Deuteronomy 4:9 – “Again, however, pay very careful attention, lest you forget the things you have seen and disregard them for the rest of your life; instead teach them to your children and grandchildren.”

As I read, prayed, and mused on the Word of God today, forgetting became the focus of my heart.   Forgetting?  We know God is the creator.  We know He is Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnipresent.  We know that our salvation comes through Him. We know the great truth.

That makes the directive of Deuteronomy 4:9 very interesting. “Only take heed for yourselves, and keep your soul diligently, LEST you forget the things which your eyes have seen, and LEST they depart from your heart all the days of your life; but declare them to your children and your children’s children.”

The danger is that, as God brings us into His purposes and blessings, we fail to remind ourselves and express our appreciation, which leads to self-reliance and our hearts turning from God. 

Deuteronomy 8:11-14 is germane.“Take heed LEST you forget (fail to hold in the forefront of your mind) the LORD your God, in (by) not keeping His judgments and His statutes, which I commanded you this day…”

Failure to continue doing what God commanded opens the door to self-reliance and drifting from God.  Deuteronomy 11:20 gives a plan to keep God and God’s work before us. “And you shall write (inscribe) them (God’s commandments and provisions) on the doorposts of your houses (hearts), and upon your gates (eyes, ears, minds).”

Jesus said we are to be careful what and how we hear.  The Bible teaches that what we focus on, we become, and it controls us.  Are we forgetful? Has forgetfulness been seeded in our hearts?  If we keep God’s promises and provisions before us, we become grateful in our surrender and commitment.  He says we are – OVERCOMERS!

We need to remember not forget! Daily rehearse Who God is and What God has done for us personally. Victory is ours!

Lord, help us to remember not to forget!

John 21:15-17 – “Then when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these do?” He replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.” Jesus told him, “Feed my lambs.” ¹⁶ Jesus said a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.” Jesus told him, “Shepherd my sheep.” ¹⁷ Jesus said a third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was distressed that Jesus asked him a third time, “Do you love me?” and said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.” Jesus replied, “Feed my sheep.

As I prayed, read, and pondered the Word of God today, the exchange between Jesus and Peter in John 21 filled my thoughts.   I wonder how Peter felt when Jesus asked him basically the same question three times.  I thought about the times the Holy Spirit has brought the same thought or question to my heart and my responses to it.

Jesus asked Peter three times, “Do you love me?” (John 21:15–17). As I reflect on the manner in which Jesus dealt with people, I realize that He was laying a foundation for life. He was reminding Peter of his own inadequacy and the need to have the adequacy of Jesus filling his heart and mind daily.

By asking Peter, “Do you love me?” three times, Jesus emphasized the importance of Peter’s love and unswerving obedience to his Lord as necessary for Peter’s future ministry.

Jesus asked Peter about His love for Him, and each time Peter answered affirmatively.  Jesus did not simply ask a question and let it go; He added instructions for life and ministry that flowed from Love! I believe that Jesus was revealing to Peter and to us that “if” we truly love Jesus, we will desire to care for His followers.

It is possible that by His repeated question, Jesus was subtly reminding Peter of his three denials.  Peter’s confidence had to be at an all-time low after his failure! I am convinced that Peter wondered if the LORD asking him three times was a reminder of his failure. After the third question, Peter was totally emptied of all self-confidence. It was there that Jesus could renew and restore him.

There is also an interesting contrast when you look at the Greek words for “love” used in John 21:15–17.  When Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?” in John 21:15–16, He used the Greek word agape, which refers to unconditional love. Both times, Peter responded with “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you,” using the Greek word Philéo, which refers more to a brotherly/friendship type of love.

I believe that Jesus was trying to get Peter to understand that he must love Jesus unconditionally in order to fulfill his purpose and live the Christian life. The third time Jesus asks, “Do you love me?” in John 21:17, He used the word Philéo, and Peter again responds with “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you,” again using Philéo. The point in the different Greek words for “love” seems to be that Jesus was stretching Peter to move him from Philéo love to agape love.

Whatever the reason for the three-fold “do you love me?” question, Jesus was impressing on Peter how important his new role of tending the flock of Christ’s followers would be. When someone repeats instructions to us over and over, we quickly understand that it’s extremely important for us to heed them. Jesus wanted to make sure Peter understood this vital charge He was giving him and the ultimate reason for it: to follow Him and glorify God (John 21:19).

