Devotion: Morally Corrupt And Spiritually Dead

Recently we spoke about being born again.  In that commentary, we mentioned that once we were spiritually dead, meaning we were completely alienated and separated from God.  We were what was referred to as being “sin conscious.”  You see, when man was first created, he was created in a state of innocence and very much dependent on God.  At that time, he was “spiritually and morally innocent and without sin.”  Even though man was created “fully-grown,” he was just a baby in reality.  Man had little to no reason to doubt what God said, although he really did not understand what it all might have meant.  Developmentally, he could not progress beyond what God had instilled in him.  By definition, man had no moral sense of right or wrong—he had no conscience.

When developing their consciousness, children have little to no awareness of their moral compass.  They have a hard time understanding the consequences their actions may bring.  We can actually relate man’s mental state at the time of creation to that of the child that wants to touch the hot stove eye but is told not to.  Because the child lacks understanding, it is not until the child commits the forbidden act that he or she becomes aware of any consequences.  The same can be said about man when he ate of the forbidden fruit; he became aware of the consequences for his action.  We know that man’s eyes were opened and that he became fully aware of things that he was not aware of before (Genesis 3:7).  We also know that he has obtained the knowledge of good and evil, something that he did not have before (Genesis 3:22).  We trust that you can see the similarities between the two.

In addition to his newfound knowledge of and awareness to good and evil, man has now become “a new creature.”  Here is what we mean by “new creature.”  We know initially man was created “spiritually and morally innocent,” without a sense of right and wrong—without a conscience.  Man was then given one commandment, “not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:16-17).  At the same time, he is given one consequence, “in the day that you eat of the tree, you will surely die.”  For whatever reason, man eats of the tree, and in eating of the tree, man disobeys God’s commandment, gains the knowledge of good and evil, and changes his nature.

Let’s just say, man started with a “sinless nature,” but when he ate of the forbidden fruit, his “sinless nature” changed from a state of innocence and dependency on God to an entirely different state and one of being cut off from God.  Man now has “a fixed moral nature in sin” instead of “a nature that is fixed in righteousness.”  He now knows good but is unable to do it and he knows evil but is unable to resist it.  Man was told that he would “surely die” and die he did.  Typically, we associate death with a separation from the physical body.  Death is also associated with a separation from God or what is known as “spiritual death.”  Is it conceivable that man could have known of this type of death, much less understood it when he disobeyed the commandment?  Now that is something to ponder.

Man has now become “a new creation, a new creature, if you will.  He has changed his original nature from a sinless state to a new nature that is fixed in a sinful state.  Man has now become “sin conscious” and can no longer be considered “morally and spiritually innocent.”  Man has become “morally corrupt and spiritually dead.”  He is “morally corrupt” because he knows good but is unable to do it and he knows evil but is unable to resist it.  He is “spiritually dead” because he has alienated and separated himself from God, severing his spiritual connection with God.  He also started to die physically, as in his spirit and soul started separating from his body.

At the moment of disobedience, everything changed for man and the world that God had created.  And while many have placed the blame on both, it was clearly because of what the man did that the change happened.  So, at the moment of disobedience, sin entered into the world because of “the one man” (Romans 5:12).  And when sin came into the world, death hitched a ride.  For through sin came death and it, death, was spread throughout the entire world and was passed to every man.  And because of “the one man,” we have “a fixed moral nature in sin.”  But not to worry, the story does not end there.

May today’s inspirational message bless you, inform you, and open to you, revelation knowledge.  If blessed by this message, please share so that others may be blessed as well.  Amen.

Enjoy your blessings - KW

Devotion: God Is Not Guilty

There are many people who have been taught and led to believe that God is responsible for all the tragedy in the world.  They believe he is responsible for the earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, tidal waves, volcanic eruptions, and all the other natural disasters that take place.  Most often in those situations where such disasters occur, you will quite often hear the phrase, an act of God associated with them.  In legal terms, the phrase, an act of God is defined as any extraordinary interruption caused solely by the effect of nature or natural causes that no one can reasonably foresee or prevent; it is a natural catastrophe caused without any interference by humans whatsoever.

Then there are those who believe God is responsible for the daily struggles that so many go through every day, such as depression, fear, worry, anxiety, confusion, doubt, discouragement, low self-esteem, poverty, sickness, and death.  They have been taught and truly believe that everyone suffers these things because this is the will of God.  That old cliché, God will not put more on you than you can bear, appears to fall in line with the old teachings that God is responsible for the things that happen to us.  They also believe that God uses these things so that he can chasten his children.  They are convinced that there is some type of life lesson that God wants his children to learn through these experiences.

These lessons, resembling some kind of How-to lessons, include things like our dependence on God, our trust in God, our walk with God, and anything else that draws us closer to God.  And while some of these How-to lessons sound a little farfetched even as we write about them, most of us do not put much thought into them because we have been led to believe that they are from God himself.  We tend to accept, without question, these things because we have been trained, from an early age, that God’s ways are higher than our ways and his thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9).  We also have been taught that only disobedient Christians questioned the things of God and somehow God would breathe fire and brimstone down upon them, sending them straight to hell for doing such a blasphemous thing.

It was these types of things that we were taught that functioned as the foundational building blocks for our belief system; a system built entirely on the things that we were taught from our childhood.  Our childhood belief system came entirely from all those things that we just accepted as truth, without question.  Over the years, we have attempted to re-enforce our foundation with solid biblical information and fundamental truths.  We have checked things out for ourselves and have decided which so-called truths fit into our belief system.  We have compared all the relative information and related scriptures, accepting everything, regardless of the source, that we believe to be truth and that which appears to affirm our beliefs.  We have sewn these things into the very fabric of our belief system and have removed everything that does not agree with our current beliefs.  We have even closed our minds to anything that sounds contrary to what we believe.

