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SPIRITUAL WEAPONS OF WARFARE – – (Part 3) …


2 Corinthians 10:2-6a – “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,” NASB

As we continue to consider the Power of God’s Word and its benefit for the believer, we must not fail to see that The Word of God is Spiritual Food.  1 Peter 2:1-3 – “Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, 2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,   3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.”  In Matthew 4:4 we discover, “…Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”

It is like bread to the diet and must be eaten regularly to do provide the optimum benefit.  It is milk, bread, and strong meant.  It is a complete diet and if we are to progress in Grace, we need the Word of God.

The Word of God Cleanses.  John 15:3 – “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.”  In Ephesians 5:25b-26 – “…Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word…”  It is as we listen to and live the Word, there is an inward cleansing that transpires.  That is through the Power of the Word of God. 

The Word of God Gives Spiritual Victory.  In Ephesians 6:17 we find that the Word of God is called the “Sword of the Spirit.”  The Word of God is our sword empowered by the Holy Spirit to enable us to wage spiritual warfare and enables us to overcome the temptations and lies of the devil.  The Psalmist said in Psalms 119:11 – “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.” 

Jesus used the Word of God against the devil repeatedly.  He used it in each of the temptations in the wilderness.  He used it effectively and powerfully.  1 John 2:14 we read, “I have written to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one.” 

It is a sad commentary that too many believers do not realize the Power of the Word of God in their lives.  It is a Weapon!  It is the Weapon that will enable us to stand after having done all to stand.  It is the Weapon that brings us Victory.  It is the Weapon that makes the devil flee. 

LET’S MAKE THIS PRACTICAL.

We know from the Word of God that faith, healing, the new birth, spiritual nourishment, revelation, cleansing, and spiritual victory is promised in God’s Word.  That makes it an indispensable weapon and asset.  I believe it is vital that the believer understands the difference and distinction between “logos and rhema.”

In the original Greek text of the New Testament, there are two words translated Word.  There is ‘logos’ and there is ‘rhema.’  Logos refers to the unchanging, self-existent Word of God.  Psalms 119:89 – “Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven.”  The Logos refers to the entire written Word of god, the Bible.  It is the complete revelation of God in Scripture.  Rhema is derived from the verb ‘to speak’ in Romans 10:17, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” 

The word in that verse is rhema.  Therefore: Faith comes by the rhema of God.  Rhema takes a portion of the Logos and applies it directly to something in our experience.  It is for a particular time in our lives.  Therefore, our response to God’s spoken word must be to Hear.  The question immediately becomes, “How can we hear the Word of God?”

I will use that as an opportunity to pause and begin again in the next devotional to discuss How we Hear.  So, I ask that you consider what has been presented, stand before the mirror of the Word of God and allow it to feed and transform you.

Blessings as you enjoy this wonderful day in Jesus!

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

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SPIRITUAL WEAPONS OF WARFARE – – (Part 2) …


2 Corinthians 10:2-6a – “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,” NASB

As we consider the Power of the Word and the benefits afforded the believer, we discover in Romans 10:17 that the Word gives Faith.  “So then, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”  God speaks and faith is imparted.   Man hears and faith is received.  Faith is then developed in the heart by hearing the Word of God.

Hearing is not just listening or understanding words.  It is an attitude of aroused interest and hunger to receive and grasp His Power, Person, and Purpose.  For Faith to be developed it is vital that we spend time “hearing” what God is saying not just what He has said.

The Word of God brings health, mentally, spiritually, and physically.  Psalms 107:20 – “[God] sent His Word, and healed them, and delivered them…”  Isaiah 55:11 – “[My Word] shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”  That is powerful.  God if God says that God sends His Word to Heal, then His Word is going to Heal.  That’s a fact!

In Proverbs 4:20-22 we read, “My son, attend to My words; incline thine ear unto My sayings.  Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.  For they are life unto those that find them, and health (or medicine) to all their flesh.”  Hallelujah! 

These verses express plainly the incredible Power of the Word of God to heal.  They heal when we ‘attend’ to His word.  They heal when we ‘incline our ears’ to hear His word.  They heal when we ‘keep’ His word before our eyes or in our thoughts and minds.  They heal when we ‘meditate’ upon His Word and allow them to become one with us and us one with them.  It is at that point that the Word becomes life and provides and produces health and healing.  That is incredible and a promise to be sought after.

