Month: October 2018

Are You Under Attack?

Are You Under Attack?

Are you aware that you’re under a spiritual attack of some sort?  It may not look like it’s a spiritual battleground at first glance—but make no mistake, it IS a spiritual battleground!

Is a neighbor causing trouble for someone in your family?  Are things happening at work that just aren’t right?  Have financial stresses come out of nowhere?  Have you received a sudden, serious medical diagnosis?  Or maybe it’s an unexpected hostility between two of your adult children . . .

If any of these things sound familiar to you, realize that the origin of most negative scenarios like these is the evil one.  (Joh 10:10)  The Good News is that Jesus, our Lord and Savior is our solution in each and every circumstance!

“For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, but My lovingkindness will not be removed from you, and My covenant of peace will not be shaken,” says the Lord who has compassion on you.  (Isa 54:10 NASB)

God says that His lovingkindness hasn’t been removed from you nor has His covenant of peace with you been shaken.  Hallelujah!

“If anyone fiercely assails you it will not be from Me.  Whoever assails you will fall because of you.”  (Isa 54:15 NASB)

This reassures us that evil attacks upon us, regardless of their nature, never come from God.  But He guarantees us that the attack and attacker will fall and be absolutely defeated.

If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him.  For the temple of God is holy, which temple YOU ARE.  (1 Cor 3:17, emphasis added)

In this verse from the Bible, God says plainly that He will destroy the one who attacks His temple; we are His temple.

Even the captives of the mighty man will be taken away, and the prey of the tyrant will be rescued; for I will contend with the one who contends with you, and I will save your sons.  (Isa 49:25 NASB, emphasis added)

Lastly, the Scripture above declares that God will oppose the one who dares to oppose YOU.  All glory to God!  Put your hope, faith, and trust in Jesus; and rest in His love and His mighty power.

Walk Circumspectly

Walk Circumspectly

See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise . . . (Eph 5:15)

What does it mean to walk circumspectly?  Circumspectly means:  cautiously, warily, vigilantly, watchfully, guardedly, and with awareness. 

So about what should we be so cautious and wary?

  • Do not call upon other gods or let their names be heard on your lips. (Ex 23:13)
  • Be shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves. (Mt 10:16)  Shrewd means wise.
  • Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature. (1 Cor 14:20)
  • Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. (Phil 1:27)
  • Continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives. (Col 1:9)
  • Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. (Col 4:5)
  • Walk worthy of your calling. (Eph 4:1)
  • Be a light in the world. (Mt 5:16)
  • Allow the love of God for you, and for mankind [collectively and individually] to guide your life.

It is by faith that we see spiritual realities (Heb 11:1); but if we’re too tied into earthly or material things, it can dim our spiritual vision. 

Allow your “spiritual spectacles” to stay firmly in place as you make every decision in your life, whether it’s a physical, financial, or relational matter with which you’re dealing.  Trust God to lead you and guide you, and to provide grace in every season, department, and sphere of your life. 

He has promised that He’ll never leave us.  (Heb 13:5)  He will never fail us!  (Ps 89:33; Zeph 3:5) 

Love never fails.  (1 Cor 13:8)

You Are God’s Temple

You Are God’s Temple

Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?  If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.  (1 Cor 3:16-17)

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?  (1 Cor 6:19)

And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”  (2 Cor 6:16 – emphasis added)

The Word of God tells each and every believer, “You are the temple of the living God.”  That’s pretty mind-blowing, right?  Yes, we may accept it as fact that the Spirit of God indwells each one of us, but have we really thought deeply about it? 

The physical, earthly temple of the Israelites had three parts:

  • the exterior of the structure and outer court;
  • the holy place (which the priests, alone, could enter), and
  • the Holy of Holies within the veil that could only be entered once a year.

We also have three parts: 

  • Our body, the exterior part;
  • Our soul where our minds, emotions, and will reside; and
  • Our spirit, our inner heart—where the Spirit of God dwells and through which He works His works and sanctifies us wholly.

With respectful and joyful confidence, we need to ponder this mystery.  The Spirit of God will direct our thoughts, actions, and lives if we will lovingly yield to Him.  If we will obediently learn to be sensitive to the inner voice of the Spirit, He will unveil the mysteries of our faith to us.  He will commission us to serve Him, and to serve others in the name of Jesus.

The Holy Spirit is our guarantee of relationship—belonging.

. . . who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.  (2 Cor 1:22)

In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise . . . (Eph 1:13, see also Eph 4:30)

We are sealed with the Holy Spirit.  This seal identifies us to angels and demons as being children of God and anointed by God—set apart unto Him.  We belong to God; we are His prize and His possession.  Take some time to ponder this truth, and to revisit it from time to time.  You are blessed!

It’s Far Better to Trust God than Man

It’s Far Better to Trust God than Man

The Bible says outright that it is immeasurably better to put our trust in God than to rely upon any human being.

