Devotion: The Professions Of Your Faith

“Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.  Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)” (Hebrews 10:22-23).

Let us draw near to God himself with all sincerity, with all trueness of heart, and with unfaltering faith as we fully trust him to receive us because we have had our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience with the blood of Christ and our bodies washed, bathed with the pure water.  Therefore, let us hold fast “the profession of our faith,” keeping our hope strong and unshaken as we tell others that salvation is ours.  As we look forward to the salvation that God has promised to give to us, there should be no longer any room for doubt for he, who is faithful and true, has given us his word; a promise that he will do exactly what he says.

“For if you tell others with your own mouth that Jesus Christ is your Lord and believe in your own heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is by believing in his heart that a man becomes right with God; and with his mouth he tells others of his faith, confirming his salvation.  For the Scriptures tell us that no one who believes in Christ will ever be disappointed.  Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect: they all have the same Lord who generously gives his riches to all those who ask him for them.  Anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:9-13 TLB).

This is the profession of our faith, the confession of our hope, where if we confess with our mouth, which involves words that we speak, and believe in our heart, which is accepting as truth, those words that we speak, then we will be saved.  We think this part of the passage sums it up best – “and with his mouth he tells others of his faith, confirming his salvation.”  It is with our mouth that we make “the confession of our faith,” telling others of our faith and with that confession, we obtain salvation.  Salvation is obtained just by the words we speak or in this case confess, well almost.  You must also believe in what you say.

Scripture tells us that no one who believes in Jesus Christ should have any reason to feel ashamed because everyone, without exception, who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.  Now that is an interesting thought.  But ponder this, if it be possible for you to be saved by a confession of your mouth (not to forgo the believing in the heart part), then do you think it would be possible for you to be condemn by a confession of your mouth as well, provided the belief in the heart is there?

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

Trapped by what you say, ensnared by the words the come out of your mouth.  And so many of you think that what you say is not important, having little to no consequences.  Therefore, be sure to hold fast “the profession of your faith” knowing that he, who is faithful and true, has given us his word; a promise that he will do exactly what he says.  Keep your hope strong and unshaken as you continually look forward to the salvation that God has promised to give to us.  We pray that this message will help you to see just how important it is to hold fast “the profession of your faith.”  If you are blessed by this devotion, please share so that others may be blessed as well.  Amen.

Enjoy your blessings - KW

Devotion: Wolves In Sheep’s Clothing

Recently, we warned you to be careful of false prophets, because they were basically “wolves in sheep’s clothing” (Matthew 7:15-20), out to deceive many.

“Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.  And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.  And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?  And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded” (Acts 19:13-16).

This is an interesting story about a group of Jews traveling from place to place casting out demons.  They claimed to have healed people and drove out demons.  These counterfeit exorcists decided to try something based on the terminology used by one mature believer, who had an ear to hear, named Paul.  They decided they would copy what they had apparently heard him just use or saw him recently do.  These seven sons of one Sceva decided to experiment using the name of the Lord Jesus to exorcise demons in their incantations.  They were trying to match the power Paul had shown to those in Ephesus during those days.  The incantation they decided on was, “We command solemnly by Jesus whom Paul preaches, to come out.”  The evil spirit that they were trying to exorcise answered them saying “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?”  And the man in whom the evil spirit dwelled, leaped on them and beat them up.  The beating was so bad that the seven brothers left the house badly injured and naked.

Though the seven sons of one Sceva did not understand, they tried to make sense of the information they had gathered from this mature believer, who had an ear to hear.  They had built their belief system on a faulty foundation with information that they did not fully understand.  They had “a theory, an idea, and a belief” that was arrived at through an assumption and was based on the kind of wisdom that the world uses or the kind of wisdom that the rulers of this world use.  Remember, “a theory” is “an idea of or belief about something arrived at through speculation or conjecture.”  These men tried to manipulate the situation for their own selfish purpose by using the terminology and wisdom that was given to the spiritually and morally mature believer, who had an ear to hear and this is why the evil spirit in the man prevailed against them.  As you can see, they failed miserably in their attempt.

