Category: Strength for Today

Proverbs 24:3
“Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established:”

The Devil is after the home. He has influenced society to attack it with its destructive agenda. He uses the sodomite agenda, political correctness, Hollywood, digital technology, entertainment, gender roles, and parenting gurus as bad influences to destroy the home. If a home is going to stay healthy, it will have to guard continuously against these potent attacks.

The verse above says, “Through wisdom is an house builded…” A strong home is no accident. A strong home is built on purpose by applying scriptural principles every day. In Proverbs 24, there are helps to keep a strong home. Please understand that these are not the end-all to a strong home, but these are building blocks that you must use to keeping your home strong.

First, protect what you allow to influence your home from the outside. Verse 1 says, “Be not thou envious against evil men…” The only way to become envious of evil men is if you are exposed to them. The Hollywood industry is one of the greatest advertising agents of evil men. It is amazing how they make evil look good. You must be very careful what you allow your children to watch on television. Don’t be guilty of letting the television babysit your children. Know what they are watching. Many parents have no idea what their children are watching because they let the television keep their children occupied while they are doing work around the home. Don’t be guilty of this. All it takes is one exposure to evil men for your children to want what they have.

Second, protect what you allow to influence your home from the inside. The verse above says, “Through wisdom is an house builded…” The next verse says, “And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled…” If you are going to keep a strong home, you must fill your home with the principles of God’s Word. Let God’s Word be the major influence in your home by having a family devotions ever day and by requiring your children to have a personal time daily to read the Scriptures. Be careful that you don’t let cartoons influence the mind of your children. Be careful with the books they read or look at. If you will study the Scriptures, you will be able to use them as your basis of teaching wisdom and knowledge.

Third, protect the actions of your home. Verse 9 says, “The thought of foolishness is sin…” Playing sin should never be allowed in your home. My mother used to say that we don’t play sin in our home. My parents wouldn’t allow us to act like we were drinking beer or smoking cigarettes. I believe this was very wise on my parent’s behalf. They understood that if you don’t play sin, you won’t participate in it. Never take sin lightly. Never allow words to be used as code words for cussing. When someone is playing like they are committing sin, immediately stop it. A strong home will have actions that are wholesome.

Building a strong home in today’s society is no easy task. If your home is strong, guard against those things that would weaken it. Keep a close watch on what goes on in your home. If you feel your home is weak, start with the three areas mentioned in this devotional to begin the process of building a strong home.

2 John 1:4
“I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father.”

John made the statement in the verse above, “I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth…” This has to thrill the apostle to see the children of those who he invested his life in still doing right. He was certainly talking about the church in this verse, but the fact that he talks about the children walking in truth can also apply to your family.

One of the great desires that Christian parents have is for their children to continue walking in truth after they leave home. There is no guarantee that children will walk in truth. You can train them right, but they have their own choice. I do believe there are some things parents can do to give their children the best opportunity to walk in truth. There are several principles taught in these verses that I believe will help every parent in training their children to walk in truth.

First, love unconditionally. In verse 5, John talks about loving one another. I know this sounds strange to say that we should love unconditionally, but many homes are filled more with manipulation than they are with love. Love is not manipulating your children to get from them to act the way you want, but it is accepting them for who they are and firmly guiding them to do right. Sadly, many parents have ulterior motives behind every action, and those ulterior motives are nothing less than manipulation. Your children will eventually pick up on your manipulation tactics and will begin to play on this weakness. Instead of manipulating your children to make them act the way you want, you should let them know what you expect from them and that you love them no matter what.

Second, set definite rules, boundaries and limitations. He says in verse 6, “This is the commandment…” There must be clear rules established in every home if you want your children to walk in truth. Those rules must be followed because a rule not enforced is no rule at all. In fact, rules not enforced create excuses to punish when you are angry, which is wrong. You must have rules, but you must also enforce them if you want your children to walk in truth.

Third, be an example of walking in truth. In verse 6 he says about the commandments of God’s Word, “…as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.” You can tell your children to do right, but the best way to show them how to do right is by doing right yourself. Children will follow the example of how you live more than they will the words you say. You have a better chance of your children walking in truth by letting your commandments and words mirror each other. They should see no difference between what you are living and what you expect from them.

Fourth, beware of deceivers and keep your children from them. In verse 7, John addressed that there are deceivers in the world. Friend, there are people from whom you need to keep your children. If you want your children to walk in truth, you are going to have to watch you and your children’s associations and friends. Associations and friends will influence direction. If you protect the associations and friends that both you and your children have, you will give yourself a better chance of your children walking in truth.

These four areas will help your children walk in truth, but they will fail if a parent is not earnestly praying for their children to do right. Prayer and your example of living are the best tools to guiding your children to walk in truth.

