John 8:44
….He was a murderer from [the] beginning, and does not abide in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it.

Dear Believer,

Jesus came to make the Father known, but He also unmasked the devil.

Satan loves to pretend and can even present himself as an angel of light.

Jesus exposed Satan in the scripture focus above. This description is deeply disturbing, humanly speaking. The devil is so crooked in his nature that you cannot expect the tiniest good from him.

We see here that he is a murderer. He does not care for life.

We also see here that he is a liar by nature. Whatever he says, even when it sounds like the truth, is with the intent to deceive.

This is why Believers must make the scripture their only spiritual food and feed on it at all times. When you know the Word of God through and through, it will be easy for you to recognize the deception of Satan.

The devil came to tempt Jesus. Each time he said something to persuade Jesus to go against the Word of God, Jesus simply and calmly responded, “It is written!”

When Satan saw that Jesus was responding with the scripture, he also said to Jesus, “It is written” and he then quoted the scripture in a very deceptive way. But Jesus said, “It is also written,” and set the record straight. (Be sure to read Matthew 4:1-11).

Note again that Satan quoted the scripture, but his motive was evil. There is a spirit in you — the Holy Spirit, that shows you when the devil is trying to manipulate you. The Spirit of God lets you know when the devil is standing scripture on it’s head to deceive you and cause you to disobey God.

Understand that there’s no truth in the devil. He will come to you to plant fear and all kinds of evil thoughts. He will try to promise you every good thing while urging you to go against the Word. Resist him.

For example, if he tells you that you will die, tell him it is written that you shall live. Show him where it is written and shut him up.

If you give in to the fear the devil brings, you have agreed with his lies. His ultimate aim is to destroy, but God has given you the victory. Stand firm against all the words of the devil with the sure Word of God.

The truth of the Word of God will always defeat the devil’s lies any day.

Have a great day.

1Timothy 4:15 KJV
Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.

Dear Believer,

Virtues are good things, and we must develop and grow in them. This is true both of Spiritual and natural virtues.

For example, consistency is a virtue that may not be natural to some growing Believers. They may spend time to pray today or develop some business skill and then get distracted tomorrow and generally be inconsistent about what really matters to their life.

Now, it gets to a point in your life when people see the fruit of your secret exertions. You cannot hide what you do in private forever. If people don’t see you do it, the results of what you do will eventually show. That is why Jesus said,

Luke 12:2 KJV
For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.

In the focus scripture of today, Paul tells us that if we want excellence to manigest in our lives for all to see, we must do two things.

One, we must meditate on certain things. Two, we must give ourselves totally to them.

He is talking about spiritual virtues, gifts and the Word of God. You must apply this to everything in your life. There’s no shortcut to excellence, be it of spiritual, intellectual or otherwise. You will have to spend time filling your spirit with those good things and then dedicate yourself to them.

This is to discourage half-hearted commitment. Indolence and slackness don’t have a place in a Believer’s life.

We have been called to ‘glory and excellence.’

2Peter 1:3 NET
I can pray this because his divine power has bestowed on us everything necessary for life and godliness through the rich knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence. (‘Glory and virtue’ in the KJV).

It is not your responsibility to call attention to yourself. When you do these two things and others things specified in the scripture, your ‘profiting’ will ‘appear to all,’ and no one will be able to ignore you.

That means you attract people to yourself in public by the excellence you acquired through the competence developed in private.

That is a pattern that doesn’t fail.

Have a beautiful day.

Your friend,
Deon.

Hebrews 10:24 NET
And let us take thought of how to spur one another on to love and good works.

Dear Believer,

We are entering into a season which comes with festive activities in many parts of the world. It comes with a difference this year because the world is still experiencing the effects of a pandemic. So many individuals, families and businesses are under serious pressure.

For the Believer, this is an opportunity to do good unto others.

Now, I understand that many Believers are in need of one thing or the other, and so many are in need of urgent help. That is why we need to take definite steps at this time to motivate or spur one another to love and to give.

If you are in need, there is someone out there whose situation is worse than yours. Reach out and be of help.

It is important that we organize Believers at this time to reach out in love. Many Believers won’t see the need for this until they are encouraged or stirred up. Some who have a lot or some things to give won’t give until they are made to see the need.

It is also important that God wants us to prioritize the needs of fellow believers. We must do good, but to the ‘Household of Faith’ first.

Galatians 6:10 KJV
As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

You may not have a lot of material things or money to give, but you can organize with some other Believers to collect useful things from those who have so that you can distribute to other Believers who are in need at this season.

Encouraging others to help the needy is a very important ministry in the body of Christ. Paul the Apostle was able to help many people because he encouraged individual believers and churches to make contributions for that purpose. (Read 2 Corinthians chapter 9 for an example of this).