This will be hard for some to accept, but much of our beliefs are grounded in traditionalism and denominationalism.  These things have been so ingrained into our belief system that we have become imprisoned by misinformation, misinterpretations, and untruths.  Instead of having an open mind so that we may gain a better understanding of the things of God, we have closed our minds and limited our knowledge.  And because we have limited our knowledge, we have limited our understanding.

God says that his people are destroyed because they lack knowledge.  This lack of knowledge is not because the knowledge is hidden or because it is not available, but because his people have rejected it (Hosea 4:6).  Because we lack the knowledge, we lack the understanding that comes from God.  And because we lack the understanding that comes from God, we are left with the understanding that comes from the world.  And it is the understanding that the world offers that has led so many into captivity (Isaiah 5:13).  When was the last time you re-examined your belief system?

We pray that our 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: The Difference Between God And Satan

Recently we discussed the wicked one we all call Satan.  It was more of an introduction about this entity that appears to have more speculation about him than actual facts or so it may seem.  However, as we have stated before, things are not always what they appear to be, when it comes to the things of God.  We know that the scriptures do not reveal much detail about this entity, especially in the Old Testament, mainly because there was not much man could do about him.  We were sort of at his mercy.  It was not until Jesus hit the scene that we really start to hear more about this entity.  We know from scripture that Lucifer was originally created as one of God’s highest angels, an anointed cherub.

“Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, thus saith the Lord God; thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.  Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold:  the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.  Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.  Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.  By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned:  therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.  Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.  Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffic; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.  All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more” (Ezekiel 28:11-19).

According to the above passage of scripture, we have what appears to be a description of Lucifer, later known as Satan.  It starts out with a message for the king of Tyrus but it becomes obvious that the intent was to apply to Satan, therefore we must carefully discern between the two.  The king of Tyre was the name of the false god Melkart (meaning king of the city).  Melkart was the evil spiritual being that had energized this human ruler, who was a priest.  It is clear that God is addressing the evil spirit, the real power behind the wicked society and government of Tyre and not the human ruler himself.  This is evident from some of the descriptions that they are not directed towards any human being.  Here, Satan is referred to as the anointed cherub, a term used strictly in the Old Testament to describe powerful angelic creatures.  The fact that he is anointed and one who covers or protects implies that he is perhaps one of the highest angelic beings ever created by God.  He was considered to be the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and the perfection of beauty, with his coverings bejeweled with every precious stone, all set in the finest of gold.  He was found to have been in Eden, the garden of God and was appointed as an anointed guardian cherub.  He served near the presence of God and was perfect in all that he did until iniquity was found in him, until internal turmoil caused him to sin.  Internally, his heart was filled with pride, corrupting his wisdom for magnificence and he began to deal in immoral trade.

From this, we have learned several important foundational facts about him, the one known as Satan, which could help to correct many popular misconceptions.  We see that he is a created being who is locked in eternal opposition to God and all that God represents, however he is not equal to or on the same level as God.  Unlike God, he has a beginning and he is finite.  He is a creature that was created perfect in beauty, wisdom and morality, who had unique access to the presence of God and led many angels in their worship of God.  We also know that he is not an all-powerful being that was created evil.  Originally, Satan was created as “Lucifer, son of the morning, or Day Star” (Isaiah 14:12), one of God’s highest angels.  He was created perfect in beauty, wisdom, and morality.  He had unique access to the presence of God and led many angels in their worship of God.  He was and still remains a finite creature who is not all-powerful.  He was not created evil, yet he fell much like man.  So how did he become evil?  We will have to save that discussion for another time.

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

Enjoy your blessings - KW

Devotion: The Gift of Grace

“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.  All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts.  Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.  But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.  And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.  For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:1-10 NIV).

“But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.  This righteousness is given through faith in (through the faithfulness of) Jesus Christ to all who believe.  There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.  God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith.  He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:21-26 NIV).

“All these new things are from God who brought us back to himself through what Christ Jesus did.  And God has given us the privilege of urging everyone to come into his favor and be reconciled to him.  For God was in Christ, restoring the world to himself, no longer counting men’s sins against them but blotting them out.  This is the wonderful message he has given us to tell others.  We are Christ’s ambassadors.  God is using us to speak to you: we beg you, as though Christ himself were here pleading with you, receive the love he offers you—be reconciled to God.  For God took the sinless Christ and poured into him our sins.  Then, in exchange, he poured God’s goodness into us” (II Corinthians 5:18-21 TLB)!

Scripture clearly states that no one can be declared righteous or made right with God by trying to keep the law.  Those who depend on the law to save them are under God’s curse, for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who breaks a single one of the laws written in the book of the law at anytime” (Galatians 3:10 TLB).  The law, which has nothing to do with faith, teaches that those who do or follow these things (the law) will only have life in doing or following them (the law).  But thank God, Christ has redeemed us and brought us out from under the doom of that impossible system of laws by taking on the curse himself.  Yes, Christ purchased our freedom from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us when he hung on that wooden cross.  Because Christ purchased our freedom, we now can share in the blessings belonging to Abraham, who was full of faith and accepted God’s promise.  It is through the blessings of Abraham that we of like faith might receive the Spirit that God had promised to give (Galatians 3:10-14).  The man who finds life will find it through his faith in God (Habakkuk 2:4) and not through a law that is not of faith.  Justified freely by his grace (Romans 3:24), the just shall live by faith.

As always, we pray that today’s devotion will give you a new perspective on this “free gift of God, this gift of grace,” which is given by the righteousness of Jesus Christ and has been made available to all.  If you are blessed by this devotion, please share so that others may be blessed as well.  Amen.

Enjoy your blessings - KW

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 that 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