Category: Devotionals Page 49 of 50
Good morning, reader! Are you receiving a blessing from this series? I know that I am! It has helped to me be fully convinced that we are most certainly living in the end times. If you are a born again Christian, pray for a burden to reach the lost. I remember being clueless to the things of God and anything having to do with Him. I praise Him for sending my dear precious friend to lead me to Him! It is this burden that compels me to reach out to those who may visit this blog. May the Holy Spirit of the most High God work in the hearts of all those who come here!
Today’s sin listed in 2 Timothy 3:2 is surprising to me because I was raised to obey my parents; not because it was the scriptural thing to do, but because this teaching was the result of the world’s moral compass at the time of my upbringing. If you were raised in a family where all Dad had to do was look at you and you knew you were in trouble, then praise God! It’s a rare thing in today’s world.
Today, however, a household with both father and mother are not as common as when I was growing up. A one-parent household means that it is more difficult when one parent has to play the roles of both parents. A mother who has to work to make ends meet cannot possibly provide her children with the same care as if she were at home. The children do not have the daily male influence that is much needed to teach boys how to be men. Instead, boys only have their mother to pattern themselves after. A boy doesn’t need to learn to be a woman – he needs to learn to be a man who will protect his family and teach his sons how to be men. It’s the same if the father is the one who has to be the only parent raising his children. He cannot teach his daughters how to be women because it does not come “naturally” to him.
Unfortunately, with the brazen boldness of social media and television ever present in a child’s life today, is it any wonder why children have become disobedient? Women have not taught their daughters how to raise respectful children according to the scriptures. Fathers have not provided the guidance and discipline that children so desperately need. My heart aches for Christian parents who are trying to raise godly children in today’s wicked environment. It takes a lot more work for them because children are influenced by their environment. They are in school eight hours a day during the week and with their parents, maybe a total of four hours. Today’s Christian parent must pack four hours worth of godly teaching to make up for eight hours of ungodly indoctrination!
These are just a few verses on how to teach your child which can be found in the very pages of our Bible. Don’t take them lightly, dear reader. God gives us instructions that we need to heed if we want our children to walk closely with Him.
All disobedience should be corrected at the moment of the infraction. It is parents’ responsibility to teach their child to be obedient because that child will grow into an adult who knows the difference. But a child left to himself will bring embarrassment and shame. He will act like a wild child in public and the mother will spend her time yelling at him. Instead, teaching him to obey will help him as an adult. When there is a serious offense, like lying, a spanking is in order. This should be used as a last resort when other means of discipline (like restrictions) don’t work.
Some children have softer hearts than others and don’t ever need to be spanked. A simple talking to or restriction is all that’s needed. But the end result is a child who will grow up knowing there are boundaries and they will love their parents.
So getting back to this disobedience being a sign of the end times, one can witness it in a grocery store or restaurant. Children left to themselves yell and scream and act like a wild child. They don’t stay seated and run around the store or restaurant like they own the place. That child grows up to think that he/she is the center of everyone’s world. They grow up to be narcissists and hard to live with. I’ve seen the decline in obedient children first hand when I worked in Junior Church, as well as the nursery. It’s truly sad to witness our future generations turn out to be defiant.
It’s up to us Christians to train our children so that it is evident to the world that there’s a difference! I’m not saying that it’s impossible for children living in a one-parent household to be well raised. I’ve seen this with my own eyes but it was a lot of work for that one parent! Some things come with much prayer and fasting.
If you happen to be reading this and are not saved, it is no coincidence. God has placed you here for such a time as this so that you may be saved. Please click here and the link will open up in a separate tab to You Can Be Born Again and Know It!
Good morning, dear reader! It’s still dark outside and the house is so very quiet. It’s a wonderful time to sit and write what weighs heavily on my heart. My heart aches because those bygone years of “The Andy Griffith Show” are gone and we are seeing our beautiful world not getting better but rotting from sin.
As we go through mankind’s attitude and sinful displays, I see that today’s word has seriously grown worse with time. I walk into a store and music from a rap artist is filling the air with cursing and explicit sexual content. My goodness, what has this world come to? I have grandchildren growing up in these end times and this weighs on me so heavily! Oh how I beg the Lord to protect their innocent hearts and ears!!
