The Wilderness Experience (Part I)

Leave a Comment / Fear of punishment, Relationships, Wilderness / By

If you have walked with the Lord for any length of time, sooner or later, you’ll find yourself in some sort of wilderness experience! The Bible is full of examples of God’s people who experienced wilderness in their lives. However, not all wilderness experiences are alike for there are different reasons as to why God’s people go through them. In the next few devotionals, I will share some stories from the Bible and why the individuals or people groups experienced wilderness in their lives.

Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.  And when he went out the second day, behold, two Hebrew men were fighting, and he said to the one who did the wrong, “Why are you striking your companion?”

Then he said, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?”

So Moses feared and said, “Surely this thing is known!” When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well. Exodus 2:11-15

And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds. Acts 2:22

Moses was rescued by Pharaoh’s daughter when his mother put him in a basket and send him off in the river bank to save him from getting killed. Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and raised him in Pharaoh’s quarters. Moses was trained by the best and was educated in all that there was to know in that time period. However, when he saw the injustices towards his Hebrew brothers, Moses became angry and acted out of his emotion. In his desire and zeal to help his people, he killed an Egyptian man for mistreating one of his Hebrew brothers. The next day, he realized that his own Jewish people did not appreciate him murdering an Egyptian, and neither did they recognize him as a man of authority in their lives!

Moses could not identify with Pharaoh’s version of royalty, and neither could he connect to his Hebrew brothers appropriately. God had put a burden on Moses’ heart for his countrymen, but the Lord had not given him the instruction to do anything about it. His impulsive action brought about a major shift in Moses’ life! When Moses ran ahead of God, it led to sin, broken relationships, and fear of punishment causing him to flee into wilderness!

Sometimes God puts a burden or a dream on our hearts. This could be related to our own personal lives or it could be in regards to an issue or a people group. We believe something has to be done and the issue needs to be corrected. But we don’t have clarity on how to fix it. If we allow our zeal to compel us to run ahead of God’s direction, it will lead us into a wilderness experience. The wilderness is the place that the Lord will deal with our pride, and He will help us to come face to face with Him.

After murdering the Egyptian, Moses fled to Midian. There he married the daughter of the Midian priest, and he became a shepherd tending his father-in-law’s flock in the back of the desert for decades to come. God still had a plan for Moses’ life, but, first, He had to bring him to a position of humility and dependency on Him.

Are you currently burdened with a situation that needs to be addressed? Do you have clarity from the Lord on to how to approach the problem? The Lord has a plan, trust Him and wait on His timing. If He wants you to do something about it, He will instruct you and will you direction.

 

Recompense or Repentance (Part II)

Leave a Comment / Uncategorized / By

Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.  And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature.  So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way.  And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”  So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully.  But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.”

Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.”

 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19: 1-9

Zacchaeus was hated by his countrymen for being a traitor and working for the governing authorities against his own people. He was shunned by the people, and he was certainly in no position to ask those around him to get in front of the crowd to see Jesus. But he was curious and desperate enough that he was willing to climb a tree and have a look at Jesus.

When Jesus saw him, He knew that this man was searching and seeking for the truth. Jesus called him by name, and told him that He wanted to stay at his house. Zacchaeus rushed down to receive Jesus joyfully! This could have been the first time that someone used his name in a positive context and showed their acceptance of him. He was elated in being accepted and received by the Lord! While those watching were furious with Jesus for choosing to spend time with the despised Zacchaeus, Jesus had the heart to see this man restored to his true identity!

Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? Romans 2:4

The Lord has been longsuffering towards all of us, but we can never confuse His longsuffering with His approval of our behavior or lifestyle. While on the surface it looked as if Jesus was accepting of Zacchaeus’ lifestyle of extortion, Jesus was after his repentance! By Jesus reaching out to Zacchaeus, it caused him to recognize the goodness and lovingkindness of God, and it convicted him to change!

Zacchaeus confessed his sins by declaring that he was going to give away half of his wealth to the poor, and he was going to restore fourfold to anyone that he had cheated and stolen from! This was a total transformation in this man’s life! If he were to restore someone’s stolen property, it would have meant that he needed to confess his sin to those he had falsely accused, restore his relationship with them to some degree, and then pay them back fourfold. It also meant that he would have had to change his lifestyle and career and give up being a tax collector for the Romans. He also gave up his wealth in order to be in the right relationship with God and with others!

