Vision Testing

Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him. But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, Why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation.' And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side. Mark 8:11-13

Do you know what the biggest threat to your relationship with Jesus is? I'll give you a clue. It is not sin, and it is not the world. Oh, and it's not the devil, either. Have you guessed yet?

The biggest threat to your relationship with Jesus is religion.

Religion was the Pharisees' problem. Religion is what lied to them, making them think they already had what Jesus came to give. Religion limited them to a form of godliness that was devoid of God's presence in their lives.

Religion is what convinced them they were right and everyone else, including Jesus, was wrong. This critical mindset caused them to argue with Jesus, and ultimately, it left them trusting their own works to make them right with God. They had a long list of credentials and, comparing them with what they thought they knew of Jesus, they were not impressed. They wanted a sign from heaven to prove that they should listen to Him.

His response was essentially to say, Who do you think you are? Does God need to prove Himself to you? Do you have so much understanding that you think you can judge God? He refused to indulge the Pharisees' arrogance. If they thought they were good enough without God then He would let them have it their way. He left, without answering a single argument or challenge.

How about your relationship with God; do you still have room to grow? Are you still looking to Jesus for answers, not to arguments, but for the problems you face in life? Or have you become so well trained in what you think God wants that you don't need Him anymore?

Let us keep our eyes on Jesus and our ears open to hear what He wants to say to us. We just might learn something.

Prayer Dear Jesus,

Thank You for Your presence in my life! I choose to keep learning from You all of my life. Please help me to hear what you want to teach me.

Amen

The Cause and Cure for Spiritual Blindness

Pause and wonder! Blind yourselves and be blind!...For the LORD has poured out on you the spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes, namely, the prophets; and He has covered your heads, namely, the seers. Isaiah 29:9-10

Can you imagine what life would be like if you couldn't see? You would need someone or something to guide you, whether a friend, guide-dog, or walking stick, because you wouldn't be able to find your way on your own.

Now what if you couldn't see, but you thought you could? I'll tell you what would happen: those who love you would try to guide you, but you wouldn't follow. Your blindness would be so complete that it would lead you to harm.

I bring this up today because this is the case with so many people who are spiritually blind. They can't see the spiritual realities that are all around us, but they think they have perfect vision. There are several things that can cause this blindness.

Passions cause a lot of people to be spiritually blind, unable to see what God has for them. People get wrapped up in other passions and their drive for these things drives them right past the best that God wants to give them.

Preferences can cause spiritual blindness, too. This is when people say, Well, I'm glad that works for you, but it's just not for me, or, I prefer to think of God as someone who accepts everyone, no matter what they believe. These kinds of preferences are actually spiritual blindness.

Pleasures are a huge source of spiritual blindness. People just want the newest and the best stuff. Whatever feels good, they do it, because they are blind to the consequences of their choices.

Power blinds a lot of people as well, to the point where a person could say, What do I need God for? I'm fine all by myself.

Prosperity certainly makes this list, too, with so many people more concerned about their career or social status than they are about what pleases God.

But the root of all of these things is one and the same-pride. It's forgetting our place before our almighty Creator who loves us and simply wants our best.

Don't be spiritually blind. Humble yourself today and ask God to reveal any area of your life where you have let this pride take root.

Prayer Father God,

Thank You that You truly want the best for me, and You want to help me to see clearly spiritually. Please show me today any area of my life where I have let pride grow and help me to remain humble before You!

Amen

The Only Life Worth Living For

Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall not be found anymore.' Revelation 18:21

There are certain things that are just going to happen. I mean, these things are more certain than the sun setting at the end of the day.

Certain thing number one-everyone will someday die, unless Jesus takes them in the Rapture.

Certain thing number two-Jesus will come one day in power, overthrowing the Babylonian system of the world and destroying all the power of the devil.

Nothing is more certain than that. The economy is certainly not certain. You can't count on your job always being there. You don't know what might happen someday in traffic. Accidents happen all the time.

