You Can't Thwart God's Plans

 

Can you change the future? Do you think that you have control over what happens tomorrow?

 

Psalm 115 verses 2 and 3 says,

Why should the nations say,

“Where is their God?”

Our God is in the heavens;

he does all that he pleases.

 

Now, read what happens in Esther 5 verse 9 through 6 verse 11.

Haman has planned to kill all the Jews in the Persian empire.

The date is set and the king has approved.

But Haman hates one particular Jew more than all the others.

So he has a gallows built and plans to hang Mordecai the next day.

 

That night the king can't sleep so he has the royal archives read to him.

That should be enough to put anyone to sleep.

But he hears that Mordecai had save his life perhaps a year or so earlier.

No one had rewarded Mordecai so the king decides to do so in the morning.

 

The king goes to his royal chamber and asks who is waiting outside.

Yup, it is Haman waiting to ask the king to hang Mordecai.

But the king asks Haman what should be done to honor a person the king wants to honor.

Haman's big ego thinks the king is talking about him.

 

So Haman answers in Esther 6 verses 7 through 9

“For the man whom the king delights to honor, let royal robes be brought, which the king has worn, and the horse that the king has ridden, and on whose head a royal crown is set. And let the robes and the horse be handed over to one of the king’s most noble officials. Let them dress the man whom the king delights to honor, and let them lead him on the horse through the square of the city, proclaiming before him: ‘Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.’”

 

Then the king tells Haman to do this for Mordecai.

Haman's plans fall apart because they are not the Lord's plans.

Not only does his plans fall apart but he is soon executed.

 

What's the moral of the story?

Get in tune with the Lord's plans.

His plan is to save people who turn to Jesus for salvation.

If you haven't done that, you will end up like Haman.

Watch my video on Youtube, "The Gospel in 3 Minutes" It will tell you how to know Jesus for salvation.

 

May God Bless you.

 

No one can thwart God's plans. His plan is to save many people and you can find out how to be saved. #bibledevotion #Haman #Mordecai #godsplans #repent #salvation #gospelin3minutes #jesussaves

Satan's Fall

Let's take a look at the Bible to see what happened with Satan's fall. Remember that Revelation 20:2 equates the serpent, dragon, Satan, and Devil. So we need to see him in all these roles.

Satan has more than one fall. Understanding that may clear up the problems. The first is his fall from grace into sin. Ezek 28:11 says he was in the Garden of Eden in perfection. Then, Ezek 28:15 says, " You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till unrighteousness was found in you. In verses 16 and 17 the Lord says he removed him from the mountain of God. And he cast him to the ground. This whole passage is very symbolic as it is a description of the king of Tyre. That was his first fall. It was a fall into sin.

In Genesis 3:1 we find him as a serpent in the Garden of Eden so it is after his first fall. Otherwise he would not have tempted Eve.

Then In Job 1:6-8 We find him coming before the Lord and reporting to him that he has been “going to and fro on the earth, and … walking up and down on it.” So Satan has access to both heaven and earth at this point in history.

Read 2 Chron 18:16-22 and you will that evil spirits are also present in heaven during the reign of the kings of Israel. In fact, one of the evil spirits is authorized by the Lord to become a lying spirit in the false prophets to accomplish the Lord's will. They and Satan can't do anything without permission from the Lord.

Then Jesus says he saw Satan fall from heaven in Luke 10:19. This was after he sent 72 disciple out to preach, heal, and cast out demons. This is his second fall when he loses some of his power.

Where is Satan now? Ephesians 2:2 indicates he is the ruler of the kingdom of the air. He has power in this world. Ephesians 6:10-18 tells us that he is actively fighting against us. 1 Peter 5:8 says, "Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." But we must resist him as Peter says in verse 9 and James says in James 4:7.

There is no doubt that at this time in history Satan is alive and well on planet Earth. He also has access to heaven because Revelation 12:10 tell us that he accuses us day and night before the Lord. Revelation 12:7-10 he loses his access to heaven in a battle with Michael and loyal angels. This is his third fall.

But that isn't his end. In Revelation 20:1-3 Satan is bound and thrown into a pit, not hell, and he is kept there for 1,000 years. That is his fourth fall. But, at the end of the 1,000 years, he will be release to deceive the nations.

Finally, in Revelation 20:10 the devil, that is Satan, is thrown into the lake of fire, that is hell And it says he will be there forever. That is his fifth and final fall.

Anyone who isn't a Christian, that is anyone who doesn't have the Holy Spirit living in them, is by nature following Satan according to Ephesians 2:2. watch my video on Youtube, "The Gospel in 3 Minutes" It will tell you how to know Jesus and be freed from Satan.

May God Bless you.

