Read:
John 20:29
29 Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
There are times in our Christian walk where we seem to want just a little more than this faith stuff. I know there have been times in my walk with Christ that I wanted to see Him with my own natural eyes. Lord, just let me see you to really really believe that what I am having faith for is real. Then it seems like the Lord tells me, "Son, I am spirit and I am not of this world." God tells us in His word that the natural man receives not the spiritual things of Him because they are spiritually discerned. We know that there is a God because of salvation through repentance, but the best way to have faith is to fellowship with God with a pure heart. Many speak faith in the wrong way and this sets a distorted picture of who God really is. Faith is really just learning of God's ways through His word. Faith is reaching out to God when all hell is coming against you to not reach out. Faith is seeking God when everyone of this world is saying that you have to be crazy to pray. I want to encourage you today to reach out to God in your fellowship with Him. His arms are opened wide ready to receive you.
Prayer:
Lord, we come to you by faith today with our hands lifted high. We seek you with all of our hearts and ask that you will give us some more of your glory to carry on the great commission and to walk in your Holy love. Faith works by love Lord, and we want to extend your love by faith to those who need your love, Amen.
by Keith Edwards
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Friday, August 20, 2010
Preparing The Child August 21st Devotional
Read:
Psalms 144:12
12 Then our sons in their youth
will be like well-nurtured plants,
and our daughters will be like pillars
carved to adorn a palace.
Statistics show that for the first time in history, adults sixty-five and over will surpass those that are five years and under. This is a scary statement. How can our kids be ready for the next generation if life itself is diminishing right before our eyes. As a manager at a grocery retail store for eight years, I have seen good kids from this generation and they are good kids that have potential. I believe in our children today, and we should be behind them all of the way. It's not over for us yet. I don't know when the Lord will come back and we are definitely living in the last days, but even if God was coming back tomorrow He still wants us to do things today as if we were going to be here another decade or more. We need to prepare the child for the path, not the path for the child. Show the child how to pray and they will know, but allow them to pray and they will do and be ready for the next generation by preparation. I want to encourage all of us today to not give up on our children. They are special in God's eyes, and there are some dynamite kids today that our in the midst of our generation. Lets teach our children the ways of the Lord so that they can make the palace of Jesus Christ as a temple attractive to those who need salvation.
Prayer:
Lord, we ask that you would birth in us such a desire to instill in our youth truth that will sustain them for our next generation. help us not to give up on them in a corrupt world, and help us to pray for them and our nation in your name we pray, Amen.
Psalms 144:12
12 Then our sons in their youth
will be like well-nurtured plants,
and our daughters will be like pillars
carved to adorn a palace.
Statistics show that for the first time in history, adults sixty-five and over will surpass those that are five years and under. This is a scary statement. How can our kids be ready for the next generation if life itself is diminishing right before our eyes. As a manager at a grocery retail store for eight years, I have seen good kids from this generation and they are good kids that have potential. I believe in our children today, and we should be behind them all of the way. It's not over for us yet. I don't know when the Lord will come back and we are definitely living in the last days, but even if God was coming back tomorrow He still wants us to do things today as if we were going to be here another decade or more. We need to prepare the child for the path, not the path for the child. Show the child how to pray and they will know, but allow them to pray and they will do and be ready for the next generation by preparation. I want to encourage all of us today to not give up on our children. They are special in God's eyes, and there are some dynamite kids today that our in the midst of our generation. Lets teach our children the ways of the Lord so that they can make the palace of Jesus Christ as a temple attractive to those who need salvation.
Prayer:
Lord, we ask that you would birth in us such a desire to instill in our youth truth that will sustain them for our next generation. help us not to give up on them in a corrupt world, and help us to pray for them and our nation in your name we pray, Amen.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Be Not shaken In The Shaking August 19th Devotional
Read:
Hebrews 12:26-28
26And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying,YET ONCE MORE I WILL SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO THE HEAVEN."
