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Posts Tagged ‘christianity’

The Spirit Quickeneth

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on March 27, 2026| 1 Comment »

I have always loved the KJV version of John 6:63, “It is the Spirit that quickeneth!”. It might be because my first Bible was a KJV (King James Version), after a while I switched to the NASB (New American Standard Bible). The NASB says “it is the Spirit that gives life”. The Greek word there means “To make that which was dead to live, cause to live, quicken”.

If left to ourselves, we could try to figure out what that means. But we do have examples in the Bible to help us. The first one is in Matthew 16 when Jesus asked the disciples, “Who do men say that I am?”. Peter was the one who said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!”. Jesus commends Peter and tells him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven”. It was the Spirit that quickened Peter!

How long had Peter walked with Jesus before he had received this divine revelation? This for him was a foretaste of what was going to happen to him on the day of Pentecost. This revelation by the Spirit had not happened to any of the other disciples. Peter along with the other disciples would still abandon Jesus at the crucifixion. Peter himself would deny the Lord three times. But that did not mean that Peter did not still love the Lord. What a trial it was for them.

What changed at Pentecost? Peter and the disciples were completely “quickened”, they were made alive by what Jesus had promised. In John 14:16 Jesus told the disciples “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; 17that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you, and will be in you”. What a difference! When Peter preached at Pentecost, he is a different person, he is a Spiritual man, quickened and helped by the Spirit. It says that three thousand were saved and baptized and filled with the Spirit. That promised Helper, the “Spirit of Truth” is still available to us today through Christ. Oh how we need help to walk the Christian life!

In John 7, Jesus tells us, “If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water. But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified”. At Pentecost, the Spirit became available to the disciples and to us!! The Helper that Jesus promised to send came!!

Think about it, Jesus tells us we can receive the Spirit, the Helper, and have “living water flowing out of our innermost being”! We will receive spiritual blessings, or communications of divine grace, in so great an abundance, that we shall not only be refreshed and comforted and helped ourselves, but we shall be instrumental in refreshing and comforting and helping others. Is that not why the Spiritual gifts are given, for the common good? It is not just for our own blessing; it is to flow from our innermost being to others as the Spirit leads.

If we can be reminded of this and ask the Lord to continually be a Help to us, would there be more outpouring not only on ourselves but outward to others? I encourage you to seek the Lord more concerning this, and to meditate more on His Word. Deepen your relationship with the Lord, “for out of your innermost being will flow rivers of living water”.

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The Wrong Question

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on March 14, 2026| Leave a Comment »

In Acts 1, we find Jesus giving final instructions to the disciples before His ascension into Heaven. They are still not quite understanding what is going to transpire when the Holy Spirit comes upon them. They are still thinking in worldly terms. In Acts 1:6-8 it says- “So when they had come together, they asked him, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

It is interesting that they asked this question. It was the wrong question! It was not answered by Jesus. Did they not remember that earlier in His Ministry, Jesus had predicted the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple (Matt 24)? Did they not remember that? They saw His glory and power, and naturally thought about the restoration of the kingdom to Israel. They still had a natural mindset. Jesus did not answer them, and He did not remind them of what He had prophesied against Jerusalem. About 40 years later, the destruction that He had predicted came to Jerusalem. In 70 AD, Titus, the future Roman emperor, worked his way thru Israel, destroying city after city, and eventually destroying all of Israel and the temple.

After Jesus had ascended to heaven and before the siege of Jerusalem, the church age began. God used the Apostles mightily during those years. Heb 2:4 “And God confirmed the message by giving signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit whenever He chose”. The Gospel went out to Jews and Greeks, to ALL the nations! Never before had this happened! The kingdom of God had come!!!!