This is the difference between God’s recompense versus the Lord seeking repentance. Zacchaeus could have easily assumed that he was so special that Jesus chose to come to his house. He could have also claimed that God was recompensing  Zacchaeus for the bad behavior he had endured from the hands of the Jewish people. To the contrary, Zacchaeus saw God’s lovingkindness through Jesus and caused him to wake up to his true sin condition. He realized that had been wrong about the treatment of his countrymen.

Sometimes, when God is good to us,  it is not because we were right or that he is paying us back for others’ bad behavior. Instead, He is doing it to show us our true condition through His love. The Lord is always after restoring us to truth and to turn us in love towards Him and towards the people we have hurt or offended. If we were wrong on how we treated others or falsely accused people, we need to confess those sins to the Lord and have the courage to restore what we damaged due to our insecurities or selfish reasons!

We live in a world that has insatiable desire to blame others for every wrong, and people have no interest to change or to take responsibility for their part. Unfortunately, this is also true in the body of Christ, but it should not be so! We should be courageous people who are willing to see ourselves in the mirror of the word of God and take responsibility for our sins and shortcomings. We may not have the 100% of the blame for something that happened, but we did our part to contribute to the problem. Therefore, we can do our part to make it right and allow the Lord to show us how we can be part of the restoration process. Those we have hurt or offended may not receive us, but we can show lovingkindness and longsuffering just as Jesus has shown towards us. We can allow the Lord to convict them to change in due time!

Have you experienced God’s mercy today? Has He been undeservingly kind to you? Is He calling you to turn to Him or to restore a relationship that is broken? What is required of you to restore a right relationship with the Lord and with others?

 

Recompense or Repentance (Part I)

Leave a Comment / Recompense, Repentance / By

When God comes through for us, sometimes He is recompensing what was stolen and at other times he is looking for our repentance! There is a difference between God’s recompense versus us repenting from some behavior or pattern in our lives.  When we have been wronged and God has seen our faithfulness in the midst of it, the Lord has no problem recompensing us for what was lost in the injustice. On the other hand, God sometimes blesses us in the midst of us being wrong, and in those cases, He hopes that His mercies lead us to repentance! In this devotional, I will share about God’s recompense and in the next devotional about our repentance!

According to Strong’s Dictionary (H7725) Recompense:  to return, to turn back, to turn back to God to repent, to restore, refresh, give back.

Then David spoke to the Lord the words of this song, on the day when the Lord had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. 2Samuel 22:1

The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness;
According to the cleanness of my hands
He has recompensed me.
 For I have kept the ways of the Lord,
And have not wickedly departed from my God. 

For all His judgments were before me;
And as for His statutes, I did not depart from them.
 I was also blameless before Him,
And I kept myself from my iniquity.
Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness,
According to my cleanness in His eyes. 2Samuel 22:21-25

In the above scriptures, David spoke of God’s faithfulness for delivering him from the hands of Saul. David had not sinned against Saul! His hands were clean from any evil against this man, but Saul had made David’s life miserable and had tried to take his life to ensure that he was would not gain the throne someday. David wrote this song as a testimony of how God delivered him from the hands of his enemies. It was the Lord who recompensed him and gave him what David deserved. In the turbulent times, David did not stop doing the right thing and keeping his life clean from being polluted by hatred, revenge, and dishonoring Saul. David was innocent in this matter. Therefore, God brought about justice by giving back to David what Saul had tried to steal from him.

There are times that we may not have done anything wrong but someone because of hatred, jealousy, or insecurity tries to undermine us. They may try to steal our reputation through gossip or false accusation, or try to block some opportunities. In those cases, we can turn to the Lord and look to Him for His deliverance! We can be confident that God is the one who will recompense us, and we don’t have to fight our battles in the flesh. We don’t have to gossip about them or ensure everyone knows about the character of this person. The Lord sees all things, and He expects us to keep our lives, mouths, and hands clean from polluting ourselves with hatred, bitterness or revenge.

Are you in a situation that you have been wronged? Are you able to show self-control and not pollute yourself with iniquity? Leave room for God’s recompense and for Him to bring about justice on your behalf!

In the next devotional, I will share about, what if we were the ones who were wrong!? What should our response be?

