Way of The Warrior- A Daily Devotional

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. – James 2:14-17 ESV

Warrior;

James goes onto say in verse 19; You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! Hebrews 11 the FAITH chapter starts out by stating; Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. If you break down the word SUBSTANCE, it is a compound word; Sub and Stance. It literally means- something beneath that you can STAND ON. The root of Faith is the word of God. TRUE FAITH shows itself in the manifestation of GOD’s WORD in our lives. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. (Romans 10;17) STAND FIRM on HIS WORD!

Leader, In the Bible there are two primary Greek words which are translated “word” in the New Testament. The first Word= LOGOS. Jesus is the LOGOS, the Word of God; the written word that tells us of the LIVING WORD. Jesus is the logos and also the Bible is the LOGOS. If A=B and B=C, then A=C! The second Greek word translated “word” is rhema, which refers to the spoken word. Rhema literally means an utterance. WE can call it A word from the Word. When you start reading the bible, logos, and God begins to speak to you from the word of God- that feeds your FAITH. You get a Rhema from the Logos, you get an utterance from God in your heart, you hear from God. In order to have Faith you don’t have to hear from a friend, or a Pastor, but you need to hear from God. See Romans 10:17.

Conduit, there is only ONE FAITH that matters; Faith in God and FAITH in His WORD; Logos and Rhema. The ROOT of Faith is that you hear from God- so you MUST be in HIS WORD! The RESULT of TRUE Faith is that you DESIRE- GODS WILL BE DONE! The RELEASE OF FAITH, is obedience. Doing what the WORD of GOD says! If what you say you believe DOES NOT TRANSLATE into action-you don’t really believe- then you have NO FAITH! When you Believe it, you obey it! Faith is belief with Legs on it! It is the actioning of your feeling, when you RHEMA from the LOGOS. It is the doing of the saying, or of the hearing. Remember; what you are DOING speaks so loudly people don’t need to HEAR a WORD you are saying! Let your actions speak louder than your words, let them show HIS WORD! LIVE IT, and live it with PASSION- Heart, Body and Soul! Your Faith in the LOGOS and the RHEMA will move your mountains! Amen!

Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, while Cain was a tiller of the soil. So in the course of time, Cain brought some of the fruit of the soil as an offering to the LORD, while Abel brought the best portions of the firstborn of his flock. And the LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but He had no regard for Cain and his offering. So Cain became very angry, and his countenance fell. – Genesis 4:2b-5 ESV

Warrior;

This is an interesting part of HIS-STORY; God’s story, which is our history. These 2 brothers, the first 2 of many billions more of brothers- have created debates for thousands of years; Why did God accept Abel’s sacrifice, but was not pleased with Cain. This is where conjecture, extra-biblical research, and the prompting of the Holy Spirit- can create a few different possible answers. Before we get there, lets get to 2 truths. First TRUTH is that no man owns the truth, that is God’s property. We are all a ‘bit’ off in our theology, some are way off! Second Truth is that Jesus is the Word of God, He is the Bible- HE IS TRUTH. Jesus told Pilot, ‘everyone who belongs to the truth listens to My voice”. HE even upped the ante, or ‘Raised the Bar’ higher, and said that HE HIMSELF was the embodiment of TRUTH- “I AM THE TRUTH”. (John 14:6) Nobody else in the great religions of the world, has ever made that claim; not Mohammed, not Gandhi, not the Buddha. As a matter of fact near his death Buddha said he was still searching for the truth. Jesus is the TRUTH, HE is the LIFE, HE is the ONLY WAY… to God the Father.