27This expression, "Yet once more," denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
28Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;
We are living in a time and season when our economy is collapsing right before our eyes. In 2008 I was praying about our economy and nation. I was very discouraged in what has already been happening and was meditating on the scriptures in psalms to find strength in what is about to take place. I don’t have any direct answers to what is going to come about, but I do have a word that I feel God gave me to strengthen me in the shaking that is going on in our nation. I heard the word “Be Not Shaken In The Shaking” The Lord is doing a shaking in the motives of the hearts of his people, and the Lord is allowing some shaking to take place in the stock market and deceptions of the Kings and leaders that are leading us. God is unveiling some things, and it is a shaking that is very scary but needful. I asked the Lord, “What do we do in this time?” I felt like the Lord told me that He is doing a shaking in not only the world, but his people. If you look at the whole book of Hebrews chapter 12, you will see that God wants us to run the race with endurance, put our total focus on Christ everyday through our devotion, and receive His discipline. The Greek word for discipline is paideia, and the definition is to cultivate the soul by correcting mistakes and curbing passions. God wants our spirit, soul, and our body to be in balance. It also says in Hebrews chapter 12 that without holiness no one will see the Lord. The greek word for see here in this verse is harao, and it means to become acquainted with by experience. This pertains to a sanctifying growth of grace mixed with God's discipline. Ouch! and man that discipline can hurt at times but it will make us trained to follow the Lord each and everyday shining the light of Jesus before the world. So we see that God wants us to endure, focus on Christ, and receive His discipline in the shaking that flows through His body of believers. The greatest revelation that we need in our christian walk with the Lord is realizing that God's Kingdom is a Kingdom that absolutely cannot be shaken. When we place our faith in that foundation, it will set our mind, will, and emotions in alignment to the things of God. It will also put this crazy flesh under subjection. Can I just be transparent with you right now? There are days that I just want to "flesh out" so to speak. But I have found that each and everyday is such a special day with the Lord, and we don't want to miss a day without seeing and experiencing a growth with the Lord. You can make it today by focusing on the one that can lift you up by His grace and set you in that place with Him. You may feel like throwing in the towel today, but don't do it. Focus on the one that loves you and cares for you. Don't grow weary in well doing. It gets exhausting at times, but those times are the times where we need to fall down at the the feet of Jesus and let him share with us that drink of living waters that quenches the very thirst we feel at times in this race we run. As I was praying about the upcoming years, I feel like the Lord is in the process of getting anything out of His body that would harm us in the days ahead, getting our steps firm in His strength and direction, firm in understanding His Kingdom to the fullest degree, and firm in His love. He’s rooting out all of the weeds and rocks out of our soul, and He’s making us strong in His word placing our soul firm upon His foundation. This is what the Lord is doing to those who are of His kingdom. Then I heard the word “THRIVE” I felt like the Lord wants us to thrive no matter what is going on around the world. However, God wants us to be careful with our finances, and concentrate on things that don’t have the value of money, but rather the value of time with the family, home church, and friends. The Lord wants us to spend quality time with our family. The Lord also wants us to remember that America was founded upon Christian principles, and that should never be forgotten. Those principles still live on today. Many will shed tears upon the mighty dollar and that’s as far as those tears will drop, but many will look to God in the shaking and will cry out to Him tears that are needful. I believe that some leaders will soon look to Christian leaders whom have stood the test in moral character, and they will ask for advice in the tragedy that we are facing. The Lord doesn’t want us to let up on doing the things of His Kingdom, but plug in greater than ever in our home church. God can bring forth a great revival in our land, but before great revival can begin, great repentance needs to be born from within His people. He’s judging the intents and the motives of His people greater than He has have ever judged them, and He doesn’t want greed to be in His people. This is 2010, and this year and the upcoming years need to be a year of repentance and order in our Christian walk. As the world gets hit with earthquakes, fires, and other disasters, we need to live like the days of Joseph in the seven year famine, but what we need for the current dark ages that we are facing concerning the sound word of God is the word of God in our hearts as foundation. We also need to pray for Jerusalem like never before, and pray that the United States will stand behind Jerusalem as the state capitol. Many want to destroy and divide Jerusalem, but God is for Jerusalem. If we let up on support and prayer for Israel, then that will make Israel vulnerable from other countries. Are you tired today and feel like there is no hope in sight? There is hope, and that hope is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. I also heard the words “GO TO THE ROCK” from the book of psalms.
