October 21

(Our Mandate Before The Final Tribulation)

Today's Reading - Matthew 23 - 25

(Mat 24:29 KJV) "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:"

In today's reading, we are in a chapter which is probably one of the most written about in the area of prophecy. It lays out many signs which we are seeing being fulfilled in our day. False Christs, false teachers, wars and rumors of war. Probably by the time this becomes distributed, we may be at war with Iraq, so please keep our brothers and sisters in Iraq in prayer. We see in this verse that as soon as the Final Tribulation period ends, the universe is going to be collapsing. If we go back to Genesis 1:14, we will read that God gave the sun, moon, and stars to be for signs and seasons. Basically, they are the time keepers of the universe.

(Gen 1:14 KJV) "And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:"

When that Tribulation time is over --and I believe we are in it now-- then God is going to bring all this to an abrupt end. It will be the Great Day of Vengeance against Satan and his army of unbelievers. It is also known as the Battle of Armageddon, which is the final battle between Satan and God. This will take place on the Last Day, and then the End shall come. Now, the question of the timing of the Great Tribulation is on many minds. There are some who set the beginning at 1988, some set it at 1994, but no matter what date they attempt to set, they will always be wrong. Yet, it does have to have a beginning, so one of the keys to understanding if we are in the Final Tribulation, is the exponential rise in sin in every area. This includes the organized church. Not only is the Roman Catholic Church plagued with child abuses, there are Protestant ministers being sentenced to 30-135 years of prison time, because of statutory rape, thievery, sexual encounters, etc. In contrast, there was a time that we could look to the minister of a church as one who upheld Christian morals in their life and was a good example to many. I remember when I was younger, the Sunday newspapers would run a yearly survey on what people thought was the most admired professions in America. To those of you who were not born in the 50's or 60's, you may not believe it, but being a clergyman was one of the most admired professions in America.

Anyway, back to our text. The text states that as soon as the universe starts to collapse, then we will see the Lord returning on the clouds of Glory when He sends His angels forth to the four winds --which means, all of earth. They will gather His Elect together, and there we will be forever with the Lord. This great event is known as the Rapture. The interesting thing to note is that all of this will take place in a twinkling of an eye, which is about 11/100 of a second. But in the meantime, we must remember that we have a mandate to get the Gospel out, because once the universe starts collapsing, the night will have come when no one will work. There will be no thousand-year reign to buy extra time for those who have not become saved. God's salvation plan will have ended when He saves the Last Elect One, on the Last Day. So discard those biblically abusive prophecy books, for not one can tell you how they can fit 1,000 years in Matthew 24:29. --Sola Scriptura!

October 22

(Crucified With Christ) -OR- (Dead To The Things Of The World)

Today's Reading - Matthew 26 - 28

(Mat 27:40 KJV) "And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross."

In today's reading, we come across this verse, which has a similar lesson for us, as we saw in Nehemiah a few days back. Nehemiah was doing the Work of the Lord, and Satan had sent his emissaries to try and hinder that Work. Nehemiah had refused to "come down," because he knew that the Work of God was more important than any meeting, which would produce results that would be detrimental. In today's verse, we see the Lord Jesus Christ was being crucified, and His enemies were taunting Him. The fact that He was dying on that Cross was not good enough for His enemies, and so even while He was dying, they mocked Him. They challenged Him to come down from the Cross if He was indeed the Son of God. His enemies had no idea why He was on that Cross, and even though the Lord had mentioned it many times to His own disciples, they seemed oblivious to the Truth. If the Lord would have come down from that Cross, it would have many implications. If He would have come down from that Cross, it would have shown the people that He was not the Son of God. The Scriptures had declared that He was to die for His People. If He did not die, then He would have broken the Scripture, which means either the Scripture is wrong, or He was not the Son of God --which would have meant that the Bible contains lies. The fact that He stayed on the Cross proved that He IS the Son of God, and proved the Scriptures to be inerrant!

There is a great lesson in the above verse for us also. According to the Scriptures, we who are Christ's have been crucified with Him:

(Gal 2:20 KJV) "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."

