Way of The Warrior- A Daily Devotional

For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God. Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called.- 1 Cor 7:19-20 ESV

Warrior;

Paul’s message in these passages to the Corinthian church resound with the word REMAIN! He goes through a litany of relationships and ‘lots in life’. His constant refrain is REMAIN! We get so wrapped up in SAVING people from their ‘religion’, saving people from their bad marriage, or saving people from the curse of being single. He goes through slaves and bond-servants, freemen, and circumcised or not circumcised- Paul basically is telling us although it does affect us on this planet, what really matters is eternity- REMAIN close to God!

Leader, Paul is NOT being cold or uncaring, what He is doing is wanting to get us focused on that which lasts for eternity; Keep the commandments of God, Honor God in whatever situation you are in. He tells us why in v31; for this present form of this world is passing away. So, brothers and sisters in whatever condition each was called, there let them remain with God.

Conduit, brothers and sisters: the appointed time has grown very short. We are to be about our Fathers business. Jesus spoke about the Kingdom of God more than He spoke about anything else. THE TIME IS NOW, to quit dealing with the petty things of this world and to be like JESUS and bring people into a saving relationship with the SAVIOR of the world BY bringing people into a saving knowledge and intimate relationship with Jesus, Isa Al-Maseeh! Jesus saves and changes hearts!

Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?”- John 18:10-11 ESV

Warrior,

So much to understand with this little scripture. Jesus Kingdom was not going to be brought in by normal means. The flesh and the sword were not the means by which King Jesus would reign in His Kingdom. What first and foremost comes to mind is who is in charge. Jesus is the ONE calling the shots, nothing happens without His permissive will. In Luke’s Gospel we hear the rest of the story; When the other disciples saw what was about to happen, they exclaimed, “Lord, should we fight? We brought the swords!” And one of them struck at the high priest’s slave, slashing off his right ear. But Jesus said, “No more of this.” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him. (Luke 22:49-51)

Leader, Then Jesus spoke to the leading priests, the captains of the Temple guard, and the elders who had come for him. “Am I some dangerous revolutionary,” he asked, “that you come with swords and clubs to arrest me? Why didn’t you arrest me in the Temple? I was there every day. But this is your moment, the time when the power of darkness reigns.” (Luke 22:52-53) Jesus is in control and the battle is HIS, not ours. We fight FROM victory- not FOR VICTORY Jesus told us on the cross, IT IS FINISHED; He secured the victory! “It is finished”; found only in the Gospel of John, the Greek is tetelestai, an accounting term that means “paid in full.” When Jesus uttered those words, He was declaring the debt owed to His Father was wiped away completely and forever. Not that Jesus wiped away any debt that He owed to the Father; rather, Jesus eliminated the debt owed by mankind—the debt of sin.

Conduit, when we worry, and fear, and get overly inundated with overwhelm and frustration- we are coming from a place of self-justification. As Gideon knew it is the sword of the LORD that was His strength. (Judges 7:15-21) When Sennacherib and the kings of Assyria aligned against Hezekiah, it was an angel of the Lord who slaughtered 185,000. (2 Kings 18,19) We must realize that God sits above time and that He is omniscient(all-knowing) and He is immutable (never changes), so He cannot be surprised. There has never been an ‘Emergency meeting’ of the Trinity. God knows where you are at, God knows the outcome and God has secured the victory. It is interesting to note: This is the last known Miracle of Jesus, the healing of the ‘cut off ear’ of one who came to take His life. A reminder: But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8) We are in the Hands of the LIVING GOD; Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart, and lean NOT on your own understandings. God is looking for warriors with Great Faith. If you are in the HANDS of the LIVING GOD, whom shall you fear? Walk, ‘AS IF’ and LIVE it with Passion-Heart, Body and Soul!

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”- Revelation 1:1,8 ESV

Warrior;

The self-described purpose of Revelation is to reveal Jesus Christ (1:1): His person, His power and His plan for the future. The book opens and closes with similar ideas and phrases, among them are the words of Jesus, “I am coming soon” (1:1-8; 22:12-21). In between, the book deals with vivid descriptions of God’s judgments on sin. In a way it is a “I AM COMING SOON” book designed to bring HOPE to the BELIEVER! The book of Revelation is designed to assure us that what God has said is TRUE. What He promised- He will do!

