Miscellaneous devotionals of 2024

April 21^st,2024

KINGDOM MANIFESTO FOR ENDTIME TRIUMPH

 There he waits until his enemies are humbled and made a footstool under his feet [NLT]

 From that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool [KJV] 

Hebrews 10:13

In writing the book, ”The Triumph of Christ,” I dedicated a significant portion to the teaching of advanced eschatology. This decision stems from the book being the culmination of my theological studies, following “After God’s Heart,” and because eschatology represents a crucial aspect of biblical revelation that challenges Christians universally. The perspective advocated in the book aligns with pre-tribulation rapture theology. I believe the Bible reveals that the End Times will be marked by dwindling love and escalating lawlessness. Concurrently, those who truly know God will perform great exploits, completing the tasks of the Great Commission and ensuring the Gospel of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ reaches the remotest parts of the earth [Matthew 24:12, 14]. We shall overcome the world before the rapture, which is not merely an escape for a defeated and feeble bride [1 John 5:4-5; 1 John 4:4; John 14:1-3; Psalm 45]. Both Old and New Testament prophecies foretell the Gospel’s triumph prior to the church’s rapture, presenting a paradox in the End Times as despair and hope coexist.

Action 1: Being Yielded to the Will of God

To be part of this End Times army and receive a share in the harvest that the Lord will grant to the church, we must submit fully to His divine and perfect will for our lives. The time is short, the rewards plentiful, and the battle intense [1 John 2:18; 1 Corinthians 7:29-31; Revelation 22:12; Galatians 6:7-10; Ephesians 5:15-16; Ephesians 6:10-18].

Our goal should be to emulate the Master.

Hebrews 10:7 [Psalms 40:7]:

Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come—In the volume of the book it is written of Me—To do Your will, O God.’

Had Jesus not adhered to the Father’s will in every detail of His life [John 5:19; Matthew 3:17], His sacrifice would not have been perfect or a fragrant offering to God at the cross, on our behalf [Luke 22:42; Hebrews 5:7]. Whenever we face a choice between prayer and leisure, we should consider what the books of heaven record about an End Time victorious soldier of the cross. Our days, tears, cultural battles, and arguments for public holiness, along with our good works and even our names, are all recorded [Psalms 139:16; Psalms 56:8; Malachi 3:16; Numbers 25:11; Ephesians 2:10; Jeremiah 1:5; Luke 10:20; Revelation 3:5; Revelation 20:15]. The reprobate and the elect do not follow the same path; the former are guided by a “reprobate mind” towards impurity and rebellion [Romans 1:28], while the latter are led by “the mind of Christ”  towards pleasing God in all wisdom and knowledge [1 Corinthians 2:16; Colossians 1:9-10]. True believers distinguish good from evil [Hebrews 5:12-14], unlike impostors who profess Christ but whose hearts remain distant from the kingdom [Matthew 15:8; Hosea 10:2; Luke 11:52; Matthew 23:15; 2 Timothy 2:19; James 1:8; 2 Peter 2]. Pastors after God’s heart and self-serving shepherds do not interpret or debate Scripture similarly [Jeremiah 3:15; John 21:17; Ezekiel 34:1-12; John 10:13; Acts 20:26-30; Ephesians 4:14]. The persistent and the quitters follow different paths [1 Thessalonians 3:3; Mark 4:17]. What does God’s book say about us? Can we honestly claim that our activities honor and glorify His name?

We must aim to live as Jesus did, placing our faith in the Son of God as taught in Galatians 2:20:

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

The old life is gone; sin no longer dominates us. The new life has begun, richly filled with divine glory. We thrive like the cedars of Lebanon in the house of Adonai, bearing fruits of righteousness like the Juniper virginiana tree at maturity. We follow in the footsteps of saints like the Apostle Paul who faithfully followed Christ, as stated in 1 Corinthians 11:1:

Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.

We should aspire for God to be pleased with our walk, just as He was with Jesus. We can learn from men of God who found favor in His sight:

• Jesus
• Paul
• Peter
• John
• Elijah
• Elisha
• Moses
• Joshua
• Samuel
• David
• Enoch
• Daniel

These 12 men provide guidance for us in these End Times through their diverse perfection, career paths, and challenges. Their scriptures, prophecies, teachings, relationships, and mighty deeds offer a balanced benchmark for facing contemporary challenges. They represent the most inspirational biographies in my view, crucial for preparing us to be part of God’s End Time army as I strive through Christ Our Hope Ministries. We should fully devote ourselves to God like these men, consecrating ourselves to His service so that He may use us to establish His kingdom’s banner across numerous nations. We should desire for the fulfillment of Hebrews 10:13 through our churches, outreaches, and ministries, just as I pray Christ Our Hope Ministries will witness the fulfillment of Joshua 21:45. Jesus patiently waits for every person to repent [2 Peter 3:9], yet He is also prepared to humble every defiant foe of His kingdom. He will accomplish this not through violence, as His kingdom is spiritual [Matthew 26:51-52; Acts 12:22-23]. Knowing that no opponent can withstand Christ encourages the faithful like those in Philadelphia [Revelation 3:8-9], who find that when Christ opens a door, it truly cannot be shut. This is evident in the account of Elymas, who attempted to prevent a proconsul from hearing Paul in Acts 13. In our era, we might be the ones God uses to spark a major revival in America and Europe, to open revival doors in China and India, and to break through resistant regions of the 10/40 window [Isaiah 45:1-3]. We demand that the world prepare for our King. Christianity should be freely debated among world religions, without restrictions on preaching the Gospel anywhere.

We should desire to be the generation that God will use to trigger the rapture of the church and take God’s children home in glory [John 14:1-3; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; 2 Peter 3:12; Revelation 19:7-12]. We should be consumed with and dedicated to seeing this happen in our lifetime. Every generation has believed that eschatological events could occur in their appointed times in history, and it is our turn not just to believe that this is possible, but also, by the grace of the Lord, to hasten that day to see it as a reality. It is a “high calling“—a “heavenly calling“—Philippians 3:12-14, 2 Peter 3:12, Hebrews 3:1. Have we devoted ourselves fully to this? Is everyone seeing our progress toward this mark [1 Timothy 4:14-16]?

This is not something that we would be able to see fulfilled if we are aiming for the quasi-worldly, banal goal of “success” that we hear thrown around in recent years by all and sundry. It is something we can only attain if we are truly aiming for the #TriumphOfChrist [Psalms 110:1-3], with all the attendant sacrifices we will have to make. It is possible that in our generation, which I am going to call ‘The Joshua Generation’, EVERY nation will OPENLY accept Christianity as the rule of life. I came to this conclusion while reading Matthew 12:20-21 as part of Christ Our Hope Ministries’ vision casting many years ago. In short, it says that in addition to Christ bringing judgment to victory, in His name the nations will put their hope. Why wouldn’t the nations want the hope we have in Christ? His love is sure and a cure for the hatred we see. His truth is unchangeable, a much-needed escape from the whims of man and the oppression of tyranny. Even His economic principles we read in Proverbs and Deuteronomy are more reliable. No country can reasonably claim to have discovered better alternatives. Do we know of any nation today that is without billion or even trillion-dollar debts [Deuteronomy 15:6; Deuteronomy 28:12-13; Proverbs 22:7]? No! Why? Because modern nations have rejected the Lord’s laws, and He has closed His storehouses of abundance that would allow them to be debt-free because of robust economies. There’s more the unreached and pagan nations would want as benefits in the “Desire of all nations” than they will find to be of sacrifice or pain [Haggai 2:7-8]. Often nations think that once they become Christianized, they will lose their indigenous identity, but this is a misunderstanding of what the Gospel intends to create. Christ is the Lord of all, not just the Savior of the West or Israel. No indigenous people of any land will be robbed of their uniqueness because they have embraced the Lordship of Christ. So, because of our faith in the Word of God and the promises He has given, we will win that war. We have no other choice [Matthew 24:14; Mark 16:15-20; Romans 15:18-20].

