Strength for Today – Page 73 – Old Paths Journal

Continued Blessings

Genesis 1:28
“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”

The desire of every Christian is to be blessed of God. Yet, the one desire that everyone should have more than anything else is for God’s continued blessings. God can bless a church, but that church should desire for God’s continued blessings. You should want God’s spout of blessings to never stop in your life. You should hunger for His blessings to continue.

The verse above says, “And God blessed them…” God had blessed Adam and Eve with all that He gave them. He gave them a garden in which to live. He gave them a time with Him every day. He gave them a purpose for which to live. God had blessed them; however, God then told them what they needed to do to have continued blessings. The recipe God gave for continued blessings still works today.

The first step for continued blessings is to be fruitful. God has not blessed you in life to keep those blessings for yourself. God blessed you in life to use those blessings to be fruitful. God blesses a church with people so those people will bear fruit. God blesses a person with gifts and talents so they can bear fruit. God wants you to take your blessings to bear fruit.

The second step for continued blessings is to multiply. Once you have bore fruit, then God expects you to multiply your fruit bearing. You will only multiply your fruit by investing in others. A church multiplies its fruit by starting other churches. A Christian multiplies their fruit by discipling others to bear fruit. You should never be satisfied with just having enough for yourself, you should also try to help others to do what you have done.

The third step is to replenish. This is a very important step that many people pass over. Replenishing is making sure after you have given out that you restore the areas where you have given out. A church is supposed to send out, but if the church doesn’t replenish itself then the church will eventually die. Yes, have a sending vision, but while you are sending be sure to replenish. While you invest in others, be sure to continue to bear fruit yourself. Don’t train others and then sit down. Always be in the replenishing mode so you can have God’s continued blessings.

The fourth step is to subdue. This is very important to understand that once success comes, you must not think that your success gives you the right to do what you want. Friend, you must still keep yourself from sin. A church must not look at what it has done and think that its history gives it a right to live any way they desire. If you don’t keep yourself subdued, sin will creep in and destroy all of your work.

The most important step is this last step which is to continue following this recipe. If you want God’s continued blessings, then you must never stop this cycle. The cycle is to take God’s blessings and bear fruit, multiply your fruit, replenish what you multiplied and keep yourself subdued. This cycle, if followed, will help you to have God’s continued blessings.

Characteristics of Saints

Revelation 14:12
“Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”

Every brand has its own characteristic. If you were to name a popular product, anyone who uses it or is familiar with it will know the characteristics of that product. That product’s characteristics are what differentiates it from other products.

God expects certain characteristics from His children that differentiates them from everyone else. That are many forms of religion throughout the world, but the saints of God should carry the characteristics which God defines in His Word. In the verse above, God shows three characteristics He looks for in the saints.

First, God looks for patience in the saints. He says, “Here is the patience of the saints…” When you read the previous verses, you see that God is pouring out His wrath upon the beast and those who took his mark. The patience of the saints is the Christian waiting for His coming. In other words, the Christian keeps on patiently doing right expecting the LORD to come through.

Christian, one thing should be very evident about your life, and that is that you continue to serve the LORD in spite of all that may happen. When hardships come, you should patiently wait for the LORD to come through. When heartbreak comes, you should patiently wait for the LORD to come through. One of the defining characteristics of the saints is that they never lose hope that the LORD will come through for them. Their patience may be tried, but they never quit no matter what comes their way.

Second, God looks for the saints to keep His commandments. In trying times when you are ridiculed, the saints of God will continue to keep His commandments. When others quit God’s commandments, His saints continue to keep them. This is what defines the saints of God. The saints of God do not look to the world to determine what to do; instead, they look to the Word of God to determine what to do. God’s commandments never change. The saints of God continue to keep God’s commandments when the conscience of men and cultures change.

Third, God looks for the saints not to lose the faith of Jesus. This is interesting to me because He didn’t say losing the faith, but the “faith of Jesus.” What is the “faith of Jesus?” When you study the Gospels, you always see that the faith of Jesus performed the miraculous. In other words, the characteristic of the saints is that they never stop believing that the miraculous can be done. The faith of Jesus will cause the saint to see mountains removed in their life. (Matthew 21:21) In other words, the saint will never stop believing, pursuing and seeing God do the miraculous through their lives.

Do you carry the characteristics of a saint? Do you continue to serve God in spite of circumstances? Have you kept God’s commandments when others around you have compromised? Do you continually see the miraculous in your life? These characteristics are what separates the saints of God from everyone else, and they are what will make a difference in your world.

