Galatians 5:13-14 – “For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But do not use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. 14 For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, I became focused on Judgment, Exposure, Grace, and Restoration.

• In Isaiah 3-5, we find a vivid description of the characteristics of the Last Days.  
• In Isaiah 6, we begin to see the Light of transformation.

I find it interesting that Isaiah would connect his vision and divine encounter with the death of the earthly King, Uzziah.   My heart whispered, “You can’t have two kings.  You cannot see the King of kings as long as you focus on the Earthly King.”

In Isaiah 6:5-10, we see Isaiah coming under Conviction.   Once he saw God as God, he saw himself as wretched, flawed, and frail.   We see Isaiah’s Cleansing, the Call, and the Commission.  It consumed the prophet for the rest of his days.

In Isaiah 10, we hear the prophet warning of Judgment coming on corrupt leaders. We see that vividly in the Church today, and it is and will extend to every sector of life.  The difference is that, in the Church, the purpose of Judgment does not focus on punishment or annihilation.  It focuses on Restoration!

In Galatians 5:13-14 and 6:1, the purpose of God is made clear: It is Restoration!  We may agree that it may not seem possible, but it must be the focus.    Not tolerance but love, correction, and Restoration.

Galatians 6:1 does not focus on the one “caught” (exposed or stuck).   If we do what we claim we are (righteous), our motivation should be to heal the body part that is sick, harmed, and weakened.   We do so looking in God’s mirror at ourselves.

If we look with a view of superiority and exempt ourselves, we will be harsh, judgmental, and executionary.  If we look at Isaiah and, as Jesus suggested, we see our own flaws and realize, “But for the Grace of God, there goes me.”

The world needs us to be honest, to address sin, and to be loving, seeking to restore!   Personal failure is not automatically to be assumed to be the result of doctrinal error.   It may contribute, and correcting it may be part of the Restoration, but dying to the flesh and living to Christ is the key.

Galatians 6:14-16 offers a powerful remedy for the problem of sin.  The world crucified to us and us to the world.   It is becoming “New” creations. Not remodeled or reformed by New, never-before creations.  Only with New hearts can we be new people.

If you fell from grace and had a moral or spiritual failure, how would you want others to respond?   Would it be to kill and destroy you?   I doubt it.   You would hope they loved enough to try to restore you.   Do we?

Some leaders will fall, and how we respond will affect the harvest and our spiritual development.   I will not excuse sin in me or others, but I refuse to be one who burns them at the stake, giving no room for Restoration.   Love for God and people must prevail.

Lord, help us focus on what You focus on!

Numbers 20:8 – “Take the rod; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it may yield its water. You shall thus bring forth water for them out of the rock and let the congregation and their beasts drink.”

As I read, prayed, and mused on the Word of God today, I was drawn to a truth we tend to obscure. Explicit Obedience!  In Numbers 20, we have the account of the second encounter with the Rock.  The people were in a dry place, and God, as He had before, provided water from a Rock.  The first time, Moses was instructed to strike the rock.  This time, he was to speak to the rock.

The first encounter was symbolic and even prophetic of Jesus’ crucifixion.  From Jesus comes the Living Water.  This Rock symbolized that coming reality.

The second encounter symbolizes coming to the crucified Christ in prayer. “Speak to the Rock. (v. 8).   Moses, in his impatience, acted impetuously and struck the Rock twice.  God’s anger soared.  It was as if Moses had attempted to crucify Jesus again.   God expects and demands explicit obedience.  That is not tyrannical but love. Explicit obedience empowers and protects.

1 Corinthians 10:3-4 – “And all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink – for they were drinking from a SPIRITUAL ROCK that FOLLOWED THEM, and the Rock was MESSIAH.”

Balaam was given explicit instructions. Mary gave the servants explicit instructions (John 2:5). Jesus said in John 5:19 & 30 that He explicitly obeyed the Father. He said only what He HEARD and did only what He SAW.

Jesus said in John 6:63, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh has no benefit. The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and are Life.” Peter grasped that revelation in (v. 68): “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life!”

Do we obey “explicitly” or “superficially?”   Being born again and dying to self leaves no place to include the flesh. Disobedience cost many the Promised Land, and failure to explicitly obey cost Moses & Aaron the Promised Land. The record is filled with examples of the destruction of Disobedience and the blessing of explicit obedience.

When we say, “Jesus is my Savior,” we claim to be born again and transformed.  We claim to have died to the flesh. But unless He is LORD, we will find ourselves reverting to the flesh and fail to obey explicitly. That isolates and separates.

Jesus, be Savior & LORD. I surrender ALL.

Luke 21:34-36 – “Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap; ³⁵ for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. ³⁶ But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

As I read, prayed, and mused on the Word of God today, I sensed an urgency to warn to ‘Stay Ready.’    I am certain that Jesus is coming soon.   I am certain that the world is growing darker.    I am certain that we must guard our perception because perception becomes our reality.

When the disciples asked Jesus for signs to alert them to His coming and the end of the age, He told them the number one sign would be rampant deception.

We tend to think of deception externally, and that is real.  However, the most dangerous and destructive deception is internal.  Self-deception is not only dangerous but also deadly.