When a person is crucified, they are headed for death. Death is the essence of the principle of crucifixion in the life of the believer. Since we have also been crucified, it means we have also been put to death. Now, that death is not voluntary, as the Free Will gospel teaches --because who in their right mind would want to volunteer to be crucified? The fact is that when a person is crucified, it is being done by other people. The soldiers were the ones who were the executioners, as they carried out the sentence. When you and I are placed into the Kingdom of God, it is not us who are doing it, but it is the Father who takes us out of the kingdom of Satan and places us into the Kingdom of Christ:

(Col 1:13 KJV) "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:"

This is NEVER an act of man's will:

(Jn 1:13 KJV) "Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

As Christians, we are to be dead to the things of the world. The apostle Paul had stated that he was crucified unto the world, and the world unto him. In other words, the things of this world were dead to him, and the things of God were dead to the world --except to God's Elect in the world. Basically, we are to be dead to the kingdom of Satan, since it no longer has any authority over us, like during the time when we were unbelievers. As crucified Christians, whenever we seek to come down from the Cross, we will begin, once again, to be alive unto the world. A crucified Christian is one who holds NO affinity with the world. We need to see the world crucified unto us, as we are unto it. A crucified Christian is a strong and stable witness. An uncrucified Christian is a weak and wavering witness. As a crucified Christian, it does mean utter denial in your life for the sake of Christ. --But it will all be well worth it!

(Rom 8:36 KJV) "As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter."

October 23

(Unbelievers Rebuked) -OR- (False Testimony & Unheard Prayers)

Today's Reading - Mark 1 - 3

(Mark 1:24-25 KJV) "Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. {25} And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him."

In today's reading, we come across this section of verses, which shows the Lord Jesus Christ healing a man of an unclean spirit. This was another trap set up by the leaders, because if you notice, the location this took place was in the Synagogue. If a man was demon-possessed, there is no way they would have allowed him into the Synagogue. It is the same situation with the man with the withered hand. They would have looked upon these two as having the curse of God upon them, and since the Synagogue leaders were normally the self-righteous type, they would have viewed these men as inferior and unfit to come into the place of worship. When the Lord dealt with the man who had the unclean spirit, you will notice that the spirits knew who Jesus was. This was because they were with Him in Heaven before they fell with Lucifer. Notice that these demons had confessed that Jesus was "the Holy One of God." Jesus could have looked around and agreed with what the demon said, because He is indeed "the Holy One of God." But Jesus rebuked these evil spirits, simply because His praise will come ONLY from His Kingdom, and NOT from Satan's domain. There will be NO testimony from Hell for the Lord Jesus Christ. The testimony about Christ will come from the pages of Scripture and from His Redeemed People, or else the testimony will be FALSE. This is why unbelievers are rebuked in Scripture for even trying to be some kind of testimony for Christ:

(Psa 50:16,17 KJV) "But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth? {17} Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee."

Unbelievers who try to give a testimony about God are doing it from false pretense. A good example of this is the TV program called, "Touched By An Angel." This program puts angels in the place of Christ as Mediator. They never mention Christ, and that is the reason they show everybody going to Heaven, no matter what religion they are. I would say this is probably one of the most dangerous shows on TV. It is written by unbelievers who skew the biblical truth of salvation toward unbelievers, so this way, all the people who do a kind deed can feel they are good enough to get to Heaven. Another example of those giving testimony from false pretense is unbelieving Clergy who try to teach and preach about Christ. When unregenerate Clergy do this, they are actually preaching about the One Who is going to be THEIR Judge Who will cast THEM into Hell. God says in Psalm 50 that these unbelievers hate His Word, yet they preach it, as if they are somehow obeying it. My friends, there is NO such thing as a celibate sodomite! So when a sodomite clergyman or clergywoman attempts to preach the shallow, moral points of the Bible, they are, in essence, condemning themselves. The Lord Jesus Christ will not have His testimony on the lips of evil people, because that is what every unbeliever is. Whenever unbelievers tell you they prayed and God answered in some situation, it wasn't THEIR prayers that God heard, but it was God's Will for that person, in that situation. Here is an example of God's Will in the life of an unbeliever: Do you think Bill Gates was smart enough to build a company like Microsoft by himself? Wait until he finds out on Judgment Day, unless he becomes saved, WHO really owns the company and WHO gave him the wisdom to design easy-to-use software. Yet, Microsoft makes it easy now for anyone to publish the Gospel on the Internet or on the written page. So remember that God's Will is not always God's Salvation.

