Forgiving From The Heart

"Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest.And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.
So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses."

Matthew 18:21-35

Forgiveness is a thing not to be taken for granted! I hope everyone who confesses Jesus as their Lord genuinely feels undeserving of it. We see in this parable a man in desperate need of forgiveness but unwilling to give it to someone else when it was needed for them. The consequences were pretty rough, this man was handed over to his tormentors. Why does God require us to forgive others as He has forgiven us?

Offense is Satan's number one tactic to get us at each other's throats. Before I go on I definitely recommend the book "The Bait of Satan" by John Bevere, it is truly an eye opening book!

I think the reason we are unwilling to forgive others is a deeper issue within us that too often goes overlooked. Some of us say we forgive yet we treat the people that hurt us with contempt, therefore making forgiveness more of religious obligatory lip service rather than from Christ's love within us. It is a very dangerous thing according to the Word of God, in fact, God will not forgive you if you do not forgive others. An unwillingness to forgive blocks everything in a believers life. Show me someone who is stunted spiritually and I will show you someone who has forgiveness issues. When you are unwilling to forgive you are essentially saying with your actions that you deserved forgiveness, and from God's perspective that is pride and remember He resists the prideful. If we truly recognized how grotesque we were in light of God's holiness I think we would be more quick to forgive. I truly believe the ability to forgive is one of the truest marks of maturity for a Saint. In fact, I think it is the main indicator of true spiritual growth because it shows that they have the most realistic view of themselves in light of them being forgiven. But again, when I say forgiveness I mean it in the truest sense...from the HEART! We will talk about that below.

I believe pardoning something someone has done and actually forgiving them from the heart are two different things. For instance, say you owe me $500 dollars. Well you keep giving me excuses on why you are not paying me and I get fed up and say "Fine, keep the money! I just never want to see you again!" I technically forgave the debt did I not? You no longer owe me $500, however I asked you never to approach me again as well which leads one to believe I have not forgiven from my heart. So then we have forgiveness FROM THE HEART, as Jesus stated. This forgiveness is able to invite someone in your home who has really hurt you. It is the type of forgiveness God has granted to us and expects us to grant to others if it is to be well with our souls. But how is this achieved?

In the book "The Bait of Satan", a pastor by the name of John Bevere has been severely hurt by someone in the church. He wanted to run but God told Him he needed to stay and not to run from tests. God instructed John to begin to pray for this man. John Bevere says that this was not easy at first, in fact, I believe he said the first 3 days it was forced. After he continued to obey God (sowing to the Spirit) John actually began developing a love for this man. He said he would see him in the hall at church and just say "I love you brother!" John Bevere said it actually got to a point where he genuinely (from the heart) wanted this man that had hurt him to be blessed! Now why did this happen like this? Because John Bevere was obeying the reaping and sowing "spiritual law". John was "drawing nigh to God (aka obeying God) so that he was reaping God drawing nigh to him (aka receiving the actual feelings from his step of faith in obedience). I am not saying it is easy but it is crucial to hearing the words "Well done thou good and faithful servant!"

The pros far outweigh the cons of forgiving others. Remember how the "lord" of this man in the parable had him handed over to "the tormentors"? Do you know what tormentors are? DEMONS! You are choosing to give Satan a foothold by willfully violating this principle! So now it all makes sense! This is why people are stunted spiritually, because they have allowed a demonic foothold in their life which is stunting them from receiving what God has for them! This person becomes a religious person at best and ceases from the true intimacy with God. Please hear me borthers and sisters, GOD WILL NOT ALLOW US TO MOVE ON UNTIL WE HAVE OBEYED THIS FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE! I am not saying you will not be able to memorize the Bible, I am not saying you will still not pray but I am saying the anointed power behind these actions could very possibly cease, hence the reason for becoming more religious than truly growing spiritually.

Finally, I do understand that people do things that really hurt us and we feel that they need to pay somehow!! But listen, what if God forgave your trespasses but didn't forgive you from His heart? What if He allowed some people to come to Him but looked at you and said, "You have hurt me too badly, you are not welcome in my presence". Not only would we be very afraid, we would be very hurt! Remember our loving Savior on the cross saying "Father forgive them for they know not what they do."? This is one of the many reasons prayer is so crucial. I have said it before and I will say it again, if your prayer life is suffering you are falling to sin. Prayer is the only way we can realign ourselves to God's motives again. Why? Because prayer gets us in the Spirit! And what does getting in the Spirit mean? Feeling the way God feels towards situations. This forgiveness issue is so serious that I have read accounts of people casting demons off of someone and the demons not breaking until the person chose to forgive. This is a serious issue brothers and sisters, please, let's not take it lightly!

Sincerely,
Chris Goff

God's Faithfulness

But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
Isaiah 40:31

If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.
2 Timothy 2:13

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28

God's faithfulness is a beautiful gift! Through His faithfulness we are graced with salvation and hope which yields encouragement and perseverance. I know some of the things mentioned will not appear to be "deep" but they are something we need to remind ourselves frequently of.

"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength;" This is so encouraging! I heard a word study done on the word 'wait' and it literally means "to anticipate". Isn't that neat? It doesn't merely have a "patience" connotation, it could literally read this way, "But they that anticipate Father God to act on their situation shall renew their strength." Such a beautiful truth! I am so encouraged that I can have immense faith in my God to act no matter what is happening (maybe not the way I always want but for my good).

Let's not forget that not all of us are necessarily to the point where we can 'anticipate God to do something about it', we are human and can fluctuate at times. God desires the end result of us becoming the complete man to be relentless faith, but I am so thankful that He is faithful even when we are struggling finding the faith! 2 Timothy 2:13, "If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself." God understands if we have to ask Him for faith. When facing a trial or tribulation don't try to feign faith if you really do not feel you have it. God long's for us to ask Him for things...sometimes faith!

Romans 8:28 states, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." Pastor Rob Turner from Apex community church in Centerville Ohio once said, "God is more interested in our growth than our comfort." That truth has really stuck with me. I say that to say let us not mistake our discomfort with God's lack of goodness because His goodness is a more mature goodness than that. God's goodness is in breaking us, knowing it will produce a stronger more resilient faith...it gives us staying power. He does work out things for our good because He loves us even if they seem uncomfortable at the time. For example, let's say you have a child and you have been granted a foreknowledge that if they leave your house to go out with their friends for that particular night they will be in a fatal car accident. You may try to petition them to not go, maybe even ground them if they will not listen. You may try these subtle methods at first but if you see they are failing, there is not one loving parent that is reading this that wouldn't take a sledge hammer (or something else of the sort) and break their child's legs. WHOA CHRIS! Didn't expect you to go there! Isn't true love and goodness weird? Now if I isolate that situation and just say, "My dad took a sledge hammer and broke my legs!" That doesn't have a 'working out to our good' ring to it. But if I tell you in context 'the why', it now changes into a relentless act of love. You may be going through something so dark and scary you are not understanding why God is allowing this to happen. Just as the child in the above example kept trying to leave the house without the knowledge their parent had, so are we at times because we cannot see everything like God. Now let's say the child get's word that the friends she/he was going to go out with that night died in the wreck, this child, I would venture to say, is now thanking the parent for breaking their legs. So one day we will be thanking Him for all the hardships that produced righteousness in our lives, and that is God's definition of "all things working to our good".