In verse 34, Jesus gave a powerful warning. “But watch out so your hearts are not weighed down by carousing, strong drink, and the worries of life. Do not let that day come upon you suddenly like a trap.”

Some people deceive themselves into thinking that because they know Scripture, have had a past relationship with God, and enjoyed the working of the Holy Spirit, their present dive into drunkenness and sin is somehow permissible, or they will somehow be excused or drawn in at the last minute. That is a risk one dare not take. This could be the day we stand before God.

I am praying for the LORD to do for each of us what He did for the disciples after the resurrection. Luke 24:45 – “Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures…”

Three things are vital:

• True Repentance. 
• Persistent Prayer.
• Saturation of the Holy Spirit. (Jesus’ last words: “Wait until you are clothed, encompassed, saturated) with power from on high.”

We must follow the cloud, resist evil, submit to God, and pray. Do not be one whom the Day catches you unaware and unprepared.

LORD, help us always to be ready!

Deuteronomy 18:9 – “When you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations.” 

As I read, prayed, and mused on the Word of God today, I was challenged and encouraged. As I read in Deuteronomy, several things loomed large in my mind.

In Deuteronomy 17:1, we are reminded that we are never to give God our discards.  We give Him the best!  In Deuteronomy 18:9, we learn that Sin (lifestyle) is learned.   That is one reason to come out from among them and shun even the appearance of evil.   Truly, birds of a feather flock together.   If we hang around with corruption, we learn to be corrupt. Our conscience is conditioned to ignore or condone Sin.  Once learned and embraced, it is difficult to extract ourselves.  Therefore, the warning: “Don’t let it begin.”

In Deuteronomy 23:22, we learn that we must never fail to keep our promises (vows) to God.   God will not casually ignore it.  He requires it: no peace and no lasting victory until we fulfill our promise.

I love the comfort and hope of John 16:1. The Word of God keeps us from stumbling. It is Light!

We often struggle with temptation because we have not surrendered our whole hearts to Jesus.  We keep going back to the people and places that get us off track.  There may come a time when we need a new set of friends. There may come a time when we have to purge our houses, removing everything that facilitates our failure.

If we keep playing with fire, we will be burned. If we keep excusing Sin or postponing our surrender, we place ourselves in danger of having a “seared” conscience.

Stop blaming God!  The statement, “I’m only human is blaming God for our failure.”   How?   God made us!  He made us human, and humanity (flesh) is weak.  We do not have the strength to resist, so we are effectively saying, “God, it’s Your fault.”   STOP IT!   Jesus has come to live in and through us. Therefore, we have God’s strength and willpower to face anything!  The problem is SURRENDER or failing to do so.

If we give God our All, He gives us His All.  Therefore, it is a matter of deciding to Surrender Totally.  Until we do, we will never know true freedom. But when we do, WE ARE FREE! It is that simple!

LORD, help us to learn righteousness, not Sin!

Luke 16:15 –  ^“And He said to them, ‘You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.”

As I read, prayed, and meditated on the Word of God today, something stirred in me and made me think.   Numbers 5 tells an unusual story about jealousy and infidelity. I think it is unfortunate that we focus on the natural and some on the seeming inequality in the story. The woman, not a man, is being examined and judged. Some cannot get past the natural and even wonder about the magic potion used. That is to miss the message.

I see a treatise focusing on the power of words and covenant oaths or commitments.   This woman was asked to say certain things and then swear to their truthfulness.   The priest pronounced a curse for lying.  Break the oath (commitment) of the Covenant (marriage in this case), and the curses immediately become realities.

The power of words is seen in the Aaronic Blessing of Numbers 6:22-27.  In Luke 16, the central message is faithfulness in responsibility and the importance of accountability.  An interesting statement appears in verse 15: “God knows your heart.” Self-justification flows out of self-deception. It does not impress God.

Each of us has been offered salvation and full deliverance in Jesus. Our problem is that too often we follow the mentality of the Pharisee of Luke 18, “Thank God, I’m not like THEM.” Our only legitimate comparison is Jesus, and none of us measure up.

The bottom line is choice. With Blessing comes responsibility and accountability. Self-justification blinds us to the truth and binds us to our bondage. Honesty shines a light on us and exposes every blemish.

Stop saying, “I took a step back, but overall, I am making progress.” Yet, you keep going back to the bondage. Why? You reason: it owns you; another: you like its company. Everything in life is rooted in choice! If I continually revert to a bondage lifestyle, it is because I have rejected the victory Jesus offers and prefer to wallow in my mud hole of misery. That is harsh, but it is reality.

“Whom the Son set free is FREE indeed.” (John 8:36). No ambiguity there. No one steps forward and two back there. No fallacious belief that I am getting better my way. It is simply to give it to Jesus in total surrender, and He breaks the bondage. It is choice, accountability, responsibility, and persistence.

Today, if there is any area of bondage in your life, place it on the altar to Jesus. Do not justify it. Do not excuse it. Do not ignore it. Do not compare it to others. Admit it, confess it, repent of it, and receive your full deliverance! Then, with perseverance and accountability, replace the bondage with God’s precepts and promises. Is that difficult? Usually, YES! But we are not doing this alone. But it begins with our choice!

Father, You know our hearts, and we ask that You create clean hearts in us.