Leader, we have to ask ourselves, “why was Cain’s offering unacceptable”? Many scholars believe that Cain and Abel had received some instruction on what constituted an acceptable sacrifice from God. There seems to be a familiarity between the brothers and God. Apparently God talked to Cain and Abel often enough that they were accustomed to His voice and\or His presence- to the point Cain didn’t show signs of shock or fall down on his face as others are recorded to have done throughout the Bible. The passage says that Abel “brought fat portions from some of the firstborn.” He offered some of what came first; Firstfruits. He sacrificed one of the youngest, unblemished and offered the choicest parts. Abel was clearly giving the best of what he had to God. Cain, on the other hand, brought crops, the works of the flesh. We don’t know the quality and we don’t know if they were ‘leftovers’, or ‘extra’; first or last. Cain was the first of many who thought HIS WORKS, the work of his hands and his toil- as a justifiable way to please God. He is the first of many who will see that our works are, as the prophet Isaiah put it: ‘they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind’. (Isaiah 64:6)

Conduit, later on in HIS-STORY, which happens to be our history- we read of 2 other brothers that have different choices and different outcomes. “for though the twins were not yet born, and had not done anything good or bad, in order that God’s purpose according to His choice might stand, not because of works, but because of Him who calls, it was said to her, “The older will serve the younger.” Just as it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated,” (Rom. 9:11-13). God is JUST and God is OMNISCIENT; All-knowing, HE IS IMMUTABLE- He cannot learn, or he would change! God knows who HIS are! God chose some, and He didn’t choose others. If you are CHOSEN, then act like you are blessed and follow HIM; “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:” (John 10:27) The MSG Bible paraphrases this point in Romans 8:29-31; God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun. So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? The Times is now to HEAR the SHEPHERDS voice and FOLLOW the SHEPHERDS commands! “If you love me, you will keep my commandments”; Jesus- (John 14:15)

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him. – Hebrews 5:7-9 ESV

Warrior;

What we believe we are supposed to do, and be, dictates everything. Everything we do or do-not- do, is based on our beliefs. If you think something to be true then you ACT- AS IF. You wouldn’t give your life for a lie- let’s be honest, most people would not give their life for the truth. If someone says they love you, and you DO NOT believe they love you- you will ACT, or THINK- AS IF, they didn’t love you. This is why it is so important to know the WORD of God for yourself and NOT depend on others to tell you what it says. “For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” (Isaiah 53:2-3)

Leader, the prophet Isaiah is talking about Jesus, our LORD- when He sojourned in the flesh on this planet. It is amazing that so many people who walk with Jesus think that their lives are going to FLOW, and be these EASY, FUN, HAPPY things while we are getting closer and closer to God and becoming more like HIS SON. After all that is the purpose of this life, to become more and more like Jesus. Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:2-4) Perseverance is a word that can be replaced with LONG-SUFFERING; Another trait of our God. Do you hear the word; One who suffers LONG. And if we are to do it properly, to the glory of God, then we must do so with Joy; a good disposition- without whining about it. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! (1 Thessalonians 5:15-16, Philippians 4:4)

Conduit, if you don’t know the TRUTH, then you can’t be free of false BELIEF SYSTEMS. Adversity is God’s way of growing us into the image of CHRIST. It is through adversity that we realize; In MY WEAKNESS, HIS STRENGTH is perfected! But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9) We must think of trials, struggles and disappointments as training! God is training His children, His troops. It is a choice; we can choose to let our struggles make us BETTER or BITTER. One is from the devil and glorifies him, and one is the WAY OF THE WARRIOR and honors our Father in heaven! When we use the garbage of this world to make us into the image of the CHRIST, then we become BETTER and ALL GLORY and HONOR go to GOD THE FATHER and HIS SON, JESUS! It’s all about the GLORY- who are you GLORIFYING by HOW you are going through your struggles? In the immortal words of Charles Spurgeon,” Trials teach us what we are; they dig up the soil and let us see what we are made of.” You are made in the image and likeness of God, be LIKE JESUS!

