Deuteronomy 2:1-7 – “Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness of the Way of the Red Sea, as the LORD spoke to me, and we skirted Mount Seir for many days.

2 “And the LORD spoke to me, saying: 3’You have skirted this mountain long enough; turn northward. 4 And command the people, saying, “You are about to pass through the territory of your brethren, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. Therefore watch yourselves carefully. 5 Do not meddle with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as one footstep, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. 6 You shall buy food from them with money, that you may eat; and you shall also buy water from them with money, that you may drink.

7 “For the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand. He knows your trudging through this great wilderness. These forty years the LORD your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.”‘ NKJV

When Israel was wandering in the wilderness during their 40-year trek they came to a time when the LORD spoke to Moses and said, “You’ve taken enough laps around the mountain, now is the time to move to take the next step.”  I have discovered, in life, that if we experience a test or trial in our lives and we fail to learn the lesson, modify our attitude and/or actions we get to take another Lap around the Mountain. 

It may not be exactly the same situation, but it will become obvious that it is the same mountain, the same test, the same demand, and the same type of issue.  In school, if we fail a course, we have the distasteful task of retaking the course.  If we are trying to correct a problem and we take inappropriate steps or we fail, we have to repeat the repair. 

In relationships, we may not get a second chance with the person we have failed, but we will go through the same type of situation allowing us to get it right.  That is one of the reasons some people find themselves in the same kind of relationship time after time.  They never learn the lesson and the same type of situation arises repeatedly.  If, after a few times, you face the same type of situation you might want to reconsider what you are doing, and your attitude, and allow the Holy Spirit to change you.  Sometimes, it is not a new partner that is needed but becoming a new partner.

Even in their trudging through the wilderness learning God’s life lessons they were never lacking!  As we learn the life lessons God is teaching us and then begin the northward trek toward the Place of Promise and the Abundant Life God has designed and desired, we will face enemies.  Not only will we face enemies but face them on an escalated scale.  Sometimes, we tend to think that our purpose is to force others to adopt our worldview and in that, we begin to meddle with them. 

There is a Place of Promise God has designed for us and what He has given another is not ours so Hands Off!  Never allow envy or jealousy to grip your heart.  What someone else has is not your concern.  Being who God desires you to be is.  If we are willing and obedient to the LORD, we will eat the good of the land and God will be with us in all that we do and face.  That is a Position of Power and a Place of Promise!

God bless you as you enjoy today’s opportunities!

Mark 16:14-18 – “And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.  16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.  17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”  NKJV

My title question is a valid one and a question that I have received more varying answers than I could have imagined.  Some take this passage and relegate parts of it to bygone eras, the disciples, and the 1st Century Church and yet include other portions as valid for today.  Who makes that decision?  

At what point in this passage did Jesus say, “This part is for now and this part will continue from generation to generation?”  I have had some use or attempt to use 1 Corinthians 13:10 as their argument against anything miraculous or the operation of the gifts of the spirit today.  It reads: “But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part will be done away.”  The assertion is that the recognized Bible fulfills that which is perfect and therefore many things are no longer valid or appropriate for today. 

Hold on Nellie!  Let’s back up a few verses in 1 Corinthians 13 to verse 8 and begin evaluating what the apostle said in its fullness.  He said, “Love never fails…”  I get that because love and God are eternal therefore if we are to experience, operate in, and demonstrate God we will have love present always.  So far so good, right? 

Then he says, “But whether there are prophecies, they will fail…”  So, we toss prophecy out the window under this interpretation.  Next, he says, “Whether there are tongues, they will cease…”  The assertion is that tongues are not for today but what tongues are we talking about?  Then we come to a major problem where the apostle says, “Whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away…”  

I must ask, who is going to attempt to argue that knowledge has vanished?  Wouldn’t that be counterintuitive because the Bible dispenses knowledge and is filled with instructions to seek knowledge?  However, if we are to follow the interpretation to its logical conclusion, we toss knowledge out the window too.  What are we left with?  Love!  Now, I would never argue that we would be better off with love as the driving force for our world but how can we conclude that is what God was talking about?

