Way of The Warrior- A Daily Devotional

For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you. – Galatians 3:26-29 NLT

Warrior;
We are living in a world that wants to DIVIDE and CONQUER. There are the typical divisions listed above. Three ways we divide people. Today we seem to be divided by political lines. Those for continuing the world on its path of movement away from God. People who want to vote for Biden\Harris are people who believe the trajectory of the world is going well. Moving away from God, and closer to Government being the role of God; to provide for all our sustenance, care and future needs. Then we have those that want God ordained freedoms, and want government out of our life except in certain areas of basic needs like security, safety and militarily from a foreign actor. Those that support Trump/Pence seem to believe in the old values of God, Country and Family and tend to believe that God is the final arbiter and the PROVIDER of all things needed, Life, Liberty, Sustenance and Opportunity.

Leader, in today’s verse we see how God separates people into the 2 groups. The three great areas of division God addresses here; Sex-male and female, Economic status- haves and have nots (slaves and freemen), and the third one is Chosen or unchosen as God’s children (that is what the Jew or Gentile refer to). Today’s verse is about FREEDOM! Freedom from the issues that separate Americans, freedom from the limits of man, freedoms from the limits or consequences from our past, it is about FREEDOM! Galatians is a book of FREEDOM! With the possible exception of Romans, no other New Testament epistle has had such a profound impact on the history of the church as has Galatians. It has been called “The Magna Carta of the Christian Life.”. Martin Luther called his commentary on Galatians his most important work. Indeed, so great was Luther’s affection for this little letter that he said he was “wedded” to it. Galatians, more than any other single book, became the manifesto of freedom and revival of Biblical truth in the Reformation Era: “the Magna Carta of spiritual emancipation.” It has been called “a small pebble with which the Reformers smote the papal giant of the Middle Ages.” The verse above specifically 3:38, shows us that God has separated us, but not along the lines that we are being separated politically. Not by Black Lives Matter, or ALL LIVES MATTER, not by Democrat or Republican, or by Conservative or Progressive. The Separation is a FOLLOWER OF JESUS or a follower of self\world\government, A follower of the FLESH!

Conduit, there are only two kinds of people on Earth today. Those whom God has saved, and those who are still lost. Every single person, as you read this, are either saved, or lost in their sins! The lost are deeply insecure, proud and self-reliant, mock and sneer at sin, can be very religious having their own strong beliefs that are based in traditional activities and dogmas, captive to sin. The lost are wrapped up in their pound of flesh, their record of wrong- going back decades and centuries wanted to get JUSTICE for wrongs committed against people that might look like them. However, God sees only 2 types of people; Those that have trusted in Jesus and have become a CONDUIT for God’s love and work. Then there is the second group of people who are here for themselves and their own needs, desires, and retribution. Matthew 25:31-40, 45-46 explains how things will play out in a section called the FINAL JUDGEMENT. “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me. Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you? And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me! And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me. And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.” Today it is time to decide! Are you going to Forgive and seek the LORD and serve HIS PEOPLE? Or are you going to get wrapped up in the bitterroot of the world and march for your rights as you destroy God’s Mercy and Grace? Today, choose, Life or death, blessing or curse!

for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human? – 1 Corinthians 3:3-4 ESV

Warrior;
Strife is part of the flesh. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do] such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19) These are natural outcomes of a the flesh, it is only through a NEW SPIRIT a NEW BIRTH that we can ACT differently and put the OLD FLESH to death! Our natural tendency is to STRIFE! This is why Peter reminds us of the Proverb: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.” (2 Peter 2:22)

Leader, we MUST CHOOSE to allow the NEW BIRTH, the NEW SPIRIT take over-this is why we are TOLD: to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. (Eph 4:22-24) This is how we can tell WHO is our FATHER, who we are being lead by. Like Jesus Told many who thought they were GREAT representatives of God: You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.(John 8:44)