Allen Domelle is the editor of the Old Paths Journal which is more than just a Christian’s publication. It is an excellent place to learn how today’s headlines will forge tomorrow’s laws and statutes. Keep yourself in tune with what is happening around the world, as well as in your own backyard with our daily updates and devotionals.

Three Spiritual Warning Lights

Jude 1:11
“Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.”

Every vehicle has warning lights that signal something that could be wrong with your engine. Several years ago while I was traveling to a meeting, my engine light came on while driving through the mountains. There’s not much you can do when you’re in the mountains, so I decided to keep driving and check it when I got to my destination. It wasn’t but a few minutes later when I lost almost all power in my engine. With my foot pressing the accelerator pedal to the floor, I could only get the car to go 30 miles per hour. After getting off at the next exit and checking my engine, I quickly realized that the warning light was telling me that my engine was about to blow up.

The Book of Jude is the warning light for the Christian. In this book are several warnings of which every Christian must beware. These warnings are to keep you in the faith. These warnings are to help keep you positionally where the Scriptures tell you to stand. In the verse above, God shows us three warning lights that lead to compromise.

The first warning light is compromising for the sake of convenience. Cain compromised the blood sacrifice because it was more convenient to sacrifice the first fruits of his crops. Many Christians have compromised what they believe because it was more convenient to let up than to stand for the faith. Friend, the faith will not always be convenient to follow, but you must follow it no matter how hard it may be. If you stand and follow the faith only when it is convenient, then it won’t be long before you compromise the faith.

The second warning light is compromising for reward. Balaam was willing to compromise what he knew was right because of the rewards it would give him. Again, just because you get greater results doesn’t always mean it’s right. Just because you get greater crowds doesn’t make something right to do. The faith should never be followed because it gives us bigger crowds or greater results, it should be followed because it is the right thing to do. If you follow the faith because of reward, then what will you do when you start losing the crowds? You must be careful to follow the faith because it is the right thing to do.

The third warning light is compromising for position. Korah wanted Moses’ position. To him it was all about position. Many people have compromised because they desire the position of being in the “in” crowd. Just because you can acquire greater position doesn’t make something right. Just because your influence can be greater if you are not as strong on the faith does not make it right. Many Christians follow the next big church or big influence because they enjoy the acceptance of the bigger crowd. Position must never be the reason you stand for the faith. If you acquire position by standing for the faith that’s fine; however, position must not be the focus of your desire.

Do you see any of these warning lights going off on your spiritual vehicle? Christian, nobody is above these three areas. Stay focused on the faith. Let the faith be what drives you and the three warning lights on your spiritual vehicle will never light up.

By-the-Way, Give Thanks

Psalm 136:1
“O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.”

I’m afraid Christians oftentimes are forgetful to give thanks to God for all that He has done. God’s goodness and mercy is exhibited to us in so many ways that we frequently forget to thank Him. Most of the time, our thankfulness to God is a “by-the-way” moment. Instead of immediately showing our gratitude to God, after basking in the moment of His goodness and mercy we remember to thank Him when thankfulness should have been our first reaction. We have to be careful that we don’t become so accustomed to God’s goodness and mercy that thankfulness is only a “by-the-way” moment.

The psalmist dedicates a whole psalm to remind us of God’s mercy and goodness. We are reminded that God is good because everything He gives to us is because of His mercy towards us. We are reminded in this psalm that God delivered us, guided us, defended us, blessed us, saved us and provides our daily food. With all of these things and more, the Christian should continually have thanks to God coming from their lips. Let me remind you of four things we should remember about God’s goodness and mercy.

First, never take for granted the goodness and mercy of God. Never allow yourself to get to the point where you feel you deserve God’s mercy and goodness. You should always remember that God at any moment has the right to stop being merciful to you. His goodness to you is a blessing, and you must be sure to be thankful anytime He extends His mercy and goodness.

Second, take every opportunity to thank God. Don’t let your thankfulness be a “by-the-way” moment; rather, every time something good happens let thankfulness to God be your first reaction. Thankfulness must become an immediate reaction. If you don’t take God’s mercy and goodness for granted, then you will find it easy to immediately give Him thanks.

Third, always take time to recognize God’s mercy and goodness in your life. I believe it would help you to set a small amount of time aside weekly to write down how God has been merciful and good to you in the previous week. When you look at Psalm 136, that is exactly what the psalmist did. This will help you to stay in an attitude of thankfulness to God.

