2 Timothy 3:16-17 – “EVERY SCRIPTURE (not some but ALL) is INSPIRED by God AND is useful for teaching, for reproof (exposing sin to bring correction), and for training in righteousness, THAT the person dedicated to God may be capable and equipped for every good work.”

What a day to be alive; difficulties, distractions, time constraints, and demands are ever-present.   The world is growing crazier by the hour.  Yet, God is still God and is incredibly long-suffering!  His love never diminishes, nor does mine.

As I read, prayed, and mused on the Word of God today, I was drawn to two realities.   The world is going to hell in a handbasket, and God is long-suffering.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 motivated me again.  The reality and the declaration of the Bible that Every Scripture (not some but ALL) is Inspired by God is incredible.   We add to that the declaration that it is useful for teaching, reproof (exposing sin to bring correction), and training in righteousness to bring us to maturity and equip us, which is doubly powerful.

Get this in your spirit – “The Word of God reveals the character and heart of God.”

Job 23:23-24 – “If a man have an angel to whom one would listen once in a thousand times, the angel would show him the way of uprightness 24 AND be gracious to him and say, deliver this man lest he go down to corruption; he has found salvation…”

God’s presence is permeating the air today!   His plans are unfolding in brilliance as we embrace His presence and allow His heart and ours to become entwined.

Job 23:23-24 exploded in my heart.    If one in a thousand warnings is heeded, God’s graciousness extends mercy.  That is long-suffering!  That is God!

Psalm 121:3b – “God IS my keeper; He will Never forget or ignore me…”

Psalm 124:1-2 asks, “What if God had not been there for us?”   It would have been a total disaster and destruction, but He Was and Is…

Psalm 125:1 reminds us that we are Unshakable in any shaking “if” we trust God!    We are as Steadfast as God Himself because He is in us, and we are totally dependent upon Him.  That is the deposit of God in us, our foundation, our hope.

Psalm 127:2 should be read, memorized, meditated upon, and the focus of every day.  “It is really senseless to work so hard from early morning till late at night, toiling to make a living for fear of not having enough.  GOD can provide for His lovers even while they sleep.”   That is not an invitation to laziness nor encouragement to abandon ambition, but reveals the benefit and peace of trusting God, not our ability.

Psalm 130:3-4 reveals God’s incredible mercy, grace, and love.  “LORD, if You measured us and marked us with our sins, who would ever have their prayers answered?  4 BUT Your forgiving love is what makes You so wonderful.  No wonder You are loved and worshipped.”

God’s incomparable love, incredible mercy, and patience are astounding.  We deserve none of it, but He gives it anyway!  Therefore, search the Word, let it reveal the heart of God, correct, instruct, and inspire you.  Treasure the Promises!   Be transformed by His grace and become one well-equipped to manifest Him.

God is our victory.   God is ever-present, and He invites us to enter in and become!  Seize the victory, and in your victory, lead others to freedom!  

Have a fantastic day and remember that victory is ours in Jesus!

2 Timothy 3:1-5 – “But understand this, that in the last days, difficult times will come. ² For people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, savage, opposed to what is good, ⁴ treacherous, reckless, conceited, loving pleasure rather than loving God. ⁵ They will maintain the outward appearance of religion but will have repudiated its power.  So avoid people like these.”

As I read, prayed, and meditated on the Word, the Last Days, and the church (Christ’s Body) filled my thoughts.   2 Timothy 3 and other passages in Scripture describe the conditions and characteristics of the Last Days.   It resembles newspaper headlines that describe today’s world.

Difficult, troubled, trying, and perilous times characterized that era.  People will have an inordinate love for themselves and become increasingly selfish and self-centered.  

2 Timothy 3 lists greedy, boastful, proud, arrogant, blasphemous, rebellious, undisciplined, ungrateful, entitled, unholy, irreconcilable, slanderous, savage, filled with hate, unloving, no self-control, treacherous, opposing the good, moral, and right, and driven by pleasure rather than God.   What a list!  Verse 5 says, “They will maintain the outward appearance of religion but will have repudiated its power.”

In Genesis 1:28, God gave Adam authority and dominion.  In Genesis 9:2, He gave that authority to Noah.  He gave it to the nation of Israel and, finally, the church (believers).

Today, much of the Church has lost that power.   How did that happen?  That is too lengthy a discussion to address fully in a short post.   But let’s highlight or list some ways.

• We have allowed Babylon to infect and infest the Church.
• There is evidence that the Church has become a flavorless entity.  (Our salt has lost its saltiness.  We’ve become like the world.) 
• It has become a sleeping church.
• It has become a fatalistic church. 