Many believe this same “theory concept” applies to the things of God.  These seven sons of one Sceva assumed they could copy what they had seen Paul say or do, thinking it would work for them if they just said the same words or did the same things as Paul.  They did not understand the things of God.  They did not have the Holy Spirit to share with them the wisdom of God, to share with them the thoughts and ways of God, or to share with them the truth.  They tried to use an incantation with what appeared to be the right words, but they did not understand the true power of what they were trying to do.  They did not know that God has fashioned special powers for Paul to use.  They did not know that God was the force behind what they were seeing.  They did not know that God was the one who was behind the healing.  They did not know that God was responsible for the demons leaving.  They did not know that God was using Paul to achieve all of these things for him, that being God’s glory.  They did not know that Paul understood his role.  The seven had no clue because they did not understand those things of God.  When you lack the knowledge and you lack the understanding you will not get the wisdom that comes from God; you end up with the wisdom that the world uses and the kind of wisdom that the rulers of this world use.

This is why we are warned to be careful of false prophets.  They may say things that sound godly or claim to do things that appear godly, but that does not mean that they are of God.  Maybe they copied something they saw or terminology they heard, thinking these things were needed to manipulate the things of God for their own selfish purposes.  The scriptures tell us many will say they prophesied in Jesus’ name; many will say they cast out devils in his name; and many will say they done many wonderful works in his name, but he will say to them that he never knew them (Matthew 7:21-23).  Just be sure that the ones you follow are known by “The One” they claim to follow.  You probably will not have a demon to help you get to the truth.

Once again, we pray that today’s commentary will inspire you as well as abundantly bless you.  We also pray that this will inform you and be a blessing to you.  If you are truly blessed by this message, please share it with your family and friends so that they may be blessed as well.  Amen.

Enjoy your blessings - KW

Devotion: The Wisdom Of God In A Mystery

“Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect (mature): yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes (rulers) of this world (age), that come to nought (nothing).  But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained (predetermined) before the world (ages) unto our glory.  Which none of the princes (rulers) of this world (age) knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (I Corinthians 2:6-8).

Among the spiritually and morally mature believers, the word of God, spoken of here by Paul, is wisdom to those who have ears to hear.  This is not the kind of wisdom that the world uses or the kind of wisdom that the rulers of this world use, but the kind of wisdom that comes directly from God.  This great wisdom does not come from the earth realm or is it the kind that appeals to the great men of this world but it comes directly through his word.  This wisdom tells of God’s wise plan to bring us, the sinners into the glories of heaven.  This plan which was hidden in earlier times was conceived for our (the sinners) benefit before the world began, although the great men of the world have never understood it.  They try to make sense of the information but are unable to assemble all the pieces to form a coherent picture.  The picture they have constructed over the years has not withstood the test of time.  Much like “The Theory of Evolution” and “The Big Bang Theory,” neither has yet to produce any evidence to prove that life began from a single cell or that life began because of an explosion.  A “theory” is “an idea of or belief about something arrived at through speculation or conjecture.”

Many believe this “theory concept” also applies to the things of God.  However, we know about these things because God has sent the Holy Spirit to tell us of his wisdom.  This same Spirit, which searches out God’s deepest secrets, reveals to those who have an ear to hear all of the mysteries of the Bible.  The only one that knows God’s thoughts and ways are those who belong to the family of God because his Spirit shares the truth with them.  God has given those who belong to the family his Spirit to tell us about the mysteries, revealing many of the secrets that have been hidden since the foundation of the world.  Among those who have an ear to hear, they understand the terms used by the Holy Spirit to reveal those mysteries of God to them.  They understand the wisdom that has come down from God, telling them of his plans for man.