Fourth, the moment you forget God’s mercy is the moment God’s goodness will likely cease. God is never pleased when you start taking credit for everything in your life or start giving credit to man for what’s happened in your life. God will not share His glory with man. God will cease to bless you the moment you start giving the glory to man that belongs to God.

Christian, let this devotional be a reminder to purposely give credit and thanks to God for everything in your life. It is so easy to get wrapped up in the moment of His goodness that we forget to thank Him. Let God know you appreciate what He has done for you by continually thanking Him for His mercy and goodness.

Stop Being a Baby

1 Peter 2:1-2
“Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:”

At times you will hear a parent say to their child, “Stop being a baby.” In other words, they are tired of the child acting like a little baby who doesn’t know better. That is what God is saying to the Christian when He says, “Wherefore laying aside all…” God knows that a Christian cannot grow when they are acting like a baby. Until the Christian grows up, they will never be able to be fed and led by God into the will He has for their lives. God shows us five things that resemble baby Christians.

First, baby Christians desire to get even. Malice is nothing more than the desire to get even. Mature Christians have learned to forgive and move on, but baby Christians are continually trying to get even with a person or groups of people whom they perceive did them wrong. One thing you will find out about getting even is that if you do succeed at getting even, you still lose because it doesn’t help you but it hurts you. Stop trying to get even with everyone and instead forgive.

Second, baby Christians read into everything. Guile is an act of always having ulterior motives. Baby Christians hurt themselves because they always believe someone has an ulterior motive. Let me encourage you to stop reading into everything someone does. There needs to come a time in your life when you need to start believing in people and stop trying to read into what someone is really doing. This is a terrible way to live your life.

Third, baby Christians live double lives. God commands us to lay aside “hypocrisies.” There is no place for the double life in the Christian life. You must grow to the point that you are the same all the time. When you stop living a double life, you will find out that you will stop reading into everyone’s motives. Grow up and live the Christian life all the time.

Fourth, baby Christians get distracted by what others have. Being envious of others possessions is nothing more than covetousness and jealousy. Friend, be content with what God has given you and realize you have what you need for this time in your life. When God blesses others, it should excite you. When you become envious of others, it distracts you from what you are supposed to be doing for God.

Fifth, baby Christians talk about people. You will notice that God says to lay aside “all evil speakings.” You may enjoy hearing about the sin and trash in others lives, but it does nothing to help your Christian life and critical spirit. Stop talking about people and talk about Christ. Don’t be desirous of learning the latest gossip. Keep your spirit right by protecting yourself from those who talk about others.

God’s desire is that you get a craving for His Word. It is only through the Word of God that you will grow as a Christian. Stop being a baby Christian and lay aside these five areas. When you start studying the Word of God and taking what you’ve learned to help others, you will find these five things will easily be laid aside.

Keeping a Passionate Prayer Life

Hebrews 10:19
“Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,”

Staying passionate about something that you can do everyday or some place you regularly visit is no easy task. I was preaching in the Washington, D.C. area and the pastor asked me and another preacher if we wanted to go and see some of the sights of the city. I rarely do this, but I wanted to this time because of the meaning of many of those sights. As this pastor drove us around, we were discussing the meaning of each sight he was taking us to when he said that it is difficult to keep the passion about them because he grew up around the city. This is certainly no indictment of the pastor, but it is the reality of human patterns.

Keeping a passionate prayer life will take work. Because Christians can run to God in prayer at any time, if we are not careful we can lose our passion in prayer. God says that He wants us to enter boldly into the “holiest.” In other words, God wants us to stay passionate in our prayer. The following verses teach us how to stay passionate.

First, be convinced of your need. God says in verse 22, “Let us draw near with a true heart…” It is hard to be passionate if you are not convinced that you have a need. Friend, don’t be overconfident in yourself. Realize you need God with every aspect of your life.

Second, have confidence in God. God continues in verse 22 by saying, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith…” You will never keep the passion in your prayer life if you don’t have the confidence that God will do what He says He will do. God has never failed, and you must never forget that.

Third, be right with your fellow man. God continues in the verse by saying, “…having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience…” When you’re not right with man, it will affect your ability to pray. God commands us to get right with our fellow man before we come to Him because you cannot be right with God if you are not right with man. Don’t let your prayer life be hindered by having ought against someone else.