Blasphemy is no small matter. The original meaning means to blaspheme God. Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines this as:
BLASPHE’MER, n. One who blasphemes; one who speaks of God in impious and irreverent terms. 1 Tim 1.
Blasphemy does not just surround God but anything involving Him, such as an unborn child. Christian, do you actually see any reverence of God in your life other than at church or amongst your Christian friends? Television, radio, podcasts, etc. are filled with indignation. All of these have a root problem and that is sin; in this case, blasphemy. They don’t have to speak a blasphemous word – their actions speak volumes! We see this indignation in the laws that are being past in our own country as well as around the world. God Almighty destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for the sin of homosexuality. Yet, mankind has grown so cold toward sin that it is now law that allows this to be legal, along with marriage. Furthermore, the liberals now claim there are 112 genders! 😯 The Bible says differently:
The fact that this has taken over our country proves that the Bible is the furthest thing from people’s minds. God created male and female – none other. Period. Only a female can bear children – none other. Period. Only a male can provide the seed to create that baby – none other. Period. Set aside the fact that adoption is out there for these people who claim otherwise. Get to the root of this issue and it comes down to male and female. Period.
This liberal belief blasphemes God. They defy what a Holy God created by being deceived by the father of lies, Satan. Satan is rejoicing because of the downhill spiral of morality on this earth. Friend, God would have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah for destroying them. God is righteous and would not contradict His word.
You may say this is my opinion. But let’s see what the Bible says as it is the Final Authority on what is sin and what is not. Some say that this condemnation was in the Old Testament and not stated in the New Testament. The Apostle Paul said the same thing in the New Testament:
God can and does help homosexuals to forsake this sin. I know this from experience. I shared the gospel with a co-worker in 1984 and she kept insisting that God could not possibly forgive her and that she had to “clean herself up” before He would forgive her. As I continued sharing the gospel, she finally admitted she was a homosexual. I explained what salvation is and where she spends eternity was the most important thing at this point. God’s Holy Spirit would clean her life up after she was saved. She accepted Christ that evening and bit by bit, I saw her change before my eyes. She set aside living with her roommate and began to blossom into a beautiful Christian woman, growing in God’s word. Today, she’s married with four children and a grandchild! Today’s homosexual battles leaving their lifestyle because they will be harassed and their name, phone number and home address will be published by those who don’t want to admit their sin. This is a scare tactic but nothing is more disturbing than spending eternity in Hell, where there is burning and gnashing of teeth.
It may seem as though it is too difficult, but it is not impossible. God can and will help anyone with any addiction or sin!
Is it any wonder we are discussing the state of mankind today? Can you not see how sinful our nation (and world) has become? In no other time in history has it been this bad! God’s Word is in print in every language and is available everywhere, including the internet. Yet, with His Word being everywhere, man is becoming more depraved. Mankind will be without excuse because God places people, even His creation, before every single person on earth so they can see who He is and how to have a relationship with Him.
If you happen to be reading this and are not saved, it is no coincidence. God has placed you here for such a time as this so that you may be saved. Please click here and the link will open up in a separate tab to You Can Be Born Again and Know It!
Good morning! Who else is excited about diving into God’s word today? I know I am 🥰 It excites me to know that anyone of us can open our Bible and be taught by God Himself! We don’t need anyone to interpret what the words mean. The Holy Spirit is the Author of the Bible and He is the One who will teach us! Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
Today’s word is a small and simple word; but is it really? It doesn’t seem like it would be indicative of the end times but if you hone in on its meaning and how it is used, you will come to realize that it most certainly does apply to these end times. It’s like peeling back the various layers of an onion, isn’t it?
Let’s look at the modern definition in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
Definition of proud:
1: feeling or showing pride: such as a: having or displaying excessive self-esteem b: much pleased c: having proper self-respect
But now, let’s look at the definition according to Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary:
Having inordinate self-esteem; possessing a high or unreasonable conceit of one’s own excellence, either of body or mind. A man may be proud of his person, of his talents, of his accomplishments or of his achievements. He may be proud of any thing to which he bears some relation. He conceives that any thing excellent or valuable, in which he has a share, or to which he stands related, contributes to his own importance, and this conception exalts his opinion of himself. Proud is followed by of, before the object, supra.