Although God’s plans have been hidden throughout the ages, those who have an ear to hear understand them.  They understand his plan to bring the sinner into the glories of heaven.  They understand because they allow the Holy Spirit to teach them.  They understand because they allow the Holy Spirit to show them.  They understand because they have learned to listen.  They understand because they know the truth.  They know the true nature of God.  They have understanding.  The biggest problem is those who do not have that ear to hear, they lack understanding.  They have created their own version based on the terminology used by the mature Christians even though they do not understand.  These great men have tried to use those things of God for their own purposes, but have failed in all attempts.  They are the wolves in sheep’s clothing that have deceived many.

“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.  Ye shall know them by their fruits.  Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?  Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.  A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.  Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.  Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:15-20).

We are warned to be careful of false prophets.  Just because a person or group of people say things that sound godly or claim to do things that are godly does not mean that they are of God.  Maybe they copied something they saw or terminology they heard, thinking these things were needed to manipulate the things of God for their own selfish purposes.  The scriptures tell us many will say they prophesied in Jesus’ name, many will say they cast out devils in his name, and many will say they done many wonderful works in his name, but he will say to them that he never knew them (Matthew 7:21-23).  Just be sure that the ones you follow are known by “The One” they claim to follow.

As always, we pray that our commentary will inspire and abundantly bless you as well as greatly inform you.  May you also be the better for having read this.  If blessed by this message, please share it so that others may be blessed also.  Amen.

Enjoy your blessings - KW

Devotion: God Has Reconciled Your Spirit

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature (creation): old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (II Corinthians 5:17).

If any man be in Christ, that is, when a man comes into a basic union with the risen Lord, he is a new creation.  Old things, the old life are passed away at that moment of salvation:  all things that are, at the moment of salvation, become new.  What are the old things that are passed away and what are the all things that are become new?

So, if you be in Christ, then you be a new creature or creation.  This is not talking about anything physical becoming new but a new creation in the spirit.  When you are renewed or made brand new, you are new in the spirit not new in body.  If you were bald before being reborn, you will be bald after being reborn.  The same applies to being overweight, if you were overweight before, you will be overweight afterwards.  God has changed your spirit and only deals with the spirit part of your threefold nature.  He does not deal with your soul or your body.

“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (I Thessalonians 5:23).

In the epistle, Paul makes mention of our whole spirit and soul and body.  Paul has described man as a tri-partite being, made up of three individual parts.  Basically, you are a spirit being, which has a soul, that lives in a body or a house.  As you look at the creation of man, you can see these three parts coming together to make man, but that is a discussion for another day. “God is a spirit” (John 4:24) and so are you.  Once you were spiritually dead (alienated and separated from God and sin conscience), but when you are reborn you are reconciled to God.  It is like having a radio where you are unable to tune into the WGOD frequency.  But when you are born again, your radio will then have the ability to tune into the WGOD frequency.  You have the same old radio with a new ability much like having the same old body but a new inner self.

When you are born again, your spirit is instantly renewed but your body is the same old sinful creature and it will continue to do whatever you allow it to do.  You have to deal with your body.  Your mind and body wants to live in sin but you can make them both to follow the spirit inside of you, which is your spirit.

“Do not let sin control the way you live do not give in to sinful desires.  Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin.  Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life.  So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.  Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law.  Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace” (Romans 6:12-14 NLT).

Therefore, do not allow your body to dictate to you what it will do.  Do not let sin rule in your body any longer; do not obey the old sinful desires that once controlled you.  Your body has an evil nature, wanting to do the same self-fulfilling, sinful things it has always done and it will continue to do whatever you allow it to do.  Do not allow your body to dictate to you what it will do.  You must die to self, crucifying your sinful nature that is on the inside of you.  You must put to death each and every one of those desires that are contrary to the word and the will of God (Mark 7:21-23).

“He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.  For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.  As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:10-12).

God has not given us the punishment that we deserve for our sins.  Neither has he rewarded us for our wrongdoings or our iniquities.  Just as the heaven is high above the earth, so is the greatness of his mercy towards those who reverence and worship him.  And as far as the east is from the west, so has he removed our sins far away from us.  But nothing here states that he has removed our ability to or our capacity for sin.  You see, God has wiped our slate clean, forgiving us for all of the self-fulfilling, sinful evil natured things that we had done in our lifetimes, but he did not remove the residue of the nature that has held us captive for so long.  Remember, God only deals with your spirit and does not deal with your soul or body.  You have to deal with those two.