God's Purpose for You

 
What do you think the Lord's will is for you? What is your purpose on this earth? I'm not talking about the things that are clearly in the Bible, Like praying continually according to First Thessalonians 5 verse 17. Or to be holy according to First Peter 1 verse 16. I'm asking about what the Lord wants you to do with your life as you serve him.

We can see that everyone has a purpose as we look at Esther. She was a young Jewish girl, and orphan, taken against her will, to "try out" to be queen of the Persian empire. If she failed, she would become a concubine in the king's harem. Out of hundreds of beautiful young women, she was selected and became queen.

However an enemy of the Jews tricked the king to sign a decree to kill all the Jews in the empire. She was reluctant to ask the king for help, but her cousin told her this in Ester 4 verse 13 and 14 “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Think about the way the Lord arranged her circumstances to put her in the right place at the right time. And so, she was instrumental in saving the Jews. But remember it was the Lord who did it.

Every person in the Bible is an example of how the Lord has a purpose for a greater good. Seemingly insignificant people. The widow of Zarephath fed the prophet Elijah for three years. In a little village called Bethphage, someone owned a donkey and her colt. Their purpose was to loan them to Jesus for his triumphant entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. A man carrying a water jar led the apostles to the upper room where Jesus held the Last Supper.

Now, you may wonder what the Lord's purpose is for you? If you are fulfilling the specific commands of the Lord, like believing on Jesus for salvation, living a holy life, you are putting other before yourself, you are diligent in prayer and Bible, study, you are fulfilling his purpose for you.

Here is what the Lord says for each of us. Ephesians 2 verse 10 says, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." The Lord does have a plan for you. You may not understand it now.

If what you want to do isn't sinful, Then you are already fulfilling the Lord's purpose for you. Of course that is all predicated on knowing Jesus. If you haven't come to know Jesus, watch my video on Youtube, "The Gospel in 3 Minutes" It will tell you how to know Jesus.

May God Bless you.

Don't Dis God

 

King Sennacherib of Assyria had conquered many lands and took on Jerusalem. He sent his commander to intimidate Hezekiah by dissing Yahweh. He said this in  2 Chronicles  32 verse 9

 

"Now, therefore, do not let Hezekiah deceive you or mislead you in this fashion, and do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you out of my hand!"

 

Sennacherib even put it in writing. Do you know what happened? Two things, Hezekiah and Isaiah prayed. Then the Lord sent an angel and wiped out Sennacherib army. Then Sennacherib's sons killed him.

 

How do people dis Yahweh now?

• Saying the Bible isn't true.
• Saying that the universe created itself.
• Saying that marriage doesn't have to be between one man and one woman.
• Saying that your biological sex isn't what Yahweh made you to be.
•  Saying that Yahweh doesn't even exist, there is no God.
• Saying Jesus was only a good teacher or something like that.
• Saying that Yahweh didn't raise him from the dead.
• Saying that Yahweh  will not punish sin.
•  Saying that Jesus' death on the cross isn't enough to save us.
• Saying that you have to follow certain rules to be saved from Yahweh's wrath.
• Saying that you must say Yahweh instead of God or Lord.

Here's one of the worst ways of dissing the Lord. In Matthew 10 verse 32, Jesus says, "But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven."

 

If you have disrespected the Lord you can repent. He will forgive you. Don't be like Sennacherib. If you have dissed the Lord by not turning to Jesus for salvation.

Watch my video on Youtube, "The Gospel in 3 Minutes" It will tell you how to be saved.

 

May God Bless you.

 

Dissing God is disastrous for this life and especially for eternity. #bibledevotion #disgod #disownjesus #repent #salvation #gospelin3minutes #jesussaves

Wisdom Gained and Lost

 

Do you ever ask for wisdom? What do you want to do with that wisdom?

Solomon was much wiser when he first became king than at the end of his reign.

 

When he asked for wisdom, it is summarized in 1 Kings 3:9  when Solomon had a dream and ask the Lord, "Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?” The Lord was pleased and responded in verse 12 "Behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you. ESV

 

Don't you wish that our government leaders would ask the Lord for wisdom to run the country and know good from evil? I sure do. But the story doesn't end there. Listen to how Solomon finished his life.

 

In 1 Kings 11:1 it says, "Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women." ESV The Lord had expressly commanded that Israelites not marry in these nations because they would turn them to worship their idols instead of the Lord. And indeed, Solomon made idols for his wives. In verse 5 it says he went after the these gods which means he worshiped them.

 

That was the beginning of Solomon's downfall as he threw the Lord's wisdom out the window. Apparently he didn't follow his own advice in Prov 4:5 "Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth." ESV

 

We are told in 1 Cor 10:11-12 that all the things written in the OT were written as examples. They were written as warnings so if we think we are standing firm, we need to be careful that we don't fall.