1 Peter 1:7
“That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:”

According to the verse above, the most precious thing you possess is your faith. Your faith is what you believe. It is the core of why you do what you do. It would seem to be difficult for a person to quit their faith, but it happens.

There is an interesting statement made in the verse above about your faith. It says, “That the trial of your faith…” This is not talking about trials you go through in life, but it is talking about your faith being tried. In other words, there are going to be times when your faith is tested. It is in these times that you must not quit your faith. It is in these times when your faith is “tried with fire” that you must garner all the strength you can to continue so that your faith “might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:”

Trying your faith means that you are brought to a point when you want to quit serving the LORD in the manner that you serve Him. I know, it seems impossible, but there are many who were driven to the point of quitting their faith. Jeremiah, Peter, John Mark and Thomas are just a few that almost quit their faith. What drove them to this point? Jeremiah wanted to quit when he got tired of fighting for the faith. Peter almost quit his faith when he was faced with the possibility of persecution. John Mark almost quit his faith when the pleasures of the world seemed more enticing than enduring the trials of his faith. Thomas almost quit when he was disillusioned with the outcome of his dreams. These situations and more can cause a person to want to quit the faith. What must you do to keep the faith?

First, settle before the trial of your faith what you truly believe. One of the reasons some have quit the faith is because they just didn’t know what they believed. It is much easier to continue if you know what you are doing is the right thing. One thing that a trial will do to a person who is weak in the faith is that it will cause them to doubt. Settle now what you believe before you face the trial of your faith.

Second, realizing you will give your enemies fodder will help you to continue in the trial of your faith. The one thing that kept Jeremiah going was knowing if he quit his enemies would use it as justification that they were right. When you are at the point of wanting to quit, just think about what your enemies will say about you.

Third, keep your eyes on the master plan. You have to see there is an end to all that you are enduring. I have found that when my faith is tried, I look to the end of what I am doing, and that motivates me to keep going. If you quit, your children may go to the world. If you quit, your efforts may be wasted. If you quit, your circle of influence may use it as justification to go live the life that you once fought against.

Finally, determine to take one more step when your faith is tried. Living one day at a time will help you to continue when your faith is tried. There will be times when the only way you can continue is to determine that you will simply take one more step. You may be weary, but you can take one more step. If you don’t quit, God will reward you at His appearing. If you are at the point of quitting, I beg you to decide you are going to keep the faith by taking one more step.

James 1:1
“James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.”

The Book of James shows the Christian how to have an effect on those around them. Faith is the key to being an effective Christian. Throughout the book, there are six different types of faith that every Christian needs if their faith is going to be effective.

The first faith you need to be effective is a tested faith. James 1:3 shows that the testing of faith is what makes your faith complete. A faith that is never tested is a faith that is insecure. You will only gain the confidence you need as a Christian when you go through the trials of life and allow your faith to grow. A tested faith gives a stable mind and a single focus that gives direction to where you are going with your faith and the strength to overcome temptation.

The second faith you need to be effective is a displayed faith. James 2:17 makes it evident that faith that is not displayed is a dead faith. Your Christianity will never be effective until you put it on display. There is a certain pressure placed on the Christian to do right when they openly profess their faith. Don’t be ashamed of telling people you are a Christian. It is that display of faith that makes your Christianity more effective.

The third faith you need to be effective is a temperate faith. James 3 shows the importance of controlling what you say. Many Christians have ruined their testimony by not controlling their tongue. You can have faith without temperance, but your faith will have no effect because of the words you say. Control your tongue, and let what you say display the faith that God wants you to have.

The fourth faith you need to be effective is a praying faith. James 4:3 shows the need for a praying faith. A prayerless faith is a powerless faith. If your faith is going to make an impact on those around you, you are going to have to have a prayer life. You cannot be effective without prayer. Prayer is what gives your faith the power to influence the hearts of others. You are wasting your spiritual energies without prayer.

The fifth faith you need to be effective is an expecting faith. James 5:7 shows us that our faith should expect the LORD to return at any time. You should live every day of your life expecting the LORD’s return. The expecting faith causes you to purify your life which results in more influences. An expecting faith is what truly makes the Christian live right and perform the mission of God to reach the lost for Christ.

The sixth faith you need to be effective is a converting faith. The purpose of having the five previous faith’s is so that you can use your effectiveness to convert others. A converting faith will primarily look to lead others to Jesus Christ, but it will also exist to help other Christians grow into what they are supposed to be. The converting faith is the result of combining the other five faiths.

Is your Christianity effective? If your effectiveness is waning, it is because you have let one of these faith’s waver. You will never be an effective Christian until all six faith’s are practiced daily.