For this to happen, we understand that we must be found in God’s perfect will in career, businesses, partnerships, marriage, residence, and time management. These and other areas are some of the circumstances that Satan could attack us and prevent us from fulfilling what God wants for us to attain. Remember, everyone has always wanted to see the rapture, but not everyone is an Enoch or Elijah. Those were rare men of God [You may want to see a 2022 devotional on Genesis 5:24, October 22nd, and Hebrews 12:22, October 8th]. We simply have to accept that we must set our desires, wishes, will, and choices aside so that we can embrace divine wisdom, peace, resources, and power. We should want to have God by our side and on our side. This surrender is even stricter for those who aspire to be Bible teachers who teach with authority [Matthew 7:29], prophets, evangelists, and pastors. It is written for those who lead God’s people, like the High Priest Joshua of the Jewish returnees who had been released by Cyrus and was tasked: “Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘If you will walk in My ways, And if you will keep My command, Then you shall also judge My house, And likewise have charge of My courts; I will give you places to walk Among these who stand here‘ “—Zechariah 3:7. The fact is that Zechariah 3 starts with a vision of Satan standing at the right hand of the High Priest to accuse him before God. What sin he had committed to stand accused, we don’t know, but Satan is rebuked by the angel there because Joshua was a brand plucked from Satan’s hellfire. Since Zechariah 3:2 is quoted by Jude 1:23, could Joshua have made himself morally unclean and therefore unable to offer the sacrifices of a High Priest? Whatever sin that was, it was atoned for. But it should serve as a warning that those who want to do great things for God should not want Satan to tell them, “Jesus I know and Paul I know, but who are you?” Satan should henceforth be under our feet and no longer our accuser, because we have decided to be blameless [Revelation 12:10; Luke 22:31; Job 1:11; Job 2:5; John 14:30; 1 John 5:18; 1 John 3:8; Psalms 91:13; Judges 14:16; Daniel 6:22; Philippians 2:12-15]. While the door that Satan used to join the angels and appears in heaven’s council meetings to accuse Job and Peter has been shut by the cross [John 12:31; Revelation 12:10], the devil remains the greatest adversary of God’s people today and understands all the legalities of the kingdom to use against the saints if they are not fully consumed with God’s glory. If anything, he still works through “wanna-be Christians” on earth who are able to articulate in God’s presence what Satan would not be allowed to say before the Father’s majesty. Having a perfect High Priest in Christ who will advocate for us using the merits of His sacrifice is no reason to live loosely and let Satan wreak havoc [1 John 2:1-2; Hebrews 7:25; 1 Thessalonians 2:18; 1 Corinthians 16:9]. We must present ourselves before God without blemish so that He can boast about our standing [1 John 3:21; Job 22:26-28; 2 Corinthians 1:12]. God will honor our words and execute our judgments to the extent we are only submitted to the same. If we are zealous for the purity and power of God’s house in America, Europe, Asia, and Africa, the Lord can entrust us governing and judgment powers to establish His righteousness in those churches, whether we belong to them or not, since His kingdom is invisible and borderless, but this is a trust, not a gift. Our walk must be consistent with what has been entrusted to us [2 Timothy 1:14; 1 Timothy 6:20]. Where there’s rebellion in Christian communities across the world, the church cannot turn back the gates of hell, and those called to judge will fail that battle if they are not living in faith, love, and holiness.

Action 2: Entering an Open Door No Man Can Shut

Despite these considerations, there has never been a time when many Christians, whether in the USA, Europe, Australia, and beyond, have seemed so unsure and uncertain about the church’s ability to maintain its testimony in a dark world. The cause is both internal weaknesses and external pressures. In some places, the churches have split on doctrinal and practical issues. The recent split between the United Methodist and Global Methodists serves as an example. These are only the tip of the iceberg and reveal the overall weaknesses of the church. There have also been efforts from outsiders to influence the beliefs and practices of Christians, often succeeding in secularizing and corrupting the faith of the gullible, greedy, and fence-dwellers who were double-minded to begin with.

However, a clear revelation of Scripture guarantees victory for the church. Here are a number of Scriptures, from both Old Testament and New Testament, to keep in mind when considering the resistance and opposition to the Gospel. They should reassure us that the dominion of the saints rests on a sure foundation and the Triumph of Christ is not a wishy-washy thing, but a divinely inspired message, and guaranteed to be fulfilled with certainty.

• Joshua 10:24, When they had brought these kings to Joshua, he summoned all the men of Israel and said to the army commanders who had come with him, “Come here and put your feet on the necks of these kings.” So they came forward and placed their feet on their necks.
• Hebrews 10:13, And since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool.
• Psalms 149: 5-9, To execute the judgment written against them. This honor is for all His saints. Hallelujah!
• Daniel 2:44, In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.
• Matthew 21:44, Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.
• Acts 17:30, In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
• Acts 14:16, In the past, he let all nations go their own way.
• Matthew 28:18-20, Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
• 1 Timothy 1:20, Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.
• Acts 13:9-11, Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand.
• Luke 10:19, I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.
• Psalms 111:6, He hath shewed his people the power of his works, that he may give them the heritage of the heathen.

Action 3: Just Believe the Son of God

Often, Christians become overwhelmed when discussing the challenges of modern times. During the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant closure of businesses and churches, it was common to detect a foreboding spirit among the faithful. Some of the pessimistic views we observed were justified, while others were mere conspiracies. Although Satan may project an air of authority, this was actually nullified at the cross and was definitively brought under subjection when Christ rose from the dead and ascended to sit at the right hand of the Father. The weaknesses of the churches and pastors are simply due to unbelief. We will perform the works of God expected of us when we fully grasp all the benefits of redemption we have through the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Once we do, we will rest, not fret [John 6:28-29; John 19:30; Hebrews 4:1-11].

Remember this:

Jesus didn’t die as a victim; He died as a Victor.

The cross is not a guillotine; it is the throne of grace.

When He died, He didn’t cry, “I am finished!” Instead, He proclaimed, “It is finished.”

Because the work of redemption was completed!

And the kingdom of Satan was finished!

Indeed, in 1 Corinthians 2:8, we read: None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. The cross was the means through which Christ fulfilled the prophecy of the seed of the woman to regain what Adam and Eve had lost. If Satan had known Christ would triumph through the cross, take the dominion of the fallen world from his dark bondage and transfer it to the Father’s just rule, he wouldn’t have enlisted Judas, Caiphas, and the Roman empire to do his bidding [Colossians 2:15; Isaiah 53:11; 1 John 5:19; John 14:30; Revelation 2:10; 2 Corinthians 4:4; 1 John 3:8; John 12:31; Revelation 12:1-11; Genesis 22:17-18; 1 Corinthians 15:24-25; Ephesians 4:8; Ephesians 3:10; Ephesians 1:17-23; Philippians 2:9-11; Psalms 2:1-12].

The following Scriptures show that the devil and the world that many Christians fear are already defeated:

• Isaiah 27:1, In that day the LORD will take his terrible, swift sword and punish Leviathan, the swiftly moving serpent, the coiling, writhing serpent. He will kill the dragon of the sea [NLT].
• John 12:31, Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
• Colossians 2:15, And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
• Genesis 3:15, And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.
• Genesis 22:16-18, And said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son, blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

Whatever remains to be fulfilled is not a matter of doubtable prophecy or promises, but rather a guaranteed victory that is still in progress:

• Matthew 16:18-19, And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
• Romans 16:20, The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

April 13^th,2024

FAITH TO JUDGE LAWLESSNESS

I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” [NIV]

I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? [KJV] 

Luke 18:8

When Christ, apostle Paul, and apostle John spoke of the last days, they spoke of perilous times of lawlessness [Matthew 24:12, 2 Timothy 3:1-13; 1 John 2:18]. I have observed over the years that this lawlessness has not only increased in the unredeemed world, but it has also slowly creeped into the church and increased in those who claim to be Christians. The fact that the fallen world would be ungodly is obvious. If people do not have Jesus Christ in their hearts, what would make them immune from this prophesied chaos ? The question is, why should those who name the name of Jesus as their Redeemer refuse to turn away from iniquity [2 Timothy 2:19] ?

When you read Paul’s prediction of what people would become like in 2 Timothy 3, you can recognize that some of the “Christians” you have known have been that way.

• Lovers of themselves- not understanding self-giving sacrifice ? Check-✔
• Lovers of money- putting it before relationships ? Check-✔
• Proud- Of their worldly achievements and disordered affections ? Check-✔
• Boastful- Flaunting their wealth, luxury cars on social media ? Check-✔
• Scoffing at God [NLT]- Pretending they are masters of the universe ? Check-✔
• Disobedient to parents- “Prodigal sons and daughters”- Check-✔
• Ungrateful- Not returning thanks for blessings received ?-Check-✔
• Unholy- defiling of sacred things of God-Check-✔
• Unloving or Heartless [ESV]- “Raca” throwing mouths ? Check-✔
• Slanderous- Saying things to defame other people and calling it free speech ? Check-✔

And this is just to name a few. 

