Does God Always Hear Us?

Bible Reading: Psalm 66

Focus Verse:  Isaiah 59:2  “But your iniquities have separated you from your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear you.”

Our focus verse today is pretty straight forward.  If you have unconfessed sin in your life, God will not hear you when you pray.  There are several verses in the Bible that tell us this.  Psalm 66:18 says, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.”  Regard means "to hold on to”.

If you say “well I don’t sin anymore”.  Believe me, you do still sin.  As a Christian I still sin.  And we probably sin more than we think we do.  1John 1:8 says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”   A good way to start out our prayer time is by telling God you’re sorry for your sins, thank Him for forgiving you and then repent or turn away from the sin.  And if you know specific sins, name them.  You may want to do this when it’s just you alone with God.  You can ask God to help you see that sin the way He sees it.  You can also ask God to help you learn how to resist the temptations.

Our sin breaks our fellowship with God, but when our sin is confessed, our fellowship with God is restored and strengthened.  However, there are some people who call themselves Christians and they love sin and continue to sin and have no plan to stop sinning.  Some even call their sin acceptable to God. That's when I wonder if that person is really saved.  A true Christian is sorry for what they’ve done wrong and feels that guilt with the help of the Holy Spirit.

One of the greatest promises in God’s Word is that when I do sin and then confess my sin, 1 John 1:9 tells us that "God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  And that, my friend, can give you a lot of peace in your life, knowing your sin is forgiven.  I am so thankful for a forgiving Heavenly Father!

Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries

New International Version: Psalm 66

¹⁸ If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened;
¹⁹ but God has surely listened
    and has heard my prayer.
²⁰ Praise be to God,
    who has not rejected my prayer
    or withheld his love from me!

Live What You Preach

Scripture Reading: Matthew 5:13-16

Focus Verse: Matthew 5:13  “You are the salt of the earth.  But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor?  Can you make it salty again?  It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.”

The Bible says that as Christians we are to be salty and full of flavor so that we create a thirst for God in others.  Verse 16 says ... "In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father."  Does the way you live create a thirst for Christ in others?  Does your life cause others to praise the Lord?  We desire those moments when we can share with others what Christ has done in our lives. We pray for wisdom in sharing with the lost. Don’t be judgmental but share with them about their lost condition in a loving way.  God is a God of love, but He is also a just God and sin will be punished. 

We know that a pastor who stands before the church every Sunday and delivers a sermon has his life under the magnifying glass.  People are watching to see if he is living what he preaches. Let me go a step further and say that if you call yourself a Christian, people are also watching you.  They want to see if you are living up to the Name of being a Christ follower.  People who call themselves a Christian and then live a life apart from Christ do a lot of damage to the cause of Christ. When there is fighting inside the church, the outside world is watching.

Remember your life is preaching a message even if you don’t open your mouth.  So lets be salty today, and create a thirst in someone to come closer to God.

Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries

Three Prayers - Two Answered Yes, One Answered No

Scripture Reading:  Mark 5:1-20

Focus Verse: Mark 5:19  “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.”

Our scripture reading today is the story of a demon possessed man.  Throughout my ministry in Kenya I have seen several demon possessed people.  I believe that much of the sin and problems that we have in the world today is influenced by demons and the devil, but God is more powerful that any of them.

Jesus crossed the sea and was met by this demon possessed man running out of the tombs.  The demons recognized Jesus and begin talking with Him and the first prayer takes place.   The demons know that Jesus has the power to cast them into torment when he told them to leave the man.  So they request that Jesus send them into a herd of pigs.  So Jesus heals the man and granted the demons request.  The pigs then went crazy and drowned themselves in the sea.  The village people came and saw the man clothed and in his right mind.  They also heard about the pigs.

The second prayer in our story was by the people in the village.  The drowned pigs did not make the people in the village very happy. They pleaded that Jesus leave them and their village.   Jesus answered their prayer and left.  Many societies in the world today have asked God to leave, and He has.  But one day they will be sorry they have made that request. 

The third prayer that we see was made by the man that was healed.  As Jesus got into the boat to leave, he requested to go with Jesus.  And Jesus said, no.  Jesus wanted him to stay in his village and be a missionary to his people.  This man had been possessed by demons, but became a living example of the compassion and power of Jesus.  Jesus wanted him to share his story so that others can know of the Lord's compassion.  If you are a child of God you also have a powerful testimony of how God has transformed your life. Share it with someone today.

Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries

Blessed are the Poor in Spirit

Blessed are the Poor in Spirit
written by Greg Laurie

Bible reading: Matthew 5
Focus verse: Matthew 5:2  “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”

If we rewrote the Beatitudes for our culture today, they probably would look like this:

Blessed are the wealthy, for they will have it all.
Blessed are the beautiful, for they will be admired.
Blessed are the popular, for they will be loved.
Blessed are the famous, for they will have followers on social media.