Arrogant; haughty; supercilious.
A foe so proud will not the weaker seek.Daring; presumptuous.
By his understanding he smiteth through the proud. Job 26.Ostentatious; grand; as proud titles.
WOW! 😮 Can you see why I turn to this dictionary instead of today’s modern English dictionaries? It allows me to understand what the real intent of the word was and when it was put into the English language. So now let’s look at the Greek word used for “proud” in Strong’s Concordance:
ὑπερήφανος
huperēphanos
hoop-er-ay’-fan-os
From G5228 and G5316; appearing above others (conspicuous), that is, (figuratively) haughty: – proud.
Total KJV occurrences: 5
The scriptures that contain this Greek word are found in:
Can you see that none of these have a positive connotation? In fact, the last two verses referenced above say that God resists them. It’s truly not a good thing to be considered proud. But let’s forget about us for a moment and let’s see how the Lord feels about it:
He scattered the proud in the imagination of their heart;
He marked them with the rest of those who will suffer the wrath of God in Rom 1:18-30;
He said they would be prevalent in the end times;
He resists them and gives grace to the humble.
No where do we see that God views pride as a good thing, friend. You can do a word search for yourself in the bible and you’ll discover the same thing. So how does this tie in with the end times, you may ask?
How many people do you personally know that are truly humble? I can name a few in my church, my Pastor and a few close friends. But with those I come in contact with that are not believers, I see how much more pride has filled their hearts. The unbelieving world doesn’t see their own sinfulness. They don’t want to be told they are sinners. They don’t acknowledge Jesus Christ, the Lord in their actions! Their pride leads them to believe that they are on the right path, which as a result is the path to destruction.
If you are one of the prideful, ask God to create in you a clean heart and renew a right spirit within you (Psalm 51:10). Be humble and admit your sin of pride. After all, the first sin of pride came from Lucifer himself!
The phrase “lifted up” here is defined as swelled with pride. Here lies the very first sin committed and it was from Lucifer! He is the father of lies.
If you happen to be reading this and are not saved, it is no coincidence. God has placed you here for such a time as this so that you may be saved. Please click here and the link will open up in a separate tab to You Can Be Born Again and Know It!
Jump to Day 6.
My prayer today is that the Lord will use the devotionals on this blog to draw someone to Him. There is nothing more important in life than knowing where you will spend eternity! It is something you can know, dear reader. Being saved is a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. If you were drawn here today in search of how to be saved, please go here and read through it. It’s not very long but it will show you what being born again is according to the Scriptures. It’s not my opinion – it’s from the Bible. It’s not a particular religion that will save you. If a religion could, the Jewish Pharisees in Jesus’ days would have been saved. But Jesus rebuked them for their hypocrisy.
Please reach out to me by leaving a comment if I can be of any help to you – you can do so by leaving a comment.
As I continue with this devotional series, I literally shudder at the relevance of these scriptures for a time such as this! My heart aches and wants to explode with desire to reach those who are lost and Christians who are misguided! Lord, I pray that You would draw those who need these scriptures so they can be alerted to just how late it is in Your prophetic clock! In Christ’s precious name I pray!
Today’s alert is the word “boasters.” I love Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary because it defines exactly what the English word meant at the time the King James Bible was printed! His definition is below. Because the definition needs expanding, I’ve also included the definitions for “vaunt” and “ostentatious”:
BOASTER, n. One who boasts, glories or vaunts ostentatiously.
V’AUNT, v.i. [L. vanus. This ought to be written vant.]
To boast; to make a vain display of one’s own worth, attainments or decorations; to talk with vain ostentation; to brag.
Pride – prompts a man to vaunt and overvalue what he is.
OSTENTA’TIOUS, a. Making a display from vanity; boastful; fond of presenting one’s endowments or works to others in an advantageous light.
Your modesty is so far from being ostentatious of the good you do –Showy; gaudy; intended for vain display; as ostentatious ornaments.