We must begin to realize that God hears ONLY the prayers of HIS Children, and NOT the reprobate unbeliever:

(Joh 9:31 KJV) "Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth."

(Prov 15:29 KJV) "The LORD is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous."

When a person prays to become saved, it is NOT their prayer that God hears which opens up salvation for them. But instead, it is the fact that God has already saved them since the foundation of the world, and at His appointed time, He hears their prayer, as we read in His Word. You see, it is always Salvation first! So if you are indeed a believer, how is your testimony today? When Jesus looks at you, does He also look at the stones by your feet? (Luke 19:40). --I'll let you look that one up.


October 24

(Sitting, Clothed, & Sound Mind) -OR- (From Demonically-Possessed To Child Of God)

Today's Reading - Mark 4 - 6

(Mark 5:15 KJV) "And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid."

In today's reading, we come across a section of Scripture, which gives some principles of salvation and also the attitude of unbelievers toward salvation. This demonically-possessed man could have been tortured by as many as six thousand demons. Hence, his name was "Legion," which represented the number of soldiers in a Roman Legion. He made his home among the tombs. It is an apropos place for an unsaved man to be. Since physical death represents spiritual death, he was at home. This man was definitely demonically-possessed, because he showed great strength in resisting the efforts by others to bind and capture him. Then when Jesus came into the area and confronted him, he bowed and worshipped Jesus. This is because the demons that were possessing him knew Jesus from Heaven. This reminds me that demons believe and tremble:

(Jas 2:19 KJV) "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble."

Yet, man in his unbelief shakes his fist at God and denies His existence. Even the demons have more wisdom than man in this arena.

Then Jesus comes to this man and speaks with the demons. The demons had besought Jesus not to send them out of the area, but instead, He should allow them to go into the large herd of pigs. Jesus did this, and the pigs ran down the mountain and killed themselves. When the owners of the pigs saw they lost all their gain, they asked Jesus to leave the area. Just a couple of comments: First, if these were Jews who owned these pigs, what were they doing with them, since they were unclean animals? Secondly, I don't think they minded the demoniac being there, as he was probably their insurance against anyone stealing any pigs. Well, anyway, Jesus saves this man, and the first thing he wants to do is follow Jesus in His travels. But Jesus does not allow Him to. Instead, He sends him home to be a witness to his family and friends. Just another comment here: Sometimes this is the extent of the sphere of influence we may have concerning the Gospel. If so, view them as your mission field, until the Lord removes the cloud above your home.

Now, I want to look at the verse above and see three beautiful principles of salvation:

Sitting - This means that this person is now resting in Christ. To sit also denotes that the Work is done. Christ finished the Work in this man, as He did in all His Children. Now we also rest in Christ, which is represented by us sitting. (Lu 10:39 KJV) "And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word."

Clothed - Here we see that this man had once been naked, which symbolizes that a person is still in their sins. When Christ saves a person, they become robed in Christ's righteousness, and no longer are naked. (Isa 61:10 KJV) "I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels."

Right Mind - The word actually denotes a "sound mind." After you became saved, did not the things of the world look different? Sinful practices become abhorrent, but the beauty of God's creation became more evident. Before we were saved, our minds were darkened with sin, but now it is filled with the light of the Gospel and all the wisdom that it gives to live in this world. (2 Tim 1:7 KJV) "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."

Isn't this a great passage of Scripture? It teaches us such wonderful truths about the salvation that God has given to His Children. So the next time things look bleak, look up and thank God that you are clothed in Christ, given a spiritually correct mind, and that you can now rest in Christ, because the Work of salvation was already done!

October 25

(God Is Still Faithful, Even When We Are Faithless)

Today's Reading - Mark 7 - 10

(Mark 9:24 KJV) "And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief."