One final (true) story,
There was a police officer, who was a Christian, that a friend of mine knew. This man began to suffer in his faith in God to the point of almost giving up. One night, while on patrol, he took a very peculiar man into custody. As this police officer was escorting this man to the police station, the criminal began to sniff in the air around him. As this now sniffing man became more and more blatant with this annoyance the police officer asked him what he was doing. The sniffing man said, "I smell blood, you're a Christian aren't you!". The police officer proceeded to say, "I do not know how that is even relevant to anything." The criminal said in response to this statement, "Oh it's relevant...it's relevant.." As a result of this situation this restored this police officers faith. The criminal was obviously under satanic control and satan in this situation became an unwilling servant of our MIGHTY GOD! This story really shed light on the verse that states, "If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself." 2 Timothy 2:13

I do not know what you are going through but I do know this, God does not orchestrate anything to hurt us as to never come back to Him. Remember that God does not do petty human things, He has pure and holy purposes for us. So the next time something isn't going quite right, run to HIM!

Sincerely,
Chris Goff

Reaping and Sowing

"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that naturea will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life."
Galatians 6:7&8

"Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully."
2 Corinthians 9:6

"Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded."
James 4:8

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."
Galatians 6:9

"My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. "Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children."
Hosea 4:6


This week I want us to focus on a spiritual principle that I feel goes under our radar alot of the time. It's called reaping and sowing. If you sit and think about it the whole of God's spiritual structure and/or law rides on this principle. It is a neutral principle to a degree, giving that it works for both the believer and non-believer. This principle works unto rewards and unto punishment, to the reaping of eternal life or corruption. So with all of that said I feel it is very important to show God we are setting our hearts to understand this spiritual principle.

"My people perish from lack of knowledge." Ever hear the saying, "knowledge is power"? Well, when talking about this reaping and sowing principle it proves to be very true. Now reaping and sowing is the broad truth but can we think of specifics in scripture? How about "Draw nigh unto God, then He will draw night unto you", or "If we walk in the light as He is in the light, THEN the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all unrighteousness" or how about, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness". So let's render these a bit different to illustrate the principle. "Sow into drawing closer to God, and reap Him drawing closer to you", "Sow into walking in the light as He is in the light, and reap Him cleansing you from all unrighteousness", "Sow into the confession of sins, and reap His faithfulness and justness to forgive your sin and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness". Do we get the picture? Scripture is absolutely riddled with this underlying principle.

Now let's draw our attention to Galatians 6:7&8 which states, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that naturea will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life." I love this one as it helps me pass personal tests in my life. For example, you have the opportunity when by yourself to watch something you are not supposed to watch or do things you should not do, believe it or not when you pass these tests by "fleeing and pursuing" (see devotional entitled "Fleeing and Pursuing") you have just sown into the Spirit! When you sow into the Spirit God has some kind of spiritual gifting for you in the end if you do not become WEARY OF DOING GOOD. Galatians 6:9, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." We must live our lives in light of this principle if it is to be well with our souls!

"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Galatians 6:7. So if we do not live our lives in light of this priniciple what does that say about us? It means we are deceived! Paul says BE NOT DECEIVED, GOD WILL NOT EVER BE MOCKED (proven to be a liar) WHATEVER YOU! YOU! YOU! YOU! YOU! SOW THIS IS WHAT YOU! YOU! YOU! YOU! ARE GOING TO REAP! I have wrote about this before in other devotionals but feel the need to hammer on it some more. There is a great many people deceived out there. They think because they have prayed a prayer that they are instantly ok. They teach a doctrine unsupported by scripture and I pray those are the people that read these posts before it is too late. Galatians 5:19-26 says, The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. I pray we all begin to live by these core principles again. We live in a very dark world that is constantly sowing into the flesh and reaping nothing but destruction! I am so thankful for Jesus sacrifice! He has enabled us to be partakers of the Holy Spirit thereby being a people capable of living within the healthy bounds of reaping and sowing! Let's keep fighting to stay in the Spirit so we do not gratify the lusts of our flesh! So the next time you have the opportunity to watch, do, look, hear something you are not supposed to and YOU DO NOT GIVE IN, give a little elbow jerk in the air and say "SWEET! I JUST PASSED A TEST, THANK YOU GOD FOR YOUR FAITHFULNESS TO ME"! Guess what happens as you continue to pass tests? YOU BECOME A TRUE DISCIPLE! You are now disciplining yourselves and showing God that you can be a person that is entrusted with MUCH instead of LITTLE! Remember brothers and sisters, you can store up treasures to reap just as you can store up wrath, just because it is not immediate does not mean it isn't coming. DON'T GROW WEARY! Let's pray for each other please! I mean that, I pray for the people who read these posts please be lifting me up as well!

Sincerely,
Chris Goff

Free Will?

"For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth." Romans 9:17&18

"But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said." Exodus 8:15

"And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go" Exodus 8:32

"And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had spoken unto Moses." Exodus 9:12

"Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:" Romans 1:24

"And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness"
2 Thessalonians 2:10-12

"And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance" 2 Peter 1:5-13

"I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion". Some verses make it appear that God chooses every outcome, even our choices about right and wrong. I believe this is true to a point, in light of scriptures such as the one at the beginning of this paragraph (read the devotional entitled "Predestination" to understand a bit more of the position I have taken on this). But make no mistake, we are to take the scripture as a whole. I have heard people say that God wouldn't be sovereign if He didn't choose everything, so it just appears we have a free will but we really don't. I feel they are blending two different schools of thought into one that make this topic very muddled, so much to the point that they get relaxed with their sin. I say this because I have seen what this belief does to people, it causes an upset in their pursuit of holiness. I was recently told about a guy that has a leadership role in a ministry that does not believe we have a free will and is looking at pornographic material on the internet. It is one thing to struggle with a sin, it is far another thing to give yourself heartily to it and have a theological argument to back it up. Wouldn't that be convenient? "God choose anyways and He knew I would come to Christ and I would still sin". It is something subtle that can end up crippling us spiritually if we do not have a proper grasp as to how all of this works. Did Pharaoh have a choice? Does anyone have a choice? Let's break these scriptures down.

I think one thing we must understand is that God allows us to be aware of His sovereignty through His foreknowledge in predestining people but some of us have taken it a step farther and have believed because He chose the over-all route for things He must have controlled our wills as well. So let's look at what Paul said. Paul mentions that God hardened Pharaohs heart. Now it is interesting to note that Genesis says Pharaoh hardened his own heart. Why wouldn't Paul make mention of this? I think he didn't because he wasn't debating this issue of free will. Because Paul knew the scriptures even better than we do, right? So for this piece of information to escape Paul is a little astounding IF he were merely arguing for man's choice. What I believe Paul is illustrating is that God makes decisions through His foreknowledge BASED upon HIS FORESIGHT OF THE CHOICES WE WOULD MAKE! God places us before the foundations of the world but we are the ones who have to acted out in REAL TIME! "Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" Now note this verse isn't saying make sure you "prayed the prayer" and then once you have confirmed that you have "prayed the prayer" you have now made His calling and election sure. That doesn't take alot of DILIGENCE, the very word Peter has chose to illustrate this point. The Apostles had an understanding of the reaping and sowing principle so much that they believed this is how one endured to the end by "SOWING INTO THE SPIRIT TO REAP ETERNAL LIFE!" Now some of you may think I have jumped off topic but I have not, I am using this to illustrate your CHOICE to MAKE YOUR CALLING AND ELECTION SURE UNTIL YOU SEE JESUS IN HIS GLORY! Anything less than this is not standing firm until the end which WAS NOT GOD'S CHOICE FOR YOU! How do we know this though?