A BIBLICAL EXAMPLE.

The Syrophoenician woman came to Jesus asking healing for her daughter.  Jesus said, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and cast it to the dogs.”  Wow!  Jesus equated healing with bread.  Bread is a basic in our diet, something that we eat daily.  Healing is Spiritual Bread.  That healing flows to us through the Word of God.  There is Life in the Word of God to bring physical, emotional, and spiritual healing. 

The Word of God Produces the New Birth (Salvation).  1 Peter 1:23 – “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.”  When the Word of God is sown in the heart of the believer, it grows and brings life to that believer.

The Word of God brings light for our lives.  God’s word brings understanding, guidance, and revelation that we need to live our daily lives.  Psalm 119:130 – “The entrance of Thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.”  When God’s word enters the heart and the mind it brings understanding.  James 1:22-23 describes the Word of god as God’s mirror and brings us spiritual revelation that enables us to adapt our lives to His purposes and plan.

When the believer beholds himself and looks in the mirror of the Word of God, he recognizes the kind of person that he is before God.  The Word of God reveals the positive and the negative.  It shows us what to build and enhance and what needs to change. 

When God looks at us, covered with the atoning Blood of Jesus, He sees the Robe of Righteousness and the Garment of Salvation.  He sees what Jesus did, and our sins are removed from us through Salvation.  The Word gives us the assurance and hope of eternity. 

I want to delve into this deeper but will pause here and ask that you allow the mirror of the Word of God to reveal the true condition of your heart.  If there is a deficiency, then feast on His Word and allow the Power of the Word of God to transform you through the renewing of your mind.

Have a Great Day and walk in His abundant blessings!

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SPIRITUAL WEAPONS OF WARFARE…


2 Corinthians 10:2-6a – “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,” NASB

In life and our Christian walk strongholds can be devastating and are usually quite destructive.  Strongholds exercise tremendous power in the lives of individuals, far more than we sometimes think.  But, take heart Child of God, God’s Word gives us Hope and Help.  God has given us weapons of warfare that work.   In Ephesians 6 the apostle Paul outlines the defensive weapons that the believer is given.

  • The Girdle of Truth.
  • The Breastplate of Righteousness.
  • The Shoes of the Preparation of the Gospel of Peace
  • The Helmet of Salvation
  • The Shield of Faith.

But there is another weapon mentioned in that list that is not defensive but offensive and that is the Word of God!  1 Corinthians 10:3 advises that our weapons are mighty through God to pull down strongholds.

THAT LEADS US TO ASK – What Are Our Spiritual Weapons?

It is obvious from the context of the text that the apostle is speaking of offensive weapons.  I am convinced that at some point in time, every believer has had to ask himself, “What Do I Fight the Supernatural With?  What Are My Weapons?”  I have had believers question, “How can I pull down strongholds?”

There are three primary weapons that we need to focus on and learn how to use and what they are.  They are The Word of God, The Name of Jesus, and The Blood of Jesus.  I cannot emphasize enough that there is explosive power in the Word of God to cast or pull-down strongholds.  The Name of Jesus has innate power in the mouth of the believer.  Revelation 12:11 – “And they overcame him (the devil) by the blood of the Lamb, and the word of their testimony.”  That means that they went on the offensive with the Blood of Jesus!

Today, I want to us to begin a brief journey that hopefully will help us understand the weapons and their power and purpose.  That is an objective that is impossible in a few short devotionals but one that I feel drawn to pursue. 

We will begin with Weapon Number One – The Word of God.  The Bible teaches us how we can make the Word of God work for us in our warfare with evil.  We are instructed in the Bible as to how to attack the strongholds of the devil with God’s Word.  It is impossible to overemphasize the Power of the Word of God in the life of a believing believer.  John 14:23 – “If a man loves me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him.”

Our attitude toward God must be the same as His Word.  We can never argue that we Love God more than we Love His Word.  I suggest that if one wants to know how much God means to them, they should examine how much importance and place the Word of God is given in their life.  I suggest that God means as much to you as His Word.  John 6:63 – “…the words that I speak unto you that are spirit, and they are life.”  That was Jesus’ view of the Word of God.