When they had asked Him if He was going to restore the kingdom to Israel, He told them that it was not for them to know the times or the seasons. Jesus’ teaching had been all about the Kingdom of God having come to earth, about the circumcised in heart, Jews and gentiles!! The true Israel. The promises of God are for those who are children of the promise– it is the work of the sovereign God, creating children out of what no human being can do. By faith in Jesus, all people can be reckoned as part of the Kingdom of God. I don’t think the disciples understood this till after Pentecost. But God used them to fulfill the great mandate, that all the nations would hear the Gospel message and the message of the Kingdom of God. Their understanding was opened when they received the Holy Spirit. Their mind was no longer set on natural things, but on Spiritual things. What a difference! What a Kingdom!

May we all have our hearts and minds set on the Kingdom of God!!

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Soul Power vs Spirit Power

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on March 9, 2026| Leave a Comment »

The Latent Power of the Soul- Preface- Watchman Nee

“When in 1924 I first called the attention of God’s children to the dividing of spirit and soul, many well-disposed brethren thought of it as merely a dispute over words having no great significance. What they failed to see was that our conflict is not concerned with word but with that which lies behind. The spirit and the soul are two totally different organs: one belongs to God, while the other belongs to man. By whatever names one may call them, they are completely distinct in substance. The peril of the believer is to confuse the spirit for the soul and the soul for the spirit, and so be deceived into accepting, the counterfeit of’ evil spirits to the unsettling of’ God’s work.

This series of articles had originally been intended to be written immediately following the completion (in 1928) of The Spiritual Man. But because of physical weakness and the heavy burden of other service, I was only able to have them published in last year’s issues of Revival magazine. In response to the request of its readers, I now put forth this booklet.

The greatest advantage in knowing the difference between spirit and soul is in perceiving the latent power of the soul and in understanding its falsification of the power of the Holy Spirit. Such knowledge is not theoretical but practical in helping people to walk in God’s way.

Just last night I was reading what F. B. Meyer once said in a meeting shortly before his earthly departure. Here is a section of it: “This is an amazing fact that never has there been so much spiritualism outside the church of Christ as is found today . . . Is it not factual that in the lower part of our human nature the stimulation of the soul is quite prevailing? Nowadays the atmosphere is so charged with the commotion of all kinds of counterfeit that the Lord seems to be calling the church to come to a higher ground.”* Today’s situation is perilous. May we “prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (1 Thess. 5.21).” Amen.

Watchman Nee March 8, 1933

The insight that Watchman Nee had in 1924 is amazing. And it is amazing how relevant that insight is for today. This information is not new, we are told about it in both the New Testament and the Old Testament. I will only share one scripture from each Testament, since serious study and meditation are encouraged.

Hebrew 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart”. That really is the matter of the whole thing, isn’t it? Being able to judge the intentions of the heart? Since so much of what we see today has the soul as it’s source and not the Spirit. How can we sort it all out? Whenever you see hype in the church, is that not usually created by the soul? When there is a sweet presence of the Lord in our midst, you can always tell that it is “different”, is is “holy”, something that is “other”. It is “holy, set apart”.

In the Old Testament, Ezekiel 22:26 “Her priests have done violence to My law and have profaned My holy things; they have made no distinction between the holy and the profane, and they have not taught the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they hide their eyes from My sabbaths, and I am profaned among them”.

The Lord has always made a distinction between what is “holy” and what is “profane”, between what is of the “soul” and what is of the “Spirit”. It is safe to say that the Spirit is holy and set apart, and the soul is profane, unholy or as some translations put it, they are “common”. That is the distinction.

We all want God in our midst, to see Him move on our behalf. But we must learn to discern between what is of the “soul’ and what is of the “Spirit”. How do we do that? Well, we ask God to help us! We hold all things up to the light of the scriptures. We press in to the study of God’s Word. Knowing the scriptures is of vital importance. We must learn to walk by the Spirit in all things.

Free book download- The Latent Power of the Soul by Watchman Nee at

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B95KIam9hXiDdExvYW1PaXZJZzA/edit?resourcekey=0-DIWboCRxh-iO8_M-T3hr_A

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What is in Our Heart?

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , on February 10, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Deuteronomy 8:2-3 “And you shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. And He humbled you and let you be hungry and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD”.

