the ever-living God and receive the eternal inheritance, which had been promised to them.  The old rules were given, after the promise, as a way to define sin and to show man how guilty he truly was of breaking God’s laws.  The old rules were only designed to last until the coming of Jesus Christ, the seed of Abraham to which the promise was made that he would be used as the go-between of the new covenant much like Moses was used as a go-between in the old covenant.  When God made the old covenant, he used Moses as the mediator between himself and the people to give the details to the people, but with the new covenant, God had to wait for a mediator, so that he could give the details of the new covenant to us as Moses had done previously.  Scripture tells us, there is one God and one mediator, one negotiator of the new covenant between God and men, the man Jesus Christ.  Therefore, all that have accepted and answered the call must be very careful to listen to and obey this mediator, because he has been set up as the go-between to give us the details of the new covenant.

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 his message, please share so that others may be blessed as well.  Amen.

Enjoy your blessings - KW

Devotion: Sprinkle The Blood

There is power in the blood of Jesus.

“But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building (creation); neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place (Most Holy Place), having obtained eternal redemption for us.  For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth (sets apart) to the purifying of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot (blemish) to God, purge (cleanse) your conscience from dead works to serve the living God (Hebrews 9:11-14)?

His death rescued mankind from the penalty of sin.  He came as the High Priest of the new covenant, a covenant that would come later, having better promises and a better system than the one of old.  Because he now has a more perfect tabernacle, one not made of hand nor made by men nor being a part of this world, but one resurrected, he was able to bypass the restrictions of the old tabernacle and go straight into the Holy of Holies to once and for all obtain eternal redemption for us.  Using his own blood as the payment and not the blood of goats and calves, he entered into that inner room in the holy place and secured our eternal salvation.  He set us free.  For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of young cows could cleanse those under the old covenant from sin, how much more should his blood, he who came with a new covenant, cleanse us inside and out and transform our lives and our hearts.  With help from the eternal Holy Spirit, he, who being perfect and without a single sin or fault offered himself as an unblemished sacrifice.  He willingly gave himself to God to die for our sins so that we could be free from the concerns of having to follow and obey the rules of the old covenant and live all out for God.  That’s right, it was Jesus Christ who did all of these things for us and that’s why “there is power in the blood of Jesus.”

“And almost all things are by the law purged (cleansed) with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission (forgiveness).  It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified (cleansed) with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.  For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures (copies) of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place (Most Holy Place) every year with blood of others; for then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world (ages) hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.  And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look (eagerly wait) for him shall he appear the second time without (apart from) sin unto salvation” (Hebrews 9:22-28).

Under the old agreement, almost everything was cleansed by blood.  We see that without the shedding of blood, there was no forgiveness of sins.  Moses, after giving the people all the laws of God, dedicated the first covenant by sprinkling the blood of calves and goats over the book of the law and over all the people.  Scripture tells us that it was necessary for Moses to make the things down here on earth, all copied from the things in heaven, pure with these offerings, but the real things themselves in heaven, were to be made pure with a far more precious offering.  So, Christ, who did not enter into the earthly holy place, which was a copy of the one above, entered directly into the real temple in heaven itself and appeared before the mercy seat of God.  However, unlike the high priest down here on earth, who offered the blood of animals year after year as atonement for our sins, Christ went before the face of God, once, to make an offering of himself on our behalf.  By dying, Christ was able to put away the power of sin for all times as the ultimate sacrifice, unblemished and without a single sin or fault.  Again, it was Jesus Christ who did all of these things for us and that’s why “there is power in the blood of Jesus.”

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 Has A Plan

Most people have no idea that God has a plan for their life much less know what that plan is.  Often, we look back at our past, be it the things that we have done or the things that have happened and see only failures.  Some have even held God responsible for these things.  Regardless of what may have or have not happened in your life, no matter what your current situation is, or what the future appears to hold, God did not create you for failure.  The truth of the matter is, God wants you to succeed and not fail.  God wants to prosper you.  God wants to give you hope and a future.  Scripture tells us, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV).  God knows the plans that he has for you.

“It is in this hope that we are saved.  Now hope that is seen is not hope.  For who hopes for what he sees?  But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience” (Romans 8:24-25 NIV).  “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer” (Romans 12:12 NIV).  “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace.  In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).  “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me” (John 14:1).  “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23 NASB).

God has a plan for your life, even though you may not know the plan or be following the plan yet.  You should never lose hope, for there is always hope, no matter the situation.  If you do not have hope, then you have nothing, for no one hopes for what he or she already has.  As you look forward with this hope, you must wait patiently and with confidence for things to manifest.  Jesus warns that there will be tests, trials, and tribulations, but you are to rejoice in hope because “hope is an anchor unto the soul” (Hebrews 6:19) during these times.  Regardless, you are to be of good courage and not allow your heart to be troubled because he who has promised is faithful and will deliver.  There is no greater example of this than the story of Joseph, who faced many challenges yet God prospered him in everything he went through and everything that he did.  God has a plan for your life, one to prosper you as well as to give you hope and a future.  You just need to find out what that plan is.

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: Jesus Paid For Your Prosperity

In reading the scriptures, we find that there is a thief that “cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy (John 10:10).”  We also find in that same passage, Jesus telling us “he has come that we might have life and have that life more abundantly.”  Jesus, who was manifested to destroy the works of the thief (I John 3:8), came to seek and save that which was lost (Luke 19:10).  Many believe that Jesus’ main purpose for coming was to save individual lost souls, but truth be told, saving lost souls was just the by-product of what he actually did.

There were many things lost because of the disobedient actions of the first man.  It was the obedience of the second man (I Corinthians 15:47) that restored all that the first man lost (Romans 5:19).  Because of obedience, the second man became the firstborn among many brothers (Romans 8:29).  Because of obedience, the second man rose from the dead as the firstfruits of them who have died or slept (I Corinthians 15:20).  Because of obedience, the second man became the first to come back from the dead, who will die no more (Revelation 1:5).  The second man is the firstfruits of the first resurrection.  The second man is the firstborn or first in rank of or over every creature and has preeminence in all things.  Because of obedience, the second man was made ruler over all of the kings of the earth (Revelation 1:5).  Scripture after scripture, we see a comparison between the first man and the second man, also known as “the last Adam” (I Corinthians 15:45).

Among the many things that the last Adam restored, was our right standing with God (Romans 5:16-17).  This was by far the most important of all things restored.  This meant that our relationship with God was as it was at the very beginning with the first Adam.  It was like starting over, if you will.  The last Adam was able to get back the authority or dominion (Matthew 28:18) that the first Adam had lost (Luke 4:6) in the garden when he ate of the fruit (Genesis 3:6-7).  Because of the obedience of the last Adam, we have been redeemed from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13) and given the privilege to become a child of God (John 1:12-13), so that all could share in the blessings of Abraham and receive the promise of the Spirit through faith (Galatians 3:14).  As a child of God, we now have the right to the inheritance of the new covenant, a better covenant, built with better promises (Hebrews 8:6-13), the right to a divine inheritance to the best in life, deserving all the Father has to offer (Romans 8:14-17), which includes the right to good health, wealth, and total life prosperity (III John 1:2).  We have all of this, because of the obedience of the second man, the last Adam, He paid for our prosperity.

We pray that this inspirational message will be a blessing to you as well as informative.  If blessed by this message, please share so that others may be blessed as well.  Amen.

Enjoy your blessings - KW