There is a supernatural power from God that makes His Word a Weapon of Spiritual Warfare.  The Child of God is authorized and expected to use that weapon and it is more powerful than a natural two-edged sword.  There are numerous effects of the Word of God produced in the Life of a Believer.  We will begin listing them in the next devotional but until then, I challenge you to examine the importance of the Word in your persona life.

God bless you and may this day be profitable and joyous for you!

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WE NEED HOPE – – (Conclusion)


Colossians 1:25-29 – “Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, 26 that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations; but has now been manifested to His saints, 27 to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 And we proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, that we may present every man complete in Christ.”  NASB

The question must be asked, “Why do so many, in the Church, live with the world’s Hope rather than the Bible’s Hope?”  One of the reasons is we cling to our experience in the beginning and never move deeper into a relationship.  It is in our history but not our present.  We take about what happened back then.  Why?  Because that’s all we have. Over time we grow bored with the sameness of what we are saying and lose the genuineness of Hope!

I heard about a man who wrote down what had happened to him. He called it “My Blessed Experience.”  He kept it in a box in the attic.  Anytime a visitor would come he would bring it down and read it to them.  He would say, “This is what happened to me!”  One day a visitor came, and he sent his daughter to retrieve his “Blessed Experience” so he could read it to them.  She came down dejected and gave him the bad news, the rats had eaten his Blessed Experience.

Tragically there are countless professing Christians who go to church every Sunday and experience the ritual but not life.  I would suggest that you could leave many churches for a few years and come back and it would be exactly the same.  There would be the same songs, same testimonies, and the same sermons.  They are always trying to recapture their Blessed Experience.  They are trying to remember what happened. That’s all they have, a memory.

In that state of mind, a person looks at the Blessed Hope and it is a wish or a longing but not a current experience in the heart. The Blessed Hope is the consummation of the whole Kingdom of God, not the Great Escape.  Years ago, I stopped singing some of the age-old songs of the church.  Why?  There are many reasons but two are, some of them were defeatist in their message and because I wanted to live with the current reality of Christ in Me. I did not want to live in a memory of what used or a dream of what it will be sometimes in the future when we have the Grand Finale. I wanted a current reality of Christ in me NOW!

When Jesus returns that will be the Grand Finale of what we are supposed to be enjoying as Christians now!  We are in Christ right now!  The eternal kingdom of God is bursting forth in us and out of us, right now!  We have a past, and we have a future and sadly too many view the present as a vacuum or a parenthesis.  It is Christ in Us, the Hope of Glory NOW!

The Hope of Glory is NOW, in this present world!  It is not in the sweet by and by it is in the now and now.  It is today, this is the Day the Lord has made.  The Pardon that God gave us and the interaction with Him through the Holy Spirit is NOW! 

If you remember the parable of the prodigal son, it brings this into reality powerfully.  As he journeyed home, while he was still a great way off, he rehearsed his speech.  He planned to say, “Father, I have sinned against you.  Make me as one of your hired servants.” 

That is fascinating because a hired servant was not a slave or a servant.  The servants live ‘on’ the property all the time, but the hired servants only came at harvest time.  He was basically an odd-job worker, a temp, hired by the day.  He was a Day Laborer!  He was saying to his father, “Dad, I ask you to forgive me.  I’ll go live in the village, and at harvest time, I ask that you give me a job.”  That is all he expected!

But his father ran to him, fell on his neck, kissed him, and forgave him completely.  The prodigal took out his prepared speech and began but suddenly everything changed.  His father would not let him finish.  Instead, he reinstated him as a full son.  This is my son who was lost, dead but now alive.  A whole new life unfolded before him. 

That is what I’m talking about in Hope!  When I came to Jesus, I would have been satisfied with just being pardoned.  But suddenly I discover there was more to this than meets the eye.  Everything that God has promised is mine!  But when I came to Him, I did not know what He had Promised other than Pardon.  He gives, and gives, and gives, and gives!

Believers we must learn to move beyond from talking about the past, the Blessed Experience, and live every day in excited!  We must learn to live in the fullness of God’s Blessings and Promises.  We dare not pitch our tents around Forgiveness.  That is wonderful but not the whole story.  We cannot be satisfied to settle for what God did, we must move our eyes forward to THE HOPE, that everything that God has said is ours!