What do we do with James 5:13-18?  “Is anyone among you suffering?  Let him pray.  Is anyone cheerful?  Let him sing psalms.  Is anyone among you?  Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. AND…”  

I must caution that the “and” is important because the next words declare, “AND the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up.”    The remainder of that passage we tend to receive and embrace when it suits our doctrinal view and interpretation but reject when it touches things we have relegated to bygone eras, or not seeing, or do not believe.  Who decides which we can pick and choose? 

The writer of Hebrews makes a powerful statement and one that is difficult to square with the view that we are to take some of God’s promises and directives as valid for today and relegate others to history.  It says in Hebrews 13:8 – “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”  If He is and He is then we might need to reexamine what we contend is for not and what is not. Next, we discover 1 John 4:17 which speaks about perfected love and its power and then adds something spectacular, “…because as He is, so are we in this world.”  As He IS, not was and not will be but AS HE IS, so are we in this not the next world? 

I cannot help but ask why God would tell us to do something if He did not mean for us to do it? That, to me, is nonsensical and God is never nonsensical.  Virtually all believers embrace, “Go into all the world and preach…”  However, many have declared that only the 1st-century church had miracles because they needed miracles to establish the church. 

Let me ask, “If miracles got people’s attention back then, why do we think they would do less today?  If miracles opened doors for preaching the gospel, then why would it do less today?”  I confess I do not want to pick up snakes and have no intention of doing so.  However, I fully believe that if I were to, as happened to Paul, accidentally encounter one I could expect God to perform a miracle for me.  Also, knowing that there is a literal side to this I am convinced there is also a spiritual aspect to the serpents and while the slithering critter is definitely in the scope interpretation, I believe demonic powers are as well and that old serpent, the devil and his crowd are also rendered powerless when we go in Jesus name.

Someone asked me if I believed in divine healing, and I quickly answered yes!  I have personally experienced it in my own body.  One occasion was when I broke the radial head in my right arm playing softball in a church league.  I saw the X-rays and heard the reports of the doctors declaring that it was broken and depressed enough to require surgery.  Ten days later, at my insistence X-rays were taken and the diagnosis was a perfectly healthy right arm was in the film.  Bones do not heal in ten days naturally, but God healed mine. 

I had parathyroid cancer and my doctor declared that what had transpired was a miracle and beyond medical possibility.  I saw God heal my mother of a broken back where she was paralyzed.  I have seen other miracles of healing.  Then they asked, “Why is it that everyone doesn’t get healed?”  Now, that is admittedly a perplexing question. 

I have prayed for some who have not been healed, but that does not diminish my confidence in the Promise of God to Heal.  Some people believe that those who are not healed do not have enough faith.  If I believed that a person was not healed solely because I did not manifest enough faith, I would go into such depression or become so calloused.

I had an evangelist once say, “Well, they just didn’t have enough faith.”  He absolved himself of any responsibility and blamed the person needing healing.  I cannot square that with James 5, nor can I square it with many other passages of scripture.  The truthful answer is, I Do Not Know!  I believe in every promise God has given and understand that faith or the lack thereof is a part of any equation, but I also know that I am not God and some things I wrestle with and am not casually willing to just say, “Oh well, the providence of God” and absolve myself from responsibility.  No, I want to continually seek God to be and become a person that walks in the fullness of His promises and follows His directives fully. 

So, I choose to believe that if God says it, He means it! I choose to believe that if He is, and He is, the same yesterday, today, and forever then what He declared to the apostles He speaks to me today!  You can agree or disagree, and I will leave it to you and God to sort it out.  But, if you are sick, I will lay on of hands, anoint with oil, and pray and believe that the effectual fervent prayer of the righteous avails much. 

God bless you as you enjoy all His blessings on this wonderful day!

Matthew 28:18-20 – “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.   NKJV

As we consider our Commission from the Lord Jesus Christ several factors are of the utmost importance.  Our text is the basis for the Commission and is based on the Authority of Jesus.  We are informed in Ephesians 1:7 that we have been redeemed through His blood and therefore candidates for the Commission.  In Colossians 1:13 we discover we have experienced a transfer of kingdoms.  Our citizenship has shifted from the kingdom of darkness to God’s kingdom of light.  Then in Colossians 2:11-17 we find that Jesus “legally” owns us, has “legal” standing to seek for us and His authority is backed by the full force and authority of Heaven’s Power.

Why are those things important?  It shows that our Commission is not just a directive to go search for whoever might be interested but is a Rescue Mission for all those who Jesus bought and paid for with His blood on the Cross.  We are “plucking them as brands from the burning.”  

