Ezra 9:-12

Now, our God, what can we say in light of this? For we have abandoned the commandments You gave through Your servants the prophets, saying:  “The land you are entering to possess is an impure land. The surrounding peoples have filled it from end to end with their uncleanness by their impurity and detestable practices. So do not give your daughters to their sons in marriage or take their daughters for your sons. Never seek their peace or prosperity, so that you will be strong, eat the good things of the land, and leave it as an inheritance to your sons forever.”

Ezra was confessing Israel’s sin before God after the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem. He acknowledged that the nation and sinned, and God had sent them into slavery because of it. He also recognized the grace God was now extending to the nation by allowing them to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall and the temple. He could see God’s restoring hand at work, but it would mean nothing if they did not acknowledge their sin and turn from it.

God’s grace is designed to help us overcome sin and not to continue in it. Grace is not a license to sin nor a reward for enduring sin’s punishment. Grace is an opportunity for another chance to do the right thing and avoid the consequences that come with sin. Grace is never the option to sin without consequence.

God had warned Israel that the Promised Land she was about to possess was full of uncleanness and impurity. God’s intentions were for Israel to possess the land. If Israel were not careful, the land would defile her and possess her, instead.  Israel chose to indulge by intermarrying and making commitments to foreign gods, thereby defiling the nation. As Matthew 6:24 explains, you cannot serve two masters with complete integrity. You will love one and hate the other. Israel came to love the foreign gods because of what they thought these gods did for them. As a result, they forfeited the protection God gave them from their enemies.

We all have a Promised Land where God intends to take us. For some, possessing that land may take a long time, as it did for the Israelites, who wandered 40 years in the wilderness. We must remember that the land where God is taking us is filled with uncleanness and impurity. God’s desire is for us to possess the land and not for the land to possess us. We must be so established in our faith that we clearly recognize right from wrong and are willing to eliminate anything we know is wrong and not be willing to flirt with its charm.

We’ve seen this in many child actors who have entered the entertainment field as wholesome, even Christian, young people. As success overtook them, they fell prey to its lure and became addicted to the enticements fame and fortune provide. In the end, we’ve seen many fall as evil gained a stronghold in young, talented lives that seemed to have it all.

Perhaps you are waiting to enter your Promised Land. Be willing to take dominion over it by setting boundaries that keep the lure of sin from possessing you. If you have entered a Promised Land and fallen prey to sin’s lure, realize that God is extending grace to you today. Turn to Him, and cut off every opportunity for sin to take advantage of you. Grace is another chance to get things right and to live the life God created you to live in Christ. When your land possesses you, your children inherit a life of slavery. If you possess your land, your children inherit God-given prosperity. Dare to possess your land, and give your children the very best – the blessings of grace.

Have a blessed day!

Acts 14:21-22

After they (Paul and Barnabas) had evangelized that town and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, to Iconium, and to Antioch, strengthening the hearts of the disciples by encouraging them to continue in the faith, and by telling them, “It is necessary to pass through many troubles on our way into the kingdom of God.”

Paul and Barnabas did not sugar coat anything in their evangelistic efforts. The truth was that the world would persecute the early believers for their faith, and they needed to be aware that suffering was part of the package. I fear too many people today come to Christ with the false assumption that everything will be wonderful and prosperous now that they have decided to become a Christian and lose faith once something bad happens. As we are all aware, becoming a Christian does not exempt us from loss, hardship, tragedy, or trials; it just changes how we deal with these things that are inherent in a fallen world.

In planting churches and spreading the gospel, Paul and Barnabas made a point to encourage those who became disciples. In Christ, we have a hope that the world does not have. God is for us and is working everything that happens to us for our good and His glory, and we can count on Him to be with us in every situation. When we go through difficult times, God makes sure we gain something from the experience that increases our faith and transforms us more into the image of Christ. Our goal as a Christian is to gain Christ – not earthly prosperity. Christ suffered on this earth, and the apostles suffered. We can expect to suffer, as well. Our suffering, however, is not without purpose or hope. We can come through it stronger and more effective in ministry than before, and we should pray God will use our suffering as a tool to increase His kingdom.