It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.  (Ps 118:8)

Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the Lord.  (Jer 17:5)

The Lord shares His wisdom with us from His Word.  It’s simply a matter of believing and trusting in what we read there!  The scriptures tell us that the one who trusts man more than God is cursed.  May that never be the case!

The Word reminds us to trust in the Lord completely and not to rely upon human reasoning or understanding.  As we look to our Savior and trust in Him, He’ll give us direction and guidance, as well as miraculous answers to prayer.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;  in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.  (Pro 3:5-6)

He will bring us through to victory.  (1 Cor 15:57)

There are a number of good, practical reasons to trust God completely rather than man.  I’ll share some of them with you.

  • God doesn’t lie. (Nbrs 23:19)
  • God cannot fail. (Josh 23:14)
  • God has limitless power. (Job 36:22 TLB; Ps 147:5 ESV)
  • God never forgets a promise. (2 Pet 3:9 AMP)
  • God doesn’t change. (Mal 3:6 KJV; Heb 13:8)
  • God is all-knowing. (Isa 40:13-14; 28 ESV; Job 28:24 ESV; Ps 147:5 ESV; Col 2:3)

When you’re facing a difficult or frightening situation, especially when there seems like no way out and no one capable of helping, put your hope, trust, and faith in the Lord and in His Word. 

Safe in God’s Secret Pavilion

Safe in God’s Secret Pavilion

Have you had a circumstance where people were speaking evil reports about you—and they were untrue?  Are you aware that somehow you’ve made an enemy at work and that person is making plans to undermine you?  Has a close relative or friend turned against you for no apparent reason? 

Do you realize that God has a safe hiding place for you that will protect you while He works on your behalf?  This hiding place exists within your heart and mind.

You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the plots of man; You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.  (Ps 31:20)

You will be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, and need not fear destruction when it comes.  (Job 5:21)

For in the day of trouble He will hide me in His shelter; He will conceal me under the cover of His tent; He will set me high upon a rock.  (Ps 27:5)

You are my hiding place. You protect me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance.  (Ps 32:7)

You are my hiding place and my shield; I put my hope in Your word.  (Ps 119:114)

Psalm 32 says that the Lord surrounds us with songs of deliverance.  God says that He will rescue you, and set you free from these types of situations!  Thank the Lord!

In the secret dwelling place of God, the holy of Holies (the inner sanctuary of God’s tabernacle), we may relax in peace because we are secure in the knowledge that God is our protection.  In this state of mind and heart, we are free to pray in faith and to ask the Lord to help us and to give us His wisdom, revelation, and insight into our situation. 

He promises to hear us when we call, and to answer! (Ps 66:19; Pro 15:29; 1 Joh 5:14)  As Psalm 32:7 reminds us, God has already surrounded us with songs of deliverance—that means that in the spiritual realm where time does not exist, your deliverance is already an established fact.

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  (1 Cor 15:57)

For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.  (1 Joh 5:4)

According to the two Scripture verses above, God gives us the victory through Jesus by the faith in our hearts that is born of God and this gift of faith overcomes the world.  Remember, you have received overcoming faith to stand upon God’s Word and to expect Him to deliver you from evil.  Stand firm and expectant of great things from God.  God bless you.

No Longer a Slave, but a Child!

No Longer a Slave, but a Child!

We used to be, at one time, slaves to sin.  But we are no longer slaves, but are counted as children of God since we’ve accepted Jesus as our Savior and Lord.  We are children of God forever!  Remember that a child of God is also an heir of God through Christ.

And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”  Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.  (Gal 4:6-7)

For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”  (Rom 8:15)

And if we are children, then we are heirs: heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with Him, so that we may also be glorified with Him.  (Rom 8:17)

Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.  And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.    Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.  (Joh 8:34-36)

A reading of the book of Philemon will assist this study very nicely.  Paul wrote to Philemon, who was a believer in Colosse.  One of Philemon’s slaves, Onesimus, had stolen something and run away.  Under Roman law that was punishable by death.

Paul was a prisoner when he met Onesimus; and through Paul’s ministry, Onesimus became a Christian.  Once Onesimus was born again, he was willing to return to Philemon.  Paul explained to Philemon that Onesimus had become useful to Paul and now, Onesimus could also be useful to Philemon. 

Paul proceeded to explain to Philemon that he was sending Onesimus back as a brother in Christ, and Paul added that if Onesimus owed Philemon ANYTHING at all, to charge it to Paul’s account!  Paul made himself responsible for Onesimus’ debt.

In the same way, we were slaves to sin, but Jesus gave His life to pay the account in full for every human being on earth.  Jesus so thoroughly reconciled us to God the Father, that we are now children of God and joint heirs with Christ.  (Rom 8:17)  Glory to God!

In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will . . . (Eph 1:11)

. . . giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.  (Col 1:12 – underscoring added)

Recognize who you are and to Whom you belong.  Step into your inheritance, sons and daughters of the King!

The Weapons of our Warfare

The Weapons of our Warfare

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.  (2 Cor 10:4 – emphasis added)

. . . that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.  (2 Tim 3:14)  As we study the Bible, the Lord helps us to become mature and to equip us for every good work.