In Matthew 16:18 our Lord makes us aware of a powerful encouragement that even the powers of hell are powerless against us saying that the gates of hell cannot prevail against His church.  I want you to catch the truth and powerful encouragement that we are sent or commissioned based on God’s Supreme Redemptive Authority to Rescue the Perishing!  We are empowered and sent as Representatives of Heaven.  In a very genuine sense, His Power is now our power because we are His commissioned representatives.

Mark 16:15-18 has a direct connection to this overall commission.  We are to go In His Name which means we are representing all He is, does, and will do.  We have been given legal standing and authority over all the powers of darkness, including demons, dangers, and diseases. 

Therefore, in the light of our commission to go, we go in His Stead and His Power.  We have been given biblical and legal authority to bind demons, defeat danger, and destroy disease.  We may or may not be doing that, but it is the biblical commission.  That is an incredible Weapon if we can believe it and learn to use it.  In the biblical record, it is first “bind the strong man” and then “spoil his house.”  The devil’s claim on man has been revoked by Jesus’ sacrificial work on the Cross.

If we link the statements of Mark 16 with Evangelism, we can see the incredible power afforded to the followers or disciples of our Lord.  When a person is free from satanic bondage, they are more readily able to hear the message of the Gospel.  We have been promised divine protection and have the promise that the sick will be healed as an expression and demonstration of the Love of God, which also opens new doors to proclaim the message of the Cross.  We have also been afforded the Spiritual power and authority to pray in the Spirit and even when we do not know how to pray as we should the Holy Spirit does and prays through us.  These thoughts make my heart rejoice and increase my anticipation daily.

• The Commission is GO.

This is the soul-winning part of the commission and the starting point.  Until we launch out, we have no hope of filling our nets with fish (souls).

• The Commission is to MAKE DISCIPLES.

This is the grounding and anchoring of the new convert.  It is not enough to win converts we need to equip them for walking the walk and living the life.  We are to disciple and that means investing in individual lives and imparting to them the Word and Wisdom of God.  It means an investment of TIME! 

• The Commission is to BAPTIZE THEM.

Some have overlooked that this is the responsibility of the Evangelist or Soul Winner.  We do not just win them and leave them floundering on the shore.  We invest time or ensure that time is invested in making disciples of them and we lead them in the public declaration that is evidenced in baptism.  In their being baptized they are making a declaration of their conversion and testifying to the world, “I am now dead to the old and rising to the newness of life in Jesus.”

• The Commission carries PROMISE.

Jesus said, “I am with you all the time and until the end of your earthly journey.”  What a Promise!  We take the message of John 3:16 with the knowledge that those who come to Christ will have their names in the Lamb’s Book of Life and can look forward to eternity with God, but also that in the interim they can go in total confidence that He is with Them! 

Our love for others and the lost should be easily demonstrated because of His Love for us.  I suppose that we could say that if love can be measured at all it can be measured in our desire and willingness to please and obey Him.

I pray that you are never hesitant or timid about sharing the reason for the hope that is in you and demonstrate the Love of God in today’s world.   

God bless you as you embark on this leg of your journey in Christ.

Galatians 6:7-10 – “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. 9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.”  NKJV

In talking to some I have discovered they do not believe we can have or should expect a harvest in this life.  They relegate all blessings to the next life or eternity.  I am convinced there is not one person among us who does not need, want or desire a harvest in some area of their life. 

That harvest may be financial, in matters of faith, regarding family or relationships, or direction in life.  If we are honest, all of us have some area in our lives where the outcome of the harvest is a major factor in the present as well as the future.  I would also suggest that a Harvest is coming because we have all been sowing seeds of some kind.  That harvest may be good or bad depending on the seed we have sown.

Based on that knowledge and reality, it is tremendously important that we understand harvest.  In the natural, there are laws that operate on every principle.  Therefore, it makes sense that there must be laws concerning harvest in the spiritual and directly impacts believers. 

I have learned that these Laws of Harvest are universal affecting believers and unbelievers alike.  Yet, the believer has even greater promise and hope.  In fact, the Bible declares that for the heirs, the wealth of the wicked is stored up for the righteous. (Proverbs 13:22).  So, I would like to take a little time and highlight some of the principles of God’s Laws of Harvest and how they affect you and me.  Hopefully, the brief mention of them will inspire in your heart a desire and hunger to dig more deeply and discover the truths therein for you.