I can’t promise you a life without pain on this earth. I can, however, assure you that whatever you have to suffer for the kingdom of God will be worth any pain you endure. Keep your eyes on Jesus, and keep pressing ahead in your faith. There is another side to your suffering, and God is waiting with a reward. He loves you like no one else ever could. You’ve come too far to turn back now, anyway. You might as well run forward and claim your victory in Christ.

Have a blessed day!

Romans 10:4

For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

We can never establish our own righteousness. As hard as we may try, we will never be good enough to have a relationship with God on our own. We must come to Him through the cross with full faith in Christ, who is the end of the law. The law stands to expose our failures and shortcomings. Jesus is the only man who ever obeyed the law completely, and He became a sacrifice so that we who could not keep the law can have a relationship with the Father and be made whole.

We’ve all sinned, made mistakes, failed, and rebelled. When we come face to face with our soiled condition, our tendency is to deny it, excuse it, or try to justify it. Regardless of how we handle our sin, we can never clean it up enough to make it righteous on our own. We must admit our failure and submit it to Christ. When we do, the grace of His forgiveness enables us to turn completely from that sin and to begin to walk in true righteousness. This is true grace – the ability to admit our wrongs and accept forgiveness in order to walk free from the bondage of sin.

Grace was never meant to be a blank check to sin as we desire or to excuse our wrong actions. Grace does not allow us to keep our sin; it enables us to walk free from it. Anything that excuses sin, rather than transforming us from it, is not grace at all.

If you are struggling with failure in some area, understand today that Christ is the end of it. Submit it fully to Him, and walk free from it. You have an advocate with the Father who died for you and who sits at the right hand of God interceding for you daily. Trust His love for you, and allow His grace to set you free from any sin that ensnares you. Everyone who believes in Him shall not perish!

Have a blessed day!

1 John 2:1

My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father – Jesus Christ the righteous One.

John instructs us that if we say we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If, however, we confess our sins, God is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. He wrote these things so we would not continue in our sin but that we might receive forgiveness and walk in the light of truth. If we do sin, however, we have an advocate with the Father – Jesus Christ.

Jesus is our defense attorney before the Father. When we sin, He is at God’s right hand, interceding for us and making a defense on our behalf if we confess our sin. We cannot be free of sin unless we are willing to confess it and receive grace through forgiveness to overcome it. Otherwise, we will continue to walk in sin and be a slave to it.

Jesus died so we could walk free of sin. We cannot overcome sin on our own; we need a Savior. Regardless of how hard we may try to break an addiction or a bad habit, we cannot do it on our own. We need to confess with a repentant heart that is willing to change and receive forgiveness through grace in order to make a clean break. Otherwise, we are chained to that sin and will not be able to break free. Jesus is our advocate and intercedes for us. He is our means of grace.

If you are burdened with habitual sin that you cannot seem to shake on your own, lay it before Jesus and confess it to Him. Receive grace and forgiveness, and walk free. Only He can save you from yourself and from any sin you have befriended. Sooner or later, those old friends we’ve made reveal their true colors as we see the danger they bring, and the only way to walk free is to confess them and leave them with Christ, who has already paid the price for them. He is your advocate and mine, and He longs to free us through grace. Appeal to your advocate today, and walk free of sin and the condemnation that goes with it.

Have a blessed day!

2 Peter 1:4

By these (Christ’s own glory and goodness) He has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desires.

Jesus gave us hope when God raised Him from the dead. He carried all of our sin and shame when He died and they placed Him in the tomb. God accepted that sacrifice and raised Him from the dead, signifying forgiveness. Once forgiven, Christ stood in glory on this earth as an overcomer of evil and a Savior for us. He, in turn, offers us the glory and goodness of His resurrection to help us overcome our own evil desires and share in His divine nature.