Ok, so back to Pharaoh, Paul and Genesis say that God hardened Pharaohs heart, but in Genesis before it says God hardened Pharaohs heart it says Pharaohs hardened his own heart. Ok so now what, is the scripture contradicting itself? NO WAY! Look in Romans 1 and 2 Thessalonians 2. It suggests a person can CHOOSE UNRIGHTEOUSNESS SO MUCH THAT GOD ENDS UP FINISHING THE JOB! This should not be foreign to us. Just as God has chosen our current active repentant faith in Christ to be the means by which He completes us for our good, so the inverse happens as well. Think about it, you respond in obedience and you reap knowing God better.(remember the law...sow to the spirit to reap eternal life...sow to the flesh and reap corruption) Respond in disobedience and reap corruption. WHATSOEVER A MAN SOWS THIS WILL HE ALSO REAP. Or it could read this way, "Whatever a man CHOOSES to do, whether good or bad, is what he will get back spiritually".

So what is the answer Chris? Do you choose or does God choose? The answer in my estimation is clearly both. FOR WHOM HE FOREKNEW HE ALSO PREDESTINED! What is that foreknowledge about? Has to be about seeing what we would choose to base His decision on the where, when, and how. In my mind, if we had no say so in our matter the scripture would merely read, "He predestined." Why put the word foreknew in there? He was evaluating what we would decide if we were offered His grace. Also, look at Romans 1 and 2 Thessalonians 2. "Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the LUSTS OF THEIR OWN HEARTS, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:" Romans 1:24 Now does that say the "LUST OF GOD'S HEART?" NO! YOUR HEART! Now look at 2 Thessalonians 2, "And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness" What does it say? THEY CHOOSE NOT TO RECEIVE WHEN PRSENTED, and because of the reaping and sowing principle we will always have a cause and effect. In this case the cause is written like this, "And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness" WE NEED TO GRASP THIS REAPING AND SOWING PRINCIPLE! It is really the foundation for everything!

Now some of you may still be locked into the mindset that God cannot be sovereign if He didn't choose everything for us, even to the point of us being unrighteous but follow me really quick. I was talking with a believer on the phone once who was telling me a pastor (whom I respect greatly) made the comment that God could not be sovereign if we had a choice in anything. This statement has never sat well with me as I had heard it before in some variations. What came to me next to respond to this person blew me away as I had never even thought about it before (which told me it was God answering for both me and this brother). Wouldn't ultimate sovereignty be giving us a free choice and STILL being so brilliant as to accomplishing things the way He wanted? I mean come on, would you be more impressed if I bossed you around to accomplish my will, or I was able to manipulate things in such a way that I made you CHOOSE what I set out to accomplish anyways. You had your choice, I just knew what you would choose, which makes God the ultimate "chess" player of the universe. I don't know about you, but that old argument that says God is not sovereign if He doesn't make every decision for us, whether for the good or for the bad, pails in comparison to giving us a free choice and still being MAGNIFICENT ENOUGH TO ACCOMPLISH HIS WILL! What a mighty and amazing God! So what's the official answer in a nut shell? It's both! God will finish the job either way YOU CHOOSE TO GO, whether to the righteous side or the unrighteous side! Thats why we must be a people who constantly sow into the Spirit! This way we are bound to make our calling and election certain! Because be not deceived, God is not mocked, whatsoever a man (or woman) sows, this will he also reap! You have a choice to make! GIVE INTO THE SIN OR NOT GIVE IN and make no mistake, if you are running headlong into wickedness it was not God's desire for you, but He is also not mocked. Remember the scripture says "He resists the proud, but gives grace unto the humble." Humility is obedience, obedience is to cease from sin, ceasing from sin gives you even more power to stop the things you always thought you were bound to! But, He resists the PRIDEFUL! ALL SIN IS PRIDE! You are telling God with your actions "Other people may need to do that but not me." PRIDE PRIDE PRIDE! The Bible says if we are PRIDEFUL He will RESIST US. That word resist means "TO STAND AGAINST; TO OPPOSE." I don't know about all of you but I do not want the God of the universe opposing me! Let's stay connected to the vine! Let's reap ETERNAL LIFE!

Lord continue to reveal your truth to us! Thank you giving Your Spirit to us for revelation and guidance! I pray for everyone who will read this that it will prove profitable for them, grant all of us repentance I pray!

Thanks brothers, and sisters!
Sincerely,
Chris Goff

Are We Seeking Him?

As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:Their feet are swift to shed blood:Destruction and misery are in their ways:And the way of peace have they not known:There is no fear of God before their eyes. Romans 3:10-18

God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread: they have not called upon God.
Psalm 53:2-4

I hope it is our desire to truly know God and really seek Him. This is not going to be one of my traditional posts. This post is to express something that God did earlier this week and after He led me in the scriptures I felt impressed to make it the next blog. The Lord is so faithful to reveal to us when we become slack at times and thank goodness He is so long-suffering!

Earlier this week I felt impressed to read Romans chapter 3. I only posted part of it on purpose as I really want to focus on what really stuck with me as I believe that is what the Lord wanted me to get out of it and then share with everyone else. Notice in Romans 3 it reads, "There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one." After I was finished reading the chapter I began to think what God wanted me to get out of this, then all of a sudden Psalm 53 shot through my mind. I did not know what Psalm 53 had to say so I decided to read it and it is what Paul was using to cross reference this part of Romans 3! Psalm 53 reads, "God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread: they have not called upon God.". After I read this I knew this was all beyond coincidence. I began to pray and talk to the Lord about this issue, this prompted me to discuss with my wife if we truly know what it means to seek Him.

Needless to say I felt impressed to write it on the blog so we can begin to dwell on it. It is something we all need to work on, making Him our all-in-all. Remember the reference in Daniel when he prayed and fasted for 21 days? What did the angel of the Lord say to him again? The angel said, "From the day you set your heart to understand and did chasten yourself your words were heard and I have been sent because of your words." Read the devotional entitled "An Understanding Heart", I talk about this in greater detail there. I believe we need to purchase from Jesus, "gold refined by fire". Do you remember Him saying this to the Laodicean church in Revelation? They had said they were rich and in need of nothing and Jesus said they did not even realize they were pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I think because we have all of our needs provided in our richness that it tends to blind our true spiritual needs. I think what Jesus is saying here is this, that the way we purchase from Him gold refined by fire is to chasten ourselves, discipline ourselves to do the greater thing which is to develop an intimacy with Him in prayer. It is something we could all grow in. I believe prayer is the main vehicle in developing a relationship with Him. Don't get me wrong, Bible reading is great, and breaking down His Word is great but direct communication is key. Remember, before the New Testament was written all they had was prayer, in fact, I would venture to say this is where doctrine was revealed to them at...in prayer. Let's commit ourselves to spending time with Him this week. Even if you just start with 5 minutes or 10 minutes, its a START! Even if you do not know what to say just show Him you desire to seek Him by quieting yourself. Wait for Him to put things on your heart and mind to pray about. Jewish oral tradition has it that James, brother of Jesus, had callouses on his knees from being in prayer so much. I cannot imagine that kind of devotion but I would like to think I am one who is willing to learn. I personally walk around when I pray because I am one who can tend to get too comfortable if I sit or kneel too long, so do not think that you have to bow all of the time. I do, however, feel at times we should bow, whenever you feel led to bow do so, He is a real King who really loves us. I am not saying to kneel the entire time, but sometimes as a symbol of devotion to Him, acknowledging with our actions that we believe He is so real that we bow. I know alot of revelation that God has graced me with has come during or after spending time with Him.

Thank you for reading brothers and sisters. I hope this is a blessing to you! We serve a great God! This was not an indictment on any of you as I myself have some more disciplining to do as well!