It would be bad enough if these sins existed in their hearts and had no impact beyond what they thought inside their heads. But the love of many will grow cold because of the increase of these things. So, this lawlessness spreads like gangrene [2 Timothy 2:17]. Every unscriptural or unbiblical thing you see and hear is a demon trying to attach itself onto you. If you are not careful, it will soon get into you. Some of these sins lead to real world harm such as unfair litigation in courts like the widow of the Parable from which the above text is extracted [Luke 18:1-8], false balances in courts and ungodly judicial rulings, lost careers, broken marriages and dating relationships, bankrupt businesses, hacked bank accounts, kidnapped children, sex slaves trafficking, political corruption, government authority abuse, “Antichrist spirit” empowerment, discrediting of Gospel ministry, suppression of divine truth, spread of false beliefs, high level fraud, inappropriate dependence on social benefits programs, and violence that leads to bloodshed. So, just like a surgeon is considered compassionate and right when he amputates a gangrenous foot to preserve the upper part of a leg, the saints must understand that the judgment of these putrid sins preserves society. It is the only way to stop their spread and prevent their chilling effects on the hearts of the innocent. 

 While we may enumerate some of  these sins and many people could feel good about themselves that they have not done this or that, John tells us that sin by nature is lawlessness [1 John 3:4]. So, as long as sin is cherished, not crucified, it is allowed to grow unchecked, not mortified, the little foxes will turn into elephants in the room [Song of Solomon 2:15; Proverbs 17:14; James 1:13-15]. Even the holiest of saints still has indwelling sin [Romans 7; Hebrews 3:13]. It must be resisted by abiding and walking in the Spirit. So, even those of us who think we are standing strong should be careful that the lukewarmness and coldness around us do not cause our fire to be quenched and ebb away. Christians lose their joy, faith, and love when they are not being continually spirit-filled. Why did Paul have to instruct the saints, “do not quench the Spirit ?” 1 Thessalonians 5:19. Because what fell on Pentecost was not guaranteed to stay if the Spirit was grieved [Isaiah 63:10; Ephesians 4:30; Genesis 6:3]. Sure, all Christians have the Spirit in them, but how many can say like Jesus that the Holy Spirit is upon them to heal the brokenhearted, cast out demons, heal the sick, and raise the dead [Romans 8:9; Ephesians 1:13-14; Luke 4:18; Acts 10:38; Hebrews 13:8; John 14:12] ? And without the Holy Ghost fire like Peter and Paul had, what do saints have to transform this world better than the rest of mankind could do ? ZERO. Yet, how many times have we seen churches and pastors who discourage the spirit of revivalism and wherever it broke out they rushed to pour cold water on it ? How many times have we seen passion for God mocked, attacked, and opposed by those who claimed to know Jesus ?

Yet, despite all of these things, Jesus said there was hope. 

• There was hope if people prayed for God’s will to be executed on earth as angels do in heaven [ 1 Timothy 2:1-5; Matthew 6:9-13]. 
• There was hope if the saints did not faint [Isaiah 40:28-31; Isaiah 62:7; Luke 11:5-8].
• There was hope if they called upon the Lord, praying without ceasing [1 Thessalonians 5:17; Ephesians 6:18; Jude 1:20; Daniel 6:10]. 
• There was hope if Christians would persevere in prayer [Luke 21:36; Matthew 26:41; James 5:17; 1 Chronicles 4:10]. 
• There was hope if they believed in the Lord Almighty, who created heaven and the earth [Jeremiah 32:17, 27; Isaiah 51:13; Isaiah 7:4; Isaiah 10:24-27; Isaiah 40:15; Mark 9:23; Mark 11:22-24; Hebrews 11:6; Matthew 19:26]
• There was hope because He who did not spare His own Son, but freely gave Him up for us all would also find nothing too good to be true for us, too good to be handed to us, too  amazing to be gifted to us [Romans 8:32; John 14:13; John 15:7; 1 John 5:14-15; 1 John 5:4; John 11:42; Hebrews 7:25; Revelation 1:5-6; Matthew 7:7-11; 1 Corinthians 14:1; 1 Corinthians 1:7; Proverbs 18:22]
• He would be attentive to our cries. He would say that we have not because we asked not [Psalms 34:15; Job 36:7; Psalms 18:6; Psalms 113:7; James 4:2-3]
• He would stretch out His hand to heal sick bodies, deliver those oppressed by demons, and heal the lands where His people have chosen a fast that pleases him and humbled themselves before the throne of grace [ Hebrews 4:15-16; Acts 4:25-31; 2 Chronicles 7:14; Isaiah 58:6-11; Psalms 144:14]
• He would also grant them justice in whatever situations there was a misunderstanding, misrepresentation of facts, obfuscation of the truth, unfair treatment, and a challenge against divine purposes [Daniel 5:12; 1 Samuel 24:12; Genesis 18:25; Psalms 58:11; Genesis 40:13-15; Acts 4:17-20; Acts 9:1-9; Zechariah 2:8;  Jeremiah 12:14; Titus 1:2; Proverbs 14:5; Proverbs 19:5; Numbers 23:19; Judith 8:16; Isaiah 46:10; Acts 5:39; 1 Timothy 1:18; Psalms 89:19; Psalms 43:1; Psalms 31:18; Jeremiah 1:10; Jeremiah 51:20; Psalms 55:11-15; Psalms 73:8-20; Numbers 16:30-33; 1 Peter 4:17; 1 Corinthians 10:22; Romans 1:18-31; Ephesians 5:11]
• He would defend His covenant, build a church against which the gates of hell shall not prevail, and fulfill every promise and prophecy that lifts up the cause of His people, which the devil had said would never come to pass [Matthew 16:18-19; Psalms 149:5-9; Ezekiel 21:15; 2 Corinthians 1:20; 1 Kings 8:56; Joshua 21:45; Psalms 2:1-12; Psalms 110:1-3; Hebrews 10:13; Matthew 12:20-21; Exodus 15:3; Isaiah 42:13; Psalms 82:8].

Yet, despite all of these great and precious promises that God has given to us, when Jesus finishes the parable of the persistent widow of Luke 18:1-8, He asks: when the son of man comes, will He find faith on the earth ? It is like He was astonished that God would be so ready to vindicate His people and yet they would be foolish of heart and slow to believe what the prophets have spoken. What have we done with all of these promises ? Indeed we may ask like Gideon, “O my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.”- Judges 6:13. A question arising out of a confused state for the experiences of the real world that do not match the promises of the Word of God. But we know what would be the answer. Immanuel, God with us, has not left us [Matthew 1:23]. He said “Lo, I am with you always“- Matthew 28:18-20. The question is, do we believe the Lord our God will arise to avenge and give us justice ? Do we believe that if our cause is right, then His judgment will be in our favor ? Do we expect Him to do it speedily ? Even now ? Do we know that we serve a Risen Savior who entered rooms without knocking and is now in our midst ? Do we know that this Judge stands at the door and can storm inside even now ? [James 5:9]

 April 11^th,2024

IMPACT OF BIBLE STUDY AND PROPHETIC WORDS ON OUR LIVES

The benefits of the Bible are undeniable. The Word of God is the very breath of God. It is useful for teaching and training us in righteousness [2 Timothy 3:15-16]. No saint can ever outgrow their need for regular Bible reading, serious study, and iron-sharpening iron in the Word of God in a Christian community. Prophetic words also can be quite powerful in transforming the lives of the saints. In 1 Timothy 1:18, we see Paul linking the fulfillment of Timothy’s destiny to how the latter would wage spiritual warfare to enforce the prophecies “once made” about him. It did not matter how long ago they were made. It mattered that Timothy believed them, prayed through them, and took action. 

Sometimes prophecies that come to us through night dreams can be quite hard to determine that they are from God, but actually the theology of prophetic dreams is quite solid. Scriptures like Joel 2:28, Job 33:14-18, Acts 2:17, Acts 16:6-10, Acts 18:9-10, Acts 27:22-24, Matthew 1, Matthew 2, Daniel 2, stories of Joseph about himself and Pharaoh’s dreams in Egypt, and many others, show us how God has used dreams or affirms that He will continue to use dreams to speak to people. Ultimately, the best test of a good prophecy is the impact or fruit it has on the person who received it either from another saint or directly from his/her own dreams. It’s hard to question whether a prophetic dream is a divine promise when you are dealing with perfection of spirituality itself. We are talking about unusual performance in a holy walk, miracle-producing faith, great joy, peace about the future, purity, wise business and career choices, and all things that can bring one’s life to peak performance. This is similar to what basketball players like Michael Jordan call “THE ZONE” Not every basketball player can be like Michael Jordan and not every Christian lives in the ZONE— when the spiritual, psychological, and physical aspects of a person converge into an apogee—peak experience that can hardly be engineered by human effort. This is the edge that the prophetic can give to us and we should never want to lose, especially when the prophetic dreams God has given to us are challenged, tested, questioned, and doubted. Joseph did not need his brothers to believe in his dreams. He himself would be tested by God because of those prophecies and we read in Psalms 105:19 these words: Until the time that his word came to pass, The word of the LORD tested him. The first part of the verse is translated as till what he foretold came to pass in the NIV while the Berean Standard is translated as until his prediction came true.