In today's reading, we come across this passage, which teaches us that sometimes in our lives, we may have lapses of unbelief. This does not mean we are not trusting Christ anymore for our lives. It means that, sometimes, we may be in situations that are so overwhelming that we don't believe that even God can get us out of it, yet we firmly believe that He can. This man's son was demon-possessed, and although he believed that the Lord could easily deliver him, he had trouble believing that He would. Similarly, I think there are times in all of our lives when we face those faithless moments, yet in our spirits, we know that God can easily abate any tough situation which we face. This man may have been much like Peter when the Lord told him to come out of the boat and come to Him on the water. For a few moments, Peter was actually walking on the water. Then as he began to look around at the raging storm, he began to sink. This happens to us too. We may go into a situation with full faith in God that He will handle it, but when something does not happen that we think should happen, or vice versa, we begin to wonder if we are losing faith, or if God is losing control of the situation. Then we go into panic mode, and we then begin to chop at the faith we have, replacing it with sight and with what we can do.

Many of us occasionally suffer from vacillating faith. God understands this, because we are still in the flesh. The flesh and spirit are at war with each other, and this is why we continue to be plagued with this situation. We must always keep in mind that even though we may have these lapses of faith, it does not affect our salvation, if we are truly a Child of God. The Bible teaches us that even when we are faithless, God is still faithful:

(2 Tim 2:13 KJV) If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself."

God is being very compassionate to His Children here. He wants us to know that if our faith wavers, we can completely depend on Him. We are all a little bit like Peter. On the one hand, we are going to defend Christ, then on the other hand, we deny Him. When we read the rest of the Bible, we can be assured that what we possess is the faith "of Christ." This is the faith that undergirds every true Child of God, and this faith will never waver, nor will it ever let us down. Since we abide in Christ, we are also abiding in His Faith, which is a continuum and is never affected by any outside situation. This is the confidence that we possess. As Children of God, we need not be directed by any outside situation, but all we have to do is follow the advice we saw in yesterday's verse. That is, we rest at Jesus' feet, knowing that whatever has come into our life has already been dealt with by God. We just have to show up, because the battle is the Lord's.

October 26

(The Scriptures: The Believer's Authority) -OR- (The King James Bible & Derivative Inspiration)

Today's Reading - Mark 11 - 13

(Mark 11:28 KJV) "And say unto him, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority to do these things?"

In today's reading, we come across this verse, whereby the leaders of the temple are questioning Jesus concerning His authority. He just got done overturning the tables of the moneychangers, and now the temple leaders want to know who gave Him the authority to do these things. After all, they are not used to having people come into their assembly and attack their methods of doing things, especially when it comes to making money. The same authority that Jesus had as He went into the temple and challenged the ungodly ways of the gainsayers, is the same authority that He gives to His Children today. In Mark 11:17, Jesus had begun to quote the Scriptures, which proved that these leaders were in violation concerning the House of God. It was to be a house of prayer, but they made it into a house of money. This same attitude is with us today in the churches. For example, did you ever see a car in front of a church, and the gainsayer out in front selling raffle tickets? How about the best one of all? --'BINGO'! Now, before we castigate the Roman Institution, we must look to our own churches. How many run a '50-50'? What about a 'Chinese Auction'? (By the way, I asked a friend of mine from Taiwan if there is any reason for the name. She told me that she had no idea where that name originated.). The point is, God built His Church on offerings, and NOT lotteries, raffles, and auctions! While we are on the subject, there is something else which should not be charged for, and that is, cassette tapes of the sermons. It should be free to those who want and need them. It should be part of the church budget. Maybe the reason some churches don't meet their financial needs is because they charge for everything, and maybe God figures they don't need anything extra, since everything has a price tag on it? Now frankly, I have heard many preachers in my day, and many of them ought to be paying the people to take their sermons, never mind charging them. But here is a challenge! Give the tapes away for free, and let God cover the costs to produce and distribute them. Don't say your church can't afford it, because just read 1 Chronicles 29.

