Devotion: Have A Happy Life

“The good life is the healthful life, the merry life.  Life is health, joy, laughter” (Jean Bodlin).

Everyone wants to have a good life, a life that is healthful and merry.  Is it possible to have a happy life?  What must we do to have a good life?

“The thief cometh not (except), but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10: 10).  “Beloved, I wish above all things (I pray in all things) that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth” (III John 1:2).  “For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:  let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it” (I Peter 3:10-11).  “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof” (Proverbs 18:21).  “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).  “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct (make smooth or straight) thy paths.  Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.  It shall be health to thy navel (body), and marrow (strength) to thy bones” (Proverbs 3:5-8).

Jesus came so that we might have life, and in having this life, we might have it in greater measure and more abundantly.  A life where above all things, all is well, we prosper and are in good health just as our soul prospers because of the word of God.  Yes, this is true.  However, if we want to be happy and have a good life, we must be very careful of what we say.  We must learn to control our tongue.  We know that death and life are in the power of your tongue; therefore, we must learn to use it, that being our tongue, wisely.  We must guard our lips from telling lies, turn away from evil, do what is good, and above all, live in peace.<

God tells us that if we listen carefully and give ear to his sayings, keeping them in the midst of our hearts and mind not allowing them not to depart from our eyes, then we will find that God words are life unto those who find them and health to all their flesh.  We must immerse ourselves in his word; we must hunt for, look for, and seek the answers that he has provided us through his instruction manual.  In all of this, we must open our mind, open our heart, and seek the wisdom of God that we may see the truth; the truth that he has been trying to reveal to us for many years.  Just maybe, these are the only words that we should allow our tongues to speak.

In all that we do, we must trust in the Lord with all our heart, putting God first, and then, he will make straight our way and crown our efforts with success.  We are to turn from evil and be not proud of your own wisdom, but instead, trust and reverence the wisdom of the Lord and as we do, this will be health to our body and strength to our bones.  We are to rely on the word of God because it includes everything needed to grow in maturity, to be perfect (meaning proficient or capable), and to do what God wants (II Timothy 3:16-17).  This type of life is a godly life, a healthful life, and merry life, and truly is a more abundant life.

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: Don’t Wait For Tomorrow

One of the biggest misconceptions in the world is the belief that “there is plenty of time for someone to get right with God.”  So most people put it off and put it off and put it off until, in many cases, “it is too late.”  Part of the reason so many put off this “act of getting right with God” is because they love the darkness more than they love the light.  People enjoy living in their darkness, living in their sins, doing the lustful things that they are doing more than they want to come to the light.

“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.  God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.  There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him.  But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.  And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.  All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.  But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants” (John 3:16-21 NLT).

God loved us so much that he sent forth his son to save anyone who would leave the darkness and come to the light.  Because there is this kind of “euphoric high” associated with the darkness, many continue trying to satisfy their sinful flesh nature much like an addict seeking to satisfy that “relentless itch.”  The “itch” that we speak of here is that desire to obtain the “same level of sinful pleasure” or in the case of the addict, the “same level of intoxication” from their first experience with the darkness.  They stay in the darkness, sinking further and further into the abyss, seeking to obtain the unobtainable.  But there is a price associated with being in the darkness.

“For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).

Here is the interesting thing about being in the darkness, you can choose to stay in the darkness, living in the pleasures associated with being there, but you cannot choose the consequences.  The consequence, the payment, and/or the wage that is earned for playing in the darkness is “death.”

“But what does it say?  “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.  For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame” (Romans 10:8-11 ESV).

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you can be freed from the allure and the addiction of the darkness.  You need only “speak the word and believe” in order to come to the light.

“I am the door.  If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.  I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.  I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:9-11 ESV).  “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12 ESV).  “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).

Jesus is the way.  Jesus is the truth.  Jesus is the life.  Jesus is the door, the way to leave the darkness.  So, before you take your last, make that confession unto salvation and come to the light.  If you continue to wait, if you continue to wait for tomorrow, it could be too late.  Do not wait for tomorrow.

May our inspirational message abundantly bless you and greatly inform you.  We pray 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 Is Your Righteousness

Recently, we discussed the ministry of reconciliation; the renewing of that relationship that existed with the original man before his fall from God’s grace.  In that discussion we found that “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself” (II Corinthians 5:17-19).  As God reconciled us back unto himself, he also did one incredible thing for us that many are not aware of; “He no longer imputed our sins against us.”  Did you hear what we just said?  Almighty God, the one many believers call “Abba Father,” no longer counts our sins against us.  How incredible is that?  But how is this possible?