It would be a hard lesson to learn in our modern convenient culture, that God would actually allow you to go hungry. That He would actually test you to see what was in your heart. What form could that testing take in our modern world? Would there be anything off the table so to speak? There is some mystery in understanding how God works in our lives, Paul tells us in Romans 8:28 that “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose”. Does that mean all things? What will He allow in our lives in this fallen world?

One of the worst things that I can think of, that God used for good, was Jesus dying on the cross for our sins. It doesn’t get any worse than that. Who has been tested at a greater level than Jesus? Who has been abused more? Especially considering His perfect, sinless life? I do not minimize anyone’s trials or abuse. Or anyone’s severe testing! Like Jesus, we must have our own Gethsemane. We must have our own “wrestling with God” in order to find His peace with the way He has allowed things in our lives.

When we read in Genesis of Joseph and the trials that he went thru, we get a glimpse of how God can work in our lives. It shows the providence and sovereignty of God. In relation to Joseph, we read in Psalm 105:19 “Until the time that his word came to pass, the word of the LORD tested him”. Joseph was tested and came through that test. I encourage you to read the story of Joseph.

Even Paul was given a thorn in the flesh to keep him humble, God would not heal him. Can we handle that God would not heal him? In 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 Paul tells us, “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, yet our inner self is being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory that is far beyond comparison. So, we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal”. When God tests us, it produces “an eternal weight of glory” that is beyond comparison.

John 16:33 “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

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Confident Assertions

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on February 2, 2026| Leave a Comment »

We live in an age of the church, where there are all kinds of speculations about the end times. There are speculations about who is prophetic and who is apostolic. There are speculations about Israel, a new temple, and red heifers. The writing of books regarding those speculations are endless. The number of podcasts and youtube videos of everyone’s thoughts on these issues is staggering. And everyone’s thoughts are mixed with some level of partial truth.

The thing that is scary is that many people are not grounded in the Word, and are easily swayed by speculative teaching. We are told in Ephesians that there is a fullness and maturity in Christ that we need to attain to, “attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming”.

1 Timothy 1:5-7 “But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from a sincere faith. Some people have strayed from these things and have turned aside to fruitless discussion, wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions”.

Confident assertions!!! Confident assertions are presented as something that is true. Someone might say that “God showed me this” when they are making these assertions. It might be a book, it might be a video, it might be a podcast, it might be on CBN or the Victory Channel and it might come from the pulpit on Sunday morning.

All these assertions are mixed with some level of truth, maybe even a some scripture reference. And a lot of it is pleasing to our ear. We must grow to maturity in Christ, to the fullness of Christ. We must have the mind of Christ; we must judge all things by the scriptures.

Millions of prophetic websites, teaching videos and books are a very poor replacement for the scriptures. They are not enough! They will not give you the depth that meditation on the scriptures will give you. If we fail to know the scriptures, and to know God, we will be swayed by every wind of doctrine that comes our way.

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Such Wise Men Are Too Rare

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on December 23, 2025| Leave a Comment »

By A W Tozer

Not much is known about the wise men who came out of the East in search of the newborn King of the Jews, but everything that is known is good. They were “wise men” indeed and checked well on every count.

As far as we know, these men did not have the advantage of a written revelation as did the Jews. They only felt after God in hope that they might find Him, and by His infinite goodness they did find Him. By the dim light of nature, aided perhaps by a tradition borrowed from the Jews, they learned that a Redeemer-King was to come out of Israel and their hearts conceived a great longing to worship Him and to lay some gift at His feet.

Imperfect and sketchy as their faith must have been, God honored it and whispered to them the wondrous news of the approaching Advent. That they were not mere ivory-tower religious dreamers is proved by the fact that they immediately set out to make the long journey, determined to follow the star till it led them to the Savior. Theirs is a good example, and their story a noble and heartening one to meditate upon in this day of universal religious lethargy.