Anyway, one of the main issues of today's verse is that the false leaders wanted to know where Jesus received the authority to do what He did. He left us a pattern, and that is, the believer's authority comes from Scripture. Now, I want to get in trouble again. Many Christians lack serious power in their life, because they simply do not believe their Bible is inspired. And that is because none of the modern versions are inspired. They are all corrupt. Modern versions are Satan's confusion tactic for the church. The next time you are in Sunday School, note how many times you hear the statement, "What does your version say?" Your study will be truncated at that point, and Satan will have another victory. Personally, I use the King James Version, and I make no apologies for it. The modern versions use man's mind and their false science of higher criticism. The King James Bible carries the authority of the original manuscripts by a simple process called, "Derivative Inspiration." This means that the Scriptures in English carries the same authority that the original manuscripts had, because it is derived from them. If the Bible did not possess derived inspiration, then no one would be saved, nor changed. Then the only salvation would have taken place in the first century, because when the original manuscripts were destroyed, then the power behind them would have ceased. Thank God this did not happen, and He has allowed that same authority to be present in every Bible version, which has not been tampered with by Satan's seminary moneychangers. If faith comes by hearing, then we better make sure that what we and our hearers are hearing is a Bible with derivative inspiration. I know of only one. This, then, is the authority by which the believer can turn the world upside down, as Christ turned the tables in the temple upside down.

October 27

(Signs Of Faith That Shall Follow Them That Believe)

Today's Reading - Mark 14 - 16

(Mark 16:17-18 KJV) "And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; {18} They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."

In today's reading, we come across these verses, which teach us that great signs will follow the ministries of the true believers that the Lord sends out into the harvest. A few verses back, the Lord commanded the believers to go into all the world with the Gospel. Here, the Lord is giving some signs that the true believers will be able see when the Lord will be saving people through individual ministries. This part of Scripture has been terribly abused by many who think that these signs are literal. In a way they are, but not according to the way that many hoopla churches interpret it. Many people have been literally bitten by poisonous snakes, because some Christians with an IQ equaling their shoe size have chosen to step inside a cage with poisonous snakes, because they relied on this verse and believed they would not die from the venom. The verse also states that if someone drinks a poison, AKA "any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them." How many who are reading this would be so bold as to test the literalness of this Scripture by drinking a mixture of cyanide and paint remover? After all, doesn't the Scripture state that it won't hurt you? Either the Scriptures are true, or they are not?

Now let us keep these verses in context. During the Apostolic Times of the first century, some of these signs were literally fulfilled. For example, in Acts 28, Paul was bitten by a snake, but it did not hurt him. In Acts 19, Paul saw people becoming healed by a mere giving of a handkerchief. In Acts 20, Paul was involved in the resurrection of Eutychus. In Acts 5, Even Peter was involved in a healing in Acts 3. Peter's Shadow healed people. What was the reasons for these signs to follow? The Lord was confirming the work and words of the Apostles and the early church. Simultaneously, as these signs were being performed, people were being added to the church. Acts 2:41; 2:47; 5:14; 11:24. The Lord was adding to the church by the preaching of the Apostles. Now as we head toward the end of the First Century, we find that these sign gifts had begun to wane. Paul, who could heal and resurrect a person (through the power of God) from the dead, could not even heal his friend Timothy. Timothy had some type of ailment with his stomach, so Paul had instructed him to take a little wine. (1 Tim 5:23 KJV) "Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities." But why couldn't Paul heal him? --Because the time of visible signs and wonders had ceased. The first book of Timothy was written about 60 AD. This means that the age of signs and wonders had been drastically cut off. The Bible says we are to live by faith and not sight:

(2 Cor 5:7 KJV) (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)

For a brief time, signs and wonders was prevalent in the early church. Then they ceased by the end of the First Century, but we still have those verses in Mark, so how do we apply them today?

First, the believer is going to cast out devils. Do you remember the Gadarene Demoniac? After Christ saved him, he was clothed and in his right mind. Whenever we see someone become saved, we see them clothed in Christ's righteousness and in their right mind. Demons cannot possess the same person where the Holy Spirit dwells! The evil must depart out! Whenever a person becomes saved, the devils, which represent the fact that a person is on their way to hell, have been cast out, and the person is now on their way to Glory.