“So by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous” (Romans 5:19).  “…by man came also the resurrection of the dead. … even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (I Corinthians 15:21-22).

By one man’s obedience, many have been given the opportunity to be made righteous.  By one man’s obedience, many have been given the opportunity to be made alive.

“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (II Corinthians 5:21).

God offers to impute the righteousness of Christ to the account of a believer, making that person’s record as good or as perfect as the record of Jesus Christ.  God offers to take all of your sins and placed them into Jesus, who knew no sin and in place of your sins, God offers to place the righteousness of Jesus Christ in you.  Yes, that’s right.  Instead of imputing your sins against you, God is imputing the righteousness of Jesus in its place.  Again, how incredible is that?

“Now do you see it?  No one can ever be made right in God’s sight by doing what the law commands.  For the more we know of God’s laws, the clearer it becomes that we aren’t obeying them; his laws serve only to make us see that we are sinners.  But now God has shown us a different way to heaven—not by “being good enough” and trying to keep his laws, but by a new way (though not new, really, for the Scriptures told about it long ago).  Now God says he will accept and acquit us—declare us “not guilty”—if we trust Jesus Christ to take away our sins.  And we all can be saved in this same way, by coming to Christ, no matter who we are or what we have been like.  Yes, all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious ideal; yet now God declares us “not guilty” of offending him if we trust in Jesus Christ, who in his kindness freely takes away our sins.  For God sent Christ Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to end all God’s anger against us.  He used Christ’s blood and our faith as the means of saving us from his wrath.  In this way he was being entirely fair, even though he did not punish those who sinned in former times.  For he was looking forward to the time when Christ would come and take away those sins.  And now in these days also he can receive sinners in this same way because Jesus took away their sins.  But isn’t this unfair for God to let criminals go free, and say that they are innocent?  No, for he does it on the basis of their trust in Jesus who took away their sins” (Romans 3:20-26 TLB).

God has taken away your sins and given you the opportunity to have right standing with him.  God has made it possible for you to be righteous in his sight, not by obeying “the law,” which served only to show you that you were a sinner, but by trusting in what Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross.  When you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior, you become “the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ” or because of Jesus Christ.  Because of the cross, Jesus Christ was able to take away your sins, end all separation from God, and give you right standing with God.  Now you know that “Jesus is your righteousness.”  How incredible is that?

As always, we give thanks and glory to God for his wisdom and understanding.  We are so blessed to be able to share with you, those things that God has placed in our hearts.  We continue to pray that the accompanying inspirational message will be a blessing to each of you and that you will be the better for having read it.  If you are blessed by what has been provided, please feel free to share so that others may be blessed as well; for as freely as our Father has given this to us, we freely give so that others may share in the love and be blessed.  Amen.

Enjoy your blessings - KW

Devotion: The Message Of Reconciliation

There is an old cliché (with some variation) that people in many Christian circles repeatedly say, “I’m just an old sinner, saved by grace.”  The problem is that they do not realize that this is actually “an untrue confession.”  Yes, we said “an untrue confession.”  Right this very minute someone is saying to themselves, “But aren’t we all sinners?”  To that, we would have to answer “Yes” and “No.”  We know it sounds a little confusing and it may sound like we are playing on the wording, but let us try to explain.

In our most recent message, we mention how important the words that we speak are.  We mentioned that we have the ability to choose between life and death, blessings and cursings through the words that we speak (Proverbs 18:21).  We even mentioned that our very salvation hinged upon words that we speak or confess not to forgo the required believing on one’s heart (Romans 10:9-10).  However, keep these thoughts in mind, we shall return to them shortly.

Now back the question, “But aren’t we all sinners?”  At one point in each of our lives, the answer would have been “Yes.”  At one point in our lives, we were all considered “to be sinners.”  According to scripture, “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners” (Romans 5:19).  Tradition teaches us “we are all sinners” because we have violated the law.  While we do commit and/or practice sin, we are sinners because we have a sin nature, a nature that was created by Adam.  We know that by man, Adam, came sin and with sin came death.  And these things were passed to all mankind, so that all mankind were guilty of sinning and all men would die.  The fact that God would impute the disobedience of one man to the entire human may seem a little unfair to many of you, but it really is not as unfair as you think.  All of this changed when Jesus went to the cross.

“So by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous” (Romans 5:19).  “For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (I Corinthians 15:21-22).

God offers to impute the righteousness of Christ to the account of a believer, making that person’s record as good (or as perfect) as Jesus Christ’s just as he imputed the sin of Adam to the account of all of mankind making everyone sinners.  Imputed righteousness in place of imputed sin; sounds fair to us.