Often it is the testing period of the personal prophecies that brings about the success or failure of those prophecies. No personal prophecy, however true, would ever be fulfilled if God has not tested and approved the recipient. There are many reasons why God wants to test us before He can fulfill what He has spoken about our lives, including protecting us from harm if the promotion, provision, and product that result from the prophecy could come between us and him, cause us to become proud, reduce our zeal for his kingdom, or cause any other problem in our walk with Him. These tests are also used to determine our elevation in the kingdom of God, especially for future eternal rewards, and we should be proven faithful in little things if we want to inherit bigger things. That waiting period is most likely to lead to the fulfillment if we use it to build our character, to become more like the Giver Himself, rather than yearn for the possession of the promised gift. A true test of a godly prophecy is how much it will impact us for the better in our sanctification. Are we growing more patient, loving, kind, zealous, honest, transparent, and faithful ? We are allowed to question any spiritual experience whose fruit does not conform us to the perfect image of Jesus Christ. 

When God speaks prophetically, He speaks according to His riches in glory and His outstretched arm that created the heavens and the earth, and therefore we should avoid any temptation to question Him [Jeremiah 32:17, 27]. Response to the prophetic Rhema word of God can determine whether that word will be fulfilled or not. Looking at Luke 1, we see how Mary and Zacharias responded differently to prophetic words about having babies, with one being flabbergasted because of his old age while another said Amen though she was a virgin. She had accepted that “nothing is impossible with God.”  The tendency for humans to doubt what God says is seen in how Sarah responded when she was told she would bear a child in Genesis. We read that she laughed. This is why Isaac was named so, because his name means laughter. To a certain degree, this is what every promise should produce in us. Hope is released in the midst of hopelessness and joy is released amidst sorrows because of the prophetic word.

Paul said “Now these three abide” when he was juxtaposing spiritual gifts and the “more excellent way” of love in 1 Corinthians 12, 13, and 14. He said those three were love, faith, and hope [ 1 Corinthians 13:13]. The evidence of our hope and faith is in the joy of the Lord that oozes out, flows from, and springs out of our hearts because we know that God’s love is as steady as the mountains and His “𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒌𝒚”- Psalms 36:5. Our eyes of faith must “𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝑯𝒊𝒎 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆”- Hebrews 11:27, and our hearts should hold Him close for all that He is, all that He has said, and all we know He is able to do for us. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉- Romans 1:17. The joy that faith has produced throughout church history is unfathomable. Look for example at the joy that filled the city of Samariah when Phillip went to preach the Gospel there [Acts 8:5-8]. However, we are told that these 3 things will also be severely tested in the last days. The love of many will grow cold because of increasing wickedness [Matthew 24:12]. Jesus seemed concerned whether He would find faith on the earth at His return [Luke 18:8]. And the hearts of many will fail them, bringing hopelessness, fear, and anxiety, as they see unfolding events of the last days [Luke 21:26]. So, these three things abide as long as the church is here, but they will be tested as long as we live in a fallen world. The prophetic is given to us to bring comfort and stir up the flame of God to keep these 3 things burning in our hearts, when we believe that He who has promised is also able to perform [Romans 4:17-21; 2 Timothy 1:6-7; 1 Corinthians 14:3]. 

The natural mind is one of the greatest impediments to the wonders that the prophetic can bring about in the church. We are told that the natural person cannot accept the things of the spirit [1 Corinthians 2:14]. They may be set, fixed, stubborn in their old ways that they will not want to change or readjust according to the revelation of the prophetic word. This makes them to lose the potentials of what the Holy Spirit can do in their lives because “the flesh profits nothing“- John 6:63. The outcome of a life led by the eye of the Lord cannot simply be the same with the results of those who try to produce things in their own efforts, desires, and wit [Psalms 32:8, Romans 8:14, John 15:1-5]. Without Christ we can do nothing of eternal significance. God knows the “who, where, why, when, and how” for the perfection of His destiny for our lives, and bring us into that ZONE where all things are possible for us to leave behind a rich legacy of love, faith, and hope. Unfortunately, this is something that is generally missed by millions of Christians either because they do not believe the Holy Spirit can speak to them or give them genuine prophetic words of biblical proportion. When we embrace the prophetic, we will maximize our potential in spiritual, psychological, and physical assets the Lord has deposited inside of us. 

Michael Jordan living in the zone, as compared to other basketball players, is an example that there’s such a thing as a mystical union between the spiritual, psychological, and physical that brings about peak performance in a human being. I am not sure who is the G.O.A.T between Michael Jordan and LeBron James [current 40,017 points, the highest in the history of Basketball]- as I am not an expert in Basketball analysis, but I think that is good enough for us to understand that this kind of performance is rare. Michael Jordan’s peak performance was in the 1990s and it is only in the 2020s that we talk about someone being able to outpace him. Imagine all the basketball games and tournaments that were played in the US, UK, France, Asia, and Africa throughout that time, for someone to emerge to show that this thing, this peak performance, can be done. 

To a certain degree, the prophetic will trigger and release something inside of us that must be linked our kingdom identity. As long as see ourselves as grasshoppers, we will be limited, and we will not be able to enter and take possession of the land that the Lord our God has graciously given to us. Jesus understood the role identity plays in the fulfillment of His destiny, and this is an area that Satan attacked him in sorely, challenging him saying “If you are the Son of God.”  While dealing with the Jews later on in His ministry, Jesus quoted Psalms 82 when He was defending His assertion that He was the Son of God, by reminding the Jews who they were: “𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒅𝒔”- John 10:34-35 [See Psalms 82:6-7]. Interestingly, He also added “And Scripture cannot be broken,” which emphasizes that point even more. What does that mean ? For us who are born again, we know it means that the fact Scriptures declare that we are partakers of God’s divine nature should be taken seriously [2 Peter 1:3-4]. QUOTE: 𝐻𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑢𝑠 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑔𝑜𝑑𝑙𝑦 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑙𝑒𝑑𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑢𝑠 𝑏𝑦 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑔𝑙𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠. 𝑇ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑢𝑠 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑠, 𝒔𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆, ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑢𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑 𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑙 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑠.

• Yet, how many Christians have seen their shadow heal the sick like Peter [Acts 5:14-16]?
• Handkerchiefs that they have touched cast out demons like Paul [Acts 19:1-12] ?
• And were teleported in the Spirit like Philip [Acts 8:39] ?

It is easy to show that even many Christians today are below the standards of the Old Testament prophets like Daniel, Ezekiel, Isaiah, and Moses, when Scriptures declare that they had far less treasures and inheritance in God than the least of all saints is supposed to have in Christ [Matthew 11:11-12; John 14:12; Matthew 13:17; Ephesians 3:8].

Do you know why we don’t see these things happening today ?

• It is not because miracles have passed away like the cessationists would have us believe.
• It is not because the Joel 2:28 was meant for the first generation of Christians only like those who deny prophecy, visions, and dreams would try to claim.
• It is not because Jesus has changed from what He used to be, as obviously that is proof that someone doesn’t know Jesus. It is not because Scriptures have become powerless, since heaven and earth would pass away before the Bible loses its potency.

Rather, it is because apotheosis is no longer believed and practiced in Christianity. It is because Christians are no longer taking advantage of their divine nature participation. It is because many Christians end up in marriages, careers, jobs, circumstances, countries, cities- that are outside of “the zone” that God had designed for them to live in peak performance. It is because many Christians want to apologize for spiritual gifts, divine promises, and God’s anointing in order to appear humble before the church hiring boards, friendship with the world, and looking cool in the midst of a perverse generation.

They are ashamed of the Gospel.

They are ashamed of the power of God.

They are shamed of “𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐”

May we all yield ourselves to the voice of the Holy Ghost that we will know who, when, why, where, and how for us to show the world what to be “gods” looks like. May we command the lame to walk, the blind to see, the dead to rise, and Pharaoh to heed the voice of Jehovah or else.

