Resistance is Warfare

On October 8, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

1 Peter 5: 9

8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

9 But resist him firm in your faith . . . .

Yesterday we read verse 8 wherein the Apostle Peter gave advice for us all to remain on alert for the machinations of the devil. In today’s verse, he tells us how to do that. We must remain firm in our faith. Our faith in the prowess of our father is our protection and defense against the evil one. There is no power on earth or in the heavens that can overcome the power of our Lord and Father. When we have absolute faith in God’s supremacy and his faithfulness, then nothing is able to touch us. Our faith in him is our guard. God is a bubble of safety around us. The devil is roaming around seeing whom he can devour. Not many animals will attack an elephant. They have to be pretty desperate to take a chance on trying to overwhelm an elephant. There is easier prey for them to hunt. In the same way, we want to be clothed in the armor of our father so that the enemy realizes it is not worth the bother.

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The Prowling Lion

On October 7, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

1 Peter 5: 8

Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

You have an adversary and he is named here. Do not be uninformed. There is an enemy out there and he comes only to steal, kill and destroy (John 10: 10). He will devour as many as will let him. Someone told me once that she did not believe there was any such thing as “evil” in the world. Well, she is susceptible to all of the snares of the wily one because she does not even acknowledge that there is an adversary. He can run around her life unchallenged. He can sneak around and plot all he wants because there is no lookout. I would rather trust the Apostle Peter’s knowledge and have my defenses built against foes. Be on your guard, be alert. Know that there is an enemy; prepare yourself by spending time in the word and with your heavenly father so that your defenses will be too much for the enemy. He will pass you by for easier targets because you are built up in your most holy faith (Jude 1: 20).

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Open Door

On October 6, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Joel 2: 12 – 13

“Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “Return to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, weeping, and mourning; and rend your heart and not your garments.” Now return to the Lord your god, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness.

No matter where you have been in your life nor what you have done, God has issued an invitation for you to return to him. His great compassion is revealed in His words. He is willing to accept any of the lost sheep back into the fold. 

In the old times the people would tear their garments is an expression of their grief or repentance. It was an outward expression of the turmoil of their spirit. God tells us here not to rend our garments but rather to tear open our hearts. He is looking for open hearts to dwell in. He is looking for people who are sincere in their deepest parts in their searching and longing for him. 

He is an open God and is extending open arms. The more we allow ourselves to be open to Him, the more he can fill us. He is looking for people who will seek Him with all their hearts, not lukewarm petitioners. The God of the universe wants you; wants more of you desperately and He will meet you with at least equal enthusiasm as you take to him.

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Honor the Lord

On October 3, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Proverb 3: 9 – 10

Honor the Lord from your wealth, and from the first of all your produce; so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine.

It is the blessing of the Lord that makes us rich, that prospers us and meets our needs, not the work of our hand nor our wisdom. God blesses the work of our hands and is he more than willing to give us his wisdom. We then follow his wisdom and the thoughts and plans that he gives us and we prosper. What is our part then? We are to honor him with the fruit of the success he has given us. We are so blessed of God to live in this country and to have the opportunities that we have. We are to take our opportunities and bless God with them. Bless his kids. The first 10% of our increase or our income is to be set aside for God. That is the tithe. Out of the 100% he has given us, we are supposed to give him 10%. That seems like a pretty reasonable ratio. But don’t let your giving stop there. Re-read the passage for today and you will see that the gifts that you sow are what God is using to get more to you. He uses your seeds to bring you a whole other crop so that your barns will overflow. Don’t be stingy with God. Bless him so that he can continue to bless you, so that he can increase your overflow. Honor him with your wealth so that he can create in you super abundant overflow.

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Hearing the Voice of God

On October 2, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Isaiah 30: 21

And your ears will hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left.

Who doesn’t want to hear the voice of God speaking in their ears?  And how much better and easier would life be if we could all daily hear the voice of God?  Jesus walked in the earth constantly receiving instruction from the Father.  In John 5: 19 and John 8: 28 Jesus tells us that everything he did and everything he said he got from the Father.  What if we too could walk through our day constantly receiving guidance from the Father?  Well, it is more plausible than you might think. 

Recently I attended a seminar conducted by Dr. Mark Virkler.  Dr. Virkler has taught thousands of people how to hear the voice of God.  In his own desperate search to hear God’s voice he was led to an almost foolproof way to hear God speak to you.  As a matter of fact, he guarantees that if you apply his four keys, you will hear the voice of God.  Dr. Virkler is also the president of Christian Leadership University where you can take classes that will help you develop a deeper and more meaningful relationship with Jesus.  Dr. Virkler’s website is www.cwgministries.org.  Here you will find his materials on Communing with God and Hearing the Voice of God.  There is a large amount of free material on his site and I strongly encourage you to poke around the website and see what is available.

God wants to talk with you daily.  If you are not hearing the voice of God speaking into your life then I would say you should pursue God and insist that He guide you into learning to hear His voice.  That singular pursuit has added an incredible amount of value to my life.  I am sure that it will impact your life in the same way.