Psalms 62:6
6He only is my rock and my salvation,
My stronghold; I shall not be shaken.
Psalms 27:5
5For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle;
In the secret place of His tent He will hide me;
He will lift me up on a rock.
prayer:
Lord we get at your feet right now in prayer. We need you to show us a fresh anointing of your love in this time that we are in. We repent Lord for any weights or sins we shouldn't be carrying upon our back, and we give you our whole life in Jesus name, Amen.
Hebrews 12:26-28
26And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying,YET ONCE MORE I WILL SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO THE HEAVEN."
27This expression, "Yet once more," denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
28Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;
We are living in a time and season when our economy is collapsing right before our eyes. In 2008 I was praying about our economy and nation. I was very discouraged in what has already been happening and was meditating on the scriptures in psalms to find strength in what is about to take place. I don’t have any direct answers to what is going to come about, but I do have a word that I feel God gave me to strengthen me in the shaking that is going on in our nation. I heard the word “Be Not Shaken In The Shaking” The Lord is doing a shaking in the motives of the hearts of his people, and the Lord is allowing some shaking to take place in the stock market and deceptions of the Kings and leaders that are leading us. God is unveiling some things, and it is a shaking that is very scary but needful. I asked the Lord, “What do we do in this time?” I felt like the Lord told me that He is doing a shaking in not only the world, but his people. If you look at the whole book of Hebrews chapter 12, you will see that God wants us to run the race with endurance, put our total focus on Christ everyday through our devotion, and receive His discipline. The Greek word for discipline is paideia, and the definition is to cultivate the soul by correcting mistakes and curbing passions. God wants our spirit, soul, and our body to be in balance. It also says in Hebrews chapter 12 that without holiness no one will see the Lord. The greek word for see here in this verse is harao, and it means to become acquainted with by experience. This pertains to a sanctifying growth of grace mixed with God's discipline. Ouch! and man that discipline can hurt at times but it will make us trained to follow the Lord each and everyday shining the light of Jesus before the world. So we see that God wants us to endure, focus on Christ, and receive His discipline in the shaking that flows through His body of believers. The greatest revelation that we need in our christian walk with the Lord is realizing that God's Kingdom is a Kingdom that absolutely cannot be shaken. When we place our faith in that foundation, it will set our mind, will, and emotions in alignment to the things of God. It will also put this crazy flesh under subjection. Can I just be transparent with you right now? There are days that I just want to "flesh out" so to speak. But I have found that each and everyday is such a special day with the Lord, and we don't want to miss a day without seeing and experiencing a growth with the Lord. You can make it today by focusing on the one that can lift you up by His grace and set you in that place with Him. You may feel like throwing in the towel today, but don't do it. Focus on the one that loves you and cares for you. Don't grow weary in well doing. It gets exhausting at times, but those times are the times where we need to fall down at the the feet of Jesus and let him share with us that drink of living waters that quenches the very thirst we feel at times in this race we run. As I was praying about the upcoming years, I feel like the Lord is in the process of getting anything out of His body that would harm us in the days ahead, getting our steps firm in His strength and direction, firm in understanding His Kingdom to the fullest degree, and firm in His love. He’s rooting out all of the weeds and rocks out of our soul, and He’s making us strong in His word placing our soul firm upon His foundation. This is what the Lord is doing to those who are of His kingdom. Then I heard the word “THRIVE” I felt like the Lord wants us to thrive no matter what is going on around the world. However, God wants us to be careful with our finances, and concentrate on things that don’t have the value of money, but rather the value of time with the family, home church, and friends. The Lord wants us to spend quality time with our family. The Lord also wants us to remember that America was founded upon Christian principles, and that should never be forgotten. Those principles still live on today. Many will shed tears upon the mighty dollar and that’s as far as those tears will drop, but many will look to God in the shaking and will cry out to Him tears that are needful. I believe that some leaders will soon look to Christian leaders whom have stood the test in moral character, and they will ask for advice in the tragedy that we are facing. The Lord doesn’t want us to let up on doing the things of His Kingdom, but plug in greater than ever in our home church. God can bring forth a great revival in our land, but before great revival can begin, great repentance needs to be born from within His people. He’s judging the intents and the motives of His people greater than He has have ever judged them, and He doesn’t want greed to be in His people. This is 2010, and this year and the upcoming years need to be a year of repentance and order in our Christian walk. As the world gets hit with earthquakes, fires, and other disasters, we need to live like the days of Joseph in the seven year famine, but what we need for the current dark ages that we are facing concerning the sound word of God is the word of God in our hearts as foundation. We also need to pray for Jerusalem like never before, and pray that the United States will stand behind Jerusalem as the state capitol. Many want to destroy and divide Jerusalem, but God is for Jerusalem. If we let up on support and prayer for Israel, then that will make Israel vulnerable from other countries. Are you tired today and feel like there is no hope in sight? There is hope, and that hope is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. I also heard the words “GO TO THE ROCK” from the book of psalms.