Weak men we may be; but it is not as such that we fight our battles. (2 Cor 10:3 NEB)  We don’t have the mindset of being weak; but rather, we fight because we have a supernaturally mighty friend in Jesus, our Savior. 

What are our weapons?  Our weapons are the Word of God; prayer; preaching the Gospel and teaching the Word of God to all who are hungry.

The Holy Spirit is our Helper, and He accesses the power of God on our behalf. (Zech 4:6)

Paul did not use violence; psychological maneuvering; a crusade of lies against his enemies; political power; money; or denominational loyalty as weapons.  Paul used the spiritual weapons that were at his disposal, revealed to Him by God.

The same weapons that were available to the apostle Paul are available to each one of us today.  Pick up the sword of the Spirit (the Word of God) and study to show yourself approved as one who “rightly divides the word of truth.”  (2 Tim 2:15)

Do You Need a “Quick Work” from God?

Do You Need a “Quick Work” from God?

“For the Lord will execute His Word on the earth, thoroughly and quickly.”  (Rom 9:28 NASB – emphasis added) – The Lord promises in this verse to swiftly fulfill His Word fully and in detail!  Hallelujah!

And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.  (Rom 8:27 NIV) – The Holy Spirit intercedes for us in accordance with God’s will—which is the same as God’s Word.

But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.  (Ps 34:10b) – The Lord promises that we will not want for any GOOD thing, as long as we continue to seek Him.

For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.  (Ps 84:11) – This is another verse of Scripture that says we, because we walk uprightly in Jesus, will not want for ANY good thing.  Put your faith in Him and in His Word.

With men this is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.  (Mk 10:27 – see also Mt 19:26) – All things are possible with God.  The word “all” can be defined this way:  “used to refer to the whole quantity or extent of a particular group or thing.”  I believe that the word “all” as it is used here can only be limited by the limits that we place upon God, Himself! 

And Jesus said to him, “’If you can?’  All things are possible to him [her] who believes.”  (Mk 9:23 NASB – parenthesized word added) – God has given to each of His children the gift of faith (Eph 2:8), which makes all things possible to each one of us who believe in Jesus Christ.

And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.  (Joh 14:13-14)  Jesus promises to do WHATEVER we may ask in His name.

(Other Scripture verses to stand upon in faith:  1 Cor 1:20; Eph 1:3; 1 John 5:14-15; Ps 68:19; Pro 10:22; 13:22; & 28:25b.)

Remember that God loves you unconditionally, and that He is your Savior, Redeemer, and Deliverer.  He is committed to you; He is your supernatural Ally!  He is your friend who sticks closer than a brother (Pro 18:24), and He is a very present help in the time of trouble. (Ps 46:1)  He is your Provider (Gen 22:8; 14), and the Mighty God (Isa 9:6).

 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”  (Rom 10:11)

Trust Him with all of your heart.  Don’t rely upon your own understanding, your composure, your refinement, or your worldly wisdom!  Put all of your hope and trust in God’s Word and in Jesus Christ, and you will never be put to shame.  You will be rewarded by the Lord.

Spend Time with Your Family & Loved Ones

Spend Time with Your Family & Loved Ones

Remember how short my time is . . . (Ps 89:47)

But this I say, brethren, the time is short . . . (1 Cor 7:29)

. . . redeeming the time, because the days are evil.  (Eph 5:16)

Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.  (Col 4:5)

We must “redeem our time” according to these Scriptures.  What does this mean?  I believe it means that time is a gift given to each one of us by God, and that He wants us to use it wisely and responsibly.  We must rescue our time from barreness, and improve it for important purposes.  We must seize opportunities as they arise!  Opportunities to do good; to bless our spouses and children, and to spread the Good News of Jesus. 

I’m what’s called a “senior citizen,” and I can testify that decades pass very, very quickly.  You can hardly believe that it has all been spent so rapidly!  When people are on their deathbeds, they may think of the hours and the years that they misspent, and repent of it heartily. 

So no matter how old you are—life isn’t over until it’s over!  Value your time as the precious gift it is, and spend it with those whom you love.  Don’t make the common mistake of getting so busy with life and your unremitting responsibilities that you ignore your spouse, children, and relatives.  Don’t neglect your relatives and closest friends, either! 

You can’t retrieve the time that you’ve missed with your loved ones, and you may unintentionally hurt them by placing all of your attention and energies elsewhere.  So consider this a wake-up call.  It’s time to repent and to turn in the opposite direction.

Reassess your life and your priorities.  Determine today to share your time and yourself (your most precious gifts) with your spouse and children.  Play with your kids; talk to your spouse; share meals with your family.  Play games together, and plan vacations together.  Spend simple time together, and remember to let your family know—in clear words—how very much you love them and love to spend time with them. 

When you’ve done a lot of that, remember to make room to include your close friends into your family events and gatherings.  In this way, everyone will be able to connect, create memories, and to be blessed.