Leader, In the first chapter Jesus alludes to the three places on the timeline; the Past, the Present and the Future- He is putting the WHOLE thing in plain view! This is included in the way he referenced Himself in v8 as the one, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” John is told to write down the same THREE things in v19; Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. Even though a majority of the book deals with WHAT IS TO COME- we can’t truly understand the book of Revelation without knowing some of the OLD TESTAMENT! There are no formal quotations from the Old Testament, however there are many allusions. Scholars have found between 250-550 Old Testament allusions in this FUTURE focused book!

Conduit, if we are going to be ready for the FUTURE, we need to know the PAST! “The Revelation of Jesus Christ” demonstrates CHRIST’s glory, wisdom and power and portrays His authority over the church and His power and right to judge the world. This BLESSED book describes Jesus Christ as: The faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler over the kings of the earth (1:5), Son of Man (1:13), the First and the Last (1:17), the Living One (1:18), He who is holy, who is true (3:7), the Amen (3:14), the Beginning of the creation of God (3:14), the Root of David (5:5), The WORD OF GOD (19:13), King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the END! Who is Jesus to you? What do you call HIM today? When He comes back soon, what will you call HIM? What will that be like when we see HIM for the first time? I can only IMAGINE! The TIME IS NOW for CHRIST to be REVEALED IN YOU and in the WORLD! Amen!

Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. – Genesis 3:22-24 ESV

Warrior;

Man used to walk with God before the fall. In the Garden of Eden it was the choice; do we choose to do it our way- lawlessness, or we do we choose to succumb to the Will of God, to do it God’s way? Man’s original sin was disobedience, living like there is no God. In his great book, “Undercover”, John Bevere puts it succinctly. Adam’s sin was so egregious that it went through the veins of all of men kind. It became part of our DNA! Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—(Romans 5:12) What did Adam do that was so bad? He didn’t jump into bed with a woman- or a man, he didn’t smoke a joint, he didn’t vote for Trump. Disobedience is when you know you should do something different, and you could do something different and you don’t do something different; Disobedience. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. 1 Samuel 15:23

Leader, God doesn’t want our sacrifice as much as He wants us to demonstrate our Faith and our Love through OBEDIENCE. But Samuel replied, “What is more pleasing to the LORD: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams. 1 Samuel 15:22 When we’re not succumbing to the Will and Way of God- that is disobedience, and God calls that SIN. Saul lost his kingdom because of his disobedience to God. He had partial obedience to God, but the bleating of the sheep and the breath of the King, were clear indications of partial obedience. To God, partial obedience is disobedience. “Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle. … And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”- Numbers 20:8,11-12

Conduit, Moses did not enter the Promise Land because of what he did. What did he do that was so bad for as him to not be able to complete the 40-year journey? He struck the rock, instead of speaking to the rock- that’s the ascetic biblical answer, but what he did was disobedience, to which is lawlessness to God. Jesus said it, God the Father said it and if God said it, He meant it! Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me. (John 14:23-24) Eve did not know the Word of God, she heard it from Adam. The lack of firsthand knowledge of the WORD of GOD, led her to doubt what God really said. If you don’t know God’s WORD, then you too might be walking in disobedience. However, when you know HIS WORD, because you study HIS WORD, then you can WALK IN HIS WILL. This should be our daily prayer to our LORD; Father God, guide my words, my action and my heart. Let your will be my will, let your way be my way, let your words be my words. We ask this in Jesus precious name. Amen.

Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel. -2 Kings 21:1-2 ESV

Warrior;

We are to be ROLE MODELS! Billy Graham told us years ago, that CHRISTIANS do more to scare people away from Jesus than anything the devil can do! Is your WALK, your WAY, your FAITH bringing people closer to GOD, or are your ACTIONS and ATTITUDES, moving people farther away? Consider the BACKSTORY for Manasseh: Most likely; the stories of the Divine deliverance of Jerusalem by God and the Divine healing received by Hezekiah were told endlessly as Manasseh grew up. Manasseh also surely found out that Hezekiah had shown the Babylonians “everything,” and that the prophet Isaiah had pronounced God’s curse on the nation and on Manasseh for Hezekiah’s foolishness. What is your WALK WITH GOD passing onto your children and those watching?

Leader, Manasseh also must have known that his father, Hezekiah, did nothing to avert the judgment “of his Father’s God” upon the nation and upon Manasseh himself. He was a mere boy growing up in a royal household and he is repeatedly reminded that “his father’s God” has pronounced a Divine curse upon him for his father’s sin.” Manasseh was under a generational curse, and surely felt doomed and rejected by both God and his father. Manasseh likely grew to regard his father’s God as unfair and cruel. Manasseh also saw his father, King Hezekiah, enjoying life throughout Manasseh’s boyhood, and there is no record Hezekiah ever intervened with God in behalf of his son. It is not hard to see how Manasseh, as a boy, grew to hate both his father and his father’s God.