Now that you’ve read through these, does it open the meaning of boaster to you? With the invention of the internet and social media, we see people boasting so much more than before. In the past, we were limited to newspapers and boasters were really not something to write about, unless they were politicians. But today, we are truly in the “I” generation. Everything is about me, me, me! Narcissistic people are everywhere. They are obsessed with their own image, their own progress, and they have an exaggerated idea of their own importance. What once was prevalent in politicians and the pharasitical attitudes of church leaders, is now running rampant in the human heart. Is it any wonder that Christ said:
The believer is held to a higher standard than the world. We should not be caught up in the “I” generation’s belief system. We should not be boasters. In fact, Scripture says:
Social media is filled with apps that record one’s actions and words. You don’t have to watch them for long until you see people boasting about themselves. It’s really not something I would have thought of when I first was saved in 1980. Of course, social media was just starting and it wasn’t used for this purpose. Perhaps that is why I see today’s word so clearly.
If you are a believer who is guilty of this, I pray that this post will speak to your heart. As Prov. 27:2 says above, it’s not up to us to praise ourselves. Let it come from someone else and then be humble about it.
If you happen to be reading this and are not saved, it is no coincidence. God has placed you here for such a time as this so that you may be saved. Please click here and the link will open up in a separate tab to You Can Be Born Again and Know It!
Jump to Day 5.
Isn’t today’s picture appropriate for the word, “covetous”? It’s like you are looking out into the world and desiring what it has, doesn’t it? We know this cardinal isn’t doing that but use your mind’s eye 😉
The word “covetous” is very much an indicator that we are in the end times! The minute something new comes out in the world of fashion or technology, lines form in order to purchase it. Look at the latest iPhone releases! Who would imagine paying $1,000 for a cell phone! Or even paying $800 for a pair of sneakers! 😲
Let’s see what we can glean from today’s word. Noah Webster defines the negative aspect of the word covetous as:
COVETOUS, a.
Inordinately desirous; excessively eager to obtain and possess; directed to money or goods, avaricious.
Never has there been $1,000 cell phones in history but we sure have them today. The sad thing is that Christians, as well as the rest of the world, will gladly pay this! Why? This is truly the definition of avaricious! People have the insatiable, inordinate passion for property!
Strong’s Greek word for covetous is:
φιλάργυρος
philarguros
fil-ar’-goo-ros
From G5384 and G696; fond of silver (money), that is, avaricious: – covetous.
Total KJV occurrences: 2
As you can see there are only two occurrences of this Greek word in the New Testament: once in today’s verse and the other is in Luke 16:14:
It’s interesting to note that the ones who were covetous in Luke 16:14 were the Pharisees! They were the leaders of the Jewish faith! Wow! Furthermore, what did the Pharisees do when they heard they couldn’t serve God and riches? They laughed, ridiculed and mocked Jesus! How applicable is that to the world today??? Today’s world is definitely laughing, ridiculing and mocking Jesus, aren’t they? They may not necessarily all be using words, but their actions certainly do.
Is it any wonder that this action is included in a sign of the end times? Remember, Paul was making a point with Timothy so that he would be able to recognize the signs. Even though the end times didn’t occur in Timothy’s lifetime, it surely is a warning to us! All believers should be honing in on what to expect when Christ will allow the antichrist to usher in the Tribulation. All believers should recognize these signs and know that the end is at the door!
Dear friend, don’t be naive! Be a reader and student of God’s word! Recognize where we are in God’s timing and don’t be deceived.
If you happen to be reading this and are not saved, it is no coincidence. God has placed you here for such a time as this so that you may be saved. Please click here and the link will open up in a separate tab to You Can Be Born Again and Know It!
Jump to Day 4.
I once read an acronym “JOY” to describe what the believer’s priorities should be: Jesus, Others, You. Priorities based on this acronym will result in “joy” in the Christian’s heart! It used to be that way once upon a time. One only needs to read history books to find out what communities would do when someone’s barn burned to the ground. Everyone would set aside their own chores to help build a new barn for their neighbor. It is a practice that is still done in the Amish communities. Not that I approve of their doctrine, but I applaud their moral compass. They have managed to keep the world out of their daily lives.