Give. Organize others to give. Visit. Encourage others to meet needs.

Believer, let us get to work.

Have a great day.

Isaiah 40:3-4 KJV
The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain

Dear Believer,

The foregoing scripture was a prophecy concerning the coming of the Messiah. It has been fulfilled, but I want to highlight a principle that we all need to apply to our life.

Before the Messiah appeared, there was preparation. Spiritually, the way was prepared for Him. Every ‘valley’ was exalted. Every ‘mountain and hill’ were cleared.’ Crooked places’ were straightened. ‘Rough places’ were made plain.

In fact, the Messiah had someone sent as a forerunner to prepare the hearts of the people for His appearance.

That is how important preparation is.

God does not hold back His blessings. One thing He doesn’t do, though, is pour His blessings on unprepared souls.

You must have heard that all God cares about when He wants to make use of a person is availability. That isn’t correct. If you are available and not usable, you cannot be used.

Let me.put it this way:

Availability without usability will result in liability.

In fact, God would rather have someone that is reluctant or not even available, but usable. He will persuade that person.

Moses wasn’t willing to go and lead Israel out of Egypt. He argued with God, gave excuses and said with a tone of finality, “Lord, just send anyone else, I’m not interested!” (Exodus 4:13)

But God had no other option. Here was a man He had spent 40 years to prepare. It was time for His people to get out of bondage and not just anyone would fit the position of their leader. So God had to make a compromise. He practically cajolled and begged Moses to take the job.

When God was looking for a man to lead Israel after the fall of king Saul, none of the illustrious men of the nation was qualified. God found a prepared vessel in a boy taking care of a few sheep in the wilderness.

God chose David because his heart was prepared in integrity, and he had developed the requisite skills. He was faithful in the little thing committed to him, and God set hin over a big one. (Please read this description of David in Psalm 78:70-72 KJV).

No man saw David as he was laboring in a wilderness infested with lions and bears, but God was looking on. Don’t stop doing good because no one is looking. God sees all.

Believer, live a life of preparedness. Always make yourself ready for divine encounters. Do not be slothful. Be committed to excelence in the spirit, and let it touch every aspect of your life. God is still looking for people to raise.

Be available, and be usable.

Have a great week.

Your Friend,
Deon.

2Corinthinas 5:10 KJV
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

Dear Believer,

Be reminded of the time when Jesus will sit and give reward for the things done by you. This is one of the most sobering facts of our faith.

Believers need to realize that God has a very accurate system of rewards. All you do or didn’t do is on record. So always note this: God is a Rewarder because He is a Recorder.

He is able to rate your work. He notes your sacrifices. Your suffering for His name’s sake doesn’t go without notice. Your giving to the poor, to the Lord’s work, to members of the Household of the Faith… Your words of encouragement, patience and love are all noted.

Everyone of your good deed as a Believer is on record. Every single one will be rewarded.

But that’s not the only part of the focus scripture. It says the Believer will receive the things done ‘in the body according to what he has done, whether it be good or bad.’

Good or bad! Note that. Believers do good, but they can do bad, whenever they allow the flesh to dominate them or the devil to use them. Believers can grieve the Holy Spirit by walking contrary to His leading and disobeying Him.

For instance, every ‘idle’ word will be judged.

Mathew 12:36 KJV
But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

So when you are moved by the flesh to lash out with vicious words at your spouse or someone who offended you, member the judgement day.

I don’t know exactly how God will reward the bad works, but the fact that He is going to do so makes me sober. You should think about this, too.

Again and again the scripture indicates that Believers have the power to do good and to resist evil. When we do not walk in the light, we have no one to blame but ourselves. And God is absolutely justified to reward our work on the judgement day.

That day is not a day of condemnation. It will be the day everyone’s rank will be eternally determined.  

The rest of our days must be spent with the consciousness of eternal reward.

This isn’t a call to start to walk on eggshells, as it were, but to let the Holy Spirit work out His will in our life. (Philipians 2:13).

Let us do everything as though we are standing before the judgement seat of Christ.

Have a great day!

Your friend,
Deon.

James 1:23-24 KJV
For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

Dear Believer,

Spiritual forgetfulness is one of the biggest problems of man. It is a problem because it is sometimes a deliberate act. We ‘forget’ what God has done for us. We forget our spiritual responsibilities. And as we can see in the passage above, we forget what the Word is showing us about ourselves.

The picture here is of a man whose face is stained with some gooey stuff. He takes a mirror and holds it up to his own face. He doesn’t like what he sees. His whole face is messy. Naturally, he wants to wash the ugly thing off.

Now here’s the problem. The moment he drops the mirror, he becomes distracted and walks away with the gooey stuff still spread all over his face.

And you know what? He gets busy criticizing other people with little dirt on their face. He has completely forgotten about the blobs of smelling dirt all over his own face.