(Live and let live, unaffected by sin in the church and world).

• It has become a futuristic church.

(The battle is now, with no enemies in heaven to defeat or souls to win.)

• It has become a compromising church.

(Overly interested in being politically correct and tolerant at the expense of morals and biblical precepts).

• It is frequently an ignorant church.

(Unaware and uninformed because of the dearth of gospel preaching and teaching.  Feel good preaching, not life-transforming challenges).

• It has become an unforgiving church.

(The church is made up of individual people.  If we want to be triumphant, we must be forgiving.)

• It has ceased to be a victorious church.

Jesus said His church would prevail and be unstoppable by the powers of darkness.   We are Victorious through the Blood of Jesus.   Forgiven, filled, transformed, and possessing the authority of heaven.   Demons should cringe when we show up.

Let’s set our hearts to being who Jesus says we are and possess the promises, enforcing the victory of the Cross.   Let us live with “No fear!” No holding back!  No compromise!   More than conquerors!  Let’s do the works He did and watch Him do the greater works through us!   Today is Victory Day!  Today is our day!  Today is Life Day!

May the Grace, Peace, Power, and Provision of the LORD be yours today!

2 Chronicles 33:10 – “The LORD confronted Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention.”

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, I was reminded of our humanity.   We sometimes seek counsel and help from sources other than God.   We may even believe God is doing the alignment.   The result will be lack, delay, disappointment, disillusionment, and ultimately defeat.    During trials, we tend to look for solutions that make sense to us.   Sometimes, simple trust and obedience do not make sense to the human mind.

King Hezekiah’s son Manasseh became a kid king (12 years old).   He did evil in the sight of God, rebuilt the high places, set up altars to Baal, made Asherah poles, worshipped the stars, and even corrupted God’s temple with false altars. (We are God’s temple).

In 2 Chronicles 33:10, it is stated, “The LORD confronted Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention.”   How often do we ignore the confrontation of the Spirit because it doesn’t match what we want?   GOD sent the Assyrian King against them.

The picture of pain is incredible.   They put hooks on his nose, bound him in bronze chains, and deported him to Babylon.   In v. 12, we read, “In his pain, Manasseh asked the LORD his God for mercy AND truly humbled himself before the God of his ancestors.”   The key is that he genuinely humbled himself.

Victories do not guarantee ease, as King after King realized.   Winning a victory does not ensure, insulate, or isolate from attacks.   Repentance brings restoration.   God may and likely will open the doors of darkness to bring us to light.

In verse 13, we see a powerful revelation and reminder. “When he prayed to the LORD, the LORD responded to him and answered favorably his cry for mercy. The LORD brought him back to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then (catch this), Manasseh realized that the Lord is the true God.

From then on, he acted faithfully.   Sometimes, God has to withdraw His protection to bring us to the truth.

The question in my heart is, “What is it that we are trusting for our fulfillment?”   If we tie God’s purposes and our assignments to anything but Him alone, we may be near a place of deception where we are creating idols of the heart and mind.   We may be subverting God’s plan.   He needs nothing to fulfill His purposes.   

If our hope is lodged in some event to come, we might want to ask, “AM I truly trusting God or that thing, person, or event?”   One leads to victory, the other to disappointment and defeat.

My heart is being challenged regarding having unrestricted confidence in Him. Only trust Him! Only Him!

May His blessings flood your life today!

2 Chronicles 26:3-5, 16 – “Uzziah was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecholiah, who was from Jerusalem. ⁴ He did what the Lord approved, just as his father Amaziah had done. ⁵ He followed God during the lifetime of Zechariah, who taught him how to honor God. As long as he followed the Lord, God caused him to succeed… ¹⁶ But once he became powerful, his pride destroyed him. He disobeyed the Lord his God. He entered the Lord’s temple to offer incense on the incense altar.”

I spent a restless night, and as I awoke, I was drawn to the reality of 2 Chronicles 26, specifically about King Uzziah.   He became king at 16 and reigned for 52 years.   He followed the LORD, and (v.5) says, “As long as he followed the LORD, God caused him to succeed.”   He became famous and received much support. Life was good.    Then, in verse 16, we read, “But once he became powerful, his pride destroyed him.”

I heard in my heart, “Pride is seldom a problem when we are weak, facing problems, and need help.”    Pride grows when we achieve victories and accomplishments, and think we did it ourselves.   Pride is dependent only on the self.   Humility depends on God. Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.  King Saul fell when he stopped seeing himself as small.   It is a repeated event in life, the Bible, and human history.

