Devotionals

“And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”3Then Jesus put out [His] hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed." Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. (Matthew 8:2-3NKJV).”

Bros first the leper came, He sought Jesus out. Here was someone who was unclean, diseased- not allowed to go near anyone, was despised, considered the scourge of the earth at that time by most. The leper did not care what anyone said, or the way he was supposed to keep his distant from all and announce he was coming when he came near anyone, I don’t read that in this account. I personally don’t think he gave any thought, he just knew he had to get close to Jesus and receive His touch. Notice it says the leper “came and worshiped Him”. The very word worship means to love, adore, admire, to have reverence, respect, and to have devotion to, that leper in humility and lowliness came and gave his worship, his heart to the Lord all he could give, probably knowing he was risking all by allowing himself to be near others, because he knew this was his chance to be clean by coming to the One who was able to touch him right there and make him whole again, the One who could restore him, no matter how serious, how bad, how tore up he was from this dreaded disease. He knew if Jesus was willing, He could be restored. Bros what might you or I be tore up from or need deliverance from today? What could be plaguing our lives, what could stop us from seeking Jesus’s touch? Knowing that just His touch if He is willing could be a game changer in whatever we are struggling with today in our lives, what keeps us back from not risking all like that leper did to seek Jesus’s touch, to come to Him, to get right with Him, to worship Him, to be touched by Him and be restored and cleansed immediately? What is stopping you today bro? The leper let go of all to get to our Savior and be touched by the Creator of all, he humbled himself and went for the Lord, worshiped Him, he knew that was the only One who could save him and cleanse him. This might be the best placed to be touched by the Lord sitting at His feet worshiping Him-amen!

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16 NKJV).”

Bros this verse is so cool and really makes me think that the light that we have in Jesus should shine in and through us, but- not on us or illuminate us for our sake… In other words we are in the back ground or kind of the backup, that all would see and glorify God through anything He might do through us for Him. That we would shine brightly for Him, so brightly that God gets the glory but no one would see us but only Gods work or Holy Spirit moving and doing awesome things in and through our relationship and walk with Him. I am reminded of a story that happened quite a few years back. My nephew and two- three of his friends went fishing in their boat around Catalina Island, they were supposed to be gone for about two days. On the first day they caught quite a few fish and had them in the bait tanks on board their boat. They were anchored about five miles off the backside of Catalina on the first day and that night as they were about to go to sleep, they lay in their sleeping bags up on the boat seats and realized they had left a light on the dashboard of the boat. So one of them got up to shut it off and when his feet hit the deck of the boat he was standing in about 6-8” of water, he yelled to the others on board that they were taking on water. One of them jumped on the radio and began the distress calls “Mayday”, “Mayday”, “Mayday” we are about five miles off the back side of Catalina Island and our boat is sinking. They did not have time to put life jackets on or do anything else. The boat capsized in seconds and as they clung to the capsized boat, my nephew hanging onto the rudder said his shins were bleeding from bouncing with every ocean movement into he boat and the others hanging on best they could as they cried out to God. All the fish they had caught were floating all around them and they couldn’t help but thinking of sharks smelling all the blood and coming to feed… They were in the cold dark waters for a few hours when they saw a rescue plane coming towards them; they began to get excited with pure joy that their cries and prayers to God were being answered. They waved frantically as the plane flew overhead with tears of joy and the plane continued on seemingly on aware of them below. Their joy quickly turned to sorrow; they knew they were doomed as the plane flew off in the distance. It flew and then veered off at another angle, their hearts sank- pun intended! Just then the plane turned again and then headed back over towards them and they were spotted this time. The plane as it flew over told them that a Coast Guard Cutter would come out and pick them up in a few minutes; well they were in the water almost another hour… Later when they got picked up they found out that someone on the plane had spotted out of their peripheral vision when the plane made a turn, a light coming from the water. It was the dash light that got left on when the boat capsized. You see they did not see my nephew or any of the guys with him or even the boat. But they saw the light that was shining brightly in that vast darkness… and I believe that is the way our light is supposed to shine for the Lord Jesus that nobody would see us but only our good works and glorify Jesus as we let our lights so shine before men-amen!

“Even though Edom has said,” "We have been impoverished, But we will return and build the desolate places," Thus says the LORD of hosts: "They may build, but I will throw down; They shall be called the Territory of Wickedness, And the people against whom the LORD will have indignation forever (MALACHI 1:4NKJV).”