We often make the mistake of thinking that we can overcome sin on our own. If we could, we would not need Christ. The only way we can overcome sin is to admit we are a sinner and to lay it at His feet by choosing His lordship in that area. When we do, He grants us the glory and goodness to overcome sin. Forgiveness yields power, and we are in desperate need of it.

Why do we see little power in the church today? I can’t help but believe it is because we’ve chosen to hold on to evil desires that have corrupted us. We’ve befriended the wrong desire, and it has quenched our power. We must be willing to give up those things that are destroying us, even if we enjoy them. When we do, we can receive forgiveness and resurrection power to rise above our current situations where we are unproductive and ineffective.

Where do you feel powerless today? Search your heart for any wrong desire that may be hindering your walk. Submit anything you know to be wrong and choose the lordship of Christ. He has already suffered the guilt and shame, and there is no need for you to carry it if you are exposed. Surrender completely to Him, and find forgiveness that leads to power and fruitfulness. God will not grant power to a corrupt heart; He cleans the heart that is surrendered to Him and gives power to overcome.

Have a blessed day!

Philippians 4:6

Don’t worry about anything, but in everything through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

This verse is very familiar among Christians and reminds us to pray, rather than worry. Indeed, worry will accomplish nothing and serves only to bring doubt and fill you with fear, which is never from God. We are to trade worry for prayer, which is communication with God.

Paul’s instruction here is to present our petition with thanksgiving. This is really the secret to praying. When we come before God with a pressing matter, we should present our requests to Him while thanking Him for the things He has already done in our lives. Thank Him for giving us every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus. Thank Him that we may come boldly before His throne of grace for everything we need because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. Thank Him for the places and ways He has moved in the past, and thank Him for what He is going to do in your present situation. When we pray with thanksgiving, we find faith rising up from within and filling us with a hopeful expectation of good. Instead of filling us with doubt and fear as worry does, thanksgiving fills us with faith that God will move on our behalf once again. Our trying circumstances come to increase our faith, and praying with thanksgiving is key.

If you have a pressing matter at hand today, trade worry for prayer, and make your requests known to God with thanksgiving. As C.S. Lewis once explained, through his own communication with God he learned that prayer does not change God’s mind on a matter. On the contrary, prayer changed him. When we pray with thanksgiving, it releases faith in our hearts to believe God to move on our behalf once again. God’s plan for you is to increase your faith, and He will move on your behalf in a manner that will do just that.

Have a blessed day!

John 9:25

He (man healed of blindness by Jesus) answered, “Whether or not He’s a sinner, I don’t know. One thing I do know: I was blind, and now I can see!”

The man that was healed of blindness could not answer the Pharisees’ accusation that Jesus was a sinner. That did not matter to him. All he knew was that he was once blind, but now he could see. He didn’t know anything about Jesus’s past; he just knew Jesus had healed him.

The Pharisees could not accept the miracle. For Jesus to perform such a miracle meant that He had power they did not, and they had to discredit Him somehow. If they could not deny His power, they would attribute it to an evil source. Their teachings carried no power to change anyone; they only sought to control everyone for their own benefit.

We often mistake control for power. Control means you have an authority as long as someone is willing to submit. Power, however, has the ability to change and influence. Many people do not have positions of control, but they have great power to influence because of the way they conduct their lives and the anointing God has placed upon them. Others have great positions of authority, but their lives have no power to influence due. Those who relish control often desire a power they do not possess, and they despise others who do have the ability to influence others. Do you want to be popular or powerful? They don’t always come in the same package.

God grants His power to hearts that are fully submitted to Him. He gives no power to those who seek to glorify themselves or lord it over others. His power is nothing we can harness for our own agendas. He works miracles through ordinary, humble people who will give Him all the glory.

Surrender control for real power. Seek to be a woman of integrity who is influenced by the Holy Spirit and can, thereby, influence others. You cannot gain real power by discrediting what is real; you can only stifle the work of the Holy Spirit in your own life. Refuse to live a stagnant, stale, and ineffective life. Give God complete control, submit to His perfect will, and allow His power to work through you. Your life will be changed, and so will those around you.