Pride is a spiritual cancer that blocks a true view of self, others, and God. It deceives the heart and mind, elevating the self to the center. It fills the heart with entitlement – I deserve it because of who I am. You owe me because… (insert anything there).

Spiritual victories can become seed beds for Pride.   Pride trusts the flesh and forgets the beginning.   Pridefulness is a painfully lonely life. It trusts no one, depends on no one, inordinately loves itself, and is selfish. Pride demands to be served; humility serves.

A heart filled with pride is spiritually blind, indifferent, hard, and harsh. It is intolerant and unfeeling of the needs of others. The self is the center, and it dethrones God in the heart.  Pride, human selfish Pride, will not inherit the kingdom.

It would behoove us to reread and meditate on the Beatitudes.   We have nothing we did not receive from God.   Therefore, it is not us but Him and His Grace. He must increase, but I must decrease.

Let’s be grateful and bold but not prideful and arrogant. Pride destroys, love and humility restore!

May your day be filled with His presence and, in humility, receive His matchless grace!

2 Chronicles 7:3 – “When all the Israelites saw the fire come down and the Lord’s splendor over the temple, they got on their knees with their faces downward toward the pavement. They worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, “Certainly he is good; certainly his loyal love endures!”

Today is May 3, 2025.    Time has extended far beyond what I thought possible in the late 60s and 70s.  I could not comprehend a new millennium, looking forward from the 2000s.    Yet we are here, and the signs of the times everywhere reveal the fulfillment of the biblical description of ‘The Last Days.’

This generation has not seen the FIRE of God.    Many of those who have are growing weary, and some are seeking to blend and assimilate into the modern culture that has infected the church.  What is the answer?

I believe it is prayer, total surrender, and persistence, but something more leaped off the page in 2 Chronicles 7:3. “When all the Israelites saw the fire come down and the LORD’S splendor over the temple, they got down on their knees with their faces downward to the pavement.”

The awesome presence of God is needed today!   We don’t need more or new programs. We need the FIRE of God!   The conditions God identified to Solomon (vv. 12-15) are prevalent today.   The conditions of Noah’s day are visible today.   The conditions Paul, Peter, and James identified as characteristics of the Last Days are visible today.   What do we do? What did we need?

We need intercessory prayer, repentance, restoration, renewal, and revival that can only come through God’s FIRE!    We need the FIRE that purges out the dross.  We need the FIRE that awes!  We need the FIRE that transforms!   In verses 12-15, God gave the solution, the remedy, and the pathway to victory.

“IF…that’s the key, the catalyst or the entryway – IF my people…”   It is not a change by the unbelievers that sets the revival and restoration in motion; that is secondary.    It is God’s people, those who profess Him, who do several things: they humble themselves, not being humbled, but humbling themselves.   Then, in that state of humility, surrender with Prayer to God.  

• Praying with a Seeking Heart. 
• Seeking to please God. Seeking to manifest Christ in everything.
• Seeking to have the Living Christ manifest in every detail of life.

It’s not just praying a prayer but praying out of a particular condition that brings God’s result.   In that state, we are to repudiate (renounce, reject, and turn from) our sinful practices and our lack of diligence and commitment.   It is then that God gives His promise of forgiveness, healing, and restoration.   It is in that condition that we can expect the FIRE to fall.

In Acts 1, they were in one place, both physically and spiritually, actively praying and seeking God.   In Acts 2, the FIRE fell.   Without the FIRE, we will fluctuate between hot and cold, from enthusiastic to passive. Jesus promised to baptize us with the Holy Spirit and FIRE!

My heart is crying for the FIRE of God to be manifested today.  The world won’t change without God’s people experiencing the transforming FIRE of God.   We will not be viewed as different and have no real appeal to the troubled unless we have the FIRE of God.   The harvest won’t come unless we have the FIRE of God.   Devils won’t bow unless we have the FIRE; they don’t fear or respect religion; they fear the FIRE of God.

How do we get the FIRE?   Reread what I’ve written, and you will see the doorway.   Practice it, and you’ll experience the FIRE Falling from Heaven. In that state of being consumed by the FIRE, we will be transformed and become visible examples of John 14:12, walking in the Isaiah 61 anointing.   The world and the kingdom await the FIRE in us! Victory is ours!

Let this be a day of the FIRE of God manifest in our lives and world. Have a great day, and keep looking up; Jesus is coming soon!