Now back the question, “But aren’t we all sinners?”  The answer is “No.”  Now, God considers those who are in Christ, to be righteous, imputing the righteousness of Christ to their account, making their record as good (or as perfect) as the record of Jesus.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.  And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation” (II Corinthians 5:17-19).

Man, Adam to be more specific, not God, changed the original creation, the original nature of mankind.  However, it has been God’s plan, hidden since the beginning of time, to reconcile mankind back to him.  And it was God who reconciled his creation back to its original state, not a new state.  For if a man be in Christ, he be a new creature, redeemed for his old sinful nature to a new nature for him, the nature of the original man, before the fall.  This be the ministry of reconciliation; the renewing of that relationship that existed with the original man before his fall from God’s grace.

Because we confessed with our mouth the Lord Jesus and because we believe in our heart that God did raise him from the dead, we accepted the free gift of salvation.  And because we accepted the free gift of salvation, “we are saved by grace.”  And since we are saved by grace, “we are no longer considered just old sinners but the righteousness of God through Jesus Christ.”  Again, we may continue to commit sin, but we are no longer called sinners by God and to continually confess, “I’m just an old sinner, saved by grace” completely nullifies what God says about us and what Jesus Christ did for us.

We pray that today’s inspirational message will give you a new perspective on an old cliché and help you to understand the ministry of reconciliation.  We also pray that this message will bless you, inform you, and that you will be the better for having read it.  If blessed by this message, please share so that others may be blessed as well.  Amen.

Enjoy your blessings - KW

Devotion: Faith Is Released Through Words

Not long ago, we talked about the most powerful system in the world and we mentioned that we had been given “the power” to control and “the authority” to command this very system.  We even mentioned how important the words that we spoke were to this powerful system because they are the keys that control this system.  We mentioned that we have the ability to choose between life and death through the words that we speak.  In this system, we find that our blessings and cursings are completely based on and controlled by what we say.

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof” (Proverbs 18:21).

We found that our very salvation hinges upon words that we speak or confess not to forgo the required believing on one’s heart.

“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).

We found that Jesus told his disciples that if they believed that those things they spoke would come to pass and not doubt in their hearts, then whatsoever they spoke would actually come to pass.

“And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.  For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.  Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mark 11:22-24).

Before Jesus spoke of being able to say to a mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea, he had, the day before spoke to a fig tree, saying, “Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever” (Matthew 21: 19).  And when the disciple saw this tree dried up the next day, they inquired of the tree.

“Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.  And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive” (Matthew 21:21-22).

In both of the above accounts of the fig tree story, we see Jesus talking about faith.  In “Mark 11,” we see Jesus telling the disciples to “Have faith in God.”  In “Matthew 21,” Jesus tells the disciples, “Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree.”  Jesus is telling them that if they have faith and do not doubt, then they would be able to speak to a fig tree and not only get the same results, but they could speak to a mountain and tell the mountain to “Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.

God has created a system that is controlled by the very words that we speak.  Put this thought together with the fact that God has place our eternal salvation in the control of the very words that we speak as well.  And God has made it possible that we can control the life of a fig tree or control the placement of a mountain through the very words that we speak is incredible.  And all we need is just a little faith.

“…for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you” (Matthew 17:20).

Words are important.  Words combined with faith as a grain of mustard seed, “nothing shall be impossible unto you.”  We again give thanks to God for this avenue that he has given us to share his word through today’s inspirational message.  We continually pray that God’s grace will be upon you and that these devotionals will be a blessing to you.  If you are blessed by them, please share so that others may be blessed as well.  Amen.

Enjoy your blessings - KW

Devotion: In Everything Give Thanks

GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD

“The priests then withdrew from the Holy Place.  All the priests who were there had consecrated themselves, regardless of their divisions.  All the Levites who were musicians—Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun and their sons and relatives—stood on the east side of the altar, dressed in fine linen and playing cymbals, harps and lyres.  They were accompanied by 120 priests sounding trumpets.  The trumpeters and musicians joined in unison to give praise and thanks to the Lord.  Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, the singers raised their voices in praise to the Lord and sang: ‘He is good; his love endures forever.’  Then the temple of the Lord was filled with the cloud, and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the temple of God” (II Chronicles 5:11-14 NIV).

GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD

“When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.  The priests could not enter the temple of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled it.  When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the Lord above the temple, they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, ‘He is good; his love endures forever.’  Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord” (II Chronicles 7:1-4 NIV).

GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD

“A Psalm or Song for the sabbath day.  It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High” (Psalm 92:1).  “To the chief Musician upon Muthlabben, A Psalm of David.  I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will show forth all thy marvellous works.  I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High” (Psalm 9:1-2).  “Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright.  Praise the Lord with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings.  Sing unto him a new song; play skillfully with a loud noise” (Psalm 3:1-3).