Fourth, live a clean life. God wants “our bodies washed with pure water.” In other words, you will have a hard time keeping a passionate prayer life when you are living in sin. One of the easiest ways to keep a passionate prayer life is to stay right with God.

Fifth, stay faithful to church. God commands in verse 25 to not forsake “…the assembling of ourselves together…” Being around other Christians and hearing the preaching of the Word of God helps the Christian to pray with passion. You receive the encouragement from other Christians about answered prayers and you’re reminded of God’s power and faithfulness through the preaching of the Word of God. These help you to stay passionate in your prayer life.

Praying with passion will only be accomplished by doing these five things. God expects us to be passionate in our prayer, and by being passionate you will have a better chance of getting your prayers answered.

He is a Qualified Technician

Hebrews 2:18
“For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.”

When you need someone to work on something that is broken, you want a qualified technician who knows what they are doing. When I go to get my car worked on, I look for the badge on the mechanic’s uniform that shows they are a qualified technician. Why do we look for someone who is a qualified technician? Because we want someone who has been trained to deal with our problems because they will know best how to fix and repair what is wrong.

When you need someone to help you through suffering, you need to look no further than Jesus Christ. The reason you need to look no further is because He is a qualified technician in dealing with suffering. The verse above says, “…he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.” There are several reasons why Jesus Christ is the qualified technician to deal with your unique situation.

First, Jesus is qualified because He is God. This alone should be good enough for anyone. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Jesus didn’t become God, but He has always been God. Jesus being God has the power and wherewithal to deal with any type of suffering. However unique your suffering may be, Jesus has the power to deal with it.

Second, Jesus is qualified because He has suffered. Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” Notice that Jesus has been touched by every point a person could be tempted or tested. In other words, there is nothing you can go through that Jesus doesn’t understand. Oftentimes, you will hear a person say to someone trying to help them, “You just don’t understand.” Nobody can say that to Christ for He has been touched in every possible way a person can be tempted or tested. That means He completely understands what you are going through.

Third, Jesus is qualified because He made you. Revelation 4:11 says, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things…” Who better knows what you need than the One Who made you? Friend, God knows you inside and out. He knows exactly what you need because He made you. He doesn’t have to go to a training class to understand your needs, for He is the One Who made you and understands how you work and how you feel.

Whenever going through suffering, always remember that the most qualified technician to help you in suffering is Jesus Christ. Look no further! There is nothing wrong with trying to get help from your spiritual leader, but Jesus Christ is The Qualified Technician to deal with suffering. Go to Him and ask for His help, for He not only cares for you, but will also help you as you go through each phase of suffering.

The “F” Expectancies of the Ministry

2 Timothy 4:17
“Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.”

When you were in school, you never wanted to get an “F” on your report card. That meant that you had flunked that class and would have to take it over again. However, in the ministry God expects you to get an “F” on one report card. This “F” doesn’t mean that you have flunked; rather, it means that you have followed the LORD’s commands.

In the books of Timothy, Paul was training a young preacher boy what he was to do in the ministry and how he was to do it. He also explained to him what he was to expect as he ministered to others. As good as the ministry is, you cannot expect to help people get saved and come out of their destructive and sinful lifestyles without resistance from Satan. Satan is not going to let you pull people away from him without a fight. As you serve in the ministry, there are four “F’s” that you must expect.

The first “F” is fighting. Paul said in verse 7, “I have fought a good fight…” Don’t ever expect to get through the Christian life without having to fight. We live in times when many people avoid the fight not understanding that this is all part of serving God. If you are doing right, then you are going to find yourself in the midst of battles. These battles will not be of your choosing, but they will come.

The second “F” is finish. A successful Christian will finish what they start. By the way, finishing in the Christian life will not be easy. As you fight the battles along the way, you will find yourself wanting to quit, but you must finish. Great Christians are the ones who finish in the Christian life. When they want to throw in the towel, they keep going because of the great need in the ministry.

The third “F” is faith. One of the things you will have to be careful of in the ministry is that you don’t leave the faith. Many people have compromised the faith for acceptance. Many people have compromised the faith because they could get a larger crowd. You are going to have times in your life when you will be tempted to compromise, but you must never lay down the faith. You will have to fight to finish with the faith.

The fourth “F” is forsaken. As much as I don’t like to say this, if you fight to finish with the faith, then you will be forsaken by many. Paul said in the previous verse, “…all men forsook me…” Christianity is not a popularity contest. Yet, if you will fight to finish with the faith while being forsaken, then you can claim the promise from the verse above, “Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me…”

The Christian life is a great life, but you will never get through it without these “F’s” in the ministry. Are you getting an “F” on this report card? If you are but you are continuing on, you can be assured that you are not alone for the LORD will stand with you to strengthen you to the end.

