Tag: Power

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False Teaching

NOVEMBER 4

MATTHEW 7:16_Ye shall know them by their fruits…

Jesus is about to teach some clarity on how to recognize false prophets. If you think you don’t know any prophets, false or otherwise, change your perspective.

Look at something simple—like false advertising. You may covet some kind of product you see advertised, and save your money until you have it. In no time at all you discover it is not as advertised which causes you to lose interest. Now you covet its replacement. 

Being taken by false advertising is minor in comparison to being taken by false teaching. False teaching can appeal so strongly to your flesh that your spirit is diminished.

False teaching appeals to your appetite for wealth and possessions, for glamour and fame, and for power and control.

In Jesus’ wilderness experience the devil tempted Him, Matthew 4:8-9 (KJV), “Again, the devil taketh Him [Jesus] up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9 And saith unto Him, ‘All these things will I give Thee, if Thou wilt fall down and worship me.’”  

Jesus knew the truth, He replied, “10 Then saith Jesus unto him, ‘Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.’”

PRAYER

Good Shepherd, Help me strengthen my spirit in the truth of the Bible. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.     

 Christ knows the weakness of my flesh—He will save me!

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Prophesy Came Alive

NOVEMBER 1

MATTHEW 7:15_of false prophets…

A prophet was God’s spokesperson to His people:

Acts 2:17-18 (KJV) on the day of Pentecost, “And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: 18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.”

Peter was quoting from Joel 2:28-29. Israel had experienced a time of silence from God because of their disobedience. On Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended upon God’s people, prophesy came alive again. That’s what Peter said anyway—and he was there!

Prophets were people chosen by God. 

The devil also has prophets. Because the devil does not possess God’s unlimited power, he can only operate within his limited boundaries. As the prince of the world he has great powers. Among his powers are: deception, lies, accusations, fear, temptations, interference, and theft. On our own we are no match for him.

Eve tried to match him on her own and fell into the seduction of his lies. She fell to the fear of missing out on the good things of life and disobeyed God.

You know the rest of the story.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, Help me call upon You to defeat the devil and his deceptions. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.                                                                                                                                

Christ knows all of the devil’s deceptions—He will save me!

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Something You Give Away

OCTOBER 30

MATTHEW 7:14_and few there be that find it.

You enter the strait gate when you answer the knock of Jesus on your heart’s door. Some baggage automatically drops off. I have known people with strong addictions instantly set free through the power of Jesus in their heart.

The baggage that Jesus does not relieve instantly goes with you through the gate. The narrow path, like the Needle’s Eye, can become narrower as you travel. When you reach these narrow passages, you are forced to make some changes. You may need to turn sideways to pass through. In some places you’ll have to bend down, because to go through also requires going under a large rock formation.

The changes you make as you pass through the tight places require two things: repentance and humility. When you repent you’ve changed your position.

You no longer see value in earthly pain relievers.

You are filled with the convicting power of the Holy Spirit.

You walk free through the narrow path and exchange all your baggage for true love.

True love is not baggage. It is something you give away. To keep it for yourself would not be true love.

Holy Spirit power reproduces love daily and daily you give it away.

PRAYER

King of Kings, Help me to repent and worship You. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.                                                                                                                                   

Christ calls us to repent and be humble—He helps me!

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There Was an Almost

OCTOBER 15

MATTHEW 7:11_If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children…

God loves everyone—the entire world. So much, He let His Son suffer and die for the world. 

God wants righteousness and goodness to reign supreme as it did for a brief time in the Garden of Eden. Pure perfection not only in people, but in all nature. But there was an almost in that perfection. When the almost won the battle over free will, everything changed—but God didn’t. He’s still just. He still has all power. He’s still God of the Impossible.

I believe Jesus in His infinite power and unsurpassed love works every day to restore as much of the Garden experience as possible in our fallen world. Every time He transforms a heart and gives it the ability to become salt and light, He’s made some restoration. It will take a new heaven and a new earth to bring full restoration.

When God uses evil people in ways that result in good for His children, He is exercising His fatherly powers. God wants fathers to do good to and for their children. Unfortunately, there are those whose fathers genuinely neglect, abuse, and abandon them.

God has a plan for those children as well, Psalm 27:10 (KJV), “When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.”

PRAYER

Jesus Lord, Only You can transform—we all need it. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.                                                                                                          

Christ’s love is perfection—I want to love like that!

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Convicting Power

SEPTEMBER 23

MATTHEW 7:5_first cast out the beam out of thine own eye…

There were some missing parts of John 8 in our September 19 devotional. Let’s read them now: “6 … But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.”

I can’t help but see some humor in this. Knowing their hearts and the hypocrisy of the entire incident, Jesus ignored them. Perhaps He hoped that if He ignored them they would go away. No such luck. Since they wouldn’t go away, Jesus addressed them, “7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, ‘He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.’”

Talk about hitting the nail squarely on the head! Jesus sent conviction directly to their hard hearts.

Wouldn’t you love to know what He was writing? I would! Perhaps He was writing the man’s name. Maybe the man was even…a Pharisee!

One thing is for certain, the Scribes and Pharisees cared nothing about the woman and intended for this to end in her death. She was only a pawn in their game to ensnare Jesus.

Regardless of what He wrote, the word(s) had enough convicting power to cause them to drop their stones and walk away. 

The religious leaders blew their whole scheme. They were the ones humiliated before the crowd in the temple, not Jesus.  

One last teaching about this lesson—tomorrow!

PRAYER

True Shepherd,  Lead me to the place of freedom! In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.  

Christ is the True Shepherd—He defends me against evil!