Psalms 62:6
6He only is my rock and my salvation,
My stronghold; I shall not be shaken.
Psalms 27:5
5For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle;
In the secret place of His tent He will hide me;
He will lift me up on a rock.
prayer:
Lord we get at your feet right now in prayer. We need you to show us a fresh anointing of your love in this time that we are in. We repent Lord for any weights or sins we shouldn't be carrying upon our back, and we give you our whole life in Jesus name, Amen.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Threshing Floor August 18th Devotional by Keith Edwards
Read:
2 Samuel 24:24,25
24 But the king replied to Araunah, "No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels of silver for them.
25 David built an altar to the LORD there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the LORD answered prayer in behalf of the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped.
Have you ever felt like King David? Sometimes you find yourself counting all of the great things you have done to enter into God's presence, or to be accepted by God. I know that I do at times, and I have to fall at the threshing floor of God's grace in time of need and find that revelation that it's all about Jesus and not all about me. We look to the law to be made right at times, and the law is a good positive guide to go by, but it doesn't produce fruit by God's grace. Grace is knowing God and having that personal fellowship with him through our relationship that we have been given through His blood covenant. Now we have a covenant that is beyond any covenant ever made. There are times where we produce other type of covenants that were never attended for us to be a part of. David knew his covenant with God almighty, and David found God's grace in the middle of his failure. We must decrease so He can increase. Here we see that David had Joab count the fighting men of Jerusalem. This was not trusting God, and Joab didn't want to do this thing. He knew that this was not trusting the Lord. God sent prophet Gad to David and gave him a prophetic choice of what he wanted done to him for this sin. However, God withheld the judgement upon David. David fell on his face at the threshing floor, and God was very pleased with David's heart. God told the angel to stop the judgement. It is enough. If you are struggling today with counting your good deeds, then fall at the threshing floor today. This threshing floor is your heart. God wants your heart and not your deeds alone. When our heart is right we will show forth good fruit, and we will walk in the spirit. Lets fall at the threshing floor today.
Prayer:
Lord, we come to that threshing floor today with our hands lifted high and our mouth filled with praise. We ask that you will forgive us for counting all of the good things we do to make us right with you. We are made right because of our faith in your blood, Amen.
by Keith Edwards
2 Samuel 24:24,25
24 But the king replied to Araunah, "No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels of silver for them.
25 David built an altar to the LORD there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the LORD answered prayer in behalf of the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped.
Have you ever felt like King David? Sometimes you find yourself counting all of the great things you have done to enter into God's presence, or to be accepted by God. I know that I do at times, and I have to fall at the threshing floor of God's grace in time of need and find that revelation that it's all about Jesus and not all about me. We look to the law to be made right at times, and the law is a good positive guide to go by, but it doesn't produce fruit by God's grace. Grace is knowing God and having that personal fellowship with him through our relationship that we have been given through His blood covenant. Now we have a covenant that is beyond any covenant ever made. There are times where we produce other type of covenants that were never attended for us to be a part of. David knew his covenant with God almighty, and David found God's grace in the middle of his failure. We must decrease so He can increase. Here we see that David had Joab count the fighting men of Jerusalem. This was not trusting God, and Joab didn't want to do this thing. He knew that this was not trusting the Lord. God sent prophet Gad to David and gave him a prophetic choice of what he wanted done to him for this sin. However, God withheld the judgement upon David. David fell on his face at the threshing floor, and God was very pleased with David's heart. God told the angel to stop the judgement. It is enough. If you are struggling today with counting your good deeds, then fall at the threshing floor today. This threshing floor is your heart. God wants your heart and not your deeds alone. When our heart is right we will show forth good fruit, and we will walk in the spirit. Lets fall at the threshing floor today.