Secondly, we are going to speak with new tongues. Many have used this to try and endorse the tongues movement of today. This is another misuse of Scripture to try and prove a false doctrine.

(Psa 96:1 KJV) "O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth."

What are the new tongues that we are going to speak in? It will be the language of heaven. Before we were saved, we were foul-mouthed people using God's name and the name of Christ as street words. Now, with new tongues, we are praising the name of God. We were born again, so our speech is also born again.

Thirdly, it says we are going to take up serpents. In the Bible, the serpent is a symbol of who? --Satan! Satan will have no authority over us as the serpent had no authority to kill Paul. Satan is a defeated foe to the believer and whenever we will see someone become saved, Satan is taken up and away, and he will have no authority over any believer.

Fourthly, it says we can drink any deadly thing, and it won't hurt us. What is the deadliest thing that a person can drink in this world? It is a false gospel. The false gospel has the means to send a person to hell for eternity. When a true believer hears a false teaching, they can know that the teaching is false, and even if they are under it for awhile, it will not cause them to lose their salvation. The true believer is never threatened by any type of false teaching, as it has no effect on their salvation before God. However, we do not want to continually be under the false teachings of anyone for any period of time.

Fifthly, it says we are going to lay hands on the sick, and they will recover. In the Greek, the word "sick" in this verse carries with it the meaning of a "general weakness." It is not supporting any specific type of illness. This word also carries with it the connotation of "spiritual impotency" when in a state of "illness or powerlessness." Whenever we give the Gospel to a person, and they become saved, instantly, they go from becoming powerless to having power, even in sickness.

(1 Cor 2:5 KJV) "That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."

The wisdom of man creates weakness, but the salvation of God creates power in the life of the individual. This can be attested to by just looking at the powerful testimonies of those martyred for the Truth of God.

We have looked at five great signs that will follow the believer, and we didn't even stretch the meaning of any part of the verses. God has given the believer a marvelous salvation with many great things to look forward to.

October 28

(Your Calling In Life) -OR- (To Parents: Nurturing The Next Generation)

Today's Reading - Luke 1 - 3

(Luke 2:49 KJV) "And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?"

In today's reading, we come across this verse in a discourse between Jesus and His mother. Joseph and Mary had left Jerusalem after the Passover was complete, and they had no idea where Jesus was. Now, I believe that God had blinded Joseph and Mary to the fact that Jesus was not with them. Normally, a mother would look for her child immediately after the child would be out of her sight for just a few hours. After the first day when he did not show up to sleep, she would have sounded the alarm and had the entire wagon train searched. Isn't it interesting that after three days, the veil was lifted and they knew they had to return to Jerusalem to retrieve their son? Now, God had guided their steps in the return. Jerusalem was a big city, even back at that time, but especially around the time of the Passover, it would have been extra crowded. How did Joseph and Mary know that Jesus would be in the Temple? God had led them every step of the way. When they found him, they admonished Him and asked Him why He was treating them this way. He responded by asking them, "Did you not know that I would be doing my Father's business?" At the age of twelve, Jesus already knew what His purpose in this life was.

The question that Jesus asked them was not understood by either Joseph or Mary, yet Mary had kept the saying which He made. Then He subjected Himself to their authority and went to Nazareth and continued to grow in wisdom. So here was the Creator Himself being subject to the very people He created. And at the age of twelve, Jesus already knew His calling in His life. How many of us at the age of forty still do not know our own calling? How many have been saved for many years and still do not know where their area of calling is? As Jesus was about His Father's business --even before He hit His teenage years-- we need to find the area that God has empowered us to minister in. Therefore, parents should continually watch what areas their children are especially gifted in and not try to push them in an area that they want their children to excel in. We can see in the life of Jesus that He was under the authority of His parents. Many children today are growing outside the authority of their parents. It is like they are growing as a weed outside the lawn. Parents need to run a tight ship --whether their children like it or not-- in order to watch their development, and especially if they are saved, so they can pinpoint their strong areas and begin to build on those strengths. If you build on a child's weaknesses, you will set them up for failure, but building on a child's strengths will set them up for successful and stable Christian lives.