April 10^th,2024

 UNDERSTANDING TEMPORAL JUDGMENT AND QUALIFICATION FOR ITS MINISTRY

Psalms 107:17-20

𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒍𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒖𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒇𝒇𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒍𝒐𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒘 𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝑶𝑹𝑫 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔. 𝑯𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎; 𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒖𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆.

By July 2024 it will be 9 years since I rediscovered the doctrine of Temporal Judgment and I cannot even begin to say how much it has saved my life. I strongly believe that it is the missing link in the sanctification process of the body of Christ as a whole. The more people understand, embrace, and practice it, the faster we will see the church attain the maturity we desperately need. As I have faithfully taught it, God has expanded my understanding, granted me to see firsthand its effects on me personally, then on a small circle of thousands of Christians I would consider acquaintances, and the whole world at large. My confidence in its necessity, appropriateness, and efficacy has grown as a result. 

In this devotional, we will aim to have a basic understanding of “the how and the why” temporal judgment. This is a vast topic, though probably not as vast as “eternal judgment“- Hebrews 6:2, another topic I covered in the book “Basics of Christianity” as that is considered a foundational doctrine. I see temporal judgment as a way God reduces the costs and pains that some people might have to suffer in eternal judgment, as it convicts them of their errors and brings them to repentance, much faster than a rational approach to appeal to their cognition might be able to achieve. 

In Psalms 107:17-20, temporal judgment is presented as “afflictions.”  This term has a quite wide interpretation and application in Scriptures. For example, when Paul writes “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” in 2 Corinthians 4:17, he means the afflictions that the early church saints suffered as part of their entrance into the kingdom. These are also generally seen as tribulations [Acts 14:22, John 6:33], suffering [Romans 8:17, 2 Timothy 2:12], and persecutions [John 15:20; 2 Timothy 3:12]. All these 6 Scriptures I have chosen for this illustration show that afflictions, tribulations, suffering, and persecutions are necessary, unavoidable, and understandable for the true saints who have been chosen to reign with Christ. First, they are necessary per Romans 8:17 because those who will inherit the kingdom and co-reign with Christ must be proven fitting for that honor. The same rationale is expressed in 2 Timothy 2:12. If we suffer, we will reign. We must go through tribulations to enter and inherit the kingdom of God. Second, they are unavoidable per 2 Timothy 3:12 because the saints walk in godliness while the world is full of ungodliness, and children of the great serpent will be triggered to hate the children of light, as godliness and ungodliness cannot mix, just like water and oil cannot mix. The hatred the ungodly have towards the godly is natural to them, and that hatred leads them to hurt and persecute those who are godly. Third, they are understandable. Peter wrote that the saints should not consider them strange, that is foreign, unheard of, alien to Christianity [ 1 Peter 4:12-14]. They are understandable in light of what Christ suffered. A disciple is not above his Master. If the world hates us, we are reminded that it hated Christ first. Jesus set a pattern of how we are to live and we follow that pattern faithfully, it is understandable that we will experience some of the things that He experienced. However, these are often “light afflictions.” Many of us will not need to be crucified by Roman Soldiers downtown our city where we live. 

There’s also a second category that would be considered to be non-persecution afflictions that are outside of the sufferer’s control, and usually have nothing to do with the consequences of sin that the saint has committed. The story of Job can be given as an example. These are usually instigated by Satan. They are part of spiritual warfare from the heavenlies, and though they will also have some human beings involved, the motivation is often not necessarily systematic hatred, rather, instantaneous and unexplainable assault. Thieves and raiders attacked some of the flock of Job and it is unlikely they did so because he was righteous, rather because they were covetous and greedy. So, in that he suffered afflictions not as part of persecution, but as a consequence of the general fall of humanity. Yet, Satan was involved in sending those marauders. The same would be said of things like car, motorbike, and all accidents. They also originate from the second heaven, that is from Satan’s realm. There’s a famous sermon of Charles Spurgeon titled: “Accidents are not punishment.” Simply in a fallen world bad things will happen, to the good and to the bad, just like good things will happen to the good and to the bad. If those good things are called “common good” then those bad things can be called “common calamity.” This can explain why some unsaved people will at times be in solidarity with Christians, because they are faced with common suffering. 

With the above being said, Not everyone who suffers affliction like stomach ulcers, malaria, rheumatoid arthritis, strokes, gonorrhea, HIV, ovarian cancer, prostate cancer, COVID 19, and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis is because he is a sort of biblical Job, a righteous man, who is suffering afflictions because of righteousness [James 5:10-11; Job 1, Job 2]. Some actually suffer afflictions because of their rebellion.

It is what I call #TemporalJudgment [A searchable term/ hashtag on Twitter].

It is what Paul had discovered in 1 Corinthians 11:25-34 as an explanation why some people in the church of Corinth were sick and others had died. When people ignore the Word of God, when they choose Satan’s lies, when they are rebellious in their ways and walk in ungodliness, when they twist Scriptures and lower the standards of holiness, when they act in selfishness, greed, lust, and other sins of darkness, when they are secretive about bad things they think, plan, and would do, when they are despisers of the brethren in the church and thus fail to discern the Lord’s body, when they ignore, deny, suppress, and oppose the truth, when they are prayerless and slack in doing the Lord’s work, cancelling church services, Bible studies, and prayer meetings for no godly reason, they are acting as rebellious children and that can be a reason they will suffer affliction. There are hundreds of Scriptures to prove each and every point mentioned here, but time is short to do so. So, God hands the unfaithful over to Satan to be their tormentor so that they can learn not to be wicked and will determine to call upon the Lord, their Redeemer [Deuteronomy 32:20]. If they do so sincerely, with intent of repenting and doing the things they should have done in the first place, submitting themselves to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and leadership of the Holy Spirit, then their migraines will disappear. Their multiple sclerosis will be healed and they will raise from wheelchairs. Their strokes paralysis will vanish and they will be able talk and walk again. He will send “𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎”- Psalms 107:20.

With the “how and why” of temporal judgment, then let us proceed to talking about temporal judgment being a ministry. Scriptures show us that Peter and Paul, at the very least, were used by God in a form of temporal judgment ministry, as a specialized aspect of ministry for the purpose of the sanctification of the church. There have been many other prophets in the Old Testament who were used the same way, for the purpose of bring Israel back to repentance. However, this is a high degree ministry that requires maturity in the things of the Spirit. Temporal judgment must be rooted in love because the wrath of man cannot accomplish the righteousness of God. All the men of God who have been used in temporal judgment had no other interest than advancing the kingdom of God and the general prosperity of the church, as a whole, not sectarian denominationalism. 

In Romans 2:1, we read: “𝒀𝒐𝒖, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆, 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒏𝒐 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒆, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒅𝒈𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆, 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒋𝒖𝒅𝒈𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇, 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒅𝒈𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒅𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔.”

I believe that the saints who understand and gain mastery of these teachings will be a great blessing to the church of the 21st century. This is because, as explained earlier, temporal judgment is more likely to effect change faster than appealing to reason alone. Many Christians have been poisoned in mind and have unrenewed thinking despite being born again, and therefore their minds are not capable of arriving at divinely inspired conclusions, like the sunesis of Paul would lead him to know better and do better. Such saints must be awakened by judgments.  I believe we can change the course of history by fulfilling the Ephesians 4:11-16 calling of the church, reaching the full stature of Christ.

Since the revelations of #TriumphOfChrist and #TemporalJudgment    I had in late 2015, I have taught a lot on 1 Peter 4:17 that says: 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒋𝒖𝒅𝒈𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑮𝒐𝒅’𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅; 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒇 𝒊𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒖𝒔, 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒅𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒃𝒆𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒅. There are actually plenty of Scriptures, but this has been one of the most effective and clearest to people of the 21st century. It shuts down debate on the timing of this judgment, as often false teachers always want to argue that judgment is only in the eternal future, after the Second Coming of Christ. They fail to argue when they read: IT IS TIME. 

This was actually strongly practiced in the early church as we read 1 Corinthians 5, 1 Corinthians 6, Acts 5, Revelation 2-3, 1 John 5:16, John 9:39-40, John 7:24, Matthew 18:17, 1 Timothy 1:20, Acts 8:20, etc. There are more than a hundred Scriptures that refer to temporal judgment in the New Testament alone, and if we look at the Old Testament, these could be as many as three to five hundred Scriptures.

I have considered that some form of ministry in temporal judgment to be the next step after any Christian has sufficiently progressed in sanctification. If you look at Paul’s arguments in 1 Corinthians 5, you will see that he believed the laity that walks with the Holy Spirit could do this. There are also obviously apostles and prophets that  God has anointed and appointed for this task to help the body of Christ.