Prayer:
Lord, we come to that threshing floor today with our hands lifted high and our mouth filled with praise. We ask that you will forgive us for counting all of the good things we do to make us right with you. We are made right because of our faith in your blood, Amen.
by Keith Edwards
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
True Revival August 17th Devotional by Mel Mongomery & Keith Edwards
Read:
1 Timothy 4:6
In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following. Many are seeking from Him today another Great Awakening, and they read these old accounts of the Falling and Laughing that took place in the old revivals, and believe that if we just get enough people praying, falling, and giggling, we will have a revival that will sweep the world. But those who believe this overlook a major component of these previous revivals. Namely, the preachers preached Jesus Christ to the people. They warned that the Judgment of God was about to fall on sinners. They preached sound theology and doctrine. They preached the Cross, the sufferings of Christ, the mercy and grace of God, and the preciousness and effectiveness of the Blood to cleanse from all sin. They did not merely preach, “Have you Fallen in the Spirit yet? Have you Laughed in the Spirit? Come up now and let me lay my hands on you!” As the Laughing and the Falling occurred in the days of old—as the Lord chose to manifest these experiences—the revivalists kept everyone’s attention focused firmly on Calvary. There is no dispute that God blessed this approach. He gave them revivals that lasted decades, as compared to the revivals we see today which we consider to be major “outpourings” if we can somehow keep them going for a few weeks. Those old revivals also transformed this country, and the revivals we have today barely go outside our church walls, as we watch our country and world descend into degredation, darkness, and madness. My brethren, I believe we will NEVER have the revival from God that we seek, until we handle these special manifestations of the Holy Spirit in a more mature way, and refuse to allow ourselves to be distracted from the clear preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We must follow Elijah’s example of pressing past the wind, earthquake, and fire of his day, which is the Laughing and Falling of our day, and join him going on in God until we hear His “still small voice” again giving us specific wisdom, breakthrough, and earth-shaking
revival.
Comment by Keith Edwards
I feel like the Lord wants us to focus on Christ Jesus so powerfully for the next wave of revival that has started. We can't lose that focus upon Jesus in the middle of the glory that may fall. This revival will be a revival of powerful repentance from His church. No tears, no revival. We should be crying out to God for where the church and the nation has gotten to. We should be crying out to God for the lack of focus upon Christ, and we should be crying out for lost souls dying and going to hell. Let's see revival today as a place of tears and not giggling, laughing, crazy prophetic etc. If these manifestations happen then so be it, but our primary focus should be on Jesus Christ of Nazereth.
Prayer:
Lord, we ask that you will help us to keep you the center focus of our life. Purify ur hearts to keep sound doctrine flowing in the middle of great things you do, and help us to magnify Christ in a pure way, Amen.
by Mel Montgomery & Keith Edwards
1 Timothy 4:6
In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following. Many are seeking from Him today another Great Awakening, and they read these old accounts of the Falling and Laughing that took place in the old revivals, and believe that if we just get enough people praying, falling, and giggling, we will have a revival that will sweep the world. But those who believe this overlook a major component of these previous revivals. Namely, the preachers preached Jesus Christ to the people. They warned that the Judgment of God was about to fall on sinners. They preached sound theology and doctrine. They preached the Cross, the sufferings of Christ, the mercy and grace of God, and the preciousness and effectiveness of the Blood to cleanse from all sin. They did not merely preach, “Have you Fallen in the Spirit yet? Have you Laughed in the Spirit? Come up now and let me lay my hands on you!” As the Laughing and the Falling occurred in the days of old—as the Lord chose to manifest these experiences—the revivalists kept everyone’s attention focused firmly on Calvary. There is no dispute that God blessed this approach. He gave them revivals that lasted decades, as compared to the revivals we see today which we consider to be major “outpourings” if we can somehow keep them going for a few weeks. Those old revivals also transformed this country, and the revivals we have today barely go outside our church walls, as we watch our country and world descend into degredation, darkness, and madness. My brethren, I believe we will NEVER have the revival from God that we seek, until we handle these special manifestations of the Holy Spirit in a more mature way, and refuse to allow ourselves to be distracted from the clear preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We must follow Elijah’s example of pressing past the wind, earthquake, and fire of his day, which is the Laughing and Falling of our day, and join him going on in God until we hear His “still small voice” again giving us specific wisdom, breakthrough, and earth-shaking
revival.