 

 

 

 

The Need to Rest (Part V)

Leave a Comment / Uncategorized / By

Heaven is My throne,
And earth is My footstool.
Where is the house that you will build Me?
And where is the place of My rest?
For all those things My hand has made,
And all those things exist,”
Says the Lord.
“But on this one will I look:
On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit,
And who trembles at My word. Isaiah 66:1-2

 

Our all powerful God is the creator of the heavens and earth, but His rest on the earth is dependent upon our rest! In the Old Testament times, God’s presence rested in the Tabernacle, but Isaiah spoke prophetically about God desiring the habitation of people’s hearts as His resting place.

The Lord is looking for His people as His resting place. Our hearts is the place of God’s habitation, reign, and rest! Those who are poor in spirit and proclaim that they can do nothing apart from God are the kinds of people that God can rest upon. He is seeking those who don’t get agitated easily but are humble in spirit. They trust in God’s ways and His timing. The Lord wants people who take Him at His word and are able to rest in faith and confidence in Him. When we are in the position of faith, humility, and dependence on the Lord, it makes us available and open vessels for God to have a place of rest in our lives!

In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious. Isaiah 11:10

Isaiah provided the answer as to how humanity will reach this place of rest. He spoke prophetically of the Messiah who was going to come from the family line of Jesse. He was going to bring salvation and deliverance from the hands of the enemy. He was going to rest upon His people and His resting place was going to be glorious!

When we come in faith to Jesus, we enter His rest! He is not expecting us to do more to be worthy of the relationship. We are no longer orphans and don’t earn the relationship by working at it. The Lord knows our needs and He wants us to look to Him and depend on Him with eyes of faith and humility. The Lord has a plan for our lives, and He will show us how to partner with Him. Our job is to make every effort to enter His rest and remain in it. This in turn allows God to having a resting place on the earth by inhabiting His people thereby His name is glorified on the earth! The fruit of resting in God will be evident as we fret less, don’t lean on our own understanding, and leave things in the Lord’s hands.

Praise God for the finished work of Jesus that allows us to rest in our relationship in Him! Jesus came to make us a restful habitation for God! As He rests upon us, His glory shines through his people! How marvelous are God’s works among His people! Those who are at rest in their spirit and in lifestyle are shining lights in a dark and stressful world. The testimony of this kind of life is bound to touch many who are looking for rest in their own lives!

The Need to Rest (Part IV)

Leave a Comment / Fear, Rest / By

Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. Hebrews 4:1-2

For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.  Hebrews 4:8-11

In Hebrews 3, the writer tells us that Israelites were not able to enter God’s rest because of unbelief. The writer goes on to tell us in chapter 4 that God’s rest was not appropriated in the life of Israelites because they did not mix faith with what they heard. However, God’s promise of rest still stands for His children. Jesus came to bring us rest from dead works, toil, and anxiety. The Lord’s provision of rest continues to be available for those who believe Him and take Him at His word!

We live in the age of education and information! It is all about learning, reading, and giving mental ascent to some new idea. As Christians, we also fall prey to this approach by thinking that by just reading more books or listening to more sermons, we will become stronger Christians. While reading and listening about the things of God are good things to do, the main ingredient in developing our relationship with the Lord is faith that leads to obedience! When we hear the truth, we must believe that God’s word is trustworthy and that He will accomplish what He has promised us. If we don’t take God at His word, what we hear is not going to profit us, and we will eventually get discouraged and disillusioned in our walk with the Lord! In this case, we must believe that rest is possible, and it is a blessing from the Lord that overcomes the curse of sin and toil!

The word “rest” in the above passage is about ceasing to work or an “intermission.” I like the word picture “intermission” in that it is temporary. When we watch a play, there is usually one or two intermissions during the play. This gives an opportunity for all the actors to have a little rest, and it prepares them for the next part of the play.

The Lord desires for us to live and move from the place of rest. This means when we are busy, we are not toiling or striving. We are in tune with God’s timing and seasons. In addition, the Lord places intermissions in our walk with Him where He wants us to rest and to be at peace without doing much. Many of us are afraid of resting because we think it might be permanent or are worried about others’ opinion of us. We’re concerned that we may look barren if we didn’t have something to make us look busy. We fear looking less important or valuable. All those thoughts are the lies of the enemy, and we need to reject them as such.

God created rest, and it is part of His plan for us! If we run away from resting, then we are running away from how God chooses to operate in the lives of His children and His creation. This leads into carnality and disobedience. While in the natural we may accomplish much, one day we will realize that it was not worth the toil and the stress we put on ourselves and our family.