Better Than a Great House

2 Timothy 2:20
“But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.”

When God is talking about a “house” in the verse above, He is talking about the church. God gives us a comparison of three different types of churches. There is the dishonorable church, the great church and the honorable church. Your church is going to be one of these. God’s desire is not for you to have a great church, but an honorable church. Let me point out several things about the church and how to help your church become honorable.

First, no church is going to be perfect. You will notice that God says in the house were “…vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth…” God is showing that if a church is going to be busy about reaching the lost for Christ, then it will be filled with different types of Christians. There are going to be Christians in the church who are young in the LORD and have some worldly tendencies, but there are also going to be Christians who have matured in the LORD. Any good church will have a combination of all these which assures us that there is no perfect church.

Second, not every person in the church is the same. You will notice that there were different types of vessels in this house. Likewise, in the church there are going to be different types of people. This is what makes up the variety of the church. Too many churches are only going after the rich when God wants us to go after everyone. Don’t just go after the gold, but also go after the silver. Stop worrying about what class a person is and just go after all people.

Third, there are some things that are not good for the church. You will notice that this house also had vessels of “wood and of earth.” These are worldly vessels. These are vessels that are copying the world. Friend, the church is not to have worldliness in it. The church is not to copy the music of the world. The church is not to copy the dress of the world. The church is not to copy the lifestyle of the world. Every church is going to have Christians like this, but they should not stay like this.

Fourth, if your church is going to move from being a great church to an honorable church, then your church is going to have to purge itself from worldliness. You may have wood and earth in your life, but God wants you to purge yourself from these things. That means you are going to have to separate yourself from worldliness if you are going to become an honorable church.

Christian, are you keeping your church from becoming an honorable church? Your church may be a great church, but it can become an honorable church if you will purge yourself from worldliness. No church will stay a great church, they will either become a dishonorable church or an honorable church depending upon what Christians like you do with their worldliness. I challenge you today to start helping your church become honorable by removing the worldliness from your life. A church will only become honorable by removing worldliness.

The Value of Work

2 Thessalonians 3:10
“For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.”

One of the things that contributes to the destruction of a society is when people loathe work. One of the first things God commanded Adam to do in the Garden of Eden was to work. When you study the Scriptures, you will find that the first thing we see God doing is working. When a society or a person avoids work, then they are avoiding one of the first principles that God set up.

Paul addressed the subject of work. Apparently, the church of Thessalonica had some members who didn’t work. Some of the members of this church had acquired an entitlement mentality where they wanted people to give them things without working for them. Paul’s address to this church about work shows us several values of having a work ethic.

First, working gives a person a right to eat. God says in the verse above that a person shouldn’t eat if they don’t work. It is vitally important that children are taught this principle. If they don’t get their chores done, then they shouldn’t eat. Always remember that the pleasure of receiving should always come after a person works for something.

Second, working keeps people out of trouble. Verse 11 talks about people being disorderly because they didn’t work. I oftentimes tell people that I was not a better teenager than everyone else, I was simply too tired from working to get into trouble. Working has a way of driving the foolish energy out of anyone. If you work hard, you will have less energy to get into trouble.

Third, working keeps people from becoming busybodies. When you are working, you will find that you don’t care as much about other people’s business. Most busybodies are people who have too much time on their hands, and the only thing they do is get into other people’s business. The quickest way to stop someone from being a busybody is to put them to work.

Fourth, working destroys the entitlement mentality. Verse 12 talks about eating your “own bread.” The only reason people feel they are entitled to something is because they haven’t worked. Entitlement societies are societies that don’t promote work. When children learn that working is the way to get what they want, then they will stop putting their hand out. This society truly needs a revival of work and not entitlements. Entitlements don’t help anyone; whereas, work always produces a positive effect on people and societies.

Fifth, working will make a person feel good about themselves. Verse 14 says that the person who works will not “be ashamed.” If you want to feel good about yourself then work. There is nothing like the feeling you have at the end of a day when you look back and see all that you have accomplished. People who work always have a better aura about themselves than those who don’t work.

Don’t ever underestimate the value of work. Be the type of Christian who doesn’t look for ways to get out of working. This is the type of Christian who will have a better testimony and will better influence those around them.