So rich is this story, so replete with lofty and elevating details, that it has been read and told for 20 centuries without exhausting its treasures or dulling the shining luster that surrounds it. Each hearer finds in it something new and fresh each time it is told. But to me at this approaching Christmas season the story of the wise men says two things and says them loudly.

One is that a longing soul with scanty theological knowledge is in a better position to meet God than a self-satisfied soul, however deeply instructed in the Scriptures.

The wise men were Gentiles, “being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world.” Yet they saw the star and left all to make the long, dangerous journey to lay worthy gifts at the feet of Jesus. They acted on small knowledge and found the Messiah. That is to their everlasting credit.

On the other hand there were in those days chief priests, high priests, scribes, lawyers, rulers of the synagogues—all keen-eyed students of the Scriptures and experts in the Law and the Prophets; yet as far as we know not one of them had any spiritual awareness that the great day of Israel’s visitation had come. They could tell the wise men instantly what the prophets had written about the birthplace of the King, but their knowledge was formal merely. They themselves were blind to its real meaning. Gentiles had to come and rouse them from their strange stupor, if indeed they were ever aroused, for there is little evidence to show that they understood the wise men or knew what all the excitement was about.

The second message the story brings is that the wise men came to Jesus not to gain something from Him but to give something to Him.

This circumstance is so unusual as to be almost incredible. We must shake our heads to dispel the clouds from our minds and wait a moment to let our thoughts clear before we can grasp such an idea. It is all so contrary to everything we have been hearing all our lives. Imagine coming to Christ with any other motive than to gain something from Him!

This one act stands almost alone in the life of our Lord. Almost, I say, but not quite, for Mary later broke the alabaster box and poured the precious ointment on His head, and after His crucifixion the two Marys came to look for Him; asking nothing, expecting nothing, but impelled by a selfless love they came to bear His body away. Beyond this there is little evidence of anything as pure and lofty as the worship offered by the wise men. Possibly there was more than we know, and charity would dictate that we at least hope that there was.

One thing that makes the act of unselfish worship appear so beautiful is that it is so rare. Apparently the people of Jesus’ day thought of Him as a source of help merely, and it is the “merely” that makes the whole thing questionable. A source of help He was indeed, a fountain in the desert, a star to guide the mariner, bread for the hungry, health for the afflicted and everything that fallen and sinful man can need. Yes, He is our helper, but not our helper merely. He is our Lord and our God as well, and infinitely worthy of our ardent, poured-out love and devotion altogether apart from anything He may do for us.

While Christ walked on earth many came to Him, and the motives that brought them were almost as many as they who came. They sought to make Him a king for political gain; they sought preferment for personal ends, as the brothers James and John. They came for healing, for deliverance, for help for themselves, their children and their friends. Among these motives, if some were questionable, others were good and legitimate, but none was wholly free from selfishness of a sort.

Once a leper came to Jesus. In his great distress he could think of only one thing—getting rid of his repulsive sores and becoming a well man again. He came because he wanted something, and the Lord understood and gave it to him. His motive was not the highest, but it was acceptable. Later he came back with a heart full of gratitude and fell on his face to worship Jesus. The first pleased the Lord, no doubt, but the second pleased Him more—The Price of Neglect, A W Tozer chapter 39

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My Good Friend Peter Peters

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on December 17, 2025| Leave a Comment »

For many years, Peter was one of my closet friends. We challenged each other spiritually, many times over lunch. He was a year or two older than me but we shared many of the same things growing up. We were both heavily influenced by the Jesus Revolution in the early 1970’s and grew up in 1950’s America. It was always fun to discuss those days and to see the similarities since we grew up in different states. He was raised in Florida and I was raised in northern Illinois. The same Spirit influenced our lives yet we were miles apart! We were kindred spirits. Peter passed away a couple of years ago and I miss him dearly.