However, that isn’t what Jesus said. Instead, He started the Beatitudes with a bombshell: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:2 NKJV). Or, to say it another way, “Happy are the poor in spirit.”

Notice that Jesus didn’t say, “Blessed are the poor.” Rather, He said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit” (emphasis added). In itself there is no blessedness in being rich or poor. The Bible doesn’t commend poverty, nor does it condemn wealth.

But the Bible does say this: “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10 NKJV). I’ve met wealthy people who were happy and poor people who were miserable. I’ve also met poor people who were happy and wealthy people who were miserable.

So it isn’t about your bank account. It’s about your spiritual state before God. The word poor in this verse comes from a verb meaning “to shrink, cower, or cringe.” Beggars often did this in Jesus’ day.
If you want to be happy, if you want to receive God’s blessing, then you must be poor in spirit. This means recognizing your spiritual poverty apart from God. It means recognizing the simple fact that, apart from the Lord, you’re lost, helpless, and hopeless.

If you want to be happy, then admit your true spiritual state. Blessed are those who see themselves as they really are, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Called To A Higher Standard

Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 1:13-25

Focus Verses: 1 Peter 1:15-16  “But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy.  For the scripture says, you must be holy because I am holy.”

Are you born again?  As Christians God has called us to a standard that is above the world.  Peter says "we are to be holy in everything we do, just as God who chose us is holy."  Who can measure up to the standard of God?  Jesus makes that possible.  It is Jesus that has already experienced the temptations of this world, so He can identify with us in this higher standard we are to live.  1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience.  And God is faithful.  He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand.  When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.”  If you are going to live a Christian life that is “all in” it’s not easy.  We all know people that call themselves Christians, but they still look like the world.  But if we are going to live a holy life with a higher standard then we have just put a target on our back, and Satan will be after us.  The Bible also says,”greater is He [Holy Spirit] that is in us, than he [Satan] that is in the world." (1John 4:4)  It is so important that we don’t get too far away from The Lord who is our source of help if we want to live this higher standard.  It’s not easy, but it is possible to live this Christian life with a higher standard because of our Him.  There can be victory in our lives!


Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries

When it's Your Fault

Scripture Reading: Hebrews 4:11-16

Focus Verse: Hebrews 4:16  “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

We can all think of times when we have made bad choices in life.  Maybe you have not been faithful to your husband or wife.  Perhaps you chose a job that you don’t enjoy.  Or, maybe you cheated your way through school, and you now wish you would have studied.  When we look back at our past it can be painful to see the mistakes we’ve made.  Some years we may just wish we could live them over again, because we would do things differently.  You now live with guilt and regret, and you have no one to blame but yourself, even if you are blaming others for your bad decisions.

You can’t change your past, but the first step in moving forward is taking ownership of your choices.  This may not be easy if you’re thinking nothing good can come from this situation.  The good news is, God can take our bad choices and bring some good out of them.  God’s redemption and grace can give you the courage to face your bad choices.  Psalm 32:4-5 says,  “For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.’ And you forgave the guilt of my sin”.  

You don’t have to blame others for your mistakes.  Tell God, “yes I sinned or yes I made bad choices."  He wants to forgive you, and bring something good out of your situation.  All you have to do is look at the cross, and you can see how God can bring good from that awful death His own Son Jesus.  God took that situation to redeem the human race.  God wants to cover you with His grace.  He want to forgive you.  He wants to make something beautiful out of your choices.

As God forgives you, you can now learn from the mistakes you have made.  God is always at work in our lives.  He loves us too much to leave us right where we are.  He is continually shaping us into the image of His Son.  1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness”.   When you make mistakes, be encouraged that God’s not through with you.  Confess your faults and move forward with God.

Bobby Johnson

Interlocking Ministries

Jesus, The Only Way

Jesus, The Only Way

Scripture Reading:  John 14:1-14

Focus Verses: John 14:5-7 “Thomas said to him, Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?  Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  If you really know me, you will know my Father as well.”

In the world today there is probably more confusion about how to get to heaven than any other subject.  Every religion seems to think they know how to get to heaven.  Most all of them involve some type of works based salvation.  But salvation is not about what we can do.  It’s about what Jesus has already done for us.  The only way to God is through faith in Jesus Christ.  Jesus is the only path to God.  If we could do anything to earn our way to heaven,  then Jesus’ death on the cross was in vain and all the pain that Jesus endured on the cross would be worthless.  

What the Bible teaches is true.  There is no other way to heaven except through Jesus.  There is no other way to God except through Jesus.  Salvation is so simple, yet so many people are missing it.  You will end up in hell one day if you’re counting on getting to heaven another way.  The Bible has always been true, and it always will be true.

Bobby Johnson

Interlocking Ministries