In God’s eyes, sin is disqualifying for this kind of teaching and ministry. You cannot be judging other people for the same things that you are doing yourself. However, the body of Christ desperately needs this help. This means that if God is calling you to be in a prophetic or apostolic ministry similar to that of Peter, Paul, and a John of our generation, you cannot afford to be doing the same things you want to have dominion over. You cannot afford to sin. You cannot afford to be imperfect. Now, this may trigger additional debates, as the doctrines of Christian perfection have also been murky in the last 100 years. However, these were quite established during the 1st great awakening. A good teaching to read regarding this is John Wesley’s “Plain Account of Christian Perfection. “

In Matthew 5: 48, we read: “𝑩𝒆 𝒚𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” So, Christians have been called to perfection. It is not something we can afford to argue with. Scriptures that are often flaunted to lower this standard are Philippians 3:12-14 and 1 John 1:7-9.  There’s a right way and a wrong way of using Paul’s confession- “not that I have obtained all of this or already been made perfect” [Philippians 3:12-14] and John’s “if we claim we have no sin we deceive ourselves“- 1 John 1:7-9. The right way to use them is to keep them in context. We will never be God, so as long as we are on this side of heaven there will always be need to be conformed to Christ’s perfect image. Philippians 3:12-14 is about Paul’s pursuit towards that. 1 John 1:7-9 is about allowing the Holy Spirit to search our hearts so that we can confess our sins [Psalms 139:23-24; Psalms 19:12], however small they may appear in our own eyes, they are still sins Christ had to be nailed to the cross for. Note that John writes in the context of “if we walk in the light as He is in the light.” There’s no 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 for those who dwell in darkness.

Christians do not just get forgiven because they asked, if sin still has dominion over them. This cleansing is only granted for those who walk in the light, who are perfectly transparent about their lives and have no hidden secrets and compromise. They are as clear as a glass before the church. They understand God’s will and submit to it. The Word of God is their lamp and walk in its instructions. Their footsteps are ordered of the Lord. Those are the only forgiven saints. The rest may pray to be forgiven without actually getting cleansed by God, and therefore they are self-deceived. Forgiveness was always preached as part of the message of repentance in the early church [Luke 24:47; Acts 3:19]. It has never been a pardon granted to those who intend to continue sinning [1 John 3:9]. 

So, John’s and Paul’s cautionary statements about our lack of infallibility this side of heaven do not change Christ’s command. They point to the humility we need, not a readjustment of God’s demands. We are still expected to obey what Christ taught: “𝒃𝒆 𝒚𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕!”

So, if Paul was not yet perfect, how was he used by God in the ministry of temporal judgment ? For every role that God has designed to serve as a spiritual growth and sanctification model in the church, there will be ministers that God has called for that purpose, and He will equip them to fulfill, which will allow them to progress to reach near perfection, though they may still have areas that themselves need help in. As part of their qualifications, they must present themselves before God as approved servants, that is tested and recognized competent for that task, not just by head knowledge or “revelation”, but also by faith and character. So, to practice judgment the way Paul did as we see in 1 Corinthians 4:17-21; 2 Corinthians 10:3-6; 2 Corinthians 13:1-10 you must also be ruthless against yourself in terms of how you pursue perfection. Errors, faults, unbelief, doubts, hypocrisy, and weaknesses are not allowed. A call to temporal judgment is a call to superhuman abilities and lifestyle. There should never be the charge Paul brought against the Corinthians, “are you not acting like mere humans ?”- 1 Corinthians 3:3. We have a divine nature and as we grow in sanctification this should obliterate and swallow up the crucified flesh, and even the not-so-sinful natural inclinations. There are things we may have liberty to do but are unprofitable. Doing those things may not be consistent with building God’s house with precious stones and pure gold [1 Corinthians 10:23; 1 Corinthians 3:15]. Those have to go as well. This is non-negotiable in God’s eyes. One has to get rid of the log in their own eyes before they can try to get a speck out of another.

Temporal judgment isn’t like a teaching ministry in which a Bible teacher might still be able to teach things he, himself, is still learning. Once you decide that you want this mantle, you have also decided that you have grown up beyond having to confess that you failed the lessons you are trying to enforce in the body of Christ [1 John 3:21]. You are a living epistle of the power of judgment you are releasing in the body of Christ [2 Corinthians 3:2]. You live on a raptured plane [Colossians 3:1-4]. Holy, Holy, Holy is your anthem, the air you breathe, and the whole theme of your waking, walking, and practice [Isaiah 6:1-8; Revelation 4; Revelation 5]. As Christ is, so are you [1 John 4:17-20]. You are part of the first-fruits of the spotless bride [Ephesians 5:25-30; Psalms 45:11-12; 2 Peter 1:5-11].

There’s a long way to go in building the body of Christ in the 21st century. We have the Sanballat, Bishlam, and Mithredath type of people, inside and outside of the church, who have normalized a weak and defeated church, and would obviously not want the body of Christ to come into the full stature of Christ, as such the ministry of temporal judgment is a threat to their apostate doctrines. The apostasy that was seen in the church between year 2000 and 2020 did not happen by chance, rather by design. So, the minister who has been called to serve the body of Christ this way, must be especially careful. This is because in personal relationships, in ministry leadership, in “survival” in the real world of business and career, there will be many traps that Satan sets in order to try to disqualify them from doing this, to make it harder to stand in perfection [Hosea 9:8]. Those ministers must stand firm and fight so that they will be victorious and triumphant. Father of Creation, unfold your sovereign plan. Raise up a chosen generation that will march through the land. Let your glory fall upon us and let it go from us to the nations. 

April 9th, 2024 devotional

THOUGH YOU HAVE LITTLE STRENGTH

I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.

Revelation 3:8

When apostle Paul looked at his successful apostolic ministry despite lack of much resources, he said: “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service.” Spiritual strength cannot be underestimated in accomplishing our life’s goals. Even in the physical, when people have cancer, COVID 19, AIDS, severe depression, and autoimmune disorders, one of the most concerning symptoms they complain is their depleted energy. They feel like they do not want to wake up in the morning and do something useful for themselves. On the other hand, those who are healthy, especially the muscular types, they feel like they can run over walls, and can lift heavy weights. Looking at Paul’s missionary journeys, and what he said was doing more than all the apostles [1 Corinthians 15:10], we can recognize that indeed God’s strength through the grace of Jesus Christ and the anointing of the Holy Spirit energized him to accomplish those things. Interestingly, he did not seem to think that strength was only available to an apostle like himself. He prayed for the saints of Ephesus to be strengthened in their inner man [Ephesians 3:14-21]. He wanted them to be filled to the measure of all  the fullness of God. That certainly would make all Christian believers powerful and strong. 

We live in a world that is full of challenges, losses, antagonism, hatred, betrayals, lies, competitions, and obstacles. Those things can sap the energy of God’s people. There have been times I have felt little strength and those circumstances were usually triggered by something that went against what I had hoped for, believed in, desired, or had worked hard to try to achieve. It happened because of disappointment. Solomon tells us that “hope deferred makes the heart sick“- Proverbs 13:12, and those circumstances that deplete our energy, steal our joy, and cause us to be disappointed can indeed be seen as sicknesses of the soul. How we deal with those events will determine whether we will emerge victorious or whether we will be defeated. There are many reasons circumstances that expose our weaknesses will happen in the lives of the saints, some could be due to misplaced hope, and others could be due to failure to attain what we believe is a divine objective. Obviously in case of the former what we need is repentance. The “desire of other things” [Matthew 13:1-23] were some of the harmful things that caused the seed of the Word to fail to produce an expected harvest in some of the seeds that were sown in the Parable of the Sower. Not every desire we have, however, impressive, pleasing, and fanciful is a good one. We must watch out that our desires are not carnal or originating from Satan’s temptations. However, Scriptures also state that if we delight in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our hearts [Psalms 37:4; John 15:7]. This is presumably the good desires that have been planted in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. However, we know that we live in world filled with devils, as Martin Luther suggests in the song, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” and our good and godly intentions are likely to be opposed, and because of that we need to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might so that our hopes arising from those godly desire are not cut off by the enemy of our destinies.