I hope this has not offended, let's strive to seek Him more than we seek our own desires all of the time. God showed me once an easy way to tell if I am erecting any idols in my life. It's a simple test really and it's this, if I begin to get more excited about something than I do about Jesus and His sacrifice, I now have a heart issue. I need to go back to "purchasing gold refined by fire" whenever this begins to happen and guess what? He forgives me and reignites me to do whatever I was called here to do as He desires for us all. All of our lives we will have to continue to consecrate things, put them under us, so do not get bummed or depressed when it happens, it is God reminding you to re-align yourself through the vehicle of prayer.
Again, even if you do not know what to say in the moment, just begin praising Jesus until you get excited about Him and then bask in that fresh presence. Even if you do not speak when His presence is stirred within you it begins changing you. Kind of like a tea packet in hot water, it's not doing anything but sitting there, but slowly the hot water begins to bring things out of it.
Praise Jesus for all of you! Everyone who sends me nice comments and keeps encouraging me to keep this website up to help others grow! We help each other grow.

Thanks again!
Sincerely
Chris Goff

Hierarchy Of Priorities

"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." James 1:27

"Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall." (In reference to the people who tested God in the wilderness)
1 Corinthians 10:11&12

"Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it."
Hebrews 4:1

“I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent. But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”
Revelation 2:2-7

"I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing."
John 15:5

"And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And He said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live."
Luke 10:25-28

Priorities...everyone has to have them if their life is going to function properly. All successful people adhere to a list of priorities. For instance, police officers have a list of priorities when dealing with their day-to-day duties. If you are a police officer and you catch someone speeding and then hear on your radio a serial killer was just spotted in the area, I have an idea you are going to now pursue the serial killer and forget about the ticket. One priority overshadowed another. Well it appears it is not so different for Christians. I have seen Christians abandon the most important of priorities in the name of "reaching out" to others and then themselves eventually doing and saying what the people who do not know God do and say. I was one of those Christians until God graced me with teaching me how to truly fear Him and that fear propelling into love. Biblically speaking what does it appear our main priorities are? I see us struggling all the time with priorities and unfortuneatly the consequences can at times be severe. Let's see what the Word of God says our most important priorities are.

James gives us two ingredients in having a healthy relationship with God. First he lists to comfort and attend to the needy, particularly widows and orphans. The second thing he lists is to keep oneself from being stained by the world. I don't think his intentions were listing them in order, because it appears our first priority to God is to keep ourselves pure and unstained. The reason I say this is because to the church at Ephesus Jesus said "I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars;and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent." Let's notice that despite all the hard work Jesus commended them for He still had something against them, they had abandoned their first love. That first love was Him and in abandoning Him they were beginning to stain themselves and Jesus had to put a quick stop to this through John. They apparently forgot they were working for Jesus. Religion had crept in it appears and Jesus told them to repent of this before He removed their lampstand. Jesus says REMEMBER FROM WHERE YOU HAVE FALLEN; REPENT AND DO THE FIRST WORKS. So we see they lost a sense of priority probably in the area of their daily disciplines (i.e. prayer) and to neglect this is to not put on our spiritual armor and to not put on our spiritual armor is to subject ourselves to Satan's fiery darts and to subject ourselves to Satan's fiery darts is to allow a strong, negative influence that subtly leads us astray. When we lose focus of priorities we get reprimanded for our benefit. Thank God for His discipline! For without it we could not shar in His holiness!

Now in Luke, Jesus tells the lawyer that he is right in his answering of how one inherits eternal life. The lawyer tempting Him said, "Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And He said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live." So we see our first priority is to love the Lord our God with all our soul, strength, and mind; AND to love thy neighbor as thyself. So we see we are to love our neighbor as ourselves, we are supposed to work for Him and glorify Him in that manner! But first we must love HIM with all our beings. This means communing with Him in prayer and notice when we do this we begin to love people a whole lot more! When we honor God in drawing closer to Him all of the other things will begin to fall into place! Our desire will be for His work from our hearts because we are communing with Him and that is what appears this church in Revelation had lacked in. But remember Jesus said in John 15:5, "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." We must ABIDE IN HIM, and in order to abide in Him we have to CLEANSE OURSELVES with His provided sacrifice on Calvary, then our actions for him will be anointed, done in the Spirit where there is power!

I remember there was a point in my life where I had to settle down and remember that yes, Jesus died for all so they could come to Him, but let me never get so caught up in "works" that I forget He also died for me to COMMUNE WITH ME! That is God's desire! Sometimes we "forget" with how we conduct our lives, that God died for us and wants us to abide in Him! If I am getting drunk, watching things I shouldn't watch, agreeing with things I shouldn't agree with, not seeking Him and loving Him, I may be indicating to myself that I have become religious and am leaving my first love! Don't sacrifice your integrity in the name of "reaching out"! The biggest and best way to reach out is to show people that Jesus power is genuinely active in you not having to partake in certain things for your fulfillment! "Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall!" Remember, you do not have to be in active agreement with the world in order to reach them! Let us not defile ourselves we have Jesus Christ! Let us strive for the completeness God is calling us to!

Thank you Lord for all you have given and all you have done! I pray God that we will be a people able to hear, "Well done Thou good and faithful servant!". I pray this over myself, my family, and all your saints! We love you Jesus, let us know when we are breaking your heart! Discipline us Lord we pray! In the precious name of Jesus we pray! Amen!
With love brothers and sisters!
Sincerely,
Chris Goff

Paul's Thorn In The Flesh

"Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me--to keep me from exalting myself!
Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me.
And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness " Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

What was Paul's thorn in the flesh? I have heard some say it was a physical infirmity but I have also heard people say it was some sort of struggling with sin. I feel this problem was Paul's eyesight. Now before you disagree with this assessment let's go through and see if we cannot support this claim. I understand that this is speculative as I feel the other side is speculative, however, I have heard people use this reference as a crutch in supporting their own misconduct. So needless to say it is very important how one interprets this passage of scripture in either living a defeated life in sin or a victorious one over sin. First we will discuss Paul's blinding experience.

I will start with the road to Damascus, Acts 9:3,8&9 state,"And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:...And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink."
Notice that this light was so bright that Paul was instantly blinded, he had to have help getting back to Damascus. Now God sent a fellow brother to lay hands on Paul so that he could receive his sight back, Acts 9:17&18 states, "And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized." Ok so he was healed right? It appears to a degree he was. Notice the Bible says "immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales."
Remember when Paul back-talked the high priest? Acts 23:2-5,"At this the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth. Then Paul said to him, God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck! Those who were standing near Paul said, You dare to insult God's high priest? Paul replied, Brothers, I did not realise that he was the high priest; for it is written: 'Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.' Now notice with me that Paul didn't even recognize the high priest, he even said "brothers, I did not realise that he was the high priest"! By what I understand, the high priest wears attire that distinguishes between him and the others in the group, so for Paul not to see him suggests bad eye sight! Also in Galatians 4:15 Paul says, "Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me." So now we have Paul admitting himself that he has an eye sight problem that bugged him enough to mention it to this church. We also have Galatians 6:11, "See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!" So it is clear it appears he had a problem with his eye sight.

Ok, now for the reason I believe this was the "thorn" in Paul's flesh and not a sin. Notice how Paul says, "Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me." Now correct me if I am wrong but if he was struggling falling to a sin in his life I believe I could properly render this verse as "Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast in my sin, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me." Wait a minute! The same Jesus who said in John 5:14, "Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing befall thee." Ok now this doesn't sound quite right, could Paul actually boast in his sin? If that wasn't enough look at what Jesus said to Paul,"My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness " So could I render this verse, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in sin."? Would Jesus tell one man in the temple, "go and sin no more lest something worse befall you." and then turn around and tell Paul, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in sin."? NO WAY! This violates the scripture that tells us to not quench the Spirit and quenching the Spirit is to sin, 1 Thessolonians 5:19 "Do not put out the Spirit's fire;" We know that when we walk in the flesh it actually puts out the Spirit's fire in our lives and when the Spirit is not flowing in our lives this keep's us from being effective!