Bros the people of Israel thought they could do whatever they wanted; they took God and His providence for granted. They assumed they could just do meaningless rituals and fake God out with less than their best and they had become disheartened because of their cynicism. The priests lost respect for God and thought they could get away with anything they wanted. They questioned Gods love for them, even though they had numerous prophets bringing those great prophecies to turn back to God, to obey Him and acknowledge Him, to repent and they would receive His blessings…God sent Malachi to appeal to the backsliders, to break through the disbelief and encourage them to turn back from the unworthy way they were serving and sacrificing to God. God reminds them through the contrast of Jacob and Esau and by Edom’s attitude being that of, we have been made poor but we will return and rebuild. Edom thought they could do it on their own, without God. They had mocked God with their lackadaisical attitude in giving Him honor and respect, God said He would have indignation towards them forever. Israel was privileged as a Nation and they were heading the same way as Edom…

Now Bobby Flay may be the one who popularized the “Throw Down” reference that he uses in challenging someone to a cook off in today’s realm… But I can assure you God said it first and He meant it and He was not talking about having a cook-off...

Bros you can do nothing apart from God! He knows when you are not giving Him your best. He knows when you try to give Him second best, your time before Him when you have done all that you desire to do in your day, and then what’s left you try to give to God and then fall asleep because you have run out of energy… God was not willing to let Israel succeed in their way, He wanted them to look to Him, and He wanted to bless them. But He also reminded them through His contrast of Jacob whom He loved and Esau whom He hated and wanted them to see the great Love He had for them and do things His way, to turn back to Him or He was going to do a “Throw Down” in whatever they tried to do apart from Him like He did on Edom. Bros you might be in a backslidden time right now, but you can turn back to God before He does a “Throw Down” in whatever you are doing apart from Him… it’s not too late, repent and turn back to the One true and living God, He loves you-amen!

“I will bring the [one]-third through the fire, Will refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them. I will say, 'This [is] My people'; And each one will say, 'The LORD [is] my God.' (Zechariah 13:9 NKJV),”

Bros reading this verse causes me to think wow to be refined by the Master. Have you ever done something that maybe you weren’t that great at but thought hey I can wing this and do a decent job? Maybe it is some project around the house and you figure I can save a ton of money and do an acceptable- even passable job but not as good as a master craftsman. You know when you hire an expert he makes it looks so simple and does his work with such skill and ease, leading everyone to think wow I can do that it looks simple… Not so, and especially in the refining of something or maybe the refining of ourselves- no one can do that except God. You see the Master brings His love for that which He is refining, He knows His subject material well, He knows the right equipment it will take, the right temperature to bring about the refinement He desires, to get rid of the impurities and He knows how long the refining will last. Because of His love and care for the subject material He can nurture and skillfully remove that which is hindering the refinement with ease on His part- not always so on the subjects part. But knowing the Master is doing the work bringing His exact precision, His compassion, His mercy, His grace, His love, His purpose and all that He desires to accomplish during the refinement process should bring great comfort to the subject realizing you have the Master doing the work for refinement. Oh the work of a Master Craftsman, the perfection of His hand, His love, His heart, His mercy for doing that which needs to be done to refine and bring about purity in the subject to be pleasing to the Master. And then knowing that He is the One who will test and make sure the work of His hands meets the required results of His love for the subject. Oh the Love of a Father! Bros you might be in a great time of refining and testing but when you realize Who is doing the refining and testing, “The Master” you can rest assured you have the Best of the Best of the Best and know His love is at work in you. And when the refining has been completed and the Master tests His work, and we knowing that we have been touched by the Masters hands during this refining and testing then we will call on His Name and He will answer us and say “this is My people” and each one will say “The Lord is My God”. He crafted me, He molded me, He refined me, and He “fire tested” me because He loves me- amen!

“In the same day I will punish All those who leap over the threshold…(Zephaniah 1:9 NKJV),”

Bros when I read this verse it seems to me in their hearts they still worshipped and respected the false gods. It was like they were showing respect for them by not stepping on the threshold as if it was a grave headstone. You know out of respect when you walk through a cemetery you do not step on the headstones or grave markers for those buried there. It is a sign of respect for the dead. We see in 1 Samuel 5 this same respect shown for the spiritually dead false god Dagon who fell on his face and couldn’t get up. So once again they placed it next to the ark of the Lord and when they arose in the morning there was that idol all broke off… literally lost his head and both palms of his hands, they were broken off on the threshold, only his torso was left. This should not have happened putting the Holy things of God next to the unholy things of this world and thinking they are the same or to have the same respect and reverence for that idol as you do for the Lord God. They brought the ark of the Lord into the house of Dagon, a house of false worship and idolatry- no reverence for the One True God. Trying to mix the things of false worship and idolatry and combining that worship with the Holy God. You see God knows their hearts… And I believe  Zephaniah tells the folks hey you still have reverence and are leaping over the threshold out of respect for false idols and things you think that God doesn’t know about that you do on your housetops… Judah was emulating this practice of stepping over the threshold -they never let go, it is like you give up something that is sinful or get delivered but you keep a space for it in your heart and let it live on and keep that openness that readiness, that willingness to invite it back into your heart or to yield to it and allow it to have a foothold, to take root, ready to spring up any second when Satan calls your number. It’s like you have a spare room all setup for when this sin comes to visit… you just open the door as if… it’s all ready and being the gracious host saying welcome... How many of us to this day might not even step on cracks in the sidewalk or at least we think of not stepping on them because when we were kids we played that game of jumping over cracks on the sidewalk and said “step on a crack break your mama’s back.” Same way we had this little game and saying ingrained in us bros they might have had this sin ingrained in them and didn’t want to let go of idolatry and false worship. And so now it might seem so to speak they don’t want to come across Gods threshold meaning fully into his sanctuary to fully worship Him the One True and Living God but they want to leap around another way in through false worship and idolatry and pair God up with their false worship of idols. But Jesus said "I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture (John 10:9 NKJV).” Bros even us we don’t need to or want to bring any false worship into our lives or to the Lords house with us but to worship Him alone, so leave any idols in your life that might exist alone, let go of them or let God break them off…, and come across His threshold through Jesus-AMEN!

“Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the Angel. 4Then He answered and spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, "Take away the filthy garments from him." And to him He said, "See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes. (Zechariah 3:3-4NKJV),”

Bros that is us we are just like Joshua and only the Lord can take away the filthy garments. Even though we can try to wash and cleanse ourselves or try making ourselves righteous through good behavior or good deeds nothing will or can take away the filthy garments except Jesus. I just love how the Lord not only removes the filthy garments from Joshua but He goes beyond just taking the filthy garments away and replacing them with clean ones He clothes Joshua in rich robes. He not only takes away all of his filthy sins but He covers him with His grace, His goodness, His mercy, His righteousness and His rich abundant blessings, He throws His rich covering over Joshua. The Lord loves Joshua just like each of us so much in spite of the wretches we truly are and then He throws a huge blessing at Joshua just as He does for us. We deserve great punishment and yet He wipes out our sins and then blesses us instead of giving us our just due; our deserved penalty, our well deserved punishment. That Bros blows me away at how even when we sin against our Lord and the shame we bring on Him, the hurt to His heart, the separation as we are the apple of His eye and oh how we must grieve His heart in the midst of our sins and yet He shows His unending love for us and we cannot do anything to deserve this unbelievable favor from our Lord. What does He say to Joshua after He strips Him of His filthy garments? "Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'If you will walk in My ways, And if you will keep My command, Then you shall also judge My house, And likewise have charge of My courts; I will give you places to walk Among these who stand here (Zechariah 3:7 NKJV).” He says to just walk in His ways and keep His commands and Joshua will have great favor in the Lords House, great wisdom, authority and prominence. Who does this kind of stuff? Nobody but God Almighty, He is the only One who can forgive and cleanse us from sin. He is omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, and yet He is most loving of us, we cannot explain it. We can know that He truly loves us knowing in that He knows everything about us, even before we were, in spite of knowing this of us, yet He first loved us, and still loves us even knowing that we will fail Him, sin against Him, completely let Him down every time, yet He will forgive each one of us Bros, and His love never fails. He will take away our filthy garments and clothe us with rich robes- amen!  

"Therefore say to them, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Return to Me," says the LORD of hosts, "and I will return to you," says the LORD of hosts.4"Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets preached, saying, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Turn now from your evil ways and your evil deeds." ' But they did not hear nor heed Me," says the LORD (ZECHARIAH 1:3-4NKJV).”

Bros I remember back in my youth saying I would never be like my dad. I had memories of seeing my dad sit on our couch drinking beer and smoking cigarettes every night and even if you got up in the middle of the night he would be sitting there watching TV with his beer. I told myself I would never be like him or do that- guess what I became just like him. It took years for me to reach this point of drinking by myself all alone in my home but I was now there. I remember the night I caught myself in this position and had become conscious of that fact all those years ago and I said to myself “dude you said you would never be like your dad or drink alone and look you are exactly like him and doing what you swore you would never do.” That was a hard realization for me especially being so strong willed thinking I had control of my life and now realizing my evil ways and evil deeds had taken over my life and I had become who I did not want to become. That is what I was reminded of reading these verses in Zechariah and further reminded me of the fact that my dad became a Christian a few years before he died and many years later I became a Christian, so I became like him again thank you Jesus! Also, I was reminded that when we raise our children in the Word of God and ways of the Lord, and we are obediently being that example of Christ to them in their lives. They see the example we have put before them and have been that Christ-like witness to them. If they run amuck out into the world, jump into the pig trough, wallow in all the lust this world has to offer and they follow their flesh off on a tangent. Even though this may happen or be the case with any of our kids or family member’s, maybe it is so even with anyone of us at this moment. But know this that if we taught our children the Word and even family a godly example to follow and if they went astray- fallen away from the Lord, not following the godly example you laid down for them… They will come back! Keep praying for them to return to the Lord, God is so faithful more than we could ever know. My dad had plenty of opportunities to hear the Gospel and receive Christ during His life and he refused for many years to turn from his evil ways and then late in his life he returned to the Lord and went home to be with Jesus just three years after he returned His life to Christ. If your children are not following the Lord by the Christian upbringing you gave them-keep praying! Or maybe it is you who needs to return to the Lord, bro today is the day of salvation, don’t wait, don’t put it off another day- do it now invite Christ back in your heart, repent and live life more abundantly. If your kids need to return keep praying bro don’t be discouraged or give up, God is in control and maybe the kids are out of control but God holds the world in His hands- nothing is too hard for him not even a wayward child and He hears your prayers and He is faithful and He is merciful, He is full of grace towards us and He loves us- amen!