Hebrews 9:27
“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:”

Recently, my daughter and I were coming home from a revival meeting. We were sitting on the airplane that was taking us from Pittsburgh to Dallas. Everyone had boarded the plane, and we were waiting for the gate agent to give the final paperwork so the door could be closed. Finally, the gate agent came and gave the paperwork to the flight attendant, and then she leaned around the corner of the cockpit and said to the pilots, “There are one hundred and forty-one souls on this plane.” That statement to the pilots hit me right at the center of my heart. She didn’t say there were one hundred and forty-one people on board, but she said there were one hundred and forty-one souls on board.

It would be good if every Christian adopted the same mentality about people that the airlines have. If we started looking at every person as a soul, I believe it would change our mindset of reaching people for Jesus Christ. Once a soul dies, it will either go to Heaven or Hell. The verse above says that after someone dies, there is the “judgment.” That means every soul either takes care of their judgment while they are alive, or they will face an eternal judgment of Hell when they die.

Let me ask you, what is the population of the city where you live? Now, whatever that population is let me remind you that each number is a soul. Longview, Texas, the city where I live, has a population of just over 80,000. That means in my city are 80,000+ souls. Those 80,000+ souls have an eternity they will face when the body in which the soul is housed passes away. I don’t know what the population of your city is, but let me remind you that each number is a soul that will either go to Heaven or Hell.

The hope for each soul is that someone will get to them with the Gospel before they meet their judgment. My friend, if every soul depended upon your aggressiveness in getting the Gospel to others, will each soul have a chance not to face the judgment after death? The souls in your city will not care after death who won the election or which party is in control of your country because they will face a judgment. The souls in your city will not be concerned after they die with the church winning a league championship; they will only be concerned with whether they have prepared for the judgment. The souls in your city will not care how much money you have earned, what degrees or titles you have before your name, the size of your house or the car that you drive. They will only be concerned with whether or not they have prepared for the judgment after death.

What are you doing to help souls prepare for the judgment? How many souls have you talked to about the saving power of Jesus Christ? God sends every soul across your path every day with the hope that you will give them the Gospel. Friend, my hope is that your mindset will change to seeing souls instead of people. My hope is that this devotional will get you to realize your responsibility in reaching the soul of man. There is a judgment for every soul that you will see today. I challenge you to do your best every day to present the Gospel to every soul that the LORD leads along your path so they will have a chance to settle their judgment before death. If you see people as souls, this challenge won’t be difficult to accomplish.

Hebrews 5:14
“But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”

I am at that age when the eyes don’t see as good as they used to. I am the only one in my family who has never had to wear glasses. In fact, when I was in my early twenties, the eye doctor told me that my eyesight was the best of all his patients.

Recently, my eyes were giving me a bit of a problem. While I was preaching for a good friend, he had an eye doctor who attended his church. I told him that I needed to get my eyes checked, so she worked me into her schedule. During the eye exam, she asked me if I could see the letters clearly. She would then make an adjustment on the lens and asked me again if I could see the letters clearly or if there needed to be more adjustment. The adjustments she made on the lens helped me to distinguish clearly what I thought I saw. Sometimes my original assessment was right, but there were a couple of times what I thought I saw was not what I saw.

An eye exam is a great illustration of discernment. According to the verse above, discernment helps a person determine what is right and wrong. Without discernment, a person looks at situations in life with blurred vision. When things are blurry and you make decisions off your perception, you could make a wrong decision because your spiritual perception didn’t allow you to properly discern the situation. If you are going to avoid making wrong decisions, your spiritual eyes need to have the proper discernment so you can perceive everything through the eyes of God.

You are only going to have discernment when you are willing to say some things are good and others are bad. If you don’t have the stomach to differentiate between good and bad, your discernment will be blurred. Discernment doesn’t allow you to see gray areas, but discernment sees everything in black and white. You will not have discernment if you are not willing to say something is wrong. For the sake of getting along many people will not say something is wrong. Friend, if you can’t exercise your spiritual senses to say something is wrong when you know it is, you will never have the discernment to see ahead. According to the verse above, discernment is acquired through use. If you won’t say, “Yes” or “No” based off what you do know, your spiritual eyes will continue to stay blurry.

Moreover, you will never have discernment without spending time in God’s Word. Discernment is seeing through the eyes of God. You will never see through His eyes if you don’t daily spend time in His Word. God’s Word builds your senses to know what is good and bad.

Furthermore, you will never have discernment without yielding to the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit is like spiritual glasses. Without being filled with the Spirit, you will never see things through the eyes of God. By yielding to the Holy Spirit, He will help you to see everything through God’s eyes.

Very few people have discernment. Without discernment, you will find yourself making many mistakes that you’ll regret. With discernment, you will avoid the pitfalls others couldn’t see because discernment will allow you to clearly see them.