The question for us is, “Do we Agape or Phileo Jesus?”   If we Phileo Him, we will be in danger of crumbling in trouble, but if we Agape Him, nothing can move us because we have Him in us, with us, and living through us. We know (yada) Him and have become One with Him, and in that condition of being one with Him, we draw from His strength.

If we Agape Jesus, we will Agape His followers too! If we Agape others, we will not seek to expose, harm, or destroy them, but see them restored, renewed, and regenerated. We will be willing to die for them, even when we disagree with them. We will empty ourselves of self and fill our hearts with Him!

Do you Agape Me? That is the question I hear the Holy Spirit asking. If you Agape Me, then why? Why? Why are we not showing it consistently, and why do we let other people get under our skin? Why not give them to Jesus and love them in intercession?    Do You Love Me? God loves you, and so do I!

Lord, help us to love You and love others as You love them!

Joel 2:28-29 – “It will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions. 29 “Even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.”

As I prayed, read, and pondered the Word of God today, I heard, “The Outpouring that is needed.” Then the Holy Spirit directed my heart to the Book of Joel 2:18-29

Let me take an approach that hopefully you can agree with, regardless of your particular theology regarding the ministry and manifestation of the Holy Spirit in this hour. Maybe you do not believe our world is in moral decline, but I do believe you realize that an infusion of God’s love, presence, and power would not be a bad thing, right? I hope so!

Regardless of your views on the timeline of this passage or when or if this has transpired in human history, we need an infusion of God’s Spirit in the hearts and lives of people today. That would be true of any generation, but as I see it, it is especially true of this generation. This passage is reflective of God’s Redemptive Heart and Nature. He wants mankind to be restored to right relationship with Him.

What would our world be like if there were a spontaneous and widespread outpouring of God’s Spirit into the hearts and lives of people everywhere? What was it like in your life when you first came to Christ? Some have told me that they came to Christ so young in life that they have never really known anything but being a Christian.

That was not the case for me. I went to Vietnam believing in God (not a Christian but believed God existed), but now I am walking with God (born-again). I had observed people in church doing and saying things that were so out of character with what I understood God to be that I allowed the deception of the devil to prevail, and my attitude was, “If those people are going to heaven, God cannot send me to hell.” That is a very wrong philosophy! But then that was a judgment that came out of youthful observation of people attending church regularly and professing to be Christians.

When the Holy Spirit arrested my heart and brought me to the conclusion that I was lost and headed to Hell, I was mortified, and depression became the norm of my thought processes. I was convinced I had broken too many commandments and done too much to be forgiven. I was lost and knew it, but I was convinced I had no hope.

Thankfully, there were those who knew better, engaged in intercession, and continued to chip away at the hard outer layer I had developed. God used them to break the granite of my heart, and through a simple passage of Scripture and the outpouring of God’s Spirit and Love, I was brought to the place of repentance and reception of Christ.

The moment I received Christ, I felt a weight of epic proportions lifted off my shoulders, and I felt lighter than air. Some testified that hearing my testimony made them feel the same way. It was not me; it was the Spirit of God! Things dropped out of my life and out of my language that I gave no thought to or effort to remove, but the Holy Spirit took them away.

I know what it is to have the Holy Spirit poured out into my life and the immediate and long-lasting impact that it has. So, I cry out for God to pour out His Spirit upon All Flesh! I pray for a revival and renewal to transpire in this world. I long for GOD!

Lord help us to receive what we need!

Numbers 13:30-33 –^“Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses, saying, “Let us go up and occupy it, for we are well able to conquer it.” ³¹ But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against these people, because they are stronger than we are!” ³² Then they presented the Israelites with a discouraging report of the land they had investigated, saying, “The land that we passed through to investigate is a land that devours its inhabitants. All the people we saw there are of great stature. ³³ We even saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak came from the Nephilim), and we seemed like grasshoppers both to ourselves and to them.”

As I read, prayed, and mused on the Word of God today, the thought, “What Do You Fear?” flooded my mind. 

Reading in the Book of Numbers, many things came to light.   Israel went from the joy of miracles to the annoyance of perceived lack.  The miracles didn’t keep them satisfied.  They were not unlike people today.  Many expect the life of faith to be a life of ease. 