• Seed Must Be Sown Before You Can Have A Harvest.

John 12:24 – “…except a grain of wheat falls into the ground… it abides alone…”  The seed [act, deed, money, etc.] has to be placed in the ground [sown or planted] before there can be any prospect or hope of Harvest.  No Sowing, No Reaping!

• The Sown Seed Must Be Rendered Useless.

John 12:24 applies here as well.  The seed [act, deed, money, etc.] enters into a state of uselessness to the sower.  He cannot eat it or otherwise use it.  That seed DIES and once it dies the process of multiplication begins but it only begins once it leaves your control.

• The Seed Must Be Sown To Determine The Type Of Harvest.

Genesis 1:12 – “…herb yield seed after his kind.”  What you plant determines what you harvest.  You do not plant peas and get corn.

• The Size Of The Harvest Is Determined At The Time Of Planting.

2 Corinthians 9:6 TLB – “…a farmer who plants just a few seed will get only a small crop, but if he plants much, he will reap much.”  You do not wait until the Day of Harvest to determine what the harvest will be, that is done at the time of planting.  I would suggest that abundance is preferred to a shortage in a good harvest so that should be our rule of sowing.  Psalm 35:27, “…let the Lord be magnified, which has pleasure in the prosperity of His servants.”

• The Seed Must Be Sown In Good Soil.

Matthew 13:8 – “…other (seed) fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, and some thirtyfold.”  It is only Good Ground that produces a good harvest naturally, therefore only Good Ground will produce a good harvest spiritually. 

A passage that has inspired and challenged me for years is Luke 6:38, “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”  The key is IT.  Whatever you give that is what you harvest it is the IT Factor of Harvest.

• Harvest Is Always AFTER or LATER Than Sowing.

Mark 4:26-27 addresses this and virtually the only instant harvest in life is sowing a Big Smile which often produces an immediate harvest.  Virtually all other harvests take time.  Patience is an absolute requirement.  You can dig up the seed to see what is happening with it.  You plant it and leave it planted.  It is in Due Season we reap.

• The Crop Must Be Cared For To Have A Full Harvest.

Matthew 13:7 addresses this by identifying the possibility of thorns choking out the good seed or plants and destroying the harvest.  You cannot leave your seed unprotected in a hostile environment and expect a harvest.  The insects, birds, weeds, drought, etc. will attempt to destroy your harvest.  Matthew 6:33 gives us a pathway to harvesting in instructing us to Seek First God and His Kingdom.

• The Sowing Must Always Be To The Harvest Size Rather Than From The Harvest Size.

You sow to your desired harvest!

1. Expenses Are Always Greatest At Harvest Time.
2. A Portion Of Every Harvest Is For Future Sowing Not Eating.  [You never want a one-time harvest of good things.]
3. A Portion of Every Harvest Is For Eating Or Personal Consumption.
4. Every Harvest Is A Miracle.

2 Corinthians 9:8 – “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.”

Let me conclude this long devotional with these thoughts.  The type of Harvest is determined by the type of Seed.  The size of the Harvest is determined by the number of Seed sown. The fullness of the Harvest is determined by the care of the Crop in the growing process. 

We Reap WHAT is sown.  We Reap LATER than the sowing.  We Reap MORE than has been sown.  Just know that there is a Harvest coming and what you sow determines the type of harvest. 

God bless you as you go through this beautiful day in Him.

John 3:16-18 – “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”  NKJV

I hear a lot about Love not only in church but from various sources and sometimes it is difficult to fully determine exactly what is meant by the term.  Sometimes the word love is used for lust, covetousness, or passionate desire.  Everyone and I mean everyone, needs Love and everyone desires to love and be loved. 

There is something in the human makeup that craves love.  I would venture to say that, without love we perish.  Jesus was and is our example in all things and especially in love.  Jesus provides for us through the Inspired Record (Bible), a pattern for life and living.  He demonstrates His truth by His life and when He speaks of Love, He demonstrates and illustrates love by His life. 