God’s desire for us is that we enjoy All of His Promises and live as though He were telling the truth, because He is! If God says that He wants to give it, then our Hope and Expectation is that He will!  That is where we are to live as Christians in Hope!  We are the people of HOPE!  We have the positive, unshakeable confidence that what God said He will do!  We are to live in the Excited Expectancy and Eager Desire for “Thy Kingdom Come and Thy Will be Done on Earth as it is in Heaven.” 

WE HAVE HOPE!   God bless you as you embark on a new fuller journey in Jesus!

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WE NEED HOPE – – (Part 3)


Colossians 1:25-29 – “Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, 26 that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations; but has now been manifested to His saints, 27 to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 And we proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, that we may present every man complete in Christ.”  NASB

In considering the Hope of the Bible we are drawn to Abraham.  God promised him that one would come through his seed that would Bless all the families of the earth.  Then, we consider David and see the Promises in the Davidic Covenant.  We examine the prophets and hear them all declare that there was coming one who would bear our sins.  There would be one who was Lord of Lords and King of Kings.  There was one in whose kingdom there would be peace and joy beyond description.  They NEVER had that, but they Hoped!

Generation after generation lived reading the Seed Catalog and rehearsing the Promises.  Hebrews 11 tells us that they all died in faith.  They keep looking ahead.  It was the Hope of Israel.  They uniformly said, “We KNOW He is coming!  We are absolutely certain of that truth.”  Then as they died, they reached out to their children and said, “Don’t Forget, He is Coming!”  It has been passed on from generation to generation.  That is Hope!

In the Book of Acts, we hear the declaration – He Has Come!  The Hope of Israel was finally realized.  He Came!  Paul said, “That’s what I’m doing.  I am standing in judgment because I am declaring that Jesus is the Hope of Israel.  The Messiah has come!”

Please never lose sight of the reality that Jesus’ coming is not to be viewed as only some moment in history.  No, No, No!  He actually came to live inside of us.  He is coming again but now, because He came, we have HOPE!  Israel had a Hope, but they had to wait for generations before it was fulfilled.  But Hope has come!  He lives in us!  Now, because He lives inside of us, We Live in Hope!  Hallelujah, I live in the Hope that everything that I’ve ever hoped for will be realized before I die or before Jesus returns.  I hope you see this because this is Hope! 

You and I, as believers, are among the persons where The Hope has happened.  He is here!  What we have Hoped for is Here!  The Seed of the Woman, Jesus, is here.  The descendant of Abraham, Jesus is here.  The one that Isaiah said would Die for our sins, Jesus, is here!  He is Here and He Is In Us!    That is HOPE! 

Jesus is our Hope that everything that God has promised will come to pass in our lives.  He is our Hope!  He is the guarantee, the certainty, the absolute assurance, and He has come!  Therefore, everything that God has Promised WILL come to Pass.  That is Hope!

Unfortunately, too many Christians live without Hope.  Too many live in a state that could be identified as despair.  Why?  I believe it is because we sometimes live in a vacuum.  What do I mean by that? 

Let me offer this illustration and hopefully, it will resonate and liberate. The way that many Christians look this is, “We are pardoned.”  Most believe that we have been forgiven.  Some have moved a step beyond that position and entered into a living relationship with Jesus through the Holy Spirit.  But, what then?  Too often, we ‘freeze that experience’ and say, “That’s it, I’ve got it!”  We live more in the hope of the world than the hope of the Bible.

I must deal with this yet one more time, but until then we will say, go with God and He will go with you. Have a great day in Him today!

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WE NEED HOPE – – (Part 2)


Colossians 1:25-29 – “Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, 26 that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations; but has now been manifested to His saints, 27 to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 And we proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, that we may present every man complete in Christ.”  NASB

In considering the Hope of the Bible I realize that the Christian is or should be a person of Hope!  We are the persons who can say, “I am looking forward, with great excitement and anticipation, that I will receive what God has promised and I am hoping for.”  Each day we can and should experience a little more of God’s Promises and Blessings.  We are those who can and should refuse to feed depression and despair.