So what about the "Messenger of Satan to buffet/torment me" part? Can you imagine healing people just by praying over cloths just because they touched them? Can you imagine seeing the power of God demonstrated through you to others in that magnitude and all you want is to be healed with that same power you are exercising over other people? This is where alot of heavy speculation comes in but this is my take on it, the demon was trying to effect Paul's faith. I can hear the mocks and jeers now going through Paul's mind, "God uses you to heal others but you are not worthy enough to receive it yourself! You think God is with you? Then why won't he heal your eyes Paul?" So what did this cause Paul to do (in my opinion)? It caused him to fall face down and ask God not once, not twice, but THREE TIMES to take his infirmity away from him. I am not saying that my assessment is gospel, but this torment sounds oh so familiar in regards to Jesus dying on the cross. Matthew 27:42, "He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him." I will forever maintain that Paul was not talking about gross misconduct being the thorn in his flesh or how else would he have been able to call out sin in the churches in good conscience? Do not take my word for it, pray over these issues and research them.

Finally, the reason I feel this passage is so important to understand is because I have heard believers use this saying of Paul to support settling with their own personal sin. We are to appropropriate Jesus word and what will happened? John 8:32 "The truth shall make you free!" We are not just saved in theory! That same power that rose Jesus from the dead not only has the power to save you but also to set you free from what makes you a slave. 1 John 3:8 says Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil! "He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil." Now please do not hear me wrong! We will all stumble on occasion but it must be immediately taken in repentance to the cross, not this settling attitude that says, "Well Paul had sin so I might as well give into it when it beckons me." This is a scary attitude and will lead to a complacent attitude towards sin, which leads to perpetuated sin, which leads to death. When we sin it should genuinely be a blindsiding event, if you fall GET UP! But do not say you are bound to fall to that exact same sin your whole life, that is a defeated attitude and may prove true in your life! So fight! (See devotional, Rhema Resistance) There is a difference between stumbling and fighting verses stumbling and accepting and please never let Satan convince you otherwise! Thank you for your love and support brothers and sisters! Let's stop using crutches and fight!
Sincerely,
Chris Goff

Is There Sin In Your Camp?

"The men of Ai struck down about thirty-six of their men, and pursued them from the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them down on the descent, so the hearts of the people melted and became as water.
Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the LORD until the evening, both he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads.
Joshua said, "Alas, O Lord GOD, why did You ever bring this people over the Jordan, only to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? If only we had been willing to dwell beyond the Jordan!
"O Lord, what can I say since Israel has turned their back before their enemies?
"For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and they will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. And what will You do for Your great name?"
So the LORD said to Joshua, "Rise up! Why is it that you have fallen on your face?
"Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. And they have even taken some of the things under the ban and have both stolen and deceived. Moreover, they have also put them among their own things.
"Therefore the sons of Israel cannot stand before their enemies; they turn their backs before their enemies, for they have become accursed. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from your midst." Joshua 7:8-12

"And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh." Jude 1:23

"Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him." 1 John 3:21&22

"If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:" Psalm 66:18

Israel's defeat at Ai, what a scary event. Because understand, God told Joshua that He would be with him as He was with Moses, and the fact that this defeat took place suggested, for some reason, God did not back them this time. This event drove Joshua to his knees in prayer, seeking to find out what had happened which is a response God adores. It appears Joshua even subtly "threw in" a little blame because of a lack of understanding, we will discuss this below. Do we want to be a people that hear from the Lord when we pray? Joshua was heard but as the leader he was told to take care of some things before God would back them again, let's analyze these verses.

Everything was going peachy in Israel as far as battle was concerned. They were striking fear in the hearts of all the surrounding kingdoms... until Ai. God had told them not to take anything for themselves in the last battle they fought, but a man named Achan decided not to regard this command. Because of this mans sin, God decided to pull His power away from the armies of Israel. At the time though, Joshua was unaware of this sin, so he fell before the Lord in prayer. Notice he asks God why he even brought them there just to lose, sounds like he was throwing a little blame God's way. The reason I say this is because look at God's response to this statement,"So the LORD said to Joshua, "Rise up! Why is it that you have fallen on your face? Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them." Whoa, a pretty harsh rebuke in my estimation, GET UP! Why have you fallen on your face? This is not my fault, it is Israels sin! Have you ever been there? Opened so many doors to the enemy through YOUR sin that you believe the Satanic lies that are being fed to you in blaming God for your condition? I think we all have probably at some point, but it is important to remember that God is perfect, He doesn't do petty things like we do and sometimes we interpret Him as such. I am not saying our bad conditions are always because of personal sin either, Job is a perfect example of that.

Now I love how the Old Testament gives us so much truth into God's character. Jesus quoted the Old Testament non-stop, so for any of us to say it is not necessary is arrogance. We have a few verses that still illustrate that God was the same yesterday, today and forever! In Psalms David said, "If I regarded iniquity in my heart, my prayers would not have been heard." And then in the New Testament we have John saying, "if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask" Does this mean God doesn't really hear us when we sin? Not in the sense of not actually hearing what we say but in the sense of response. And now, for probably the scariest part of this verse, "I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from your midst." We must consecrate ourselves to the Lord! See the Bible is full of promises, but all of those promises have conditions. This should not sound foreign to us, we do it all of the time ourselves. "If you get good grades in school than I will reward you", see that "if,than" statement? That suggests a conditional promise. I have promised to reward you but only if you receive good grades.

And finally for the verse in Jude, "hating even the garment stained by the flesh". This is a challenge to all of us (me included), could we in fact substitute, "hating even the DVD stained by the flesh"? Or maybe this, "hating even the MUSIC stained by the flesh"? How can we partake in something that God absolutely hates? If God is up there pounding His throne in anger about a movie I have allowed myself to watch and I am down here laughing about what I am watching, I would assume something is wrong with my heart. We have accepted so much in our culture, we constantly quench the Spirit and then we wonder why we are not feeling used of the Lord. Or we convince ourselves we are being used in a very powerful way and God is up there going, "You have no idea what can actually be done with the power of my Spirit if you would not quench Him, if you would just allow me to cleanse you". Let's encourage one another to be careful what we watch and hear, maybe we are not actually doing what is being done on th silver screen, but make no mistake, we are becoming partakers with it by giving it our approval through laughter or merely enjoyment. We see how angry God was with Achan's disobedience, let's make sure we are not angering our God either! We need to turn our laughter into mourning and our joy to gloom (See devotional Joy and Gloom).

God revealed to me once that if I find something perverted funny there is a problem. Now I can force myself not to laugh, but forcing suggests I still thought it to be funny, so when this happens fall on your face and begin to seek out what is wrong in your heart. I don't know about everyone else, but I do not want to regard iniquity in my heart so I can see God really move in my life! Are we getting rid of things in our lives that are considered "banned" by God? If not, we probably can not expect too much in prayer. Remember, the same God that said "I will never leave you or forsake you" also said, "I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from your midst." This is not a contradiction, as a whole God is faithful to us even to point out our sin, but God cannot condone our sin by giving us blessings and what we want if we refuse to deal with sin in our lives. Think if I reward bad behavior? All that will teach people is I am not really serious about what they are doing! I appreciate you brothers and sisters! Let's strive to perfect holiness in reverent fear of our God!