LOVE can only be known through the actions it prompts.  God’s love is seen in the Gift of His Son.  1 John 4:9-10, “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only Son into the world, that we might live through Him.  Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” 

But this Love is not the result of any excellence in us or due to any intrinsic worth on our part.  Romans 5:8, “But God commanded His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”  This Love is an exercise in the Divine Will in deliberate choice, based on the very nature of God. 

Deuteronomy 7:7-8 – “The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; 8 but because the LORD loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”  

2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” 

There are several points to which I feel the need to draw attention as revealed in our text passage.  Consider with me:

FOR GOD SO LOVED…

Probably every Sunday school child could quote John 3:16. It is, without a doubt, the most popular and most used verse in the Bible.  It is also one of the most meaningful and powerful verses in the Bible… GOD LOVED!  Those are not empty words, but a statement filled with depth and meaning far beyond human ability to fully understand.  “For God So Loved…”  He not only loved but loves, but He Loves Unlimitedly!  God So LOVED!  He loves and loved with incomprehensible measure.

• God Is Love.

1 John 4:8b – “God is love…”

1 Corinthians 13, the great love chapter illustrates the vastness of Love.  When we consider the Love of God, we realize that He saw man’s condition yet loved him. He saw man’s rebellion but yet He loved!  Our Lord, the Bible declares, is moved with compassion toward His creation.  I have often said that God is far more willing to pardon than judge.  He desires to restore rather than destroy.  He wants to bless not condemn.

• God’s Love Is Everlasting.

Romans 8:37-39, “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”    Our love is often fickle, flexible, and changeable.  Our love, for the most part, is conditional and rises or falls, increases or decreases based on conditional circumstances.  God loves us without condition and loves us regardless of our response.

I may not know all the right words to say or things to do.  I may not know much scripture or have the proper interpretation.  I may even be wrong in my theological and philosophical views.  I may stumble and transgress.  I may become fearful and fretting.  But, even in all that He Still Loves Me! That is not to say that God winks at or excuses sin, nor does He overlook rebellion!  He does love the world (people) enough to Forgive Forever!

• God’s Love Is A Holy Love.

Agape is the word to describe God’s Love and His love demands that He be merciful, but just and His love is extended to WHOSOEVER WILL.

• God’s Love Is Complete.

Nothing is lacking in the Love of God.  It sees the need for redemption and acts.  It lovingly leads to truth and life.  It satisfied the void and longing in the heart of hearts.  It is impossible to outrun God’s Love and we cannot refuse to be loved. We may reject God, but He will continue to love us.  It is as we understand the Love of God that we comprehend the impact of the statement, “For God so loved the world that He gave…”  That passage includes each of us and is God’s continual call for us to COME!

            God bless you as you go through this wonderful day in Him!

Matthew 16:19 – “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”  NKJV

My text verse is probably not one that you have used regarding Prayer, but I believe it is soundly rooted in prayer’s purpose and power.  I do not believe that any student of the Bible can conclude that prayer is unimportant to God or in the life of a believer. 

The Bible is filled with passages that call people or encourage people to pray and the life of Jesus was marked by the time He spent in prayer.  A passage we should never forget is found in Numbers 23:19, “God is not a man that He should lie nor a son of man that He should change His mind.  Does He speak and then not act?  Does He promise and not fulfill?”  

Clearly, the message is that He Does Not Fail to do that which He has declared.  If God’s will and desire are to give us the Kingdom and to Fulfill His Promises, then some of us may need to change our attitudes about prayer.  We need, I believe, to learn to Pray the Promises and even Plead the Promises in our prayers. 

D.L. Moody is credited with the quote, “Each word or promise of God can be traced back to a form of kneeling.  If you tarry at a promise God will meet you there.”  That is powerful.  Moody related an incident that changed his attitude and approach to prayer that transpired when he was a young minister. 

Moody believed God had called him to ‘plant churches’ and one of his first acts was to begin prayer meetings.  He related that one of the first he attended was attended by an elderly Methodist minister.  When that minister prayed, Moody instantly knew there was something different about his praying and that this man was tapping into heaven when he prayed. 

Moody said, “As I prayed, God was way out there, listening in the distance and the answer was also far off in the distance.  This preacher prayed as though God were there with them in person and the answers were current realities.”  The preacher’s name was Ambrose Whaley, a retired blacksmith, and Methodist lay preacher. 