The Person of Hope looks into all their tomorrows, all their unlived future and have the calm assurance that “this is the day the Lord has made.”  That person knows in their heart of hearts that, in God’s perfect timing, He is going to bring to us all His Promises!  That is Bible Hope!  That would make Bible Hope, Faith in a roundabout way.  It is Faith that is shielding its eyes against the sunlight of adversity and shouts, “I can see it!  I can see it!”

Let me illustrate it using farmers or gardeners.  They have to live and operate in Hope.  Not the hope that is of the world but the hope that is of the Bible.  Each August or September the gardener will take down their gardening Bible, their seed catalog.  It has in it some of the most amazing pictures of what the promise is.  But when you order it and it arrives it is a blub not the beautiful plant.  Then, that gardener will, with sure and certain HOPE, put that blub in the ground.  Why?  Because they believe the promise of the book.  What do they have as evidence?  The Picture or in our case the Promise. 

That gardener will Hope through the winter months.  They know that under the surface of the soil there is life where they planted that ugly blub.  That is the Hope that we have in Christ.  When I look at my life when I first came to Jesus for salvation.  I can say, “You mean that I am destined to be conformed to the Image of God’s Son?”  I take my seed catalog, the Bible, and read what God has prepared for me.  I do not look at what I see in me, but what the Bible says about the Christ that lives in me and I HOPE!

That Life in me is the Hope of Glory!  When I do that, I discover what Christianity is really all about.  It is Hope!  We live in a continual and perpetual state of excited anticipation.  No matter what adversity comes, that Life in us cannot be destroyed by external circumstances.  It is Christ in us, the Hope of Glory!  Everything He has said “IS” going to burst forth and we will be what He said we are.  That’s Hope!

I contend that Hope is seen from the first pages of the Bible.  In the Book of Acts, Paul was arrested because he said that Jesus was the Messiah.  He contended that the Promises of God in the Old Testament were fulfilled in Jesus.  He stood before the tribunals of man and three separate times, he referred to why he was there.  In Acts 24:15, he referred to the Hope that he had from God.  In acts 26:6, he referred to the Hope of the Promises made by God to the fathers.  Then, he said, that he was there for the Hope of Israel. 

What is he talking about?  If you go back to Genesis 3:15 you find that God made the Promise that one day, there would be the seed of the woman.  That seed would crush the head of the serpent, the devil.  That looked incredibly remote and far-fetched at that time.  Adam and Eve had just come out of the Garden of Eden, having rebelled against God.  They were sensing the pressure of sin, the darkness of separation, and the rottenness of their condition.  The reign of the devil was hovering over them.  God says, in that situation, “One day, the seed of the woman…” 

That is all they had to hold on to.  It was their gospel.  It was their Bible.  That had that one single promise and they passed it on from generation to generation.  In their horrible condition imposed upon them because of sin, they had a Ray of Hope! 

We cannot stop here but must for this devotional and pick up again next time.  May the LORD bless and keep you and be with you as you enjoy this wonderful day in Him!

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WE NEED HOPE…


Colossians 1:25-29 – “Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, 26 that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations; but has now been manifested to His saints, 27 to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 And we proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, that we may present every man complete in Christ.”  NASB

Hope is a commodity vitally essential in seeing the Big Picture of what God has for us and for navigating the difficult waters of life.  In considering the subject of Hope we must ultimately arrive at what the Bible calls “The Hope of Glory.”  A much better way to say that would be, “Christ in us, the Hope of Glory.”

In our text passage, the apostle Paul identifies the essence of his ministry.  He was saying, “This is what I do.”  Paul was traveling around the world teaching people about Jesus.  His goal, aim, and vision was to prepare every person to reach a state of completeness, perfection, and wholeness.  The essence and content of what he was teaching was the mystery of “Christ in you, the Hope of Glory.” 

What does, “Christ in you, the Hope of Glory” mean?  To discover that we must define “Hope.”  In today’s world, “hope” has a bad reputation.  In some circles, if you say, “hope,” you are deemed to be expressing a lack of faith.  But the word fills the New Testament.  That leads me to believe that we have frequently misused the word.  The world’s use of the word has absolutely nothing to do with the Bible word – Hope!