Your Ultimate Reward

"But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Matthew 6:20&21

"His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord." Matthew 25:21

"I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing" John 15:5

"In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." John 14:3

"Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words." I Thessolonians 4:17&18

"And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.
And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." Revelation 21:21-23


"And so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words." Oh I pray Jesus is always our treasure! We want our hearts with Him correct? Well, we must abide in Him! Isn't it so interesting how His love grows inside of us the more we appropriate His commands in our lives? I hope we are getting closer and closer to Him! The scripture says in James, "Draw nigh unto Him and He will draw nigh unto you!" We reap what we sow right? Sow to the Spirit and we reap knowing Him better (Gal 6:8), remember? I love how the Word of God, although many different authors, still harmonize with each other. We can use scripture to interpret scripture which proves to me it was Holy Spirit inspired. Anyways, without further delay, let's camp on the eternal rewards of following Jesus.

It looks like quite a life Jesus has for those that love Him! I look at those verses and am just flat out amazed. Streets of gold...gates of pearl...a house He is preparing for us! Wow, "that where I am, you may be also." Look at all of this neat stuff! But what makes these promises so awesome? I was praying one day and wondering why God list's all of the wonderful stuff. Because I thought in heaven we will not even be materialistic. We will be (I assume) in a perfect state, therefore could not be a materialistic people. No sooner was I thinking about this that the answer came bursting in my mind. "The value of all the gift's is not within themselves, it is in the one who will give it to you." Have you ever had a moment when you were simply awestruck? It was beautiful! Of course! CAN YOU IMAGINE HEARING THE LORD SAY "Well done thou good and faithful servant, ...enter thou into the joy of THY LORD!" For the Creator of heaven and earth to feel you deserve these "trophies" signifying your overcoming Satan "By the blood of the Lamb and the WORD OF YOUR TESTIMONY" (Revelation 12:11) There is nothing to do but to praise Him!

So what does all of this mean? JESUS IS THE TREASURE OF TREASURES! He is your ultimate reward! See, John mentions in Revelations that he saw no temple, which was considered one of the ultimate "material" possessions here on Earth. But why? Because it will now be comprised of the Lord God Almighty and THE LAMB! There will be no sun either! One of the main sustainer's (if not the most important) of life is the sun and it will not be needed! Why? Because of Jesus! Jesus is the glory of the Father and He will illuminate the city! He is coming back for us! Are you ready? We are to comfort one another with these words..."Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." And so shall we ever be with the Lord! Folks, I pray this causes tears of joy! Let's get more excited about Him than we do whatever we are preoccupied with in this life! He is our treasure!

I have heard people brag about how they have met certain movie stars, sports figures, know someone that knows someone that knows whoever. I am sure we have all done this, it is an exciting thing. But if we get more excited about meeting them than we are knowing Jesus, we need to pray until this is not the case. This is a challenge to all who do not get excited about Jesus, evaluate your heart! Can you imagine meeting the One who created the universes, set the framework for life as we know it! He didn't star in a film, and he didn't have a platinum album, He didn't win the World Series...He did something far greater than we could ever give Him credit for! Listen, I say this as a brother in Christ that is concerned for His people, there is something to say about being passionate about Jesus. If we are not, we are growing cold towards Him, and God-forbid this from ever happening! Sin is a joy killer because all we reap from it is corruption...a satanic foothold. This is why I am hammering so hard on how we live our lives. You and I will never experience Jesus to the dynamic we want if we do not strive for purity (not grieving the Spirit). And unfortuneatly, this leads to the deceit of believing the scriptures to be false, without us ever admitting it out of our mouths just how we feel deep down, and this my friends, leads to deadly religion. It leads to doing things day in and day out without joy! It leads to Jesus and the things of Jesus becoming a chore and a mask we put on rather than a genuine heart that longs for Him and His return! Please, as an act of faith (faith without actions is dead), pray this prayer with fervor and enthusiasm! "Precious Jesus! We love you so much! We repent for not being excited about You, for apart from you we can do nothing of true value! Lord, we acknowledge that life was meaningless, MEANINGLESS if we cannot hear your beautiful Words, "Well done thou good and faithful servant!" We want to hear well done Father! Put us on the track in our lives where we will be able to truly hear these words! We invite your discipline Father, for if we do not receive this we cannot share in Your holiness and are illegitimate children! Teach us how to fear you again Lord, we have so much that we consider treasure that is TRASH in comparison to you! Lord please! Take the whole world but give us the Light of the world! We love you Father! Show us everytime we are not in the Spirit that we may get in the Spirit once again and be an effective witness. Grant us repentance Father, for if You choose not to we will be without hope! Reveal to us when we are wrong through the precious power of the Holy Spirit! We love you Lord, in the precious name of Jesus we pray, AMEN!"

I hope you prayed that! Now in conclusion let's make our life goal to hear the Words, "Well done thou good and faithful servant!" Read this reference below, this helps me get so excited about our Lord and Savior. What He has accomplished is beyond belief! So much that in Revelation began to weep because no one was found who was worthy to open the all important scrolls. Then out of no where a savior...

Revelation 5

1And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.

2And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?

3And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.

4And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.

5And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

6And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

7And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.

8And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.

9And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;

10And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

11And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;

12Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

13And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

14And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.



This helps me get stoked again for Him! I hope it helps you! Remember, where our treasure is, there our heart will be also! Is your treasure Jesus which manifests itself with absolute joy over His sacrifice?
Sincerely,
Chris Goff

The Bible's "How To" For Ceasing Sin

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9


"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." 1 John 1:7


"Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart." 2 Timothy 2:22

"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." 1 Corinthians 10:13

"and do not give the devil a foothold" Ephesians 4:27

"This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh." Galatians 5:16

"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." Galatians 6:7-8


"Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen." Jude 1:24&25

I know what you are thinking, "That's alot of verses to cover!". The reason I have used so many verses here is because I believe that this strand of verses help us understand how it is actually possible to overcome sin in our lives. I believe in some Christian circles it is taught that we cannot help but sin all of the time. While it is true that we stumble, the Bible separates this sin from the sin of gross misconduct. When we sin it should genuinely be a blindsiding event, not something we heartily give ourselves to, the Bible speaks against this kind of revelry. The Bible says that the wicked are the ones who enjoy sin and give hearty approval to others that do the same things. I have heard people say that some Christians have their "pet sins", and this should not be. If this is our mentality, don't think you should receive anything from the Lord in prayer! No wonder we come up with doctrines that say the gifts are not operable anymore! If we wouldn't grieve the Spirit and begin to fear the Lord again, I believe we will see things that will blow our minds! In the words of pastor Timothy Davis I quote, "The first miracle Jesus performed was He did not sin." Jesus is the one who said "Go and sin no more lest something worse befall you". Now those words of Jesus do not sound like a "sin everyday" attitude.

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to CLEANSE us from all unrighteousness". This verse in 1 John is not a verse in theory. Sometimes we look at Christ's sacrifice as "in theory" and not an active support against our battle with sin. This verse not only says He will forgive us our sins, but also that He will cleanse us from all unrighteousness! Ok, this is great! But now you may ask, "how do I actively confess?". The answer lies in 1 John 1:7, which says if WE WALK IN THE LIGHT AS HE IS IN THE LIGHT THEN...THEN...THEN...THEN! THE BLOOD OF JESUS CLEANSES US FROM ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS! I put alot of emphasis on "THEN" on purpose. See we want it backwards sometimes, we want the feeling before we act, and Jesus commands different (see devotional, "But I Want You To Go First!"). This is a very insightful truth, you reap what you sow! Sow into the Spirit (walk in the light as He is in the light) and you will what? Reap eternal life! Sow into the flesh (retain "pet sins") and then what? You will reap corruption! See it can either be a beautiful helpful cycle, or it can be a vicious cycle that works against us, you will reap what you sow! Have you ever met someone that it just seems like everything is going peachy in their walk with Christ? That may not be an accident. The reason you are still struggling with the sin could be because you are not ceasing to sin and you are continually giving the devil a foothold, and the other person is not. You see, when we give Satan a foothold, that sin becomes harder and harder to overcome! Why? Because those that sow into the flesh will reap what? Corruption! Do you see this beautiful truth? What is everlasting life? To know the Father. Sin separates us from God correct? It fractures our relationship with Him! So if we want to reap eternal life a.k.a. reap knowing Him intimately now, we must begin to cease from sin! Now let's talk about the "How?"