Jesus is speaking to you right now.  He wants to guide your daily steps.  He wants to help you make decisions and even help you in some of the smallest matters of life.  However, you need to be able to hear him.  He speaks to your heart rather than your brain so open your heart to him.  Hear what the Lord is saying to you today.  And be blessed.

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The Heart of the Matter

On October 1, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Isaiah 29: 13       NIV

The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.

This passage presents us with an interesting question. Is worship really worship if our hearts are not engaged? How can worship be meaningful to God if we are caught up in rote service rather than an expression of our hearts?

It is so easy to become accustomed to the form of worship such that we never really enter into it meaningfully. How well do I know this myself? Even as I prepare these daily devotionals I am reminded that if they come from my mind they are of very little use to those who read them. Many times I sit down at my computer, Bible in hand and begin the “work” of the Word of the Day. To an outside observer it may look like I am fulfilling the call of ministry on my life but I know that I am being works minded instead of worship oriented. So, I must stop and start over.  

This daily devotional should be a form of worship for us both. We each should approach it with an expectation of meeting God heart to heart. In order for me to convey God’s heart to you, I must begin with prayer and I suggest that is how we should approach any form of worship. We should begin with God on our minds and engage in a process of opening our hearts to be a heart of worship. Worship which proceeds from our minds is not worship at all. It is only an exercise, barely even a shadow of worship. God makes it clear in today’s passage that worship of our mouths is nothing. Only when worship is an overflow and an expression of our hearts is it welcoming to God. I would go so far as to say that anything which is intended to be worship but which is merely from routine and mental assent is repugnant to God. He is looking for us to pour our hearts out to Him. He is not in the least interested in the structure of our worship services. He really isn’t even interested in what many of us call a worship service. He is only interested in heart felt worship. He is looking for a people who will greet Him with expression of their deep feelings for Him. He wants to hear our hearts cry out, “I love you Father.” In fact, I truly believe that He would rather have one heart felt “I love you” than 30 minutes of singing and praying that is little more than a prayer concocted in our minds and songs that are little more to us than a page number in the Hymnal.  

We all have our routines. Our churches and our church services have their routines too but we must not let rote words and symbols become substitutes for a heart that expresses admiration and adoration of the Father. Whatever we do whether in our private lives or in our corporate praise services we should remind ourselves of the reason we are entering into a form of worship. When we connect again with our hearts and get out of our minds we will flow with pure expression of love for the Father. That is worship; that is what is important. That is the heart of the matter.

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Spiritual Farming

On September 30, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 97: 11

Light is sown like seed for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.

One of the most illustrative Biblical principles is that the Kingdom of God is like a seed which is sown. Jesus compared the Kingdom of God with seed many times. In Luke 13: 18 – 19, for example, he said, “What is the kingdom of God like and to what shall I compare it? It is like a mustard seed….” And of course there is the very famous parable in the thirteenth chapter of Matthew. But these two examples are not isolated. God often uses the seed to explain to us how the Kingdom of God works. In today’s example, light is sown as is gladness. Have you ever stopped to consider that Jesus was a seed that was sown? God sowed Jesus, His only child and He reaped many children. This is the lesson that God has been attempting to teach His kids for generations now.

Too many times we think of sowing seed as only relating to financial gifts. Well, if you need a financial harvest I cannot think of a better seed to sow than money. However, whatever you sow that also you will reap. If you sow kindness, you will reap kindness. If you sow distrust then people are not going to trust you. What do you suppose a person who sows love will reap?  

The point that I would like to make is only a reiteration of what Jesus taught. The Kingdom of God is like farming. It works through sowing of seed. Christianity does not have to be difficult. Operating in the Kingdom does not have to be a mystery. Jesus certainly tried to reveal the internal workings but we were hard of hearing. What you sow is what you will reap. Sow nothing, reap nothing.  

Once we understand this simplest of principle we can look at our lives and determine if there is any area of lack. If there is then there is a chance that we don’t have enough seed in the ground in that area. We can also check the quality of our seed. Seeds sown in anger, unforgiveness and the like are doomed the same as a seed that is nothing more than some used up thing that we no longer want anyway. But when we sow in faith then the Father causes the seed to grow even though we don’t know how.

Since Jesus told us that the Kingdom of God operates by sowing and reaping it might pay us well to meditate on it a bit. God is sowing light and gladness. That is an awesome concept if you think about it. I wonder what the harvest will be. It is a crop that has been planted for you. Now, receive your harvest but don’t forget to emulate the Father and sow some of that seed back into the ground for the bounty that is to come. And for goodness sake, don’t eat the seed for next year’s harvest which simply means, don’t take all that you have reaped, all that God has given you and spend it on your flesh. Put some back into the Kingdom of God so that it can produce another crop for you. The Kingdom of God is like a seed but it only works when you plant.

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