Moody asked if he could pray with Whaley.  The old minister took him to a barn, up a ladder to a haystack where two large Bibles laying, and one was open.  Moody wondered what this meant but did not ask and he prayed first and poured out his heart, needs, burdens, aspirations, and ambitions before God, then the old minister prayed, and it was totally different. 

Moody, inquired as to his secret of prayer for the old minister seemed to literally touch heaven with his prayers.  Ambrose Whaley looked him in the eyes and said, “You man, learn to plead the promises of God!”  Moody, like many of us, prayed with fervency, zeal, urgency, and ambition but one thing was missing.  The missing ingredient was Faith! 

Where does faith come from?  Hearing the Word of God.  Moody listened to this elderly preacher plead the promises like a lawyer would present a case in court.  He would remind God of Promise after Promise not so much to change God’s mind but to bring to the fore in his own heart and mind the truth and reality of the Promises of God.  It was producing and building Faith he Pled the Promises.  As he prayed, Moody could hear the Holy Spirit pouring in His assurances of the validity and reality of the Promises and Faith soared in the words of this preacher.

I challenge you to Find the Promises of God and Pray the Promises!  Find the Promises of God and Plead Them!  Find the Promises of God and Meditate upon them.  Find the Promises of God and Remind yourself of the truth and reality that “whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”  But whatever you do, begin to Pray the Promises with confidence that the Promises of God are meant to be realized in our lives here on earth!

God bless you as you go through this wonderful day in Him!

Ezekiel 33:1-6 – “Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their watchman, 3 when he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people, 4 then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head. 5 He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning will save his life. 6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.'”  NKJV

In today’s world of heightened danger from terrorism, there is encouragement for the public, “See something say something.”  That is something that is practiced in Israel and other parts of the world and has proven to be instrumental and valuable in protecting against an attack.  Yet, I have been told many times from a spiritual standpoint, “Well, it is none of my business” or “I don’t want to meddle.”  

I ask, how valid are those arguments when it comes to danger?  Would you consider it meddling to warn a parent or a child if the child were in danger of running into a busy street?  Would you consider it none of your business or meddling to warn residents if their houses were on fire?  Would you consider it meddling to inform your neighbor if you saw someone break into their house and cart off their goods?   I suggest that we are quite selective in what we deem “meddling” or “none of our business” and tragically consider it good citizenship to sound a warning in the natural on many fronts but unacceptable in spiritual matters.

This passage suggests multiple responsibilities in times of danger.  If we see danger or the sword coming and sound the alarm of warning and it is heeded people are saved or better prepared to deal with the present danger.  However, if we sound the alarm and it is ignored then their blood is on their heads not our hands.  It is a grave matter, biblically, to see danger and not sound the alarm.  That would be knowingly and deliberately allowing harm to come to others when we could have, at least, warned them of the impending danger.  God does not take that lightly nor should we. 

Although we often declare that our system or code of laws has its roots in the Bible, we might not realize just how clear that is.  In Deuteronomy 22:8, if someone falls from your roof, and you failed to install a safety fence around the edge, you would be held liable for the death of that individual.  It may have been gross negligence on their part, but you had an obligation to warn or take steps to prevent the danger. 

In Exodus 21:29-31, if a man owns an ox that is prone to harming people, the owner is held liable if he fails to confine the ox and it harms or kills someone.  If the ox harms someone the owner is fined, but if it kills someone, the negligent owner was to be put to death.  You might say, “That is awfully severe,” and I agree it is, but it speaks to the seriousness God has regarding warning of danger whether that danger is eternal hell or physical danger.  God holds us accountable to Sound the Alarm!

I believe that one of the assignments I have from God is to be a Watchman on the Wall and to sound the alarm of impending danger that I see.  Therefore, if I remain silent when I see danger, I have violated a commandment of God and could never justify or argue that I was not guilty of “he that knows to do good and does it not to him it is sin.” 

Therefore, if I See It and do not Say Something, sounding the alarm I become accountable before God for the harm that comes.  However, if I do sound the alarm, then the responsibility shifts from me to those being warned.  In keeping with this reality, we must also understand that the messenger, as well as the message, may be rejected and we should always seek God for ways to make the message palatable, so it is understood, received, and heeded. 

God bless you as you go through this wonderful day in Him!