2 Timothy 2:22 says, "Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart."
We have Paul telling Timothy to flee the lusts of the flesh and not only to flee but to pursue righteousness! Why? Again! Because he that sows unto the flesh will reap corruption (a worse struggle with their sin that will take them farther down) but he that sows to the Spirit (pursues righteousness, faith, charity, peace) will reap eternal life! And eternal life is what again? To intimately know the Father! So we need to pursue good Godly relationships, we need to be zealous for good works! We need to plug into our churches and give ourselves to the Lord Jesus' work! Build up don't tear down! When you purpose in your heart to genuinely please the Lord by ceasing to sin is when you will get the spiritual resource to actually begin stopping it.

Now what all of the previous acts do for us is enable us to get in the Spirit! Galatians 5:16 says, "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh." See that! If you walk in the Spirit YOU WILL NOT FULFILL THE LUSTS OF THE FLESH! But why? (lol ;)) Because he that sows into the Spirit will reap what? Eternal life! The blood of Jesus to literally cleanse us from our immediate, present sin, not my sinfulness in theory! When we sow into the Spirit, the Spirit is not grieved and we receive all the resource we need to beat up on the enemy. (see devotional entitled "Rhema Resistance") But when we sow into the flesh or a.k.a. give Satan a foothold, now the sin has become stronger and greater and we begin to be deceived to the point where we believe it cannot be overcome. I want to tell you right now that that's a lie from the pit of hell to keep you from receiving what God has for you! I have heard people blame God for their sinful condition, and it is simply not true! Understand what I am about to say, please! Even when you begin to cease from sin, it could seem difficult at first. The reason being is found in the verse 2 Timothy 3:12, "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." That persecution is given by the enemy because the last thing he needs is another enlightened person making his job harder than it has to be. And also remember that we may have sown corruption for years, and at times, that harvest still must surface. Just as King David reaped the sword never leaving his home, so we can reap things here on earth that are flat out unpleasant. But do not, I repeat, DO NOT lose heart even when things do not seem right! Why? Because the Bible says in Galatians 6:9, "for in due time you will REAP A HARVEST IF YOU DO NOT GROW WEARY!"

Now for probably one of the most beautiful, glorifying verses of our PRECIOUS LORD AND SAVIOR! "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen." Jude 1:24&25 Wonderful! We are not bound because our Savior is fully capable of keeping us from stumbling! When we appropriate His truths and abide in Him, we reap the spiritual resource to keep us from falling. Why? (I am drilling this because I need it as much as you brothers and sisters!) Because when we sow into the Spirit we reap knowing Him better, eternal life! But when we sow into the flesh, we reap a foothold from Satan, which translates to corruption. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." He has provided a way of escape everytime! Just make sure you do not go far enough in entertaining the sin that you make that verse to appear to be a lie, because it is not! If the Word of God is not working for us, it is not that it is powerless, it is that we are not appropriating it correctly! I hope this has been a blessing to you all! Jesus wants to present us with joy and blameless! Isn't our Savior so beautiful, He gave us the comforter so we would not be powerless! Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!
Sincerely, your fellow laborer
Chris Goff

Actions Are Louder Than My Mouth?

But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 24:48-51

"And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief." Hebrews 3:18&19

"Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works." James 2:18


Remember the adage, "Actions speak louder than words"? I think at some point we have all heard this phrase. How many of us actually believe this to be true though? It appears the Bible harmonizes with this phrase, in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if it was derived from the Biblical stance on this topic. This is a very important issue! If what the Bible says is right, there is nothing more important than allowing the Holy Spirit to sanctify me, so within me is produced genuine, heart-felt action, which translates into perseverance! Let's take a look at what it appears God is saying through these verses.

The context of the first verse above is the disciples coming to Jesus, and asking Him what the signs of the end times would be. Now it is important to note that the audience was the disciples. Now notice in this parable that it begins with, "if that evil servant shall say in HIS HEART, "My lord delayeth His coming". Now notice with me a few things, first, the wicked servant acknowledges his lord and says he is delaying in coming. Second, it says he said all of this in his heart. Now after he said this in his heart, the word proceeds to explain what the manifestation's of his heart were, "And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken".
Note a few things...this servant believed his lord commissioned him, he believed he was the servant of his master, in fact, even Jesus acknowledges this in calling him "a wicked SERVANT". This servant clearly had a depth of knowledge of his master, it doesn't say the servant barely knew him. And also, notice Jesus did not say he was a false servant, or not really a servant, Jesus acknowledged him not only as a servant, but a WICKED SERVANT.

Now let's take a look at what the servant said in his heart. This is a very sobering thought, the word does not say the servant said out of his mouth "My Master delays His coming" it says he said this in his heart. Now we see this servants actions really did speak louder than words. You see, when we sin and give place to the devil, we are saying IN OUR HEARTS, "OUR MASTER DELAYETH HIS COMING" or more commonly, "He'll forgive me, His grace is sufficient!". We may not say this out loud, why? Because we know the Bible answers to things, we know better than to let on to someone what we are feeling! Our hearts say it all, and the manifestation of our hearts are found in our actions.

Now for the last part of this verse. "The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth". Notice Jesus says "the lord of that servant will come on a day when he looketh not for him". So what this tell me is that in order to stay "awake" spiritually and to be watchful, is to be active and fervent in my love for Him and His people, a.k.a. persevere unto the end. Some of you may think that in order to reach someone, you have to go do what they do even if it is sinful, and this couldn't be farther from the truth. It is Satanic deceit! Think of the cleverness, it is actually the opposite of love! If they come to Christ with false pretenses you could have done more harm than good. If you get drunk (as this wicked servant did or anything else ungodly) in front of people, using this as an excuse to win people, something is seriously wrong in your heart and you need to turn your laughter into mourning and your joy to gloom (See devotional entitled, "Joy and Gloom"). I used to do this, I would preach when I was drunk because I used to think that I was saved and perfectly fine. But if my Master would have came...oh my goodness, I am so thankful that God chose to grant me repentance from all of those terrible acts of hate. People need to see a breath of fresh air, they need to see people take stands in love and the Spirits power, not folding to the enemies terms! They want to see that being saved goes beyond theory and theological debate and see that it is actually more than powerful enough to change their mess of a life! Remember, in the last days people will have a form of godliness but WILL DENY THE POWER THEREOF (2 Timothy 3:5)! I didn't write that folks, it's in the Bible. Are we getting tired of having a form of godliness, but denying its power by how we live?! Why would we get to participate in the great coming of the Lord if we are not living lives conducive to leading other people to Him?

Lastly, in Hebrews 3:18&19 it reads, "And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief". The context is the exodus out of Egypt. What is scary here is that this further illustrates the point made in Jesus' parable. Remember how the wicked servants actions is how he "said things" in his heart? He said in his heart that his master was delaying in coming. In this passage of scripture it correlates disobedience with unbelief. See, it says, "but to those who were DISOBEDIENT? SO WE SEE THAT THEY WERE NOT ABLE TO ENTER BECAUSE OF UNBELIEF". Remember, this group of people saw God's mighty hand redeeming them, and they still chose to TEST HIM. Just as we, the people of God, have been bought with a price, we have seen His magnificent power, and to deny it by how we live our lives is to be unbelieving. Why do you think Paul would say we have these wonderful promises if WE CONTINUE IN THE FAITH! The author of Hebrews says "While we have a promise of entering His rest, see that none of you come short of it." I know there is a belief in "perseverance of the true saints", well make sure you are the elect by fearing God! Make your calling and election SURE! Don't assume you stand lest you fall! Constantly be aware and fight!