 

Following in verse 13, we are told that the Lord won't give us anything we can't handle but will give us the way out of temptations. So let us be careful to ask for wisdom but when we get it, to follow it.

 

For anyone who doesn't know Jesus as Savior, getting wisdom means getting saved first. Watch my video on Youtube, "The Gospel in 3 Minutes" if you want to find how to be saved.

 

May God Bless you.

 

After getting wisdom we need to follow it or we will fall into sin like King Solomon did. #bibledevotion #Solomon #government #wisdom #temptation #falling #leaders #repent #salvation #gospelin3minutes #jesussaves

Cost of a Dysfunctional Family

 

The Bible tells it the way it is. The following is a story of rape, murder, intrigue, treason, and sorrow. It takes place in 2 Sam chapters 13 - 19.

It is to some extent that the fulfillment of God's judgment on David for his adultery with Bathsheba.

 

It starts with David's oldest son Ammon raping his half-sister Tamar. Tamar's brother Absalom rather crassly tells her to forget it. 2 Sam 13:21 says, "When King David heard of all these things, he was very angry." ESV David was King and Father to these three. But David didn't do anything. He didn't discipline in his own family.

 

Absalom plotted for two years then killed Ammon. Absalom fled and was brought back to David's after five years. After David received him back, Absalom plotted to overthrow David. Four years later, Absalom had support and declared himself king.

 

David fled from Jerusalem and regrouped his army. In the battle which killed thousands, Absalom was killed and David returned to Jerusalem. David mourned for Absalom and his obsession over Absalom almost cost him the support of his army and his kingship.

 

That was quite a story. It's the story of what happens when sin is not dealt with in a godly manner. It's the definition of being dysfunctional. David's own sin caused him to not deal with Ammon correctly. He didn't deal with Absalom correctly. He didn't show his appreciation to his army for saving him.

 

Perhaps you are in a dysfunctional family. People don't treat others in godly ways. You can be the first to change and repent of you sinfulness. If it is because you and family members don't know Jesus. You can be first to change. Watch my video on Youtube, "The Gospel in 3 Minutes" if you want to find how to change.

 

May God Bless you.

 

King David's dysfunctional family cost many lives and great heartache. It all starts with sin.  #bibledevotion #dysfunction #consequencesofsin #repent #salvation #gospelin3minutes #jesussaves

National Leader's Actions Have Consequences

 

Why did the Angel of the Lord want to destroy Jerusalem? It was because of the pride of David the King. David had sinned by taking a census of Israel. The only reason for a census was to go to war. But David did it to stoke his ego over being the king of a great number of people.

 

So the Lord sent a plague among the people to punish David. David repented and asked the Lord to stop the plague. The plague was being carried out by the Angel of the Lord.

 

In 2 Sam 24:16 the Lord answers David's prayer. "And when the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was working destruction among the people, 'It is enough; now stay your hand.'” ESV

 

The sins of public officials have consequences. They affect the whole nation because they are supposed to serve justly. During this upcoming year and future years, you will be required to vote for leaders who will run the country. If you are not careful to vote only for honorable people, You may find yourself suffering the consequences of their sin.

 

The same thing happens to families when the leader sins. Consequences cause problems in the family as I explain in the next post about David. But more important is your own integrity. Who do you affect when you sin? The story today tells us that even in the midst of the consequences, The Lord can change and restore.

 

If you don't know Jesus as your Savior, all you do is counted as sin. But you can repent and be saved. Watch my video on Youtube, "The Gospel in 3 Minutes" if you want to find how to be saved.

 

May God Bless you.

 

When government leaders sin, there are consequences to the nation. The same with family when the leader sins. Like David, we can repent and be restored. #bibledevotion #elections #government #integrity #leaders #repent #salvation #gospelin3minutes #jesussaves

Who Made God?

 

No one made God. By definition, God is eternal without begging or end. If any person or force or other entity made God, then that would be God. God can't even make God because the created being would not be eternal.

 

The Bible is clear about this. Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth" (ESV). This is the foundation for who God is. Before there was anything God was there.

 

God revealed his name, Yahweh, to Moses in Exodus 3:14, "God said to Moses, 'I am who I am'" (ESV). "I am who I am" is equivalent to saying "I exist because I exist." The Lord exists only because he is who he is. He is not dependent on anyone or anything, Instead everything is dependent on him.

 

Some religions claim that other gods created God. Mormonism or LDS believes that God was once a man, that man was created by his god and then made to be God. Then God creates all the people on earth and will make some of them to be gods.