And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. – Luke 1:11-13 ESV

Warrior;

God is in Control! For behold, He Who forms mountains and creates the wind and declares to man what are His thoughts, He Who makes dawn into darkness and treads on the high places of the earth, the LORD God of hosts (Sabaoth) is His name. Amos 4:13) God is Jehovah Sabaoth; the Lord of hosts, meaning, of ALL the angelic world. From Amos’ description, God’s attributes of sovereignty, omniscience and omnipotence are clearly implied by this majestic Name. It is in HIS HANDS that those who call on HIS NAME and the name of HIS SON, Jesus-REST. As we learn in the book of Job, nothing can happen to us outside of the permissive will of God. Our job is to trust IN HIM, like Job did- no matter the circumstances; He said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.’ (Job 1:21)

Leader, it is normal to feel fear, but we are called to NOT BE AFRAID. There are close to 400 times that God tells us to NOT BE AFRAID. God knows that this world is at war with HIM and HIS followers and He also wants us to know HE IS on the JOB and HE IS IN CONTROL, even when the world and its leaders mock Him, and it seems like evil is reigning. Therefore, we need to be around like-minded believers in church and daily in fellowship with blogs like this, in the WORD being encouraged to FIGHT the GOOD FIGHT, to run a good race. Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore, the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. (Psalm 1)

Conduit, John Wesley understood the power of Focus when he said; “Give me one hundred men who fear nothing but sin, and desire nothing but God, and I will shake the world.” Zechariah had been praying to God for years for a child and when God answered his prayer, he was afraid, and he didn’t believe! If you read further in Luke, you will find that he lost his ability to speak until after John was born. God tells so many stories in the Bible like this, for our benefit, so we can see and hear how others struggled and others stumbled- and yet we call them great. You too can be great, but it takes the right focus. We are to focus on GOD, HIS POWER, HIS WILL and HIS MIGHT. In the book of Judges, we read about a man full of fear, Gideon. As we read about Gideon, we see that he has many fears and that he is not very confident. He has a poor self-image. He’s afraid of the Midianites; he’s afraid of the men in his own village. Even after being visited by God he’s still afraid of the enemy’s army when it gathers in a nearby valley. Gideon was afraid, but when he finally put his trust in God and obeyed, the Israelites were freed from seven years of oppression. There will always be moments in life when we are worried to give ourselves over to God, but the truth is we can trust him with our tomorrows. Today, choose to focus on GOD and not the object of our FEARS and remember like Gideon, and so many other people of the Bible; The battle is the Lords! In our weakness HIS STRENGTH IS PERFECTED! Keep your focus on the one who is OMNIPOTENT; HE is ALL POWERFUL!

For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense. “They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. – 1 Peter 2:6-9 ESV

Warrior;

There is so much here, sometimes it is hard to take a single verse out, since it is all interwoven. For those who confess with their mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in their heart that God raised him from the dead- WE ARE CALLED OUT. For those who love God and who are called according to His purpose- WE ARE CALLED OUT! That doesn’t mean God wants to meet us after school and fight us, it means we are HOLY, SET APART, DIFFERENT! We are called out of the DARKNESS into HIS marvelous LIGHT!

Leader, if you vote like the world, seeking the government to be your GOD, having some elected official be your JEHOVAH JIREH, the God who PROVIDES- then can you really be a child of the risen King? Do you think like the world- what will this person do if I vote for them? Identity politics is to identify you as one who wants the government to be their God; WHAT WILL YOU DO FOR ME TO GET MY VOTE. We are called out of that darkness and into the LIGHT OF GOD. God’s Kingdom is of HOPE, of LOVE, of SERVICE and of SACRIFICE. A light of putting others first and knowing that MY GOD SHALL PROVIDE, it is NOT my governments job. We must be different, we are CALLED TO BE DIFFERENT! Today the government dictates we cannot say the name of JESUS, we cannot start or end government activities in the name of JESUS and the BIBLE is not even allowed in government buildings. When the new leader of the SPACE FORCE was sworn in, people complained that it was done on GODS WORD, the BIBLE.

Conduit, we are not called out of the world to be physically taken away. We are called out of the lifestyle, we are called out of the warfare with God. He calls us out to a different lifestyle to THINK differently, to ACT differently and to RESPOND differently. For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. So DO NOT be ashamed of the testimony of our LORD (2 Timothy 1:7-8a) Do not be ashamed of the name of JESUS CHRIST and DO NOT CONFORM to the ways of this world. TRANSFORM YOUR THINKING, be different! Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless. (Philippians 2:14-16) The Greek word that is translated as “church” in the Bible is ekklesia. The prefix is ek or ex, which means “out of” or “from.” The root word is a form of the verb kaleo, which means “to call.” Thus, ekklesia means “those who are the called-out ones.” Simply put, GODS TRUE CHURCH, is composed of those who are called by God- outwardly and inwardly by the Holy Spirit. When Jesus calls someone to discipleship, He is calling that person to Himself, to belong to Him, to follow Him, and to learn from Him and of Him. We cannot serve 2 MASTERS; OUR God or the WORLD- choose today whom you will follow and BE LIKE!