In my opinion, that I believe to be Biblically founded, there are two types of belief. One type, is just to merely believe Jesus is the Christ without a change of action or conduct (i.e. no repentance). But we must remember repentance is a prerequisite for the forgiveness of sins. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder (James 2). James 2:19&20 "You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?"

The second type of belief is an active belief, its a God-fearing belief manifested in my actions and how I treat other people. APPROPRIATION! "Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works."

Brothers and Sisters, I am not writing this to be hateful. It may seem like I hammer alot on this concept of works apart from faith is dead, and this is because of the tempo of our Christian culture. People are tired of hearing a gospel preached without the change. Jesus said narrow (straight) is the gate and narrow is the way and few thereof that find it. What that verse tells me is that there are alot more deceived people than there are not. There will be many in that day that says LORD! Haven't we served you and done great works for You? And Jesus will say to them "Depart from me you worker of iniquity, I never intimately knew you!" No matter how many times you preach Him to someone, or how many praise songs you sing, or how many times you have "prayed the prayer", if you are a worker of lawlessness, you will not be ok. See, if we are constant workers of iniquity we will not be participating in that day. Now people can say, "But I prayed the prayer, I believe in eternal security!" This is not meant to debate eternal security, but if you think about it, both parties kind of believe the same thing. The Calvinists (people who believe in eternal security) say if a person lives in a wicked manner, they need to question whether they were truly born again. So both parties agree that BY WHAT A PERSONS CONDUCT LOOKS LIKE determines whether they are o.k. or not, so the end result is the same for the one who believes in eternal security and the one that does not. The end result is the same, just the mechanics on being in that state are where we differ. Let's not lose heart in doing what is right! For in due time we will reap a harvest if we do not lose heart and grow weary! Keep fighting your sin, He will never leave you or forsake you! He has not allowed a temptation beyond bear! Love you all!

But I Want You To Go First!

"Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded." James 4:8

"Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work". 2 Timothy 2:20&21

Draw nigh unto God, a rule I think we many times forget! Since God has already done His part for us on calvary through Jesus Christ, we now have a responsibility of responding to Him. I think this is what God wants us to learn through James. I believe God is saying, "I have already provided the resource for you, now appropriate that resource!" And my premise for this is found in 2 Timothy 2:20&21, "Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work". Notice it says to CLEANSE YOURSELF! But wait Chris, I thought only Jesus could cleanse you? You are 100% right, but what Paul is saying is we need to appropriate the tools already provided for us to get clean! Notice also in the above verse that James says, "cleanse your hands sinners, purify your hearts you double-minded", we are going to cover why it is so important to draw nigh unto God in the following paragraphs. He initialized by revealing certain things to us, it is now up to us to appropriate these truths!

Now I believe there are a few ways to draw nigh unto Him. The obvious way is through genuine, earnest, quieted-heart prayer. In fact, this is the foundation of drawing nigh unto Him. Understand this everyone, if your prayer life is suffering your sin is increasing, your heart is getting cold, things seem impossible to overcome because more doors are open to the enemy than to God (See the devotion titled "He's Knocking"). So we want the predominate "voice" in our lives to be God's and not Satan's, put on the whole armor of God...remember? If we put on our armor (Ephesians 6:11), drawing nigh unto God, then when the fiery darts of Satan hit, they are quenched! (his fiery darts are his lies leading our hearts astray).

Second is staying in the Word. This is very important as well, as God's Word is literally the key to understanding anything and everything of true value. Some of us tend to elevate this more than prayer, understand though that the new testament church didn't have all of this documentation compiled yet. In fact, through Paul and the other apostles remaining in prayer and abiding in Jesus, resulted in these revealed texts. Don't hear me wrong, reading God's Word is crucial to your walk, but the main vehicle that propels you deeper with Him is through a healthy prayer life,in fact, prayer is what makes His Word come alive even more because He is now giving you direct revelation! Think about this with me. If we are friends, and all I do is read letters all the time and hardly ever speak with you, is our relationship going to go too far? Unfortunately not. The letters I read from you are still relevant, but they just aren't quite the same as when I am consciously with you. So I am not dumbing down the importance of the revealed Word of God, but I am explaining why I believe if I had to pick a "second" this would be it.

Now when we combine these two "drawing nigh" tactics, and add appropriation (walking the walk and not just talking the talk), this is equal to what the Jesus called "abiding in Him". John 15:9 says, "As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love". Now when we do things in obedience to Him, we are "drawing nigh unto Him". And what did He say He would do if we draw nigh unto Him? The answer is that He will draw nigh unto us! I am so thankful for His revealed Word! This is amazing truth that makes our faith a live and active one! I hear so much theological talk about being saved seemingly in theory and not relationally, and unfortunately we have made a relationship with God into more of a religion, because we love to talk about the Word, but when it comes to applying...ahhh, thats for people in full time ministry. And this brothers and sisters could not be farther from the truth. We all have a race to run, let's do it with endurance! God wants all of us to view ourselves in "full-time ministry". LETS ABIDE IN HIM!

Now sometimes we don't feel like doing certain things (i.e. prayer and Bible reading). Remember this truth though, THE FEELING TO DO SOMETHING WILL NOT NECESSARILY COME BEFORE THE APPROPRIATION. I separate desire from feeling. For instance, the battle between the flesh and the Spirit is very real, right? You DESIRE to walk in the Spirit but you FEEL like walking in the flesh. CRUCIFYING THE FLESH IS GETTING IN THE SPIRIT, GETTING IN THE SPIRIT ENSURES YOU WILL NOT REBEL, BEING IN THE SPIRIT AND NOT REBELLING LEADS TO DRAWING NIGH UNTO GOD! Thats why the Bible says not to quench the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19), because when we do that we have sinned and lost the alerting capabilities (momentarily) of the Spirit because He is quenched, and when we sin we give Satan a foothold(Neither give place to the devil. Ephesians 4:27), and after he has a foothold he begins to deceive. When we quench the Spirit's "voice" we are now wrestling with an opposing voice that we have given strength to by submitting to sin. Thats why Hebrews 3:12&13 says, "Be careful, brothers and sisters, that none of you ever develop a wicked, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. Encourage each other every day while you have the opportunity. If you do this, none of you will be deceived by sin and become stubborn." The reason we begin to get deceived, is because we gave Satan a foothold and he is now advancing his lies, and they penetrate effectively if we are quenching the Spirit! Don't put your armor on and then take it off! Satan's darts hurt!

Now for the implementaion (appropriation). If I want to plant a seed so I can enjoy the future benefits, I must get the shovel out and plant it. Now my desire is for the fruit the action of planting produces, but I may not feel like planting the seed. Now I fully believe, when we act on our true desire to draw closer to Him even when we don't feel like it, our feelings begin to change. That's called discipline! Discipleship! For instance, God showed me a while back that when my wife and I begin to get upset with each other, to grab her hand (no matter how hard it is in the moment) and tell her "I love you". You would be surprised at the instant relief and healing that begins to happen! See all of these principles tie into reaping and sowing, so the basic premise is still the same, if I initiate based on the desire of my heart I will reap God drawing nigh unto me! The Holy Spirit has put that desire in your heart to seek God! Even if it is faint, tap into it, stoke it as you would the burning coals of a fire and run again! Cleanse your hands! Purify your hearts! But how? Draw nigh unto God, and He will draw nigh unto you! If you have told God, "If you will do something, then I will start praying and reading", or a question of this sort, then you could be waiting a long time. Let's be a people that takes Him at His Word!