The Word of God is a mirror. It shows the Believer his rights in Christ. It also shows you your responsibilities. It is very important that you read the Word of God to correct your life and align it with God’s will.

Many keep seeing their faults in the Word or as they listen to ministers preach. They know God is showing them the things they need to change in their life. But the moment they drop their Bible or walk out of the church, they forget everything in an act of deliberate amnesia. They just don’t want to deal with the truth.

Dear friend, if a man is deceived by someone else, there is hope for him. If a man is deceived by the devil, God can help him out. But when a man starts to deceive himself, he is in big trouble. Now his problem is not being ignorant of the truth, but of arrogance against it.

James 1:22 KJV
But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

Friend, do not only know the Word; do it! When God shows you something to correct in your life, do it straightaway. Do not procrastinate.

Have a blessed week.

Your friend,
Deon.

1Thessalonians 4:3-5 NET
For this is God’s will: that you become holy, that you keep away from sexual immorality, that each of you know how to possess his own body in holiness and honor, not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God.

Dear Believer,

God has given us rights as citizens of His Kingdom, but that is not all. He has given us responsibilities too. The problem is, too many Believers only want to claim their Kingdom rights. As far as the responsibilities are concerned, they want none of them.

There are things that only God can do in our lives, and there are things He won’t do for us. When we know the difference, we are on our way to maturity.

The passage above shows us the will of God concerning sexual immorality as far as the believer is concerned.

Abstain! That is His will.

It says each of us must KNOW HOW TO POSSESS HIS BODY in holiness and honor. That is to say it is up to you to learn to discipline your body and be in control of it instead of letting it control you.

Possess, or control your body in holiness and honor. Sexual immorality is filthy and dishonorable. It corrupts the temple of the Holy Spirit which your body is.

1Corinthians 6:18-20 KJV
Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

You can see that the later part of the passage says we must glorify God (or worship God) in our body. Too many professing believers think worship is just singing and praising God. Some think you only worship God ‘in spirit.’

No. Worship includes using your body honorably and in holiness. The fact that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit has massive implications and must be taken very seriously.

Paul the Apostle didn’t just say all this; he experienced it and he even put it down for us in a beautiful way.

1Corinthians 9:27 UST
I discipline my body and I make it obey my commands. I do not want to preach the good news to others and then lose my reward because I failed to fulfill what he commanded me to do.

If you don’t learn to make your body obey your command, it will hinder you from obeying what the Lord commands you to do.

Be Lord over your body. Do not let your body rule over you. It can be a very terrible master. This isn’t only in matters of sexual immorality but in all other areas of life as well. For instance, some Believes cannot even get their body to stay without food for a single day!

Now is the time to take charge of your body!

Have a great day!

Your friend,
Deon.

Hebrews 3:15 KJV
While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.

Dear Believer,

The passage above is directed at you. The idea behind it is, when you hear from God, get up and obey.

Let me ask you: can God’s Word fail in a Believer’s life?

Many people will say no, but looking at it critically, we can say it depends.

In Matthew chapter 13 when the sower sowed his seeds, some did well and some didn’t. Jesus said there was nothing wrong with the seed, but some of the soils were bad, so the seed couldn’t grow there.

Jesus said further that the seed was the Word. So the failure had nothing to do with the seed.

When the Word seems to fail in a Believer’s life, the Believer’s heart is the issue. The Word doesn’t fail people, people fail the Word!

In our Bible focus passage today, the author of Hebrews made it clear that even though God gave His Word to the people who came out of Egypt, it didn’t work.

The Word was okay. The voice of God was unequivocal, but the people hardened their heart and perished. They never got into the rest that God had prepared for them.

Hebrews 3:16 OEBus
Who were they who heard God speak and yet provoked him? Were not they all those who left Egypt under the leadership of Moses?

It is a waste of time to harden one’s heart against the Word of God. It is like an egg making itself as hard as it can, preparing to break a rock. It doesn’t matter if it attacks the rock or the rock attacks it. There can be only one outcome.

So when anyone hardens their heart against the Word, they are preparing themselves for failure. The Word doesn’t break, but it breaks anything that comes against it.

Many are more comfortable with fasting and doing all kinds of activities to ‘move the hand of God,’ and this is good. However, simple obedience to the Word is what gets a Believer into the plan of God for his life. Nothing else can take it’s place, no matter how sacrificial. That is why the scripture says;

1Samuel 15:22 NET
…Does the LORD take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as he does in obedience? Certainly, obedience is better than sacrifice; paying attention is better than the fat of rams.

Don’t harden your heart against the Word; simply obey it. It is not merely the truth that you know that frees you, it is the truth that you walk in.

Have a beautiful day!

Your friend,
Deon.
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For more study read Genesis chapter 3