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. – Matthew 6:24 NKJV

Warrior;

The scriptures are to teach us, discipline us and to remind us. Deuteronomy 6 possesses the SHEMA, which is the prayer designed for Israel to remember what God has done for them, and who He is. It continues with this admonition: And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Dt 6:5-9) We are called to REMEMBER, in other words, put it back together. Every time we put the arms and legs on Mr. Potato Head we re-membered him. This is what God uses the Bible to do, put things back together for us. The Greek word used for mammon in the Bible is “mamōnas” and means “treasure” or “riches”. Some versions of the Bible say money, but this is more than money it is all we treasure, our fame, our network, our following, our family, our accumulated name and reputation, and all that encompasses our lived lives.

Leader, Jesus said you can’t serve God and also serve your worldly desires- that is what we treasure; For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. (1 John 2:16) You can serve as many masters as you want on this planet, you can work 2 and 3 jobs, but you can’t work for competing companies. You couldn’t work for Pepsi and Coke, they compete, and they are fighting for the same market share. It is no different for the things of the world and the things of God. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. (James 4:4) God even uses the word that is used when a spouse cheats on another spouse; Adulterer. Not only are they competing with each other, but they are JEALOUS of each other- so it will never work. Then God gave the people all these instructions: “I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. “You must not have any other god but me. “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. (Exodus 20:1-5a)

Conduit, in the Gospel of Luke:16:13, Jesus says almost the very same thing where He said “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be DEVOTED to the one and despise the other. Here God uses the word “devoted” which is close to the same things as being a slave. If someone devotes their life to something, that means that they pour everything that they have and everything that they are into whatever it is that they are devoted to. To be devoted is to have a powerfully strong affection or attachment to something or someone. Devotion can be seen as a deep, abiding love. Paul warned Timothy about a love of money, writing that “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs” (1 Tim 6:10). The root of all kinds of evil is not money…it is the love and devotion to money, to the point of becoming its slave. Time is short, THE TIME IS NOW to make a decision His Kingdom, or your kingdom? The Prophet Elijah posed the same decision to the people of Israel; And Elijah came to all the people, and said, “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” (1 Kings 18:21) God says your treasure is where your heart is, where you spend the majority of your time and your focus. Let us consider, is it time to REFOCUS our TIME on the things of God instead of the things of man? Choose well CHILD OF GOD!

But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. -James 3:14-16 KJV

Warrior;

When STRIFE Is present in a marriage, in a heart, in a man or woman- there is EVERY EVIL WORK! Wow, this is big- this is why America and the world are creating hell on earth. Strife can tear relationships apart. Strife is mentioned all throughout the Bible! I read there are 43 scriptures — exclusive of synonyms for strife; selfish ambition, self-interest, rivalry, discord and dissention- in the word of God! STRIFE is defined as; conflict, antagonism, quarrel, struggle, clash, competition, disagreement, opposition, fight. It destroys relationships, it devastates hearts and minds.

Leader, at its root; PRIDE is the breeding ground of STRIFE and in the presence of Humility STRIFE starves to DEATH! Humility is the foundation of all virtue, but pride is the essence of all sin. The world system operates on the basis of pride for all that is in the world is lust and pride (1 Jn 2:16). Pride and lust are root sins from which all other sins spring and this is of the devil and the flesh.

Conduit, The time is now to quit straightening deck chairs on our TITANIC. It is time to rid our hearts, minds, marriages and all relationships from the STRIFE in our hearts and minds! Therefore- Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. (Eph 4:2) No matter what your spouse or any other human does to you- Humble yourselves before the Lord, and HE will lift you up!