Happy surprises happen, too. Maybe you thought you were done having kids. Maybe you didn't see that promotion coming. Or maybe just your son mows the lawn without you asking him to. The point is, there are a lot of things that we think are certain, that we think we can plan for, that really are not certain at all.

But there's this thing in us in how God made us that we like security. We like certainty, because then we can plan. Certainty is strength, it's immovable, it's a rock upon which we can build our lives.

I'm here to tell you today that there is only one rock, and His name is Jesus Christ. He is the one and only guarantee that can protect you from death, judgment, and Hell. He is the only one who can deliver you from getting caught in the ruin of the Babylonian system that will certainly come.

Nothing in this world is certain except that it's going to end. The question that we all face today is, will we place our trust in Jesus so that we can have security when those truly certain things come?

Prayer Lord Jesus,

Thanks for helping me to see that You are the only truly certain thing in my life that I can trust. I turn away from all the things that I have trusted that steal my heart from you and I turn to You today!

Amen

Who's Being Held?

When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, Son, your sins are forgiven you.' ...Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, We never saw anything like this!' Mark 2:5,12

Imeet with so many people who feel spiritually paralyzed. It's like, they say they want to keep growing in their relationship with Christ, but something is holding them back, and it has to do with two things-their past, or the sin of their past still invading their lives today.

To set us all free from this paralysis today, let's see what happened that set a truly paralyzed man free. This paralyzed guy is doing what paralyzed guys do-he was lying around. But his friends came and hijacked him because Jesus was in town. I don't get any sense in this story that they even asked the guy's permission. They knew what he needed; they just picked him up and went for it. And that's our first lesson for freedom from being paralyzed: Stop waiting around. Is something keeping you from Jesus? Get over it!

Or is something keeping you from bringing others to Jesus? Oh, Bob, I don't want to offend anybody. You're being held back by your insecurities. The Gospel's offensive; get over it. And you know that it's not just you, but all the people around you who need Jesus.

See what these four guys do? They grab their paralyzed buddy and when they get to the house, the door is blocked. You know, at that point, it's easy to start making excuses or start giving up. Oh, I knew we should have left earlier; the parking is always crowded here. We'll never get in there. Let's go home.

But then one of them said, Who cares if the door is blocked? Let's go up on the roof. Now, there's no mention in the story of asking permission of the homeowner. All the traditional routes were blocked, so they got creative. What is it going to take for you to get yourself and your neighbors, friends, and coworkers to Jesus? And as this guy gets lowered down, Jesus sees the faith of the friends and says to the paralyzed man, Son, your sins are forgiven you.

Whose faith did Jesus see? He saw the faith of those four guys who were willing to risk their reputations, could not care less what anybody's thinking about them. They hijacked their friend because they knew what he needed. They let go of their past and brought their friend into a future with Jesus. When Jesus sees that kind of faith, this guy gets healed. He looks at him and goes, Man, your sins are forgiven.

Get free from anything holding you back and go forward today.

Prayer Lord Jesus,

I need to let go of my past and really let You hijack my life. I give control of my life over to You. Come fill me afresh today with Your Spirit and give me the boldness to live out the new life You have for me!

Amen

Waste Management

But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jude 17

What does the Word of God mean to you?

This is honestly one of the most important questions we can ask ourselves, second only to the question of who Jesus is to you, in my opinion. And maybe even more important, because what you believe the Bible to be will help determine what you believe about Jesus.

The Word of God is to be very near to you. It's what you are to have hidden in your heart so that you do not sin against the Lord, that it would be a lamp unto your feet, a light unto your path.

And the Word-you can't knock this Word. You can't be going, Well, I'm just sort of not into that. No, we need to put emphasis on the Word. We need to memorize it. Our verse today says we need to remember it.

What does that mean?

Well, are you in it? You've got to be in it. It's got to be more than me getting up to preach at you for forty five minutes and speaking a little Word into your life. It's got to be more than just this short, little devotional.

You've got to be in it for yourself. You've got to be remembering it. Not just me-YOU. That means taking time during the week. That means opening it; I don't care where, just pick someplace and start reading.