People have a tendency to remember and even long for the world.   The thought is, “it may have been hard, but…”  

In Numbers 13, God instructed Moses to do reconnaissance of the land and the people.   He wanted to give a visual of the land to confirm His promise of a land flowing with milk and honey (fertility and abundance).  No promise is without a potential problem.   The occupants would reveal the heart of the people.  What would they see both with their eyes and their hearts? 

They saw the land as being everything God said it was.  That was the foundation for faith.  God told the truth.  If God told the truth, then we can trust Him.   The 10 saw the land, but the problem outweighed the promise.   When the visual becomes more powerful than the promise, rebellion, rejection, fear, and doubt prevail.   Fear of the giants negated their confidence.   They trusted what they saw more than what God had said and done. 

In Numbers 14:8-9, Joshua & Caleb saw the unseen.   Perception sees the present and allows fear to rule.  Faith sees the unseen.   Faith and fear are like oil and water – incompatible.

The question for us is, “What do we see?”  What we SEE shapes what we think, believe, and do.  In Numbers 13:33, the 10 said, “There we Saw Giants, the sons of giants, the descendants of giants, and we were in their sight like grasshoppers, and so we were in their eyes.”   The multiple mention of giants reveals their focus.   It produced a perception rooted in fact but devoid of faith.   Their faith was in what they saw.  

Joshua & Caleb’s faith was also in what they saw.  They saw the promise and the God of the promise.   They were convinced that if the land was what God promised and remembered their deliverance from Egypt and the miracles, THEN the giants were not a problem.  

In life, it all boils down to what we SEE and the eyes we trust.  Eyes of faith or eyes of natural sight.  Perception or Promise.    Victory or defeat is in what we SEE!   What do we see?

Lord, help us to see with our eyes filled with you, not fear!

2 Corinthians 2:11 – ^“So that we may not be exploited by Satan (for we are not ignorant of his schemes).”

Today, my heart and mind are drawn to the Cross, the Kingdom, the Enemy, and the Conqueror!  The reality of what God has done causes my heart to swell with appreciation and out of that a depth of love that is inexpressible.

In thinking about the events of the Cross and the Resurrection, I feel compelled to consider what the devil tried to do and what he desires to do. The enemy of our souls seeks to pervert God’s purposes and prevent us from entering into the fullness of God.

The Evil One seeks to pervert and prevent, but God has provided us with a pathway to fullness through the Cross and the Resurrection! We are engaged in a Real War with a Real Enemy.  That could be and often is frightening to many, but remember, we are not left defenseless but have been made ‘more than conquerors’ through Jesus.  We have been authorized and empowered to pull down strongholds, set captives free, and enforce the victory of Calvary in this present world at this present time! That is Good News!

But there is also Bad News! What is the Bad News? It is that too many who profess faith in Jesus do not know who the enemy is, and some believe him to be mythical. Too many know very little about the enemy and are thereby deceived and defeated because they are ‘ignorant’ of the devil’s devices, schemes, and tactics.

Satan’s Target is the Mind: (2 Corinthians 11:3; Colossians 3:9-10; Ephesians 4:17-24; Romans 12:2). God is in the business of Renewing Minds and thereby releasing the Fullness of His Power and Glory on Earth.   Luke 17:20-22 is incredibly revelatory about the Kingdom of God.

Many have made the Kingdom of God an event or a system, but Jesus said it is“in us.” Christ “in us” is the hope of Glory. Christ, “through us,” is the release. Christ “with us” is the manifestation.  We need to guard our minds and filter what comes in. In essence, Paul said in Philippians 4:8 – “If it is not true, do not let it enter your mind. Don’t give it the time of day!”

Our minds can reach into the past through memory and can reach into the future through imagination. Our thinking affects how we feel and thereby affects our will. Proverbs 23:7 – “For as he thinks within himself, so is he.”

Doctors tell us that we are what we eat. Psychologists tell us that we are what we think. The devil knows the incredible power of the mind and has made our thought processes a major target. If Jesus becomes LORD of our Minds, He will become LORD of our Hearts, and as LORD, He will lead us into the fullness of His purposes. The Resurrection made that possible.

I encourage each one to determine that we will give Jesus our all and dare to believe that Everything He said is True and that we, too, can do what He did and manifest the Kingdom in this World.  We are the Body of Christ, and Christ is ‘in’ us. If He is ‘in’ us, then the Kingdom of God is present because we are present. Let’s not just theorize!

May your day overflow with Joy and your mind with awareness of God’s Presence!