Conduit, STRIFE can be defined as a vigorous or bitter conflict, discord, or antagonism toward someone else or others. Strife could include being in a quarrel, struggle, or clash with others or another person and might even include ‘physical altercation’! Strife includes a bitter and even violent disagreement even with those who are in authority, like being part of a ‘resistance’ movement. The Bible is clear; For where jealousy and selfish ambition are, where zeal and rivalry are, where envying and strife is – there is insurrection, there is disorder, there is confusion, and every evil matter, EVERY evil deed, every EVIL thing, EVERY EVIL WORK! IF we turn it OVER TO GOD- THEN He will remove our strife and HE WILL PROTECT our HEARTS and MINDS from BEING OFFENDED! In the great song of deliverance, King David wrote “You delivered me from strife with my people; you kept me as the head of the nations; people whom I had not known served me” (2nd Sam 22:44, Ps 18:43) BEWARE of the trappings of SOCIAL JUSTICE, getting entangled in the WAYS and WARS OF THE WORLD: “They stir up strife, they lurk; they watch my steps, as they have waited for my life” (Psalm 56:6). “They lie in wait for my life; fierce men stir up strife against me…” (Psalm 59:3). We are called to LOVE those who HATE US, and to BLESS those who CURSE us! The book of Wisdom makes it clear; Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins. (Proverbs 10:12)

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” -Revelation 21:3-4 ESV

Warrior;
Jesus is our FIRST LOVE, HE is to be our everything. Once we realize that He is the ALPHA and OMEGA, the beginning and the end and ACT AS IF HE IS- THEN, everything changes- just like heaven! 1 Cor 2:9 entices us; “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” Revelation 21, is about payoff and HOPE! Jesus replaces everything; The Temple, Sun, Moon, the Sea! And He takes away the DROSS; NO MORE tears, pain, death, mourning, crying.

Leader, “If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.”(C. S. Lewis)

Conduit, it was the TREE of the Knowledge of Good and Evil that was our downfall in the garden. It was the TREE OF LIFE that our Savior hung on so that we might spend eternity in heaven and have access to the TREE OF LIFE in the NEW Jerusalem! And he said to me, “It is done…to the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.” Jesus Rev 21:6. Are you hungry for HOLY- are you Thirsty for RIGHTEOUSNESS? The TIME IS NOW to go back to your FIRST LOVE- He was nailed to the TREE of LIFE with Love!

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is ja new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. – 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 ESV

Warrior;
We all have a timeline. We ALL have a PAST, a PRESENT and a FUTURE. As a follower of Jesus Christ, we have the blessing, the gift, the opportunity the RIGHT to start NEW ever day! The prophet Isaiah told us of the NEWNESS of God; Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. (Isaiah 43:18-19) Are you desiring a NEW BEGINNING? Today is that day to start NEW!

Leader, God tells us what He does with our PAST when we step into our FUTURE and accept the GRACE and MERCY of the CROSS! Because HE LOVES us, because HE KNOWS us and because of WHO HE IS- HE LEAVES the PAST and HE IS OUR FUTURE! For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. The LORD is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust. (Psalm 103 :11-14)

Conduit, IN CHRIST, every day we have an UP UNTIL NOW opportunity! We are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a hold nation, a people for his own possession, that we may proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:9) Will you embrace the NEWNESS that CHRIST offers to all who WILL DIE to themselves and accept the NEW IDENTITY IN CHRIST? For behold I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. (Isaiah 65:17) Today, put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. (Eph 4:24) We have a NEW, a BETTER agreement then the sons of Jacob; In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Hebrews 8:13, Galatians 3:28) And at the VERY END, which becomes the NEW BEGINNING- God will again remind us of HIS NEWNESS; And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” …”for these words are trustworthy and true.” Start fresh today, BE NEW and ACT DIFFERENTLY- than those who are still stuck in OLD sin, OLD ways, OLD pain, and an OLD COVENANT!