We pray that today’s inspirational message will abundantly bless you, greatly inform you, and that you will be the better for having read this.  If you are blessed by this message, please share it so that others may be blessed as well.  Amen.

Enjoy your blessings - KW

Devotion: God Loves You

Real love is not your love for God, but his love for you.  The following is taken from chapter four of the first epistle of John.

“Dear friends, let us practice loving each other, for love comes from God and those who are loving and kind show that they are the children of God, and that they are getting to know him better.  But if a person isn’t loving and kind, it shows that he doesn’t know God—for God is love.  God showed how much he loved us by sending his only Son into this wicked world to bring to us eternal life through his death.  In this act we see what real love is: it is not our love for God but his love for us when he sent his Son to satisfy God’s anger against our sins.

Dear friends, since God loved us as much as that, we surely ought to love each other too.  For though we have never yet seen God, when we love each other God lives in us, and his love within us grows ever stronger.  And he has put his own Holy Spirit into our hearts as a proof to us that we are living with him and he with us.  And furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now tell all the world that God sent his Son to be their Savior.  Anyone who believes and says that Jesus is the Son of God has God living in him, and he is living with God.

We know how much God loves us because we have felt his love and because we believe him when he tells us that he loves us dearly.  God is love, and anyone who lives in love is living with God and God is living in him.  And as we live with Christ, our love grows more perfect and complete; so we will not be ashamed and embarrassed at the day of judgment, but can face him with confidence and joy because he loves us and we love him too.

We need have no fear of someone who loves us perfectly; his perfect love for us eliminates all dread of what he might do to us.  If we are afraid, it is for fear of what he might do to us and shows that we are not fully convinced that he really loves us.  So you see, our love for him comes as a result of his loving us first.

If anyone says ‘I love God,’ but keeps on hating his brother, he is a liar; for if he doesn’t love his brother who is right there in front of him, how can he love God whom he has never seen?  And God himself has said that one must love not only God but his brother too” (I John 4:7-21 TLB).

“God loves every one of us so much, he sent his only begotten son, so that through him, all who believes in the son will not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16-17).

We pray that these passages will abundantly bless you and that you will be the better for having read this.  If you blessed by this message, please share it so that others may be blessed as well.  Amen.

Enjoy your blessings. - KW

Devotion: What Does God Want From Me?

In the immortal words of Jesus Christ, “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear (Luke 8:8).”  The Bible never attempts to prove the existence of God.  The Bible does however; reveal to us that God was in existence from the very beginning, before anything was brought forth (Genesis 1:1).

“Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God (Psalm 90:2).”

From the onset, we see that God was in the beginning, with what appears to be no discernible beginning and no discernible end.  According to the psalmist, he is from “everlasting to everlasting, he is without beginning or end, and he is eternal, for he is God.”  The Bible does not reveal how God came to be.  Many have pondered this question throughout the ages and the best anyone has ever been able to do is theorize.  The simplest answer to the question as to where God came from is, he didn’t because he always was.  But now, can you accept this as the answer?

We know for some, just accepting that “God always was” is not an answer, especially one that you are willing to accept.  We understand because, in the past, we pondered that very same question as to where did God come from.  However, for us, when we explored the possibilities, all we got were endless questions.  No matter what answer we explored, there was always another “where-did-come-from” question that came up.  Our desire to find a satisfactory answer was a never-ending process that led us to questioning the very existence of God.  That became a very dangerous road for us, since we have always believed in God’s existence.  At that point, proving his beginnings became less and less important for us.  Then we read a passage in the book of Hebrews that gave us a different perspective on the whole existence thing.

“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).