“'In that day,' says the LORD of hosts, 'I will take you, Zerubbabel My servant, the son of Shealtiel,' says the LORD, 'and will make you like a signet [ring]; for I have chosen you,' says the LORD of hosts (Haggai 2:23NKJV).”

Bros In that day God used Zerubbabel as a sign or icon of the Messiah to come. He was chosen by God, He calls him His servant- to me when God calls Zerubbabel His servant He is acknowledging Zerubbabel’s obedience. Zerubbabel the governor was recognized and chosen, he responded to God when the remnant under his leadership returned from Babylon and began to rebuild the temple of the Lord. They soon lost interest and started to make excuses and made awesome places for themselves instead and thought that the time was not yet right for building the temple of the Lord. God took away His blessing on them and soon they found themselves in financial trouble….They did not recognize or realize what exactly was happening because of their sin of self indulgence- so God used His prophet Haggai to speak directly to the remnant. Zerubbabel and the remnant react kind of slow and begin to take action twenty three days later to begin work on the temple of the Lord. Then once again in a couple weeks they lose their drive to do the work- thinking what they are doing is small and insignificant remembering Solomon’s temple how great it was in comparison. So the remnant is reminded of Haggai’s prophetic words of encouragement and times past of God’s covenant promises- “The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former” verse 2:9. So the people obeyed God in building the temple, they were tainted by sin along the way and their sin blocked the blessing God had for them in being obedient. But because they have now obeyed God is going to bless them from that day. God chose Zerubbabel so even though they sinned and messed up, they repented, turned back to obeying God and He blessed them in spite of their lack of faithfulness. God is good to us in His great mercy and even though we may have sinned and fall short- we can repent and turn back to obedience, He is faithful even when we are not, His promises we can bank on to be one hundred percent true, our promises collapse on our weakness to perform them but not God. He chose you and me- isn’t that great to know! He will never fail, we always do but God will never ever fail, He will take us his servants, and make us His with His seal because he chose us. "You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and [that] your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you (John 15:16 NKJV). AMEN!

“'Is the seed still in the barn? As yet the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not yielded [fruit]. [But] from this day I will bless [you].' " (HAGGAI 2:19 NKJV),”

Bros the prophet Haggai asking the remnant this question Is the seed still in the barn? And I like this next part ““As yet” the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not yielded fruit.” But from this day I will bless you.” Even though the seed has not been planted yet and is still in the barn and the various fruit trees have not produced a harvest yet. The Lord has promised them “from this day I will bless you” even though you can’t taste the fruit or see the Lords blessing yet or realized them yet- know that the Lord has promised and they are coming. He has provided the means as prove and they must wait to see the blessings, they must trust in God. First the test was obedience, now this could be a test of their faith in one sense but more importantly a test of their belief they must believe because the Lord is saying “But from this day I will bless you”! Bros He only needs to say it and that should be good enough for anyone of us as believers but sometimes that is the test for us as believers… God says He will provide all of our needs according to His riches, He promised to never leave us or forsake us, He would be with us to the end of the ages, that His children would never beg for bread, that we will never thirst again, that we will have eternal life, that we can and will be forgiven when we confess our sins to Him, that we are washed, made white as snow, that we can move mountains, that we receive not- because we ask not, when we ask for a fish He won’t give us a rock… And there are thousands more things that God said He would do for us and He promised for us, why don’t we get it? He said it, He is not a liar, and He came that we might have life more abundantly… His mercy, His grace, His love for us… Why doubt our Savior in anything, He will take us through every valley and help us to climb any and every mountain, or obstacle that stops us from having an abundant life in Him, He will never have us do something that He has not equipped us to do. So know this bros- “But from this day I will bless you” says the Lord because the Remnant obeyed God He wants to bless them and He wants our obedience in all He asks of us too so He can bless us too-Amen!