October 29

(Appointed To Preach The Gospel)

Today's Reading - Luke 4 - 6

(Luke 4:18-19 KJV) "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, {19} To preach the acceptable year of the Lord."

In today's reading, we come across these two verses, which give us insight into the teaching ministry of the Lord Jesus. It is not the method of His teaching ministry, but rather the focus of it. These verses well describe the ministry focus of every believer also. These verses are taken from the book of Isaiah in Chapter 61. Let us briefly look at these verses and focus on it a little bit.

First of all, a person cannot be a Christian unless the Holy Spirit is indwelling that person. The word "anointed" is the Greek word "chiro," which carries with it the meaning of "appointed." So when a person becomes saved, instantly, they are annointed, or appointed, to begin to preach or to proclaim the Gospel to others. This is the general calling of all believers. It is accomplished differently in the life of each believer. Now, as we begin the focus of the ministry of each believer, we see there are different, yet related problems in the lives of many people. And we see plainly that it is the Gospel which does the curative miracle.

First, the Gospel is preached to the poor. Now, this is not saying that we are to only speak to the poor to the exclusion of the wealthy. This verse speaks to those who are poor in spirit, namely the unsaved. It does seem that those who are poor in material goods are those who seem to be more open to the Scriptures and the claims of Christ. When a person becomes saved, they instantly have all the heavenly wealth of the Kingdom of God, even if they don't have two nickels to rub together here on earth.

Then we are to heal the broken-hearted. Sin has caused the broken heartedness in every life. When the Gospel saves a person, that spiritual breach in their heart is now healed. It is only God that can heal a person from their sins, which is the cause of all problems. Five hundred visits to a psychologist will only bankrupt them, and they will be no better off than before their first visit. The Gospel repairs a broken heart. It may take time after a person becomes saved, but God works in the lives of all His Children continually.

Then we are to preach deliverance to the captives. What captives?

(Isa 14:17 KJV) "That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?"

In this section of Isaiah is a description of how Satan deals with his people. The Bible refers to the unbeliever as being a prisoner in the house of Satan. Satan will not open the door of his prison, so we can be thankful that God does the saving and takes us out of that prison and places us in His kingdom.

(Col 1:13 KJV) "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:"

When we look at Satan's kingdom as a prison, we can see that he deals in maximum security. No sinner's prayer or other actions on man's part will ever deliver him from that prison. Only God will take whom He has elected out of that prison, give him a full pardon, and eternal life.

(John 3:15 KJV) "That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life."

Then we preach so the blind will recover their sight. This is not speaking of physical sight, but it is speaking of spiritual sight. For a time, Jesus had restored the sight to many people. We think of blind Bartimaeus, but these healings of sight only pointed to the sight that God gives when a person becomes saved. One of the most dangerously manipulative, false statements I have ever heard was healthy people telling sick people that they are like that because, "they don't have enough faith." Is someone going to tell me that Fanny Crosby, who wrote over 8,000 beautiful hymns, had no faith in God? In case you are not familiar with her story, she was blinded by an inept doctor when she was very young. If we only look to the physical healing, then the Gospel was a complete failure in Fanny Crosby's life.

(John 3:3 KJV) "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

The sight that is restored is the spiritual sight that was lost in the Garden of Eden because of sin. Unsaved people can see the world around us, but they cannot see the Kingdom of God among us.

Then we are to set at liberty those that are bruised. The word "bruised" carries with it the meaning of "crushed." The ministry of the Word must be to those who are destitute, including and especially those who are really at the lowest rung of the social ladder. It is also to those who are crushed under great calamity in their lives. The Gospel can deliver someone who has come under the greatest persecution that this life can give. A person may be crushed because of life situation, illness, or the pressures of sin in their life, such as an addiction. I know in my own life that when I became saved from liquor, in 22 years, the Lord kept me from having had a desire to take a drink again. I even hate the smell of it. You see, God's deliverance leaves no stone unturned.