Are you living in the rest of God? Has the Lord placed you in a season of intermission? What is your response to this season? Continue to seek the Lord and thank Him for the season of rest. Allow Him to comfort you and strengthen you during this time. Allow Him to work things out His way and in His timing.

The Need to Rest (Part III)

2 Comments / Enslaved, Rest / By

Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, “Why are you dealing thus with your servants?  There is no straw given to your servants, and they say to us, ‘Make brick!’ And indeed your servants are beaten, but the fault is in your own people.”

But he said, “You are idle! Idle! Therefore you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ Therefore go now and work; for no straw shall be given you, yet you shall deliver the quota of bricks.” And the officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble after it was said, “You shall not reduce any bricks from your daily quota.” Exodus 5:15-19

The children of Israel were in bondage to Pharaoh for four hundred years. They had worked hard as slaves in Egypt and had been crying out to the Lord for deliverance from this bondage. God heard their cries and sent Moses to the deliver them from the Egyptians. Moses told Pharaoh that God’s people need to go to the wilderness to worship the Lord! Pharaoh took an offense to this. He assumed that the Jews must not be working hard enough and have too much idle time that they want to worship their God.

Whenever we choose to rest in God, the enemy is not happy with that decision. The goal of the enemy is to keep us burdened, busy, and stressed. The enemy has no rest, and he doesn’t want God’s people to rest either. Resting in God can be a spiritual warfare because the enemy wants us to be seen as restless, anxious, and driven people who are not in tune with their God! Rest is a gift from the Lord! Rest gives us the opportunity recognize the God who gave us work to do and to enjoy what we have worked to produce. 

In the above passage, Pharaoh punished God’s people by giving them more work. Egyptians used to provide the straw for the bricks made by the Jews. But now they wanted the Israelites to find their own straw and still produce as many bricks as they did before. Pharaoh burdened and pressure them so much that they would not have time or energy to think about worshipping God! The enemy is still doing the same thing with God’s people. He throws all kinds of distractions to keep people exhausted, busy, and running around to ensure they don’t have time to rest nor do they have any daily devotional time with God.

Unfortunately, we have a culture that celebrates being busy. We perceive being busy as being successful and fulfilling God’s plan for our lives. However, that is not necessarily the case. Furthermore, the demands on people and families continues to increase. Everything including food, housing, cars, and education are becoming more expensive. Hence, the need to work harder and longer. We need to find the time to rest everyday and have a sabbath day of rest every week.

As God’s people, we can’t be swept by the winds of change and allow those things to pressure us to the point that we are enslaved to work and have no time to rest. The Lord does not keep us busy to the point of not having time for Him.  There could be seasons that life is difficult, but as much as it depends on us, we have to make the effort to make time to rest physically and spiritually.

If you find it difficult to rest, suspend most of your activities for a couple of days to seek the Lord. Ask the Lord to show you how you can find time to rest. What needs to be cut off? Let Him show you the areas that your priorities need adjustment. Have you allowed the trends of the culture to dictate how you should live your life!? Are you able to get the sleep you need every night? If you are a caretaker for someone who needs you on a regular basis, pray that God would send workers to hold your arms up. The Lord has designed us with the need to rest! Allow Him to show you and teach you how to do it well. It takes faith to rest well! You can be an example to those around you that rest is possible, and it is a gift that the Lord has made available for His beloved children!

 

The Need to Rest (Part II)

Leave a Comment / Rest / By

We are inundated with information, choices, and decisions on daily basis. We also pressure ourselves in trying to be one step ahead of the game. We are driven to gather all our facts to ensure we are ready and prepared for what is coming down the pipe. All this pressure can be overwhelming, and it causes us to be in a continual state of hyper alertness and stress!

The Bible tells us that the Lord knows our frame and that we are made of dust (See Psalm 103:4).  He does not expect us to figure everything out, and neither does he want us to control every situation. We may consider those actions as being responsible or protective of our loved ones, but God sees our anxiety and its impact on us and our relationships!