Conduit, are others desiring more of the God you follow? If others were to use your relationship with God as a launching pad for their relationship with God- what would that relationship be like? As we consider what our relationship with GOD and TO GOD, looks like from the outside, looking in- what story would it tell? Would people want MORE of what you have and do with GOD, or would they despise and want NOTHING MORE TO DO with your God? This is the ultimate SPIRITUAL checkup: Who today is closer to GOD because you are closer to GOD? Today be the EXAMPLE for others to follow. Today, give others PERMISSION to be SOLD OUT to JESUS. Today be the REASON that others want MORE from GOD and get CLOSER TO GOD! A PICTURE is worth 1000 WORDS! We must remember: What you are DOING speaks so LOUDLY that people don’t need to hear the SERMON you are PREACHING

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. -Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV

Warrior;

There are three steps to the Christian process; Justification, Sanctification and Glorification. To be Justified, means you have been approved for eternity with God, by God- you have been SAVED. To be saved means that the Lord Jesus Christ has rescued you from God’s wrath and judgment- we call this SALVATION. Salvation, is by GRACE alone, through FAITH alone, in CHRIST alone- so that GOD ALONE gets the glory.

Leader, Justification is the opposite of Condemnation. They are both legal terms. To condemn someone is to declare them GUILTY, to justify someone is the declare them NOT GUILTY. Condemnation says you are EVIL, justification says you are RIGHTEOUS-have RIGHT standing before GOD. Condemnation says you are bad and unwelcome. Justification says you are good, you are WELCOME in the presence of God, for eternity!

Conduit, we can’t be GOODNUFF! Isaiah 64:6 tells us; We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. In Romans 3:10-12 we are told that NONE is righteous, that no one does good- NOT EVEN ONE. In Philippians 3, we are told to have NO CONFIDENCE in the flesh. It is God’s WORK in you and THROUGH you, so WE MUST put GOD on OUR THRONE and quit stealing His Glory! All Glory and Honor to YOU Almighty God, forever and ever! Amen!

Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. – Genesis 6:11-13,18

Warriors;

Even in God’s wrath His compassion and long suffering are clear. Read Genesis 5-7 you will see many SHADOWS and hidden meanings. “My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:2–3) God wants us to dig deeper and to find His special meaning, it is like getting to know a lover. Do you hunger and thirst for understanding the MYSTERY OF GOD?

Leader, in the story of the flood there is so much meaning. It is believed that Methuselah, the oldest man to ever live- 969 years, died the year of the flood; His name means= His death shall bring. Here is one commentators illuminated mystery: It is relevant that Methuselah died just before the flood. Find the hidden meaning: Look at the names of the first 10 generations leading up to Noah and their meanings: Adam – Man, Seth – Appointed, Enosh – Mortal, weak, Kenan – Sorrow, Mahalelel – The Praise of Lord, Jared – Descend, Enoch – Dedicated, Methuselah – His death shall bring, Lamech – Lamentator, the poor, brought low, Noah – Comfort, rest. Put this all together and it tells THE STORY: Man is appointed to be mortal and sorrowful. But the Praise of the Lord will descend, dedicated that His death shall bring the despairing, low, and the poor comfort.

Conduit, in Genesis 6:3 God made the life span of man 120 years. Noah built the arc for 120 years. They were in the arc for 7 days with the door shut, before anything happened; the number of God, completeness. They were told to put Pitch on inside and outside, which was rare. The Hebrew word used for PITCH is COVERING. God wanted He and His family covered inside and out. He saved 8, which is the number of new beginnings. Noah’s name means rest, comfort. In Genesis 7:1 God calls NOAH to COME! That is the same Call he gave to John and to His disciples and to every one of US. He is calling us to a NEW BEGINNING and He does NOT want any to perish! See 1 Tim 2:4. Genesis 7:16 says, “The Lord shut Him in”. And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. (Isaiah 22:22, Revelation 3:7) God TUCKED IN NOAH, for some rest- for the RIGHTEOUS were NOT made for WRATH! (1 Thes 5:9) God has a message in HIS MYSTERY, laid out in the OLD TESTAMENT! Seek the LORD and HIS MYSTERY. How else will you know when- the Time is NOW to GET ON THE BOAT of the LORD! Amen!