Are You Compromising?

Scripture Reading: Daniel 1

Focus Verse: Daniel 1:8  "But Daniel was determined not to defile himself by eating the food and wine given to them by the king.  He asked the chief of staff for permission not to eat these unacceptable foods."

Daniel decided in his heart that he would not eat the King's food and wine.  It may be because the food wasn't in line with Jewish food laws.  However, his decision meant that he could have been put to death for not eating the food offered to him by the king.  But he decided even if it meant death he would not compromise, and he would stay true to God. 

Every day we are faced with decisions to compromise or to not compromise with God's standards.  We live in a land where many do not honor God.  As Christians we must decide, "will I compromise my purity?  Will I compromise my integrity?  Will I compromise my lifestyle?"  What kind of price do we pay for compromising these things in our life?  

Do you compromise your beliefs for gain?  Are you willing to be dishonest to gain financially?  Satan will tempt you into thinking that this is okay.  Satan will say "after all you need to feed your family and provide for them.  But God can certainly provide for your family without you cheating and stealing to gain. 

Don't compromise your Christian character and testimony by listening to Satan's lies.  I hope we can all stand before God one day knowing that we have not compromised our beliefs to gain something that we can't keep anyway. 

Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries

In a Pit?

Bible Reading: Genesis 50

Focus Verse: Genesis 50:20 "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today."

Joseph underwent trial after trial, the first being that Joseph's brothers put him in a pit in the ground and then sold him into slavery.   God meant it for good so that Joseph could save his family during the famine.  This was intended for harm, but it brought a better outcome because of God.

Do you ever feel like you are in a pit?  Some pits are just part of life, some pits we fall into for lack of awareness, some pits are from decisions our leaders or others make around you, and other pits are from our own decisions.

There's a story: One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down.

A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.

As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!

Understand this :
Life is going to shovel trials like dirt on you, all kinds of trials.  In the story of the donkey, the people intended the dirt for burial, but God used it for GOOD.  We can get out of the deepest wells just by trusting God to show us the way out.  Shake it off and take a step up. God will provide our path when we are trusting in Him. (proverbs 3:5-6) There is always God's presence, God's purpose and God's promise in the lives of those who belong to Him.

~Page Johnson
Interlocking Ministries
 

When Will Jesus Return?

When Will Jesus Return?

Scripture Reading: Matthew 24:5-8, 32-44

Focus Verses: Matthew 24:36  "No one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.”

The short answer is nobody knows when Jesus will return.  Only God knows.   Jesus has given us some important clues in verses 5-8.  “Many will come in my name, claiming, I am the Christ, and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.”  We are seeing all of these things happening today that are mentioned in these verses.  

Jesus could come back today or it could be a thousand years from now.  We need to live expecting that He could return at any time.  The Bible says that Jesus' return will be like it was in Noah’s day.  Noah warned them that rain was coming. But people went about their lives as normal.  They didn’t realize what was about to happen.  The flood came and swept them all away.  

I see people today not giving any thought about God.  Just as Noah warned the people of his day.  We need to warn the people of our day.  We are responsible for this generation.  Romans 10:14 says, "But how can they call on Him to save them unless they believe in Him? And how can they believe in Him if they have never heard about Him? And how can they hear about Him unless someone tells them?”   We don’t know when Jesus will return, but He will return.  So we need to share the good news of the Gospel with them before it’s too late.

Bobby Johnson

Interlocking Ministries

Tempted to go Back

 Tempted to go Back
Bible Reading: John 21:1-14
Focus verse: John 21:3-6 – “I am going out to fish, “Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We will go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Early in the morning Jesus stood on the shore but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. He called out to them, “Friends haven’t you any fish?” “No, they answered.”

When life becomes unbearable we often get tempted to go back to our initial way of life. We try to justify why we cannot continue holding strong into the faith. Some begin to think that God did not clearly speak to them about serving Him or maybe they did not make a right choice to follow God. They think it would have been better off for them in their previous way of life. These people may end up winning others to go back with them to their past way of life. Simon Peter finds things unbearable for him after Jesus was crucified and he feels he is not safe to continue with life as a disciple and a fisher of men. He shares his new decision to go back with other disciples who also jointly agree to go back with him. He forgets that Jesus had taken them away from fishers of fish to fishers of men.