IN EVERYTHING GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever” (Psalm 107:1 NIV).  “O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy (loving-kindness) endureth for ever” (Psalm 136:1).  “And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good?  there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments” (Matthew 19:17).  “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever” (I Chronicles 16:34 NIV).

“I will also praise thee with the psaltery, even thy truth, O my God: unto thee will I sing with the harp, O thou Holy One of Israel.  My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto thee; and my soul, which thou hast redeemed.  My tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day long: for they are confounded, for they are brought unto shame, that seek my hurt” (Psalm 71:22-24).  “Praise ye the Lord.  Praise ye the name of the Lord; praise him, O ye servants of the Lord.  Ye that stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God, Praise the Lord; for the Lord is good: sing praises unto his name; for it is pleasant” (Psalm 132:1-3).  “Praise ye the Lord: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely” (Psalm 147:1).

“It is good to say thank you to the Lord, to sing praises to the God who is above all gods.  Every morning tell him, ‘Thank you for your kindness,’ and every evening rejoice in all his faithfulness.  Sing his praises, accompanied by music from the harp and lute and lyre.  You have done so much for me, O Lord.  No wonder I am glad!  I sing for joy” (Psalm 92:1-4 TLB).

“Always be joyful. Always keep on praying. No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus” (I Thessalonians 5:16-18 TLB).  Amen and Amen.

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

Enjoy your blessings - KW

Devotion: Don’t Worry

Worry is not a good thing.  It is definitely not something that is of God.  We are told that we really shouldn’t worry about anything because God takes care of everything.

“So my counsel is: Don’t worry about things—food, drink, and clothes.  For you already have life and a body—and they are far more important than what to eat and wear.  Look at the birds!  They don’t worry about what to eat—they don’t need to sow or reap or store up food—for your heavenly Father feeds them.  And you are far more valuable to him than they are.  Will all your worries add a single moment to your life?  And why worry about your clothes?  Look at the field lilies!  They don’t worry about theirs.  Yet King Solomon in all his glory was not clothed as beautifully as they.  And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, won’t he more surely care for you, O men of little faith?  So don’t worry at all about having enough food and clothing.  Why be like the heathen?  For they take pride in all these things and are deeply concerned about them.  But your heavenly Father already knows perfectly well that you need them, and he will give them to you if you give him first place in your life and live as he wants you to.  So don’t be anxious about tomorrow.  God will take care of your tomorrow too.  Live one day at a time” (Matthew 6:25-34 TLB).

We are told, “not to worry about anything.”  God really does “take care of everything.”  He is “always on time.”  You just have to “be still and wait on the Lord.”  God wants us to “give him all of our worries and all of our cares.”  God want us to “trust him.”  God wants us to “depend on him.”

“Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act.  Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes” (Psalm 37:7 NLT).  “Trust in the Lord instead.  Be kind and good to others; then you will live safely here in the land and prosper, feeding in safety.  Be delighted with the Lord.  Then he will give you all your heart’s desires.  Commit everything you do to the Lord.  Trust him to help you do it, and he will.  Your innocence will be clear to everyone.  He will vindicate you with the blazing light of justice shining down as from the noonday sun” (Psalm 37:3-6 TLB).  “Give your burdens to the Lord.  He will carry them.  He will not permit the godly to slip or fall” (Psalm 55:22 TLB).  “Commit your work to the Lord, then it will succeed” (Proverbs 16:3 TLB).  “If you will humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, in his good time he will lift you up.  Let him have all your worries and cares, for he is always thinking about you and watching everything that concerns you” (I Peter 5:6-7 TLB).

So, do not worry about anything.  We have been told that God is never blind to our tears, that he is never deaf to our prayers and that he is never silent to our pain.  God sees everything, he hears all, and he’s never too far.

“Wherever you are going, God has already been there and paved the way for you” (Matthew 6:27-30).

It has been said that, “God has a key for every problem, a light for every shadow, a relief for every sorrow, and a plan for every tomorrow.”  God always has something for us.

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs, and don’t forget to thank him for his answers.  If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand.  His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7 TLB).

So once you have knelt down and prayed, do not sit around worrying, wondering, and doubting.  Have faith in God and trust that things will work out, maybe not the way you planned but the way it was intended to work out.  If you want to succeed, then stop worrying and just let God be God.  He’s got this all covered.

We always give thanks to God for the ability to share our commentary with you.  We constantly pray that you will be blessed as well as informed by it and that you will be the better for having read it.  If you are blessed by them, please share so that others may be blessed as well.  Amen.

Enjoy your blessings. - KW