And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” – Matthew 19:23-26 ESV

Warrior;

Jesus is our CREATOR! For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. (Colossians 1:16) The book of Hebrews confirms this as well, it BEGINS with the basics! Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. (Hebrews 1:1-2) Not only did Jesus create man, and He also created language and he knows how to use language. I do not know how we could consider anyone a greater communicator, a greater orator than Jesus Himself, for HE IS THE WORD! See the book of John 1:1-14. Jesus knows His creation, not just man, but how to use the language that God created for man to interact with each other and to build relationship, family, community, and His church. And the LORD said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” So the LORD dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth. And from there the LORD dispersed them over the face of all the earth. (Genesis 11:6-9)

Leader, just as Jesus spoke in parables, he also used other tools in the arsenal of communication to make his point, and make it be remembered for Millennium! How many people gave speeches over the history of the world that are remembered thousands of years later? Not many! In this famous passage, Jesus used hyperbole, to point out that we can do absolutely nothing on our own to inherit the kingdom of heaven. Salvation comes through GRACE alone, through FAITH alone, in CHRIST ALONE! Hyperbole is a literary device used to draw emphasis through extreme exaggeration. Hyperbole is not meant to be taken literally, but rather understood as a means of communicating something specific. Hyperbole is a figure of speech, a communication tool that creates heightened effect through deliberate exaggeration. Hyperbole is often a boldly overstated or exaggerated claim or statement that ‘makes a point’, without the intention of being considered, LITERALLY true. IN order to understand this verse and any other in the Bible we must understand CONTEXT. Who was God talking to, what did, WHAT He said, mean back then? How does that meaning translate to us today and what does it mean to me specifically- this is how we properly study the Bible. What was the context of Jesus making this statement?

Conduit, the context for the hyperbole is that a rich young man approached Jesus and asked what it took to have eternal life (v16). Christ listed several of the Ten Commandments and the man answered that he had kept them from the time he was a boy (v17 – 20). The Lord then told him if he wanted to be perfect to sell all he owned, give the proceeds to the poor, and follow him! After hearing these words, the rich man went away sad. (v 21-22) Many people in Jesus day had the same poor theology that many have today: If God is happy with you, then you do well in wealth, happiness, and prosperity. If you are struggling, then you are a sinner and you are not pleasing to God. This is not only poor theology, but also anti-Biblical. “…For he makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Matthew 5:45) The Sadducees and Pharisees were the “ruling elite, and the financially blessed”. Sadducees often had acquired a great deal of wealth and held prominent positions in government and society. Pharisees were strict rule-followers and carried themselves with an air of significance, believing themselves to be more holy than the rest. What lessons shall we glean from this powerful word picture? First of all, For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. By craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (1 Timothy 6:10, Matthew 6:21) Secondly, when we tend to be self-dependent- when we have wealth, fame, and the necessities of this existence. When we have no physical NEEDS, it is hard for us to realize our SPIRITUAL NEEDS. We become our own JEHOVAH JIREH, we sit on our throne! Lastly, Jesus is TO BE our PORTION, our Provision. We have all chosen to idolize something ahead of God. Relationships, riches, and even religion can fall under this umbrella. Without Jesus, we cannot make it to heaven. It does not matter how many Old Testament rules we have followed or how many times we have attended church, or WHICH CHURCH we attend. Camels have an easier time getting through needle eyes than we do getting to heaven on our own accord! Just like a camel will never get through the eye of a needle, Man cannot save himself, only the BLOOD OF JESUS can do that! With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.

Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth! I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done. – Psalm 78: 1-4 ESV

Warrior;

All throughout the OLD TESTAMENT, there is prophecy and shadows, and foretelling and forerunners. Chuck Missler’s quote on the Bible rings true and it rings loud! “The great discovery is that the Bible is a message system: it’s not simply 66 books penned by 40 authors over thousands of years, the Bible is an integrated whole which bears evidence of supernatural engineering in every detail.” The Old Testament was about a redeemer, the Messiah, about Jesus- It was to tell us about God, to show us the need for a Savior and to tell us about the coming Savior, His Name, His Purpose, His Way of Life, His Way of Death, what He would do and how He would do it! The Old and the New Testament should be looked at like the 1st half and the 2nd half of a great play, a great drama, a great romance: God’s love for Man and His pursuit of His Bride. It is about God’s actions to acquire, solidify and consummate the GREAT LOVE STORY! Many people in Jesus’ day erred in their thinking about how the Messiah would show up, what He would do and How the Kingdom of God would manifest itself. Many thought that Jesus would change everything. He would get rid of the OLD and bring about the NEW, However- as always is the case- we got it wrong! Saint Matthew recalls what Jesus told the crowds at the most powerful sermon ever preached, “Think not that I have come to destroy the Torah and the prophets; I have not come to destroy but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” (Matthew 5:17-18)