Whether the desires were planted there by our pursuit of the truth as we grew in the things of the Spirit, such as a desire to go to seminary for theological education, have a healing ministry that blesses millions of people, grow a great company to billion dollar valuation, or from a prophetic dream, such as a desire to be married, or whether they were even aroused sermons, teachings, and lectures we were exposed to, they are all valid and must be protected [2 Timothy 1:14; Luke 19:11-27]. Godly desires do not need to be suppressed and ignored. They must be fought for and possessed. Jesus expects a return on investment for the deposit of the faith, the precious promises, and prophetic destinies He has placed on our lives. 

Yet, just because a desire originated from God does not mean that its fulfillment will be automatic. There might still be things to do to get there. We know that we receive all divine promises by grace and faith, and yet there’s no Scripture that teaches that faith should always be passive. Indeed faith without works is dead [Ephesians 2:8-10; James 2:14-26]. So, what happens when one feels like the desire that God inspired is unattainable because there doesn’t seem to be a feasible way to get this fulfilled ? That can be quite disheartening. However, the Bible has many stories and teachings that show us that God is able to do exceedingly above all we ask or imagine. If a desire was born of a prophecy, for example, we can trust that He who promised is also able to perform. We do not need to know all the details of where we are going and how to get there, before we will leave what we have known behind, and start a journey of a thousand steps with the first step. We do not need to know how God will perform all His promises and prophetic words, only believe. Indeed the phrase “only believe” has done wonders throughout church history, as people came to see the simplicity of faith in the fulfillment and performance of God’s word [Mark 5:36; Mark 9:19-23].

Yet, our fallen nature wants a share of glory, the proof of toil, the sweat of the brow, and evidence of activity to be assured that we will produce the results of the things we hope for. The flesh has not learned to rest, trust, and lean on God’s everlasting arm [Hebrews 4:1-11; Deuteronomy 33:27; John 6:28-29; John 19:30; Isaiah 42:8]. The world keeps telling us toil more, work harder, and send those cold e-mails.  Philip Bliss wrote: “It is finished was His cry”  in the hymn “Man of Sorrows” and perhaps that’s something we should always keep in mind when we start to be heavy laden and weary. We should remember His call for the oppressed to come to Him and bear an easy yoke. We should understand that no matter how many promises GOD has made they are YES in Christ, because of His glorious power, and not our zealous efforts [Matthew 11:28-29; 2 Corinthians 1:20; Romans 4:17-21]. 

We can rest assured that our weaknesses, weariness, disappointments, and frustrations will not shock God and make Him incompetent to fulfill His promises and perform the prophetic words that He has given to us. Paul is an example of someone who knew that God’s power was perfected in human weakness [2 Corinthians 12:8-10; 1 Corinthians 1:25]. Myself, as someone who has a lot of energy and strength all the time, this is something that seems mysterious to me. How can I see God’s promises successfully fulfilled in my natural weaknesses, helplessness, exclusion, and inadequacy [2 Corinthians 3:5; 2 Corinthians 1:9] ? Do I really believe in the things of the Spirit ? Do I believe in relying on God’s mighty arm ? Another example of “little strength” not hindering great promises is the church of Philadelphia. I have had those moments when I have felt like the church of Philadelphia recently. We read: “𝑳𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉” in the verse of Revelation 3:8. This is how the church was known from a worldly point of view, but Jesus saw something entirely different.  If we look at that church of Philadelphia [Revelation 3:1-10], we see that it was one of the only 2 churches that Jesus praised and affirmed as faithful in Revelation 2-3 messages to the 7 churches. For those who have an allegorical interpretation of these messages, it is the 18th and 19th century church of George Whitefield, John Wesley, Francis Asbury, Smith Wigglesworth, William Booth, Keswickianism or “𝑯𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝑳𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝑴𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕,” Hudson Taylor, William Carey, David Livingstone, D.L. Moody, Saint Charbel, Charles Finney, Charles Spurgeon, and Charles Ryle.

It was the church of open doors. The church of daring missions, open air crusaders, high point evangelism, strong doctrinal preaching, and holiness movements.

When we feel like we have little strength, we should remember this church. From my experience, my little strength has meant that I had little interest to keep fighting for what I believed in, desired, or thought was God’s plan for me. We should always understand that our personal strength has never been a factor when God releases prophetic words, rather His riches in glory and His outstretched arm. God does not consult our strengths and weaknesses when He is giving us prophecies or decreeing the end from the beginning [Isaiah 46:10; Isaiah 41:10; 1 Corinthians 16:9; Deuteronomy 11:23; Deuteronomy 4:38; Deuteronomy 9:1]. He has never been impressed by the number of our opponents, the skills of our competitors, and possessions of those who hate us. David did not even need Saul’s armor, let alone Goliath’s sword, to be able to defeat that giant. The Bible is full of stories like these, where the weak defeat the strong. Indeed we are told, “let the weak say I am strong“- Joel 3:10.  At some point, Gideon did not consider himself to be a warrior who could fight for Israel, God’s people, or fulfill a divine cause. In Judges 6:15 we read his misgivings about what God had sent an angel to tell him: 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒆, 𝒎𝒚 𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒅,” 𝑮𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒐𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒅, “𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝑰 𝒔𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝑰𝒔𝒓𝒂𝒆𝒍? 𝑴𝒚 𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝑴𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒉, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚.” Yet, what was Gideon commanded before he would see victory with just a handful of 300 soldiers ? 𝑮𝒐 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒚 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 [Judges 6:14].

So, when we feel weak, when we feel our patience wearing thin, when we feel encircled, when we feel depleted, when we feel like we are at loss for what to do, we should simply embrace the rest of faith. Our faith does not need to be as big as a papaya fruit for God to work wonders through it, rather all it needs to be is as a small as a mustard seed [Luke 17:5-6]. Isaiah 7:9 says, 𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒎 𝒊𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍. And that is quite powerful because we do not need to stand on the basis of anything else, only what God has promised and has shown Himself capable of doing. The small seed mustard faith is all we need. It is enough for us. It is our “Go in this thy might” like Gideon’s. Let’s keep our faith so that we will also hear the same declaration from the lips of the King of Kings:  “I know your works. 𝑺𝒆𝒆, 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏 𝒅𝒐𝒐𝒓, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒉𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕; 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉, 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒌𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝑴𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅, and have not denied My name.”  

If we feel like we are strengthless, fixing our eyes on Christ is how we will be able to regain our strength again. We started from zero at our new birth, and yet look at how far we have come [Romans 5:6]. We can certainly believe God that He who began a good work in us will also bring it to completion [Philippians 1:6]. We can believe that He who has taken us through waters, fires, and winds will also bring us to our desired haven [Psalms 107:25-30; Psalms 66:12]. This is how our ancestors of Bible days obtained a good reputation. We read in Hebrews 11:33 -35: “𝑾𝒉𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒖𝒃𝒅𝒖𝒆𝒅 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒅𝒐𝒎𝒔, wrought righteousness, 𝒐𝒃𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒆s, stopped the mouths of lions Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈, waxed valiant in fight, 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒔. Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection.” And that is a formula we can follow. God has never disappointed those who trust in Him [1 Peter 2:6; Psalms 25:3]. – END.  [See April 8th post below]

April 8th, 2024 devotional 

THE COSTS OF IGNORANCE AND BEING DECEIVED

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.

Hosea 4:6

One of the warnings that Jesus gave in Scriptures is how deception will be rampant and many Christians will be at risk of being deceived [Matthew 24:24]. Apostle Paul warned that there would be deceiving spirits that would cause many to depart from the faith, forbidding marriages or proper teachings on marriage, and restricting what Christians may be able to eat. John wanted us to test all spirits, because not every spirit is from God. Those spirits can often be detected through what people say, and they can help us distinguish the voice of the Shepherd and the voice of wolves [1 John 4:1-3; John 6:63; Matthew 12:34; John 10:27].

Unfortunately, many Christians are deceived easily. Paul was worried that the Corinthian church would be deceived just like Eve was deceived in the garden of Eden [2 Corinthians 11:3]. He also saw every wind of doctrine, especially false teachings propagated by cunning men, that tossed infants of the early church here and there as a major hindrance in attaining the full stature of Christ [Ephesians 4:11-16]. 

In the 21st century, a deep sanctification work is enjoyed by a minority of believers, not the majority. This is because many Christians are still in the category of those infants who are tossed about by every wind of doctrine, every social media post, every YouTube video they watch, every church split they hear about, every scandal of a pastor who was caught in sexual indiscretion, and every challenge they face in their jobs, careers, and homes. This instability of course is not incurable. It could be mitigated by strong knowledge of the Word of God.