 

The fallacy in this is that whoever made the man that became God would really be the God we should worship, not the created god. But they say even that god was a man who was made by his predecessor god. And that god was a man who was made by a god. That goes back into eternity and never stops. It is an endless regression without any true God being found.

 

God is also omniscient, he knows all and this is what he says about that foolishness. Isaiah 44:8 "Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one"  (NIV). Since God is omniscient he would know about other gods. If he were created by another god, he would know about that one. See, there is no other God. Not one who started a progression of gods and not one who created God.

 

Most people who ask this question do so to confound Christian. They are not being honest about the question. They don't really want an answer because that would mean they are accountable to God because God has made them.

 

I pray that if anyone who sees this and gets this far into it and doesn't believe in God, that they would recognize their sin and Are you insecure because you don't trust the Lord or know Jesus is your security? Watch this video I've made https://www.tiktok.com/@bibledevotiondaily/video/7091815127263038762?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7235060026946127406

 

If it makes sense and you want to be saved from your sins, then repent, express your faith in Jesus being your God, King, Savior, Priest, Judge and your righteousness, pray the prayer at the end of the video, if you pray and mean it,

Know God created you and loves you.

 

May God Bless you.

 

Who made God is not usually an honest question. It is usually an attempt to stump Christians. This blog explains the fallacy of thinking something created God. #bibledevotion #whocreatedgod #godeternal #onlyonegod #iam #Yahweh  #mormon #LDS #repent #salvation #gospelin3minutes #jesussaves

 

 

We Are All Goliaths

 

How many times have you heard the story of David and Goliath? It seems that Everyone says that just as David faced his giant, we can face ours. 

 

Baloney!

 

More often we are the Goliath. This story is not about how we can face our big trials in life. It's more about how we are Goliaths.

 

Ask yourself, why did David face Goliath? He faced off with Goliath because Goliath insulted God. The soldiers said in 1 Sam 17:26, "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (ESV). In defying the armies of the living God, he was challenging God's sovereignty.

 

David was aghast that no one would stand up for the Lord. When David went out to fight him,1 Sam 17:43 says, "And the Philistine cursed David by his gods" (ESV). That's us. We curse God by the idols in our lives.

 

David's response is in 1 Sam 17:45-47 where he says, "I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied ... I will cut off your head ... That all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, For the battle is the Lord’s ... and he will give you into our hand" (ESV).

 

This was a cosmic battle. It was about God's honor and that the whole earth will know about God. 

Are our battles about God's honor? No! We fight against Jesus, the descendant of David. When we don't see that our addictions, sexual sin, depression, and other sinful practices, dishonor God, we are Goliaths. We like Saul and his army, they are ineffective and don't challenge us. We don't want to see any Davids in our lives.

 

• We defy God by trying to clean up our own act.
• We defy God when we think that our salvation is about us and up to us.
• We defy God when we focus on fixing ourselves instead of bringing glory to God.
• We defy God when we don't overcome sinful behavior by God's power working in us.

 

The Holy Spirit is like David who comes to us to convict and destroy the sin in us. Our sins make us Goliaths but Jesus came to slay those sins.People who call themselves Christians and live like the world are Goliaths who are defying God. If that's you,  Watch this video I've made https://www.tiktok.com/@bibledevotiondaily/video/7091815127263038762?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7235060026946127406

Saul Hiding in the "Baggage"

Israel wanted and king and the Lord gave them one. When Samuel first brought up the subject with Saul, he answered in 1 Sam 9:21 “Am I not a Benjaminite, from the least of the tribes of Israel? And is not my clan the humblest of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then have you spoken to me in this way?” (ESV) He sounds like a humble person and this is what a great leader needs to be.

When it came time to reveal his kingship, all Israel gathered together. The Lord had them cast lots until the lot came to Saul. But where was Saul? The Lord told them, in 1 Sam 10:22 “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.” (ESV) Was this still humility or a character flaw, hiding for his duty?

Later when Saul disobeyed the Lord big time, Samuel said in 1 Sam 15:17 “Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel?" (ESV) He wasn't humble but insecure. His insecurity led him into disobedience because he didn't trust the Lord. Finally, it led him to envy, murder, paranoia, witchcraft, and suicide.

• Humility will seek the best for others and put them first.
• Humility will seek to be obedient to the Lord and trust him for the outcome of all circumstances.
• Insecurity takes matters into its own hands as Saul did in his disobedience.
• Insecurity is ultimately the sin of faithlessness or distrust.

Like any other sin, insecurity if not confessed and repented can lead to other sins as it did with Saul.

Are you insecure because you don't trust the Lord or know Jesus is your security? Watch this video I've made https://www.tiktok.com/@bibledevotiondaily/video/7091815127263038762?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7235060026946127406