Unless the Lord builds the house,
They labor in vain who build it;
Unless the Lord guards the city,
The watchman stays awake in vain.
It is vain for you to rise up early,
To sit up late,
To eat the bread of sorrows;
For so He gives His beloved sleep. Psalm 127:1-2

 

The Lord is in charge of building our lives and protecting us and our families. We have a part to play in it, but our part comes from following His word, listening to the Lord, and surrendering our will to Him. If we are compelled to do something out of fear of losing or running out of time,  we are thinking too highly of ourselves! We can waste time and energy toiling in our own strength. Unless the Lord builds our lives, we are running on a treadmill that does not get us any faster to our hopes and dreams. We can waste valuable time and precious moments while trying to think of all the scenarios and possibilities. The truth is we are just spinning our wheels, and we are not making any real progress in the situation.

This week, one of my children has been given some choices that require a decision. I’m thankful to the Lord for the choices, but I have been stressed trying to figure out the ramifications of choosing one option over another. We had been praying about this for sometime, so this was not a surprise. The Lord is completely aware of the entire situation. Fretting is not going to provide anymore information or peace about one choice over another. It is surrendering it to the Lord and allowing Him to lead and guide the situation is what is going to give me peace and rest in Him!

Are you fretting over something today?  Are the pressures of life keeping you awake at night? Do you give room for the Lord to have a say in the matters and calm you with His love? The above scripture is a good passage to memorize or post it somewhere in your home, so you are continually reminded of how God see it. I will continue with this subject in the next devotional.

The Need to Rest (Part I)

1 Comment / Rest / By

Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Genesis 2:1-2

After creating the heavens and the earth in six days, our awesome God rested on the seventh day! Although the world and all it activities was only about to begin, the Lord chose to enjoy all that He had created! The Lord did not rest because He was tired or weary. He was doing it to enjoy His finished work of creation! Just like an artist that steps back and enjoys their creative work, our God looked at all His creation and called it good!

Since the Lord has created us in His image, we are designed to rest and enjoy our work. Why is it that some of us have such a hard time resting!? Some people feel their work is never finished, so it’s hard for them to rest. Some are overcommitted, and they always feel behind. Technology allows for people to draw upon us at all times via texts or email, and sometimes it may feel like we can never unplug. At other times, we are so used to being connected to people or work, we don’t want to unplug in the fear of missing out on something. In addition, we live in a culture of “not good enough,” which makes people feel like they always have to do more to be enough!

The truth is that we all need rest for our spirits, souls, and bodies. It is in resting that we gain clarity and have the opportunity to hear God better. It takes faith to rest our entire being! It takes faith to rest our minds from going a hundred miles an hour and trying to figure things out. It takes faith to rest our will from striving and making things happen. It takes faith to rest and still feel loved and valuable.  It takes faith to rest and not fear being forgotten if I we are not seen for a few days. It takes faith to rest and know that time is not going to run out on us while we’re resting. It takes faith to rest our bodies and get the sleep we need. It takes faith to rest and know that God cares about our needs even when we are resting!

Our flesh is going to fight resting because its intent is on remaining carnal, active, and busy. For some resting won’t be easy, but we must press through. When we can rest without being anxious, it is a step towards victory! Is the Lord calling you to rest? In resting, we may be delivered from fear, insecurities, restlessness, etc. Today, find time to rest in God and celebrate what He has already done in your life!

 

 

A Form of Godliness (Part IV)

Leave a Comment / Godliness, Power / By

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:  For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,  having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! 2Timothy 3:1-5

Paul warns the believers that in the last days people will be lovers of pleasure, having a form of godliness but denying its power. How can we be the people who are Godly and walk in the power of the Holy Spirit!?

First, there is nothing wrong with enjoying life, but when pleasure becomes the means for us to be happy, our heart has changed! There are some who live a double life and want to enjoy worldly pleasures by drinking, carousing, using drugs, dancing in clubs, etc. At the same time, they also want to show up to church on Sundays and enjoy the presence of God! We can’t have both! We can’t be lovers of pleasure and lovers of God! Following Christ requires wholehearted devotion to Him. It means that we cannot straddle the fence for too long without losing our peace and joy. Some people are so afraid and offended by those who confront their questionable activities, that they miss out on what the Holy Spirit is speaking.  When Jesus told the woman at the well about the condition of her life, she could have been offended and walked away from Him. Instead, she responded with humility recognizing that this man cared about her wellbeing.  This caused her to open her life to the living waters that Jesus offered her, and it also allowed her to share the gospel message with  her countrymen (See John 4:1-26). If we want to thrive in the last days, we need to stop getting offended by people and pay more attention to what the Holy Spirit is speaking to us or through others.