It basically told us that when we come to God we must first believe that he exists.  In addition, it went on to say that we also must believe that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.  Then we got to thinking about the reward, what could it possibly be?  We discovered that the reward is God himself.  The more we hunted for, looked for, and sought after God, the more God revealed himself to us.  But there was something that made this search for God different from the times we had searched before.  In the past, in the archives of our consciousness, resided that one endless question, “Where did God come from.”  We finally resolved that issue, by deleting that question from our archives and accepting the answer that “God always was.”  As we stated earlier, the passage in the book of Hebrews gave us that different perspective on the whole existence thing.  We had seen where the passage told us that when we come to God we must first believe that he exists.  And we had seen where the passage told us we must believe that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.  But here is the revelation on what we did not see before, which helped us to delete that endless question.  Apart from the conviction that God exists and is the creator of all things, it is impossible for us to be all that God wants us to be.  “For without faith (the conviction) it is impossible to please him.”

Apart from the conviction that God exists and is the creator of all things, it is impossible for us to be all that God wants us to be.  And we want to be all that God wants us to be, so we now accept that answer to the endless question.  God is from “everlasting to everlasting, he is without beginning or end, and he is eternal, for he is God and he always was.”  And since we chose to come to God, then we have already come to terms with his existence, meaning we already believe that he is.  Otherwise, what would be the point of trying to come to terms with something that we absolutely do not believe in or believe exists.

As always, we 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: Was God A Bad Guy?

Remember our study on “The Characteristics of God, his nature, his character, and his personality.”  Remember we described God as being a “god of integrity.”  If you recall, we mentioned “there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts” (II Chronicles 19:7), “God changes not” (Malachi 3:6), and “it is impossible for God to lie” (Hebrews 6:18) as three traits that God had chosen to be part of “his nature, his character, and his personality.”  For us, these three traits are “the standard of measure” by which all interpretations of scripture, as they pertain to the “nature, character, and personality” of God, are compared.

There appears to be many misconceptions about the God that so many claim to serve.  One of the biggest misconceptions is the belief that the God of the Old Testament is much different from the God of the New Testament.  It appears that the God of the Old Testament is portrayed as “a God of wrath.”  In stark contrast, the God of the New Testament is portrayed as “a God of love.”  Is it possible that God is one way in the Old Testament and completely another way in the New Testament?  Many have even stated that as you read through the events of the Bible and the relationships God had with people, God is progressively revealing himself to man.  That appears to be great for man today, but what about all those back in the beginning.  Did he leave them short in their understanding of who he was?  Did he not impress upon them how he operates?

Can it be true that God has progressively revealed himself to man over time?  Is it possible that God left “any” of our prior ancestors short in their understanding of who he is?  Do you really think that God did not impress upon those before us, how he operates?  If this be the case, then God himself has given us an advantage over those who came before us.  More importantly, God has shortchanged those who were back in the beginning by not giving them the same opportunity as us.  And though it may not appear to be so, our “standard of measure” dictates that God had to reveal himself to those before us in similar or like fashion.  If not, then he showed partiality or a preference to one over another, which totally contradicts what we see in our “standard of measure.”  The one thing that we have learned, things are not always as they appear to be when it comes to the things and workings of God.

In order for the man to understand what God wants of him, God has to reveal himself to man.  In saying that, God had to reveal himself to the first man and then to all men following the first.  He could not progressively introduce himself as time went by and not show partiality to those in a future time.  This is important because once we know who God is, from the beginning, then we will forever know who God is, because God says, “For I am the Lord, I change not” (Malachi 3:6).  This means that whatever God did in the beginning is the same thing that God is doing today, for he is unchanged.  If God changes one thing, even in the slightest, that he did from the very beginning, then he lied because he did in fact change.  And according to scripture, “there is absolutely no injustice, immorality, unrighteousness, or wrong doings with God” (II Chronicles 19:7).  And we find in scripture that God “cannot lie” (Titus 1:2), for “it is impossible for God to lie” (Hebrews 6:18).  We trust that you can see from this brief commentary how our “standard of measure” works.

We pray that our commentary 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