But here's why it's so important to remember the Word-when we begin to question it, when we begin to tweak it and change it and say, Well, I don't think that's what it really meant. Because when we do that, we, like Eve, become very vulnerable to satanic attacks the moment we begin to question God's Word.

That's exactly what happens says to Eve. Did God really say...? That's Satan's question then, and it's his question now, and if he can get us to forget God's Word then he can lead us astray.

Or don't you remember how Jesus overcame Satan when He was tempted in the wilderness? Jesus answered every temptation with, It is written... He answered the temptations with the Word of God.

Remember the words which were spoken. These are the very treasured words of God. Don't cheapen it. Don't dilute it. Don't twist it. Don't lessen it.

Prayer Lord Jesus,

Thank You for giving us Your Word! I'm sorry for not making it important enough in my life, and I ask for Your help to make new habits that get me in Your Word so that Your Word can truly be in me.

Amen

What to Be Watching For

We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father. 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3

I'm about to tell you something that, if you know me at all, will be very shocking. Ready?

I want you to be part of the in crowd.

Now, I know that I talk a lot about how materialism is the worst, most seductive evil that we face these days. I preach that we've got to be sold out for Jesus enough that we don't worry anymore about what the world wants us to do, that we need to make sure we're accepted by Jesus rather than by the world.

So why am I saying that I want you in the in crowd? It's because I don't want you left behind. Look at our verses today. I love this word in that is mentioned here, and my question is, are you?

The days in which we live are like the days of Noah. What I mean is, Jesus is coming soon, and the days after that get ugly real fast. And when it gets to that day, you're either in or you're out. You can't be playing the fence on this one. The Lord wants you in-in the family, in the fold, in relationship, not just close. Those who were close to the ark did not benefit from the ark. Not just with, but in-committed for life.

I mean you are in Christ and Christ is in you. Your faith is in Christ. Your love is in Christ. Your patient of hope is anchored in Christ, committed in for life. I mean, locked down and locked up. You're in. No way out.

Are you completely in Christ, committed to Christ for life? If not, right now you need to pray to the Lord about this, the most important decision of your life.

Get off the fence. Stop being a spectator. You need in. You need to be part of this in crowd.

Come join the family. Jesus is coming soon.

Prayer Lord Jesus,

Thank You for giving me the chance to come to You before You return! Whatever it takes, I turn to You today so that I will always be found in You alone. Come save me today!

Amen

Slave 2 Saved

Then He who sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.' And He said to me, Write, for these words are true and faithful.' And He said to me, It is done!...He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.' Revelation 21:5-8

God's into new. He's huge into new.

You've got to know this. This is his heart, to make all things new. And this is exactly what 2 Corinthians tells us happens when someone becomes a Christian, they become a brand-new creature. They become new. The old things have passed away, behold all things have become-what?-new.

God's into new-new Heaven, new Earth. The old things have passed away. Behold all things become new. I make all things new.

Just look at our verses today. Everything that God has promised will be done! Everything He is, done! This is His heart-to make all things new in our lives and to give us 100 percent of everything He is and has promised! This is a hope for those who believe in Him that can help us overcome anything that life or the enemy throws at us.

But watch out; not everyone is included in this promise. The cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars find their end in the lake of fire. They don't make it in. They're dead-doubly dead-spiritually dead and physically dead, dead-dead. They don't become new.

Let me be clear-this is all of us apart from the grace and mercy of Christ Jesus. Or can you tell me that you've always believed God and always put Him first in your life? We're all headed for this double death unless we put our faith in Christ to save us. And when we do believe in Jesus, asking Him to save us from this terrible death, following His leadership, He makes us a promise-to make us new.

And this newness not only exists individually, just for us, but person to person to person to person to person. God is not just going to make us new, but He will make everything-everything!-new, even Heaven and Earth.

God is into new. If you want to become new, He's ready to give it to you today.

Prayer Father God,

Thank You that You make all things new, even me, because I really need to be made new today! I give myself to You and ask You to save me. Make me Your child, and make me new!

Amen