What was different about Peter was that as a child he contracted polio. He spent time in an “iron lung”. All the years that I knew him, he was in a lot of pain with severe back and spine issues. When I first met him he used crutches and as time went by he had to start using a wheel chair. He was still able to drive so he would pick me up for lunch and when we got to the restaurant, I would get the wheel chair out of the trunk and help him get in to it. We both cherished those lunches.

Peter told me that as a child, he always “knew God”. He did not blame God for his condition, he was “content with his weakness”. He had a wonderful ministry of helps and encouragement to others. I can still see him sitting there at the back of the church in his blue wind breaker, with people coming to him for advice and encouragement. I myself sat with him back there for some of that encouragement. It was the Apostle Paul who wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:10 “I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong”. That was Peter! A living example of being content with the hand that God had dealt him. Peter was at peace with it and was used of God in many ways. He was not mad at God, he was content.

He was always glad when people wanted to pray for him to be healed, but he told me that in his heart he always knew that God had him that way for a reason. That is a hard thing for many to understand, especially in some churches where there is so much emphasis on healing and deliverance. Peter had a deeper wisdom and understanding. He understood why, when the Apostle Paul prayed and asked for healing, that the Lord denied him of that healing three times. 2 Corinthians 12:8 “Concerning this I entreated the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness, most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me”. I have never met anyone who understood this more than Peter. Peter’s depth in the Lord was formed by his suffering; many people do not understand that.

Even Jesus Himself in Hebrews 5:8 “learned obedience thru the things that He suffered” and in Hebrews 2:10 “In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting for God, for whom and through whom all things exist, to make the author (Jesus) of their salvation perfect through suffering’. Hebrews 11:34 talks about those who “out of weakness were made strong”.

That was Peter, out of weakness he was made strong! And he shared his strength with many.

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Be Ye Perfect

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on December 5, 2025| Leave a Comment »

I have always wondered about the verse in Matthew 5:48, “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect”. How can I be perfect? We read in Ecclesiastes 7:20 “Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins”. That is me, I follow Jesus, but I am not perfect, I still have “little foxes” that I deal with. Yes, we are made perfect through the blood of Christ, but we are still maturing as we walk along “the way”.

This brings to mind the verse in 2 Timothy 2:15 “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth”. We are at a disadvantage when we study the scriptures, since it was given to us in Greek and there are many different translations. That is not a bad thing, it just means that we have to be more diligent and “handle accurately the Word of truth”. For me it means studying the Bible, looking at different translations and try to understand Greek words. This is very helpful in understanding what the Bible says. When one looks at the Greek word for “perfect”, the eyes of our understanding will be opened a little.

The call to “be perfect” is a directive that follows Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount, where He outlines the attitudes and behaviors expected of His followers. The Greek word for “perfect” is “teleios,” which implies completeness or maturity rather than flawlessness. This phrase suggests a call to spiritual maturity and moral integrity. In the context of the Sermon, it follows teachings on love, forgiveness, and righteousness, indicating that perfection involves embodying these virtues fully. The use of “therefore” connects this command to the preceding verses, which emphasize loving one’s enemies and praying for those who persecute you, suggesting that perfection(maturity) is linked to love and mercy.

So when we read that we are to be “perfect”, it means we are to be “mature” in Christ. We are told in Hebrews 5:14 “But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained their senses to distinguish good from evil”. Also in Ephesians 4:-16 “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love”. We are to grow to be a “mature man” in Christ.

There is much to say about being a “babe” in Christ vs being “mature” in Christ. Paul, in all of his letters addresses this problem. In 1 Corinthians 3:1 Paul says, “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to babes in Christ”. I encourage you to study 1 Corinthians.

Let us “press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus”.

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Mysteries and Hidden Things

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on November 22, 2025| Leave a Comment »

We are told in Daniel 2:17-23, that Daniel prayed to God about the mystery of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. We are also told that mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision in the night, and that Daniel then blessed the God of Heaven. Verse 21- 22 says “He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; He reveals deep and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him” (ESV). In Psalm 139:12 we are told “…even the darkness is not dark to You, for darkness is as light to You”.