In Daniel 11:32, we see prophet Daniel predicting how the Maccabees would be able to push back against Antiochus Epiphanes, and his Hellenization of the Jewish traditions, saying: Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits. What is interesting is that the Maccabees were known for their military successes despite being outnumbered, outgunned, and out-moneyed. Their success is attributed to knowing God. Yet, this was a time of the “silent years” as their exploits were after prophet Malachi had finished the last book of the Old Testament. There weren’t many great visions and miracles in those years. The golden days of Moses, David, Solomon, Elijah, and Isaiah were gone. These were days of increasing darkness and trying to obey God through tough times. So, most of the knowledge of God the Maccabees had must have come from their understanding of the Law of Moses. They were after all priests. However, not every Jew was faithful during that testing time. Some of them became Hellenized by Antiochus Epiphanes, “through flatteries.” There’s no question that smooth talks have done more damage to God’s people than accurate rebukes [Proverbs 29:5, Proverbs 28:23, Job 32:21-22, Romans 16:18, Psalms 5:9, 1 Thessalonians 2:1-5, Psalms 12:3, Psalms 36:2, Proverbs 6:24, Psalms 12:2, and Revelation 3:19]. Flatteries can be ways that some people either deceive themselves, if they think of themselves more highly, more favored, more successful, more talented, more gifted, more spiritual than they actually are, and they can also be ways others deceive them by suggesting those things in their minds.  When we talk about rebukes here we are not encouraging unfair criticism, insinuations, hate, discouraging comments, and competitive urges to ruin a perceived rival’s reputation. We are talking about evidence-based failures being addressed in a loving and yet firm manner [Galatians 6:1-3]. We are talking about speaking truth in love in order to restore the fallen, encourage the disheartened, and strengthen feeble knees. It is how those who know more of the Word of God can supply to the wants of those who are ignorant of the Word of God. Only the Word of God can make us strong and cause us to fight back against the schemes of the devil 

Lack of knowledge of the Word disqualifies someone from priesthood according to Hosea 4:6. God rejected them as priests because they had ignored His law. Disqualification from priesthood is disqualification from offering “acceptable sacrifices” such as praise, worship, and prayer [Hebrews 13:15; 1 Peter 2:4-10; Proverbs 28:9; Revelation 5:8; 2 Corinthians 2:15; Psalms 141:2; Romans 12:1; John 4:23-24].  How can a Christian even survive in a such cruel world while being cut off from effectual prayer ?

Some Christians make themselves prime targets for deception not just by their ignorance of the Word of God, but also for their refusal to obey the Word of God they already know. Consider this, when Paul talks about the perilous times of the last days, of those who will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived [2 Timothy 3:1-13], he highlights a certain category of people who can be easily deceived. We read in 2 Timothy 3:6-7 thus: “For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of 𝒈𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒍𝒐𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒔, led away by various lusts 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒅𝒈𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒉.”  As we can see, when Paul talks about those being deceived here, he talks about women taken advantage by those they open doors to inside their homes and lives, mostly because of the indwelling sin that deceives them [Hebrews 3:13]. This can lead them into premarital sexual activity because obviously such men are predators, not godly. These women are controlled by various lusts and yet, interestingly, Paul acknowledges that these women are also always learning. How can that be ? They go to church. The read their Bibles. But exposure to the truth doesn’t actually lead them into a place of submission to the truth, which is what Satan takes advantage of to keep them his captives. They lack in discernment in who they surround themselves with and what things they accept, which keeps them in recurrent cycles of defeat, sexual immorality, stagnation of destiny, and financial mismanagement. They waste their precious and prime years in wrong relationships and commitments as a result of those lies. They are destroyed not because of lack of knowledge, but because of refusal to submit to the light and knowledge they already have. 

Obviously the above observation may be triggering and feel like it is hurtful for some of our Christian brothers and sisters, and yet, how else do we get a pure and spotless bride in the church ? This will not happen by surrendering to cultural opinion, but by teaching the truth of the Word of God. In Ephesians 5:26 we read: To 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒚, 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒓 by the 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 with water through the 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅. This is how Christ will sanctify His bride, the church. 

What constitutes a risk for possible deception is disagreed upon among the churches and Christians of the 21st century. This is a result of church history and inter-denominational fights. For example, there are denominations and churches that reject the spiritual gifts we read in 1 Corinthians 12, either because of the negative things they might have experienced about them in the past, or simply because they believe that such gifts have ceased to exist since the days of the apostles of the First Century. Those who believe in such gifts on the other hand, believe that the very lack of evidence of the power of God and manifestation of the gifts of the Spirit in a local church proves deception. How can someone claim to believe in God Almighty and fail to raise a stroke victim from his wheelchair and cause him to walk like Jesus did  [Hebrews 13:8; Matthew 4:23-24; Matthew 8:16-17; Matthew 9:35; Matthew 12:15; Matthew 14:14; Matthew 15:30; Luke 13:14-16; Acts 10:38; 1 John 3:8 ] ? Do they preach the same Jesus as the one of the Bible or do they preach another Jesus ? 

There will be situations in which God will be called to witness, especially if there are disputes in interpersonal relationships, church leadership, and national apostacy, and if spiritual gifts are not believed and practiced, that can be hard to deal with. There has to be signs and wonders in the church for us to be able to stay focused on God’s glory, not man’s intellectualism and brilliance [1 Corinthians 2:1-5; Mark 16:15-20]. Are we more impressed with persuasive words of the eloquence of human wisdom or with the a demonstration of the raw  power of God ? 

There are also those who are in the middle. They are not exactly for spiritual gifts but they also do not oppose them. They like the idea that Jesus should be the same today as He was yesterday, but they will not want to engage in meaningful discussion when “the men who have turned the world upside down” – Acts 17:6, show up in their cities, homes, and churches. Self-interest, self-preservation, love of praise or flatteries, false sense of dignity in reasonings of the flesh and intellectualism, and total apathy have been reasons many have behaved this way [John 5:44; John 9:21-22; John 12;10, 19; John 7:47-49; John 12:39-40]. Some Christians do not seem sincerely interested to want to address their beliefs regarding spiritual gifts, whether they may consider them sufficient to guide their future and deliver them in times of calamity or whether they are inapplicable to speak into their lives and change difficult circumstances. They do not want to seem primitive that prophetic gifts could be God’s leadership. In all sincerity, this puts them in the same category like those who oppose them. When it comes to following Christ, we are either all in or all out [Matthew 12:30]. Lack of curiosity when one sees the bush burning is shocking. Imagine if Moses had been unimpressed when he saw that on Mount Sinai. Israel would not have been delivered. Neglecting the use or inspiration of spiritual gifts is tantamount to challenging of spiritual gifts [1 Timothy 4:14]. This puts a huge burden on those who already believe in spiritual gifts. They cannot afford to be slack, prayerless, and doubtful about the things they believe to be true. If they will manifest the glory of God, and make His knowledge to fill the earth as the waters cover the sea, they will also have to confront the unbelieving church and the lost world with the reality of God’s manifest presence through spiritual gifts. 

For example, most people in America believe that if a prophecy is proclaimed and supernatural signs and wonders do not affirm that prophecy, it is false. We know the names of the pastors and Bible teachers in America who have said this, at least once in their ministry. This means that in America, for a prophecy to be considered of God, the standard must be that the prophecy is actually supernaturally unchallengeable. Would those who proclaim things they hear and see, and believe to be originating from God, accept that their words and prophecies are challenged. If those words are indeed of man, they are worthless. Nobody should fight to preserve or enforce what originates in the head of another human being. But if a prophecy is from God, then those who have the burden of the Lord should consider what Paul and David had learned. Paul taught Timothy that He should wage a good warfare in accordance with the prophecies made about him [1 Timothy 1:18]. And David said in Psalms 89:19, Once you spoke in a vision, to your faithful people you said: “I have bestowed strength on a warrior; I have raised up a young man from among the people. The prophetic and the fulfillment of destiny of God’s people through spiritual warfare are directly linked [2 Corinthians 10:2-6]. As long as we live in this fallen world, idols, the love of money, the love of pleasure, and disinterest in the prosperity of God’s house will cause many to shipwreck their callings, blaspheme God’s name, and derail the projects of the church. Unless they are powerfully impressed with the reality of God through confrontation with unexplainable things that can only be attributed to the raw power of God they will not believe and behave.  1 Kings 18:24 must become relevant again in the 21st century: Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒃𝒚 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒆—𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝑮𝒐𝒅.” Then all the people said, “What you say is good.” This is like sitting the final exam in the school of prophecy for those who believe in spiritual gifts. Ultimately, the kingdom of God is not in word or logos, but in a demonstration of the power of God [ 1 Corinthians 4:17-21].