Leader, it was foretold that the Messiah would teach in Parables. As with ALL THINGS, our God is a God of Purpose. He has multiple reasons for everything He does. Our God is the OMNI God; Omniscient, Omnipresent, Omnipotent and Omni purposed! OMNI= ALL. I believe this is one of the reasons why Jesus taught in Parables. Stories, parables, analogies, Metaphors all allow for multiple meanings and understandings. Even those closest to Jesus wanted to know why the Parables, why use such colorful language patterns that allow people to derive ALL different types of meanings? Jesus’ disciples, His Apostles, and many today want to know why Jesus talked in Parables? Well, one of the reasons was because it was Prophesied that He would- so He did this in fulfillment of the scriptures. Got Questions dot org states the following: A parable is, literally, something “cast alongside” something else. Jesus’ parables were stories that were “cast alongside” a truth in order to illustrate that truth. His parables were teaching aids and can be thought of as extended analogies or inspired comparisons. A common description of a parable is that it is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. For a time in His ministry, Jesus relied heavily on parables. He told many of them; in fact, according to Mark 4:34a, “He did not say anything to them without using a parable.” There are about 35 of Jesus’ parables recorded in the Synoptic Gospels. It had not always been that way. In the early part of His ministry, Jesus had not used parables. Suddenly, He begins telling parables exclusively, much to the surprise of His disciples, who asked Him, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” (Matthew 13:10).

Conduit, “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:16, see also Romans 11:34) We do not know exactly ALL the purposes of God, but we can speculate and offer some educated reasons for some of God’s divine purposes. In the 2 verses listed, above, it shows us one reason for the parables, it puts us into a pattern that CREATES in us, THE MIND OF CHRIST. Some other possibilities: To keep His enemies off balance. The enemies of Jesus were always waiting for him to say something they could use against him (Luke 11:53-54). By speaking in parables, Jesus made it extremely hard for them. It would seem unjust to arrest Him for telling stories! To Enlighten the True Hearted; Jesus took advantage of occasions when multitudes flocked to hear him speak. Through the parables he could enlighten those whose hearts were sincere and receptive and who were hungering and thirsting for righteousness (Matthew 5:6). To Make People Think; Jesus knew that not everybody would understand or give proper thought to his parables. Some people tune their hearts and ears to God’s word, whilst others deliberately block their ears to God’s voice. Yet others neither tune nor block their ears —Jesus told parables to challenge people, to test their hearts. To Divide into Two; After telling the parable of the ‘Sower and the seed’, Jesus was asked by his disciples the question, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” (Matthew 13:10). Jesus answered by quoting Isaiah, concerning people who have eyes but do not see, and have ears but do not hear (Matthew 13:11-17, Isaiah 6:8-10). In telling the parables, Jesus was bringing pressure to bear upon his listeners, to either open their spiritual eyes and ears and be enlightened, or to shut their eyes and ears tighter and be condemned. Parables not only make people think, but they also make people choose. They bring people out of the grey area into the clearly black or white. The parables were a winnowing fork for Jesus, by which he was able to separate the wheat from the chaff. Lastly I believe part of the OMNI-PURPOSES for Jesus talking in Parables goes to the analogy of US, HIS CHURCH, being His Bride. In any amorous relationship, there is a seeking to know the deep things of the heart, mind, and spirit. It is a deep desire to know thy lover, deeper, a fuller intimacy and connection. Just like when a man courts a woman, he seeks out the inner workings of their heart and mind to connect and establish an intimate rapport. “This is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3). Do you hunger and thirst to know the heart and mind of God? Do you seek to KNOW HIM and make HIM KNOWN? God wants you to want Him and to search His Word, and in the process you will know His Way, His Will, and His Word! This TRUTH will set you free and give you GREAT FAITH and GREAT LOVE!

Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect. -1 Peter 3:13-15 ESV

Warrior;

No matter what is going on in the world, we are to be Holy as God is Holy. Holy and sanctified are synonymous. To sanctify something is to set it apart for God’s special use and purpose, to make holy similarly is to separate from the world and consecrate to God. Sanctification, and Holy is a matter of separation from the world by learning, and adopting, a different standard—God’s standard. Jesus spoke of Himself as being sanctified in John 17:19; in other words, He is holy and “set apart” from sin. His followers are to be similarly set apart from sin and for God’s use, for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:16). When we understand the Bible, and the WORDS in the Bible it helps our FAITH, it gives us HOPE. Again Faith and Hope, 2 words used throughout the Bible, are very closely related. Today, let us focus on verse 15, and the part of the verse that many have heard, many times; Always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the HOPE that is in you. The Gospel is called the GOOD NEWS, because it gives us HOPE when all around us are HOPELESS, or are HOPING for the World and man to get better! However if you read THE WORD, the World and Man, do NOT GET BETTER, they get worse and chaos increases as the ‘Time of the Gentiles’ comes to a close, but as followers of Jesus Christ we are to be a LIGHT in the DARKNESS. We are to bring CLARITY to the CONFUSION, HOPE to a HOPELESS WORLD! Our Hope is not in Biden, or in Trump. It is not in a vaccine or in Herd Immunity! If we don’t know where our HOPE IS, then how can we tell others where our HOPE LIES?

Leader, Dec 19, 1996 ‘Our Daily Bread’ states: ‘The English poet Alexander Pope wrote, “Hope springs eternal in the human breast: Man never is, but always to be blest.” But where does man turn when hope dries up? The director of a medical clinic told of a terminally ill young man who came in for his usual treatment. A new doctor who was on duty said to him casually and cruelly, “You know, don’t you, that you won’t live out the year?” As the young man left, he stopped by the director’s desk and wept. “That man took away my hope,” he blurted out. “I guess he did,” replied the director. “Maybe it’s time to find a new one.” Commenting on this incident, Lewis Smedes wrote, “Is there a hope when hope is taken away? Is there hope when the situation is hopeless? That question leads us to Christian hope, for in the Bible, hope is no longer a passion for the possible. It becomes a passion for the promise.” This is why we must know the WORD of God and know HIS PROMISES, to know HIM is to have HOPE, to know HIS WORD is to have HOPE in the confusion. This is why we can truly only be effective on this ‘rescue mission’, we can only be ‘soul winners’ if we have HOPE! The GOOD NEWS of JESUS CHRIST and His ministry of reconciliation is the REASON for the HOPE THAT WE HAVE! Even God tells us that we can not please him without this HOPE, because HOPE and FAITH go hand in hand! And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. (Hebrews 1:6)

Conduit, the FAITH HALL OF FAME in Hebrews 11 starts by defining FAITH, and here God ties FAITH to HOPE! Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Faith, Hope, and love are B.S.- Belief Systems. These three are closely tied together and they are important in the life of a true believer…God even tells us in1 Corinthians 13:13 of the value of these 3; And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. HOPE is defined as: to cherish a desire with anticipation, to desire with expectation of obtainment or fulfillment, desire accompanied by expectation of or belief in fulfillment, and lastly hope is defined as, to expect with confidence! That last definition is also a plausible definition of FAITH- to expect with confidence! In today’s ever darkening America we must KNOW HIS WORD. Many people identify as “Christians”, little Christs, followers of the Risen King, yet they know NOT His WORD, HIS WAY nor HIS WILL! Many Christians are hoping that Joe Biden can do this, and that the vaccine can do that, or that the economy might do this- they have their HOPE in things of this world and in the ways of man. We are to rejoice and grieve based on those things that bring Joy and Grief to our Father, who art in heaven, not on the things of the world. But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. (1 Thessalonians 4:13) Today, be DIFFERENT, be SET APART and BE HOPEFUL. So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18) Be Hopeful, be HOLY, be READY! Amen.