What is Hope?  One little boy defined saying, “Hope is believing that you are going to get that, which anyone in their right mind knows you are not going to get.”  That, for many people, is Hope.  That is how the world views the word.  When many say that they are hoping they are saying they believe it highly unlikely that they will ever realize what they are hoping for.  For many, it borders on impossible and to the far too many it means they are clinging to a thin thread when all rational expectancy is gone.

I’ve gone into hospital rooms and heard people say, “We can only Hope.”  What they meant was they did not believe there was any rational expectancy left.  That means that Hope has in it a sense of desperation and disappointment. 

Let me illustrate it by asking you to go back to your high school days.  How many of the dizzy dreams and visions you developed have already been shattered and shelved?  How many are completely gone?  What about marriage?  Many enter marriage with the little bluebirds of love and happiness circling in their minds.  Then just a few years down the road they scrap the whole thing and their perfect marriage ends in divorce. What they hoped for is gone.

Hope, as understood by the world and much of the church has a built-in disappointment, because people do not believe it is going to happen.  They are like the little boy and are “believing that they’ll get something that anyone in their right mind knows they’ll never get.”  That’s human hope and it is terrible.

However, that is not what the Bible means by Hope.  The Bible Hope is not only not hopeless it is completely other than that view.  Hope in the Bible means – “That positive unshakable confidence that a specific blessing from God will come to pass.”  That is totally other than the world’s view of Hope.  The Bible view says, “I know with unshakable confidence and certainty that the specific thing that God has said will come to pass.”  Therefore, Hope in the Bible view has a built-in Certainty Factor in it.  The world’s hope has inherent in it, disappointment, and the Bible’s view of hope has a built-in certainty.

Philippians 1:20 in the Amplified says, “My own eager desire, persistent expectation, and hope.”  That’s it!  It is the Eager Desire!  It is declaring, “What God says, I want it!  I expect it, no matter the bleakness of the situation!  I Expect and am determined to Persist!  I know it is going to Happen because God says it and I HOPE!”

I want to continue this but will pause here and say – HOPE is not a lack of Faith but in the Bible, it is a brother of Faith. 

God bless you as you enjoy this wonderful day in Jesus!

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BATTLE TESTED CHRISTIANS…


Psalms 144:1 – “Blessed be the LORD, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle;” NASB

I have contended for a long time that Christians in America are not ‘battle-tested’ and prepared for persecution or the impending troubled waters we are and will be faced with in these Last Days.  It is tragic that we seemingly have become dependent on medicine, science, government, employers, ability, etc. to help us get through life.  We have lived a life of relative ease compared to some others in this world and have not endured the religious persecution known in the Bible.  That is good and it is bad. 

It is good in the sense that in our time of peace and safety we have had the opportunity to provide for ourselves and our families as well as enjoy an unimpeded ability to spread the Gospel.  It is bad in the sense that we have lost some of our ‘war faith’ and have not been ‘battle-tested.’  One of the things the Bible says about how God led Israel through the wilderness was that he took certain paths to prevent them from seeing war lest they become disheartened.  They were not ‘battle-tested’ and he had to prepare their hearts to face the upcoming wars they would fight.

Our God is the same God as the God of Abraham, Joseph, Isaac, Jeremiah, Daniel, David, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Peter, Paul, and John.  He has not changed as is confirmed in Hebrews 13:8. He is the same eternally, yesterday, today, and forever.  In that confidence we have hope.  But that knowledge does not remove the reality that we are not ‘battle-tested.’ 

I have a friend, a minister, who says, “I don’t want anyone with me in a battle that does not have a limp.”  He was referring to Jacob’s wrestling with God all night and God touching his hip.  I have been in natural war and spiritual war and know the value of those who have been ‘tested’ in the heat of battle.  It is comforting and encouraging to know that those with you in the fight will not desert you.  It is comforting to know that thorough their ‘battle testing’ and ‘battle hardening’ they are not overwhelmed by the moment but know how to fight through to the victorious objective.

I encounter people who believe they are ‘okay’ because they are ‘good people.’  One said, “I don’t hurt anybody, so I am okay.”  It takes more than just being considered a ‘good person’ to be in the Family of God, it takes ‘forgiveness’ through repentance.  It requires the ‘new birth’ which can only come through the Finished Work of Jesus and the application of His atoning blood to our sins.  It takes believing that He is and surrendering our entire beings to Him.  