Hebrews 4:12-13 “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account”.

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight, all things, whether it be the thoughts or intents of our hearts, mysterious dreams in the night or all the mysteries of creation. All things are laid bare; He has all knowledge. But for us there are still many things hidden. We must seek the Lord to learn His ways, like Daniel, we must seek Him to discover and understand the things that are hidden from us.

There is a hidden manna, that God will give to those who overcome. Revelation 2:17 says “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it”. Barnes Commentary – Will I give to eat of the hidden manna – The true spiritual food; the food that nourishes the soul. The idea is, that the souls of those who “overcame,” or who gained the victory in their conflict with sin, and in the persecutions and trials of the world, would be permitted to partake of that spiritual food which is laid up for the people of God, and by which they will be nourished forever.

There is a hidden wisdom that Paul speaks of that will be given to those who are mature in the Lord. “Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Corinthians 2:6-10).

In the New Testament, Jesus spoke in parables and many who did not accept Him did not understand the parables. Even the disciples at times did not understand the parables. The disciples were not ready for meat. We must mature in the Lord to be able to find the things that are a mystery. In our own lives before the Lord, we must be mature and we must be overcomers. God does not give that hidden wisdom to those who have not sought the Lord and matured in the Lord. We are to be seekers, and that means we must set aside time with the Lord. Jamieson Commentary- Those matured in Christian experience and knowledge alone can understand the true superiority of the Christian wisdom which Paul preached. Distinguished not only from worldly and natural men, but also from babes, who though “in Christ” retain much that is “carnal” (1Co 3:1, 2)

Hebrews 5:12-14 “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil”.

Let us press onward and inward, into a deeper walk with the Lord. As we endure trials and temptations in this world, let us be steadfast in the Lord and allow the Lord to “train” us. Let us continue to pray, “deliver us from evil”. “But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you”.

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Days of Deception

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on November 15, 2025| 2 Comments »

Never in the history of the world has there been the level of deception that we are now experiencing. Never has there been so much power available to governments, corporations and political parties. The spreading of lies and deception through media outlets and the internet should awaken us to the fact that we are racing toward the end of all things.

Is this just some sort of societal advancement? Is this just the natural progression of humanity, the advancement of technology? Or is it God removing his restraining hand? We are told in the story of the tower of Babel, that God confused their languages because he basically wanted to restrain the people from being able to accomplish whatever they put their mind to. Genesis 11:6-7 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language, they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other”. I clearly see that as God restraining them. But the advancements in all areas of our lives, it seems that man can accomplish anything he puts his mind to, His restraining hand is being removed!

We see from 2 Thessalonians 2:7-12 that Paul acknowledges that even in those days, there was a “secret power of lawlessness at work” and that there was someone “restraining the lawlessness”, I believe that it was God who was doing the restraining, by whatever means He chose.

In these days, with the advancements in technology and the increasing deception that is coming with it, is God removing His restraining hand? I believe that He is! We also know from 2 Thessalonians that God Himself will send a strong delusion on the earth. That is frightening.

The “mystery of lawlessness” is ever increasing in our modern world. Are we aware of it? Do we see it? Or are we just enamored by the ever-increasing technology and the possibilities of AI? Do we see the danger of these new technologies? Do we see that governments, corporations and political parties will control all of these technologies? Do we see that these tools can and will deceive us if we are not wholly walking by the Spirit? Lord help us!

 We have to realize that God does control all of what is happening these days. He warned us about it and there is great comfort in that! Knowing that all things are in His hand. He chooses when to restrain and when to remove His restraining hand! We know from scripture that He will send a delusion, let us not be surprised by that. We have to believe that we can avoid the delusion and avoid the deception. We have to be discerning and study our Bibles that we may have insight into these days. I urge you, spend more time in your Bible! Pray the Lord’s prayer, “lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil”. As the Lord for more of His Spirit!

2 Thessalonians 2:7-12 “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. And then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. And for this reason, God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth but took pleasure in wickedness”.

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