Titus 1:1
“Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness;”

What is truth? That has been the battle of the ages. It doesn’t matter in what form the battle comes; it has always been over truth. The importance of knowing what truth is can never be underestimated because it determines what you should and should not do. The Apostle, in his greeting to Titus, claims his position based upon “the acknowledging of the truth.” His basis of truth shows us the impact of truth on one’s life.

First, truth is timeless. Verse 2 says that truth was “…promised before the world began…” Truth has always been truth. I’m always amazed at those who try to dictate that truth began on earth. Friend, truth has always been truth even “before the world began.” We know that God’s Word is truth and that His Word was settled before the world began. Psalm 119:89 says, “For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.” God’s Word, which is truth, was settled before any judge attempted to change truth. Truth was settled before there were preachers who tried to undermine it to meet their compromising lifestyle. Truth is timeless, which means it was truth before we were born, and it will be truth after we are gone.

Second, truth is guaranteed. Verse 2 says that God “cannot lie.” Whatever God promises in His Word will come to pass. If God says something in His Word, we know it is true, but better yet, it is guaranteed. You may ask, how do we know it is guaranteed? It is guaranteed because you have God’s word. If God promised to bless you if you live right, you are guaranteed that He will bless you. If God says that He will answer prayer, He will answer prayer because He promised it. There are many guarantees in this world that cannot be fulfilled, but when God says something you can be assured it will happen.

Third, truth is relevant. In other words, it never changes. The unchangeability of truth is one of the greatest battles we fight today because many modern day Balaam’s attempt to say truth changes with time. Friend, that is a lie of the Devil. Truth never changes, for if it changes it is not truth. What was right one hundred years ago is still right today. What God commanded us to do in the Old Testament, He still commands us to do today. Just because we live under grace doesn’t mean that God changed truth. Watch out for modern day wolves in sheep’s clothing who attempt to base truth on cultural acceptance. Truth is not based on cultural acceptance, it is based upon what God said, and it is as relevant to your life today as it was to those who followed it yesterday. Truth is relevant, but it never changes.

Fourth, truth is life-changing. Verse 3 says that God manifests His Word “through preaching.” Remember, it is by the “foolishness of preaching” that lives are changed. Friend, you don’t need to join a program to have your life changed, you just need to follow truth to have it changed. Truth is life-changing, but it must be followed if it is going to change your life.

Truth will still make an impact today if you allow it. Don’t fall into the Devil’s trap that truth is evolving, for that is his trick to destroy your life. God’s Word is truth; follow it, for in following it you will realize its impact on your life.

1 Timothy 4:16
“Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.”

Sometimes, the only defense against the onslaught of attacks from those who desire to destroy you is your testimony. Paul warned Timothy that there would come a day when his testimony would “both save thyself, and them that hear thee.” There were three things that Timothy was to guard carefully so that his testimony would continue to be his defense.

First, Timothy was to guard his personal life. Paul said in the verse above, “Take heed unto thyself…” There were several areas Timothy was to guard. Verse 12 shows us these areas when it says, “…be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” Each of these areas had to be protected from slipping so that his testimony would not suffer.

Your personal life will either condemn you or defend you. How you act in private and in public will determine whether people should continue to follow you. You must always be cognizant that someone is watching you at all times. It is the time when you think you are all alone and that nobody sees what you are doing when you will get caught doing good or bad. I am always amazed as to how many times when I thought I was alone that somebody saw me. I am not sinless, but I am thankful that I have tried to live my life in such fashion that nobody can point their finger at my personal life. People may not like you, but they should never be able to accuse you of living wrong.

Second, Timothy was to guard his spiritual life by guarding his doctrine. You can be assured that the enemy listens to everything you say and reads everything you write. They are looking for you slip in your doctrine one time. It won’t matter if your enemy doesn’t follow the doctrines of the Word of God because their attempt is to point out your scriptural misstep to justify their compromising lifestyle. Always be careful with what you say, read and write. Be careful not to fall into the trap of always having to give something new. Attempting to always have something that “nobody has ever heard” will get you into trouble. Your best defense against going off the radar with your doctrine is to “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15) When you live by, “Thus saith the LORD,” they will have difficulty finding fault with your spiritual life.

Third, Timothy had to guard his consistency. Paul commanded Timothy to “continue in them.” Being the same day in and day out will be your best defense against attacks. It was Daniel’s consistency of prayer that became his greatest defense. When they tried to find something by which they could accuse him, the only thing they could use was his daily routine of prayer. To some, doing the same thing over and over again may seem mundane, but it will be your safety net against the onslaught of attacks.

If you stand for truth, you will experience attacks from those who want to destroy you. Your testimony will be your only defense to your conscience and to those who are following you. How well you guard these three areas will determine your ability to influence others.