Second,  Apostle Paul addressed people having a form of godliness, but rejecting the power of God.  There are many in the body of Christ who claim to be strong Christians. They are proud of the fact that they have been walking with the Lord for decades or that they have family members who are in ministry. They will quote scriptures and have a self-righteous attitude, but they are not experiencing the freedom they claim to have! Sometimes they misinterpret the scriptures, and sometimes they focus on other people’s sin in order to deflect the issue.I have also seen intellectuals who take their understanding to the borders of unbelief by reading materials written by heretical commentators. Hence, their views of God, Jesus, and the Bible are a hodgepodge of different doctrines.

Paul’s writing is a warning for the body of Christ. There are going to be many who will have a form of godliness but not having the power of God to live a Godly life. Some big trees in our neighborhood have given me an analogy to our spiritual walk.  Many of these trees look alive and flourishing. However, in the last couple of months, I have noticed that that some big branches have fallen in the middle of the streets.  We have no rains, winds, or storms that would cause these thick branches to break. The trees don’t look diseased or dry. They still look like a alive and flourishing tree, but inside they have become dry and hollow eventually leading to the fall of the branches. That could also be true in the life of a believer.

Those who have been a “Christian” for a long time, will have a form of godliness. People may know the Bible and can quote scriptures. However, if they reject God’s dealings in their lives, they will lose their connection to the Lord. They will begin to become powerless, which will lead them to unbelief and questioning the things of God.

Jesus is a good example of how a believer receives power. After forty days of fasting, prayer, and temptation, Jesus came out of the wilderness with the power of the Holy Spirit (See Luke 4:14). Similarly, our power comes from seasons of prayer, fasting, and obedience in the midst of famine or tribulation. The perilous times will require us to be faithful in the midst of adversity. God will give us the grace we need when we look to Him. We will be empowered by the Holy Spirit to do what we would not be able to sustain in the natural.

The Lord is preparing us for the perilous time ahead. Are we ready to be light and salt in these times? Lord, we pray and ask that the Holy Spirit would show us anything in the above scriptures that relates to our lives, our attitude, or our parenting. Give us your grace to confront it and repent from it. We want to be your holy priesthood ready to reach a generation of lost and self serving people by your power and your anointing! In Jesus’ name. Amen!

A Form of Godliness (Part III)

Leave a Comment / Loving, Respect / By

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:  For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,  having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! 2Timothy 3:1-5

Paul warns us that in the last days children will be disobedient to their parents, and many people including children will be unthankful, unholy, and unloving towards others. In the last devotional, I shared about the need for raising loving and respectful children. This is the continuation of raising Godly and responsible children.

The Bible does not mince any words about our sinful and carnal nature that needs to be shaped through obedience, discipline, and denial of self. This also impacts our parenting. One of the important areas in raising children is to teach them to take responsibility for their own actions. We need to hold them accountable and not rescue them from the consequence of bad actions. This includes learning to get along with their siblings, classmates, teachers, and friends. When they have a problem with someone, it can’t always be somebody else’s fault. If they are getting bad grades, most likely, it is not because their teacher dislikes them or she is mean.

Parents who are super-protective of their children become enablers of unhealthy patterns of behavior. We cannot save children from trials, but we can teach them how to appropriately handle them in the way that reinforces their identity in Christ and honors God and others.

A study by a major university found that the majority of teenagers believed that success was more important to their parents than kindness! That was convicting! How many times do we care about our children’s academic or social development, but we are not evaluating the condition of their hearts. When was the last time you asked your child or grandchild if they have shown kindness to anyone lately? We may focus on having them recite scriptures but acting on those verses and learning to live them out is more powerful!

Every parent wants their children to be confident and to do well. The problem is the way we go about it that can lead to raising proud and arrogant children who cannot accept losing.  Our goal should be to raise meek and humble children. Struggles are great opportunities for children to know their limitations and appreciate the need to be in relationship with God and with others.  Understanding their limitations gives them the opportunity to be teachable and to gain wisdom. Through struggle, they gain maturity and humility. They begin to appreciate healthy boundaries and as the saying goes, “Gravity is not a myth!”

The world has its messages of success for our children. However, as the people of God, we need to pay attention to the condition of our children’s hearts and ensuring that as much as it depends on us we are shepherding their hearts not just their performance! The perilous days have come and will continue to come, and the only hope this lost world has is for us to raise a generation that not only claims to be a follower of Christ, but it is able to live it out before a dying world.

I will continue with this subject in the next devotional.