Comment by Keith Edwards
I feel like the Lord wants us to focus on Christ Jesus so powerfully for the next wave of revival that has started. We can't lose that focus upon Jesus in the middle of the glory that may fall. This revival will be a revival of powerful repentance from His church. No tears, no revival. We should be crying out to God for where the church and the nation has gotten to. We should be crying out to God for the lack of focus upon Christ, and we should be crying out for lost souls dying and going to hell. Let's see revival today as a place of tears and not giggling, laughing, crazy prophetic etc. If these manifestations happen then so be it, but our primary focus should be on Jesus Christ of Nazereth.
Prayer:
Lord, we ask that you will help us to keep you the center focus of our life. Purify ur hearts to keep sound doctrine flowing in the middle of great things you do, and help us to magnify Christ in a pure way, Amen.
by Mel Montgomery & Keith Edwards
Monday, August 16, 2010
August 16th Devotional
Read:
2 Corinthians 4:17,18
17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
I had someone tell me one time that what if this Christianity stuff isn't real? I told him "Even if it wasn't real, I lived a good holy life!" You don't have anything to lose if living for God wasn't real. We believe in God even though we can't see Him. We believe in the resurrection even though we didn't see it in the natural. We can have faith in God today. sometimes we have to press on into the things of God even though all hell has come against us. The enemy wants us to give up, but we have a hope today. We have a hope that may not be seen in the natural, but is eternal. The bible says to fix our eyes on that which is eternal, and eternity lives within us as believers. I'm reminded of the Jews going back to rebuild Jerusalem under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Joshua. When they got there everything was in ruins, but they had hope, and the very first thing they did was they built an altar. This may be all we have today, but our altar today can be the eternal word abiding and living within us. I want to encourage you today to take a breath of His spirit in a new way. Have faith in God, and let Gods' Spirit take all of your burden that you try and carry alone.
Prayer:
Lord, we ask that you will help us focus on you in a deep way today. We look to you with faith, and we fight the good fight of that faith. Help us to stand in your name when the winds of life blow our way, and help us to rely upon your marvelous grace, Amen.
by Keith Edwards
2 Corinthians 4:17,18
17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
I had someone tell me one time that what if this Christianity stuff isn't real? I told him "Even if it wasn't real, I lived a good holy life!" You don't have anything to lose if living for God wasn't real. We believe in God even though we can't see Him. We believe in the resurrection even though we didn't see it in the natural. We can have faith in God today. sometimes we have to press on into the things of God even though all hell has come against us. The enemy wants us to give up, but we have a hope today. We have a hope that may not be seen in the natural, but is eternal. The bible says to fix our eyes on that which is eternal, and eternity lives within us as believers. I'm reminded of the Jews going back to rebuild Jerusalem under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Joshua. When they got there everything was in ruins, but they had hope, and the very first thing they did was they built an altar. This may be all we have today, but our altar today can be the eternal word abiding and living within us. I want to encourage you today to take a breath of His spirit in a new way. Have faith in God, and let Gods' Spirit take all of your burden that you try and carry alone.