The result of this decision is very disappointing! They did not catch any fish despite an all night struggle to get some. Isn’t this what others have faced when they are tempted to go back to their initial way of living? Actually others have ended worse than before and have lived not to see the joy they had hoped for in their going back. They try fixing it again and again but end up wasting their strength and resources. As it happened to Peter and the friends; a decision to go back will never result in any fruit. It is a decision for grief, disappointment, shame, regrets and even death. Regardless of the circumstances we must not think of going back. But Jesus is faithful and is out looking for a soul which is tempted to go back into former life so that he may bring him back. He has the power to restore and bring back those which have abandoned service for God’s Kingdom. All our life victories have been because He has been our side and unless we stay in him we cannot get any catch. John 15:5, “I am the vine; you are the brunches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

Pastor Eliazar Wambo
Makira Baptist Church – Mfangano Kenya

Keep Moving Forward

Scripture Reading: 1 Timothy 4

Focus Verse: 1 Timothy 4:1  “Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith, they will follow deceptive spirits and teaching that come from demons.”  NLT

There are many indications that tell me that we are living in the end times.  One of those signs is that people will turn away from the true Gospel and follow a false gospel.  My friend Pastor Greg Laurie gives some good notes on this:  "We must be on our guard against Satan’s clever counterfeits, because as this passage tells us, he will be at work in the last days.  In fact, we are warned that some in the church will fall prey to these deceptive spirits and teachings. Therefore, as you listen to various teachers and pastors today, remember this:

* Any so-called gospel that distorts the message of Jesus as found in the Bible by either adding to it or taking away from it is not the true        

  Gospel.

* Any so-called gospel that offers Christianity without Christ or the cross is not the true Gospel.

* Any so-called gospel that promises forgiveness without repentance is not the true Gospel.

* Any so-called gospel that presents the hope of Heaven without the reality of hell is not the true Gospel."

"These are watered down versions that will give you false assurance. Such teachings are extremely hazardous to your spiritual health. Stay away from them at all costs."

There is no such thing as staying still in your spiritual journey.  Either you are going forward or you are moving backwards.  Satan will do all he can to get you to move backwards away from God.  Let us stay focused on God, the source of our strength so we can keep moving forward.

Bobby Johnson

Interlocking Ministries

God, Where Is The Good?

Scripture Reading: Romans 8:18-30

Focus Verse: Romans 8:28  “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.” NLT

Romans 8:28 has always been a hard verse for me to understand.  If I were to plan out my own life I would not have planned everything the way it has gone.  And perhaps you would not have planned everything in your life the way it has gone either.  This verse has a very strong promise written here.  The promise is that God makes everything to work for our good.  But, the verse also says that if we want this to qualify for this promise,  then we must love God and be called by God for His purpose.  Another thing to notice about this verse is that God does not promise we will see the good.  We may not fully realize how good the plan is that God has for us until we get to heaven.

I’m reading in the news today about a strong Christian family that just had their oldest daughter murdered.  She was in college studying to be a nurse because she loved people and wanted to help people.  Where is the good in this?  I don’t know how God will bring good out of this situation, but this verse in Romans promises that He will.  I’m reading testimony by the parents of this young girl that was murdered a few days ago and it is obvious that they have a very strong faith in God, and they believe Jesus will help get them through this senseless tragedy.

 

Let these parents of this girl be an example to us to walk so close to God that we could weather a storm like this.  Even when we can’t see the good in all of life's circumstances, David reminds us of another promise of God in Psalm 23:4  “Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for You are close beside me.  Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.”  Let’s remember just because we can’t see God doesn’t mean He’s not here.  God is always present in our lives working out the good for us even when we can’t see it.  That is real faith.

Bobby Johnson

Interlocking Ministries

Don't Separate

Bible Reading:  Matthew 19:1-12
Focus Verse: Hebrews 3:8  "Don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled, when they tested me in the wilderness."

Jesus had just finished teaching about how to handle a brother’s sin against you and how much we should forgive.  I don’t think it’s an accident that that is covered just before marriage.  Forgiveness is needed regularly in any marriage based on our nature to sin.  The Pharisees came to test him and asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”  Jesus replied that from the beginning, God created them male and female to be united as one.  God joins them together and man should not separate.  There was a concession given by Moses for marital unfaithfulness, but only because of the hardness of their hearts.  He said it wasn’t that way in the beginning.  Jesus went so far as to call it adultery if someone divorces and remarries for any reason other than that. 

There is a beautiful trinity in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  At the end of each day of creation, God said it was good.  After He created Man and Woman, he said it was “Very good!”  Why this difference?  We are not like the animals.  Marriage is a reflection of the unity found in the trinity.  Jesus many times said that the “Father and I are one”.  Now he says that man and wife will become one.  We are to honor that commitment. 

After saying this, it stands to reason that you should be careful and prayerful as you choose the person you will marry.  I remember when I was in High School that I made a list of the qualities that I was looking for in a husband.  I then rated them in priority.  Sure, we can get swept up in emotional love, but the lasting marriage takes commitment.  Remember how I started this devotion?  It was about forgiveness.  It really works.  Be sure that when you marry, you both are committed for life!  Begin now by praying about the person that you will marry.  Pray for that person as they walk with Christ.  If you are married, pray for your spouse and seek to build the unity between you through becoming closer to Christ together.  Pray together,  read God's word together and serve God together.

~Page Johnson
Interlocking Ministries