I have whined when a problem came and lingered. Each time after a time of whining, the Holy Spirit convicts me.  It usually comes through an encounter with someone who is facing a more severe trial or a reminder of the plight of Christians in incredible evil areas of this world.  In America, too often, we have lived a life of “soft, unchallenging, and uninspired Christianity.”  We do not have to sneak around to share the Gospel of Jesus.  We don’t have to have church in the shadows and hide from the prying eyes of the authorities.  We have learned to live without being forced to ‘trust God’ for our existence.  We are not ‘battle-tested.’

When Israel was delivered from Egyptian bondage and came to the Red Sea, they saw the pursuing armies of Egypt.  They were terrified.  They had witnessed the miracles of God in their deliverance.  To their credit, when they saw the looming death and destruction coming. they cried to the LORD in their terror.  Thankfully, they had a man leading them that had spent 40 years learning to trust God and empty himself of the ways of man.  Moses said, “Fear not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will show you today…”  That would be enough, but he then prophesied, “The Egyptians you see today, you will see them no more.”  

If Jesus’ victory on the Cross was complete and He totally defeated the devil opening the door to salvation and restoration, then we need to trust Him.  If Jesus has all authority in heaven and earth and He has given that authority to us, then we need to live as though He is telling the truth.  We need to trust Him.  If Jesus is the same eternally, yesterday, today, and forever, we have no reason to fear. 

In the exploits of the heroes of the Bible, the result was the people developed a fear of God, that inspired faith, confidence, obedience, and courage.  It is my prayer that the LORD will ‘train our hands for war’ and help us to be those who ‘having done all to stand, keep standing.’  Our weapons are not natural and cannot be utilized using natural talents and abilities.  They are spiritual and the power and ability to employ them is by the Holy Spirit.

Christians, there is coming a time of darkness but we do not have to fear.  We are not yet ‘battle-tested’ but we can be filled with God’s Love and Spirit and live in complete confidence that He is, He does, and He will. 

God bless you and have a Great Day!

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WHAT DOES GOD WANT FOR MY LIFE? – Part 4…


1 John 4:7-11 – “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”  NASB

The Gospel or the Good News, what is that?  In many ways, the word “gospel” is a useless word in our modern language.  I say that because, by and large, most do not know what it really means.  Many think of it as being the first four books of the New Testament or The Gospels.  The word gospel in the 15th century meant, “the good, glad, merry, news that makes a man fairly leap for joy.” 

When we realize that God loves bad, messed up, rotten, selfish people and would include them in His family and make them His friends – That is GOOD, GLAD, MERRY NEWS that will make a heart leap for joy!  That’s the Gospel.

If the God of the Bible is the kind of God who will come to me and love me and I do not have to earn or deserve His Love that is incredible news and the best word to describe it is GRACE!  Grace means that God gives us that which we do not and cannot earn.  It is the opposite of what we deserved. That’s our God.  Because He “is” Love, He must deal with us in Grace.  Everything He is to us, people who do not deserve His Love or Mercy is Free and can never be earned.  It is GRACE and that’s the GOSPEL!

God gives, not based on what we have done.  It is not through something in us.  It is because He IS who the Bible says He IS.  The only thing that we can do is respond to His love and say, “thank you.”  When we do that, we discover that He means it and we can relax and rest in that reality and know “I’ve Got It!”  That is the Good, Glad, Merry News – THE GOSPEL!

God is Love and acts in Grace and my response must be in Faith.  It is not us trying to be better, we would never be good enough.  It is not our trying to do good.  It is Faith!  It is simply saying, “Thank You!”  When we do that a miracle takes place and we are ‘born again’. 

But what happens in this ‘rebirth?’  We are birthed into the Family of God.  What is the character of God’s Family?  It is LOVE!  Therefore, the Love that God is comes into us and we are new people – That’s the Gospel.  That’s the Good News!

To demonstrate just how much man needs this, God threw in an extra ingredient that has confused many people.  God put in the Law at Mt. Sinai and took it out at the Resurrection of Jesus.  He gave the Ten Commandments.  Well, it looks like ten, but I suggest it is truly only one.  Later in the Book of Leviticus, He boils it down to two, “Love the LORD with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself.”  That’s the nuts and bolts of it.  If we love our neighbor we won’t murder, steal, slander, etc.  Love handles all that.  The commandments are simply manifestations of God’s Love. 