Have a blessed day!

2 Chronicles 6:18

But will God indeed live on earth with man? Even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built.

These are among the words Solomon prayed as he dedicated the temple he built to God. No temple on earth has been as glorious as Solomon’s temple, and we won’t see that kind of glory again until Jesus comes to rule and reign in His kingdom. Yet, Solomon realized the temple he had constructed could not contain God because He was greater than anything man could build.

Indeed, God is greater than anything we can build with our hands or even dream in our minds. If we could contain Him, I promise you we would try. To contain Him, however, would limit His power to the area holding Him. God reaches far beyond our physical and mental boundaries to include what we cannot comprehend. Instead of trying to contain God, we would do much better to allow Him to consume us. When we are totally His, His glory shines through us.

God dwells within every one of His children through the power of the Holy Spirit. He fills us to overflowing as we surrender ourselves to Him. To have more of God is to give Him more of ourselves. When He has all of us, we have all of Him working in every corner, nook, and cranny of our being to bring about His purpose in the earth.

Whatever you have built for God can never contain Him. God is much bigger than your little world, and He moves and blesses others outside it. We limit God by our own small mind sets and often miss great things He is doing simply because we expect Him to act within our preconceived framework. Allow Him to consume your being, and find you cannot hold all of God. He can, however, hold all of you and do great wonders through you.

Have a blessed day!

Psalm 119:125

I am Your servant; give me understanding so that I may know Your decrees.

I see two very important foundational truths in this verse. First, we cannot obtain understanding on our own. God must give it to us. That is why so many read the Bible and think it is meaningless. As 1 Corinthians 1:18-19 explains, to those who are perishing, the gospel is foolishness. They have no understanding unless God gives it to them. God destroys the wisdom of the wise and sets aside the understanding of the experts. To those of us, however, who are saved, the Bible is God’s power working in us and through us.

Secondly, understanding comes when we humble ourselves as God’s servant. Understanding Scriptures is like finding hidden treasure, and God does not reveal it to those who have no regard for Him. He reserves what is precious and valuable for those who submit to His authority and are willing to learn from Him. For those who know it all already, God will let them follow their own destructive path, but He will protect and direct those who are willing to hear and obey wisdom’s call.

Any understanding we have comes from God, and God grants it to those who humble themselves as His Servant. If you want to understand more, simply submit to God and ask Him for more. Psalm 84:11 tells us God does not withhold any good thing from those who walk in integrity. James 1:5 instructs us to ask God for wisdom, and He will give it to us. God wants you to understand His Word, and He is waiting to give you more. You won’t gain it, however, without Him.

Have a blessed day!

Ecclesiastes 4:4

I saw that all labor and all skillful work is due to a man’s jealousy of his friend. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

Solomon saw that man’s ambition was birthed from jealousy and the desire to prove himself better than others. This competitive spirit can both bind and destroy relationships. Competition, however, is based in the belief that we gain blessing or promotion by our own means through our skill, talent, or sheer determination. Competition does not invite the grace or favor of God to work in a life. Therefore, the competitive person does not glorify God but seeks credit for himself. As Solomon explains, this, too, is merely a futile pursuit of the wind. You may feel its presence, but you will never possess its power.

Life is not a competition; life was designed for purpose. Rather than trying to outwork or outsmart someone for promotion, we would do better to simply focus upon that which God has gifted us and has given us passion. When we do, we find God’s purpose unfolding in our lives with grace and favor. Others witness God’s glory revealed. You cannot earn what God has planned for someone else, and no one else can steal your blessing when you live out of a sense of purpose.

Do you have a competitive spirit? Do you find yourself angry because someone else has what you want, and they don’t deserve it? If so, it is time for you to redirect your focus and begin to live out of purpose. Reconnect with your passions and see where God is working in your life. Move in direction with Him, and begin to enjoy the blessings He has designed specifically for you, rather than being envious of someone else’s blessing. Life is too short to waste in pursuits of the wind. God has more for us than that, and His purpose is worth finding.

Have a blessed day!