Hebrews 13:5-6 – “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”   6 So we may boldly say:

“The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”   NKJV

If this were the only place, we find the Promise that God will NEVER leave or forsake us it would be enough, but it is not an isolated promise.  It was repeated numerous times in Scripture.  It goes to the heart of God’s desire and purpose for our lives.  God did not inspire us to get into this race and begin this walk only to abandon us in the process.  Heaven forbid for that would be a picture of God totally foreign to the biblical view of His person, nature, and character.

In Deuteronomy 31:6, God spoke to Joshua as he was charged with leading the nation of Israel into the Promised Land, “be strong and very courageous.  Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.”  NEVER!  Take it to the bank, God will not abandon you. 

People may abandon you, but God will never do so.  God repeats the promise in verse 8 and we read it again in Joshua 1:5. We find the same promise that God will never abandon us in 1 Kings 8:57, 1 Chronicles 28:20, Psalm 37:28, Psalm 94:14, Isaiah 41:17, Isaiah 42:16 and here in Hebrews. We are instructed that out of the mouth of two or three witnesses let everything is established and we have more than two or three occasions in which God has promised to NEVER LEAVE nor FORSAKE us. 

I do not know what situation you are now facing or might face in the days to come.  I do not know what might be around the next corner of life.  I do not know the future, but I do know the one who controls the future, and I am 100% satisfied and confident that He is a Promise Keeper.  If He said He Will Not leave or forsake us, then He Will Not leave or forsake us.  Therefore, take heart and comfort that no matter what you face God is the same yesterday, today, and forever and He Will Not Fail. 

If the vision God has placed in your heart still seems to be light years away from fulfillment it is not a sign that He has abandoned, you.  It might be you have not launched out into the deep as you should.  It might mean that the time is not yet.  It could mean any number of things including the possibility that the devil is hindering you and you need to defeat him in prayer to allow the breakthrough to come.  It Does Not Mean that God has abandoned you. 

If God put it in your heart, He will provide that which is needed to achieve the purpose and vision He gave.  Therefore, be patient, be faithful, and be confident He is still God!  If He said it, He would bring it to pass, that you can bank on.  

Remember the account of Daniel 10 when an angel of the Lord appeared to Daniel in his time of prayer and said, “Do not fear, Daniel, for, from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words.  But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia…”  

There was a spiritual demonic hindrance and if you realize that God will do whatever it takes to fulfill His promise to Never Leave nor Forsake you then as long as you hold that in your heart you can endure the trial and rise to victory.

God bless you as you go through this day!

1 Corinthians 10:12-13 – “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”  NKJV

I had a person tell me, “It just happened and there was nothing I could do about it” in reference to a failure in their life.  If that statement is true, then the passage above is a lie and the Word of God is not a lie.  We do get “caught” in faults, situations, and circumstances but they DO NOTjust happen we open the door and fail to look for and receive the “way of escape” God has provided.  It really does not matter what the temptation is, there is a way out if we will stay sensitive to the Holy Spirit and do not allow the devil to inundate us with justifications that seek to excuse our behavior. 

Will we tell God that it “just happened” and we were totally caught off guard without a way out?  I do not think that we would dare attempt that as a justification or excuse because we know better. If we fail to heed the warning signs of the Spirit and the flesh, we open ourselves to failure on any and every front in our lives. 

I had a woman tell me once about her infidelity, “He said such good things and cared about me unlike my husband, and it just happened.”  NO, IT DID NOT! You opened the door.  You entertained the flattery and began to enjoy the attention and allowed your guard to be lowered.  I have no doubt that God was continually giving you warning signs and offering you ways out, but you were enjoying the attention too much and the flesh was drawn to it like a moth to a flame. 

We do not just “Fall into Temptation” we walk into it.  If we allow the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, or the pride of life to override the pricks of the Holy Spirit we become subject to succumbing to temptation.  When we “fall” it was not totally unexpected, but we kept moving nearer and nearer to the edge and finally could no longer maintain our spiritual balance, and over the edge we went.  Never doubt there was a way out, a path of escape because that is God’s promise and God never lies.

I cannot emphasize the importance of the biblical directive of Paul in the next verse, “…flee idolatry” and the other biblical warnings to “resist the devil” and to “shun the very appearance of evil.”  The emphasis is “run away like your life depended on it.  IT DOES! 