You may manage the first nine without love but not the last one.  “Thou shalt not covet…”  Covet gets to the motive and it means that you do not even want to.  To fulfill that commandment, we have to find something that will make us ‘not want to.’  That’s Love!  When you love you will not want to hurt your neighbor.  You will want to do the opposite and bless them.  That’s where man has totally failed.

Consider Israel at Mt. Sinai and hopefully, this will become even more clear.  God sent Moses down the mountain to see if the people really understood what they were getting into in His covenant.  They insisted that they did and would do everything God directed.  Moses went back up the mountain and told God, “They understand.”  God sent him back three times, and in thirty days, they’d blown the whole thing.  They did not understand.

God gave the Law to show them and us just how much we need for Him to take over and produce Love in us.  He gave the commandments to illustrate the futility of trying to keep them.  Have you ever noticed that the more you try to keep them the worse you fare in that effort?  The Law stirs up sin.  The Law was never given as a way to salvation.  It was given to drive us into a state of despair and a sense of helplessness. 

We find ourselves steeped in sin and we see that the Law is pointing to Love.  We think in our hearts, “What a marvelous idea.  I wish I could do that.”  Man is forced to admit that a Society of Love is what we need, but he does not have it in his heart.  He wants the entire world to love but selfishly wants to continue in his selfishness.  Thus, man is plunged into despair. 

There is a solution and we will address it in the next devotional but until then, walk in the Love of God and let His love be shed abroad in your hearts by the Holy Spirit. 

Have a Great Day!

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WHAT DOES GOD WANT FOR MY LIFE? – Part 3…


1 John 4:7-11 – “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”  NASB

Let’s get back to defining Love.  If God loves like we love what would happen?  He would come to us and would never find anyone who is “in His class.”  That would be impossible.  That would mean we are out of luck in having Him Love us.  If God were to love someone, not in His class, he would no longer be God.  That is a major dilemma.

God would not only not find anyone in His class, but He would find people that are disharmony with Him.  We do not jell with His holiness and love. We are selfish.  We like being that way and have no real intention of changing in our natural state.  We do not mesh with God, in our natural state.  There is nothing in us that God can respond to and cause Him to say, “That is the Best Person I know!” 

Therefore, if God loved as humans love, then we would all be finished.  There would be no hope.  Sadly, that’s where the religions of the world are.  That is the kind of God they serve.  Let me relate a story that a missionary shared that illustrates this powerfully.

He asked a tribal witch doctor, “If you were to preach to me, your faith and I were to come to you with a problem, how would you tell me to reach the Most High God?  I know that you believe there are many gods, but the Big One, the Most High, how could I reach Him?”  The witch doctor said, “That is a problem, because the Big One, the Most High God is not interested in you, because you are not good enough for Him.”  That’s the view of many religions in this world and sadly, some Christians live as if God is not interested in them.

We say it in a much more sophisticated manner, but it is said in churches all across this land.  We have been taught that we are not ‘good enough’ for God.  Therefore, He is not interested and we many feel that they have to work, labor, and struggle to become ‘good enough’. 

Once I understood the biblical definition of the Love of God, I immediately realized that our definition of human love is useless in describing God’s Love.  God’s Love is utterly other than our kind of love.  It is not even in the same family.  When the Bible says that “God is Love” it means that He does not reach out to His class.  No, He reaches down to EVERYONE!  Human love reaches up to those they count the most beautiful and the best.  Human love reaches out to they almost bend the knee in worship.  But God reaches down to people that are clearly unworthy of ever being loved by Him. 

That makes no sense but that is the truth of God’s Love!  If we say that God loves good people and makes them His friends that is not a revelation.  That is taught by virtually every religion in the world.  But in Christianity, we say, “God loves the bad, messed up people and makes them His friends.”  That is amazing!

It is almost beyond belief that the Holy God who is Love makes His best friends out of unholy, bad, messed up, rotten, and selfish people.  That is GOOD NEWS!  That is the Gospel, the Good News.

I need to discuss what the word Gospel means but will hold that for the next devotional. 

May the blessings of the LORD overtake you and enrich you on this wonderful day in Him!

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