The world does not have this desire any longer. They love themselves first and their thoughts are all about being self absorbed. We can see this evidence in the decline of church attendance and the moral decay of believers. But are we taught this in God’s word? No! In fact, quite the oppositie. The bible says:
We are taught that our goal is to love God first – it’s not to be our goal to love ourselves.
The world’s idea of self love revolves around doing anything that makes one feel good and look appealing to others. People take “selfies” and post them online for the world to see. Who truly cares? They go to the gym so they can have the best built body. They get plastic surgery, tattoos, piercings – all so others notice them. However, that is not what the Bible teaches us.
Is it any wonder that it is one of the signs of the end times? It is the first sign mentioned in 2 Tim. 3:2! We are known as the “me generation” and it is very evident in today’s world.
If you happen to be reading this and are not saved, it is no coincidence. God has placed you here for such a time as this so that you may be saved. Please click here and the link will open up in a separate tab to You Can Be Born Again and Know It!
In the 40+ years that I’ve been saved, I’ve seen such a change in our world. People are no longer tender toward God’s word like they used to be. That’s why I picked today’s topic to be the first new post in this next series on my blog. We are going to cover 2 Timothy 3:1-9.
Granted, one can say that the events described in other parts of Scriptures can depict the times in which they were written. However, Paul goes into much detail in these nine verses.
Paul continues to say to Timothy in verse 13:
There was a time when the evening news would report facts but in the years of my salvation, I’ve seen the development of the media’s agenda against truth, having been purchased by the rich and powerful. All events today are pointing toward a one-world government. You may think that I am a conspiracy theorist but that’s the furthest thing from the truth. I am going to let the Scriptures prove my point and not the media. God’s words are truth and everything in its prophetic pages will come to past.
The Apostle Paul begins this chapter by telling Timothy that perilous times shall come. I’m sure that Christians who lived during Nero’s reign thought they were living in perilous times. However, Paul was being very precise here. Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines it as:
PER’ILOUS, a. Dangerous; hazardous; full of risk; as a perilous undertaking; a perilous situation.
The Greek word for perilous only appears twice in the New Testament: Matthew 8:28 (where it refers to the word fierce) and here in 2 Tim. 3:1 referring to the end times. The word is defined as:
χαλεπός
chalepos
khal-ep-os’
Perhaps from G5465 through the idea of reducing the strength; difficult, that is, dangerous, or (by implication) furious: – fierce, perilous.
Total KJV occurrences: 2
The Greek language has several words to define one English word (examples are “love” and “wine”). But when you see a specific Greek word used only twice in the New Testament, we should be on alert. We should wonder why!
We are to have inquisitive minds when it comes to references like these. Jesus was very careful as to what was to be put in His word. His Holy Spirit’s job was to document God’s word so mankind would have access to it.
Therefore, we know that each word, each jot and tittle, is in the Scriptures for a reason. The Lord chose the word “perilous” so that we would pay attention. Its uniqueness is what I’m trying to convey to you. Why do I think we are living in the end times? I believe we are because the world has become fierce, not just in a particular country but all over the earth. Sin is prevalent and is running rampant. The world says that certain sins are now good and good is now sin (example: abortion). Isaiah prophesied of this back in 740-700 BC:
We lived in very dangerous times where neighbors 2343 reporting unvaccinated people to authorities, Covid-19 passports were being implemented in various countries, and people couldn’t travel without one (as in Australia). Have we ever been in this kind of situation – ever? It may have been true in Hitler’s time but not all over the world as it was then. The next pandemic’s framework has been set. This is definitely one of those things that we believers consider “perilous.” The whole world is transitioning and it’s coming to a point where nations will want a global solution to their problems.
So strap yourself in and we will work through each verse and compare that verse with the world’s end-time temperature. It’s not like we can do a lab experiment or run a series of tests. But what we do have is God’s word and it is never wrong.
If you happen to be reading this and are not saved, it is no coincidence. God has placed you here for such a time as this so that you may be saved. Please click here and the link will open up in a separate tab to You Can Be Born Again and Know It!
Jump to Day 2.
Are you hanging on by a thread to that last ray of hope in your life? This 30-day devotional was originally done in 2006 and it is dealing with discouragement. I wanted to help believers learn how to encourage one’s self in the Lord. I hope it is a blessing to those who feel overwhelmed at times in their lives.