Prayer:
Lord, we ask that you will help us focus on you in a deep way today. We look to you with faith, and we fight the good fight of that faith. Help us to stand in your name when the winds of life blow our way, and help us to rely upon your marvelous grace, Amen.
by Keith Edwards
Sunday, August 15, 2010
How Righteous Are We? August 15th Devotional
Read:
Romans 6:19
19 I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.
A professor at a college asked his students, "How many here believe that you are just as righteous as me?" Most of them raised their hands. He then asked, "How many here believe that you are just as righteous as the greatest Evangelist who ever lived?" Some of them raised their hands. He then asked, "How many here believe that you are just as righteous as Jesus?" Hardly anyone raised their hands. The word resulting here in Romans 6:19 is the Greek word "eis" and it means for sanctification. We see that we are sanctified and live a holy life because of us submitting to the revelation of righteousness that has been given us by His blood. Thank God for His blood. "For" (as used in Acts 2:38 "for the forgiveness...") could have two meanings. If you saw a poster saying "Jesse James wanted for robbery", "for" could mean Jesse is wanted so he can commit a robbery, or is wanted because he has committed a robbery. The later sense is the correct one. So too in this passage, the word "for" signifies an action in the past. Otherwise, it would violate the entire tenor of the NT teaching on salvation by grace and not by works. There is not a thing we can do in our own strength to make us right with God. We need to submit to God with a heart of true worship, and when we submit to God by faith, we will walk in the spirit, advance God's Kingdom, and do the works of Christ. We can grow in the revelation of righteousness, and that revelation of us being righteous will compel us to live for Him. I believe that many will stand in the judgement of God and say, "I have a degree Lord! Can I enter in now? I believe that many will say, "I did this, and I did that. God does not grade on a curve! Jesus died but Christ arose from the dead, and Jesus Christ is alive today for us. We can believe in the risen Christ today. Friend, I want to encourage you today to have the revelation of what Christ did on that cross, and our believing in what He did on the cross. If we died on that cross we still couldn't satisfy God. I find myself at times looking to the things I do to make me right with God versus what Christ did for me, and me submitting to what He did for me will cause good works to be produced from within. We do need to produce good works, but the produce that comes from us has to be because we submitted to God through Christ Jesus.
Prayer:
Lord, we ask that you give us a fresh revelation of who we are in you through the blood of Christ. Help us to realize that it's not the works that we do alone, but us being dressed within that causes good works to be shown to many, Amen.
by Keith Edwards
Romans 6:19
19 I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.
A professor at a college asked his students, "How many here believe that you are just as righteous as me?" Most of them raised their hands. He then asked, "How many here believe that you are just as righteous as the greatest Evangelist who ever lived?" Some of them raised their hands. He then asked, "How many here believe that you are just as righteous as Jesus?" Hardly anyone raised their hands. The word resulting here in Romans 6:19 is the Greek word "eis" and it means for sanctification. We see that we are sanctified and live a holy life because of us submitting to the revelation of righteousness that has been given us by His blood. Thank God for His blood. "For" (as used in Acts 2:38 "for the forgiveness...") could have two meanings. If you saw a poster saying "Jesse James wanted for robbery", "for" could mean Jesse is wanted so he can commit a robbery, or is wanted because he has committed a robbery. The later sense is the correct one. So too in this passage, the word "for" signifies an action in the past. Otherwise, it would violate the entire tenor of the NT teaching on salvation by grace and not by works. There is not a thing we can do in our own strength to make us right with God. We need to submit to God with a heart of true worship, and when we submit to God by faith, we will walk in the spirit, advance God's Kingdom, and do the works of Christ. We can grow in the revelation of righteousness, and that revelation of us being righteous will compel us to live for Him. I believe that many will stand in the judgement of God and say, "I have a degree Lord! Can I enter in now? I believe that many will say, "I did this, and I did that. God does not grade on a curve! Jesus died but Christ arose from the dead, and Jesus Christ is alive today for us. We can believe in the risen Christ today. Friend, I want to encourage you today to have the revelation of what Christ did on that cross, and our believing in what He did on the cross. If we died on that cross we still couldn't satisfy God. I find myself at times looking to the things I do to make me right with God versus what Christ did for me, and me submitting to what He did for me will cause good works to be produced from within. We do need to produce good works, but the produce that comes from us has to be because we submitted to God through Christ Jesus.
Prayer:
Lord, we ask that you give us a fresh revelation of who we are in you through the blood of Christ. Help us to realize that it's not the works that we do alone, but us being dressed within that causes good works to be shown to many, Amen.
by Keith Edwards
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