Then we preach the acceptable year of the Lord. There may be an allusion here to the Year of Jubilee, which is found in Leviticus 25:8-23. When we look at the Year of Jubilee, which came around every 50 years, we see many New Testament principles there. Indentured servants were freed and returned to their families, debts were forgiven, liberty proclaimed throughout all the land, no more oppression, and the land shall not be sold (Naboth was murdered by Ahab and Jezebel for obeying this command). The Jubilee Year is dripping with the Gospel, as debts are forgiven because of Christ's sacrifice. For example, a family gets their father back as the Gospel reunites them. Look up the Doug Oldham story. The one great theme in verse 19 is that the acceptable year of the Lord will continue until the Last Day, when the Last Elect One becomes saved. God is still accepting sinners through Grace.

Today, we have seen many great principles in these two verses. We see that there are many things for the ministry of the Gospel to focus on, but the overriding focus of the Gospel is people. Grace was not given for God's benefit, but for the benefit of His Children alone.

October 30

(Halloween: Satanic & Not For Christians) -OR- (Reality Of Demonic Possession)

Today's Reading - Luke 7 - 9

(Luke 9:38-39 KJV) "And, behold, a man of the company cried out, saying, Master, I beseech thee, look upon my son: for he is mine only child. {39} And, lo, a spirit taketh him, and he suddenly crieth out; and it teareth him that he foameth again, and bruising him hardly departeth from him."

In today's reading, we come across these verses, which give us some insight into the reality of demonic possession. Although it is uncommon in North America, there have been many missionaries who have gone to the fields in various parts of the world and have witnessed demonic possession of people. It is not a pretty sight to see someone actually being taken over by evil spirits. There are many today who disregard such beliefs under the notion that we are in a civilized world. As long as the second coming of Jesus Christ has not yet taken place, there is going to be many evil spirits roaming this world. I picked these verses, because tomorrow is "Halloween," and it is the most visible day for evil. In fact, those Christians who partake in any way of this day are no better than those who bowed the knee to the 80 foot image of Nebuchadnezzar on the plain of Dura in Babylon. Babylon has always been a representation of the Kingdom of Satan. Christians who partake in Halloween activities are no better than unbelievers.

Churches should not have any activities on that night, because it is giving credence to that day. Parents need to tell their children they are not partaking in the activities associated with Halloween. If they don't like it, you don’t have to send them to their room without supper, but you do have wide latitude with desert. Remember, the parents are to rule the children, not the other way around.

Halloween, AKA, All Hallow''s Eve, antedates the time of Christ. In ancient times, on that day, people were lowered in wicker (Wicca) baskets over a huge bon fire. And then as they burned to death, the Celtic and Druid priests would look at the smoke from their burning bodies and try to prognosticate the future. This is why when a church sponsors a bon fire, they are, in essence, keeping the tradition alive. When children dress up in costumes on Halloween, it is not a cute thing. They are imitating demons and adulating Satan. It is the day when evil spirits are supposed to roam the earth and come back to their old haunts. The idea of the Jack-O-Lantern is to wart off the evil spirits. This is also a high day for witches and other occult groups. The religion of Halloween is well taught and celebrated in schools, while Christianity is kicked out. The schools have picked their god, and we wonder why Columbines take place. Christians should keep their porch lights out or place a sign on the door that they are a Christian home and do not partake in this day. Then underneath, write in big letters, "Happy Reformation Day." Halloween was not really a big day in this country, until the Irish Catholics started coming into this country in droves and brought their satanic superstitions with them.

I would counsel and warn everyone that reads this, if you are a Christian and you plan to have activities tomorrow, you will be forsaking the Lord Jesus Christ and your testimony. "Oh," you say, "but we can hand out tracts with the candy." There are 364 other days of the year to hand out tracts. Avoid this day, because it is of the kingdom of darkness. Sit down and explain to your children what tomorrow is all about. Ask them if they want to serve the devil? Impress upon them the following verse:

(Ezek 44:23 KJV) "And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean."

Tell them that Satan is God's enemy, and he is their enemy too. To keep your children in the dark is to allow darkness to rule them. Let me end up by saying that Christian adults should in no way partake of this day either. I remember some years ago, I worked in a place that had a Halloween party. There was one other Christian and myself who refused to go. If Christ can be a public testimony of His faithfulness to you by dying on a Cross, the least you can do is to be a testimony of faithfulness to Him.


October 31- Reformation Day