We talk ourselves into failure because of circumstances, situations, disappointments, and sometimes simply through flattery.  I have had preachers tell me, “Well, there is no harm in harmless flirting.”  Seriously? Harmless flirting?  What is that? Remember it is the “little foxes that spoil the vine”.  

If you continue to sow seeds to the flesh and ego, one day you will find the harvest comes in and you will not like the result.  It is one thing to be friendly it is quite another to flirt which often subconsciously entertains something beyond the harmless.  I have witnessed situations develop as a result of “harmless flirting” and in a moment of weakness, disappointment, and even anger over a situation.  If that door had not been opened the opportunity would not have presented itself and the fall into temptation would not have been a possibility. 

God is faithful and He expects faithfulness from us.  The good news is, “if we sin, we have an advocate with the Father.”  Never, justify a failure or indirectly blame God for not warning you of the danger because He has promised to provide “a way of escape.” 

God bless you as you go through this wonderful day in Him.

Deuteronomy 6:6-9 – “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”  NKJV

Compartmentalization is defined as “an unconscious psychological mechanism used to avoid cognitive dissonance or the mental discomfort and anxiety caused by a person’s having conflicting values, cognitions, emotions, beliefs, etc. within themselves.”  

In Christianity, compartmentalization gives rise to and attempts to justify holding the view of having a “spiritual life, church life, family life, business life, etc.”  I had a very well-respected man, a pillar of the church and community, tell me that his business life, family life, and spiritual life were all separated and that allowed him to function more perfectly in this present world.  I cannot accept that as biblically valid for we are what we believe and out of our belief system our lives are reflected in our various life engagements. 

If we compartmentalize our lives so that one does not overlap the other, we could be devious in business, disloyal in our relationships, and yet maintain the appearance of godliness in the church.  That dog won’t hunt, in my opinion.  We read in Proverbs 23:7 (Amp), “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he [in behavior – one who manipulates].”  Jesus informed us in Luke 12 that a person’s life DOES NOT consist of possessions.  His existence may consist of possessions but not his LIFE.  Life is the sum total of all we are in all areas of our existence. 

Compartmentalization is one of the major reasons so many are avid defenders of the idea of “separation of church and state.”  If we completely divest politics from our spiritual and moral makeup, we are able to stand behind politicians who are not godly, do not support godly principles, and demonstrate a character unbecoming of the faith.  If we completely divest politics from our spiritual and moral makeup, we are able to support legislation that gives us a benefit on one hand while running afoul of the basic principles of God’s word and morality. 

I do not want to make this devotional about politics, but every area of life is part of our Life and important.  What I believe politically, economically, socially, and relationally is directly connected and stems from what I believe spiritually.  If I value the Word of God and consider the Bible my guide for faith and practice, then I cannot and will not separate it from every compartment or area of my life.  WHAT I BELIEVE IS WHO I AM!

It would cause less angst in our hearts if we could compartmentalize our lives and feel no guilt or remorse for deviousness, often called shrewdness, in business.  However, our conscience will not allow us to have that disconnect Unless we allow our conscience to become “seared”.  

Compartmentalization allows Christians to become anesthetized to the wickedness and evil in society on various fronts.  I am amazed at how little sin troubles many who profess Christ today.  We are able to be inundated with profanity, lewdness, and vileness and do not feel completely soiled needing a bath. 

Tragically too frequently, our spirits are not grieved when we are bombarded with godlessness, and we are able to allow it entrance through our eye or ear gates not realizing that it taints our spirits much more dramatically than we imagine.  I have had some tell me that I am being “holier than thou” or too “Puritan and Prudish” in my views because that is just the way the world is, and we have to be in it.  Yes, but we are not to be OF IT!

You are not a cat and do not have nine lives distinct and separate from the other compartments of your being.  You are the sum total of the various aspects of your life and a reflection of what you believe. 

If we truly believe the Bible is the Word of God then I suggest that we need to come before our Lord and ask Him, as David prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.  Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.”  [Psalm 51:10-11].

InProverbs 4:23 we find, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.”  The word issues refer to the “outgoings and boundaries”.  Our hearts (what we believe) shapes our lives, who we are, and all we do.  How can we believe in an Omniscient God who wants us to seek first and foremost His kingdom and righteousness if we compartmentalize our lives including Him in some and excluding Him in other portions? 

God bless you as you go through this wonderful day in Him!