Introduction: Jesus commends work. In fact he was not lazy; i.e. walked everywhere…it is hot and humid in the Middle East. Our Lord said these words:

“I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.” (John 9:4)

This was uttered from our Lord in the context of His friend Lazarus passing away. What does this mean to us today?

1. It means that what we do for (thru) our Lord Jesus, we need to do it today!

“I must work the works of him that sent me…” (John 9:4)

Our Heavenly Father has a plan for our lives. We choose our work daily. His ultimate will for His children is that we are conformed to His image. This is accomplished by the power of the Holy Spirit as we are led and filled. Learning to be about our Father’s business is the key. Do you agree?

2. There is coming a “Night when no man can work”! (John 9:4)

“….the night cometh, when no man can work.”

Jesus will return in the clouds of heaven. Our life will be over on earth. Whether He comes or we go in death, there is coming a night when no man can work.

Introduction: Things look shaky for Taiwan. Invasion from China is imminent. CHRISTians could face martyrdom.

What should we do? Pray. Wouldn’t you want someone to pray for you?

Remember Jesus said, “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Matt 7:12).

With that being said, a report is coming out of Taiwan that there are multitudes of people praying because of the threat from China. 

“More than 40,000 prayer groups in Taiwan have arisen amid threats of war from China.”

“All across this island, people are meeting every day, 24 hours a day, to pray for revival, unity, repentance, and protection over their land.” (Milton Quintanilla | Contributor for ChristianHeadlines.com | Tuesday, July 25, 2023)

Good can certainly come out of a bad situation. Paul urged the believers in Ephesus to pray for all saints.

“18Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.” (Eph 6:18)

Prayer is needed everywhere. The hour is late. The needs are great. But we serve a mighty God! Jesus is well able to do more than we ask or think.

“20Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.” (Eph 3:20)

Are you praying? 

Conclusion: So let us pray today for our brothers & sisters in Taiwan and around the world.

Introduction: The summertime is here and the SUN is shining brightly. But the SON is shining brighter! Where and how is the SON shining?

Peter under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit reminds CHRISTIANS everywhere that the SON is still shining.

1. The SON is SHINING with HOPE! (1Pet 1:3)

“3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

There’s Hope in Jesus!

2. The SON is SHINING with PEACE! (1Pet 1:2)

“2Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.”

The PEACE of God which money cannot buy and the world cannot give is available through Jesus Christ. 

3. The SON is SHINING with His PROTECTION! (1Pet 1:5)

“Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

A hedge of PROTECTION is greatly needed! Faith opens the door.

4. The SON is SHINING with His PERFECTION! (1Pet 1:6,7)

“Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: 7That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.”

He is still working on me!! Through the trials & tests, we are being perfected into His image.

Conclusion: The SON still shines! It is a bright light in a dark world.

Go light your world!

Reflect the SON.

Introduction: Are things “heating up”? There appears a terrible “Heat Wave” is coming. One like we’ve never seen before! It could be around the corner. A series of vial (bowl) judgements will be released from Jesus Christ. These will follow the other series of seven judgements which will consist of seals and trumpets. 

Let’s check out this futuristic “heat wave”!

“And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.” (Rev 16:1)

1. The first “Vial” -bowl – Judgement! (Rev 16:2)

“And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.”

This angel pours out this bowl on the men that received the mark of the beast. Plus they worshipped his image. This seems to be a payback to them. 

2.  The second “Vial” -bowl – Judgement! (Rev 16:3)

“And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.”

God is judging the earth even the sea. This is more severe that the trumpet judgement which only effected 1/3. 

3. The third “Vial” -bowl – Judgement! (Rev 16:4)

“And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.”

Can you imagine how that is going to be with all the drinking water defiled?

4. The fourth  “Vial” -bowl – Judgement! (Rev 16:8,9)

“And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.”

Here is where the HEAT WAVE happens. Although the intensity of the heat from the sun will scorch men, they will not change their ways. 

5. The fifth “Vial” -bowl – Judgement! (Rev 16:10,11)

“And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.”

Jesus Christ will hit the very throne of Satan, but still no repentance from those who worship him. 

6. The sixth “Vial” -bowl – Judgement! (Rev 16:12)

“And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.”

Preparation for Armageddon can be seen in this bowl judgement.

7. The seventh “Vial” -bowl – Judgement! (Rev 16:17-18)

“And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.”

This final bowl judgement will be a massive earthquake. 

Conclusion: This passage of Revelation describes when God takes vengeance out on the earth dwellers. 

“And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.” (Rev 16:5-7)

Jesus Christ is just. We can trust that He will make the wrong right!

C-U-R-S-E:

• C ontrolling
• U nforgiving
• R esentful
• S haming 
• E go

BLESS:

• B elieve 
• L ove unconditionally 
• E ncourage
• S erve
• S pirit-filled

1. Bless or Curse Nationally! (Gen 12:2,3)

“And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”

2. Bless or Curse Personally! (Num 6:22-26)

“22And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 23Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, 24The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: 25The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: 26The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.”

3. Bless or Curse Relationally (Prov 3:30)

“33The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just.”

Conclusion: Would you rather be BLESSED or CURSED? Obviously, the former would be chosen over the latter. Remember, what goes around comes around. Start BLESSING others and others will BLESS you in return. More importantly, why not make it a practice to BLESS the Lord!

Introduction: Whereas Adam had been given dominion – authority – over all the animals including the earth, he forfeited his authority when he fell into sin in the garden of Eden.

Listen to the Word of the Lord:

(Gen 1:26-28)

“26And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”

1. Creation went from a Theocracy to a Satanocracy with the fall of Adam!

(Gen 3:14,15)

God judged both Adam & Eve as well as the serpent, which was Satan.

“4And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: 15And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”

Satan has a temporary dominion in God’s creation. But it will come to a abrupt end when Jesus returns. 

2. When Jesus comes again in His second coming all of Creation will be once and for all under His DOMINION!

(1Cor 15:20-28)

“20But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. 21For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 22For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 23But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. 24Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. 25For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. 26The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 27For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith, all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. 28And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.”

Jesus has been and will be in control. 

Conclusion: While on the one hand it looks like the devil is in control, on the other hand we read that Jesus Christ is in control. Since He is in control of creation, salvation, and every situation… will you let Him take control?

2. Because of the Present! (Rev 3:25)

3. Because of the Future! (Rev 3:25,26)

“till I come…. And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations.”

Introduction: Have you heard of AI Jesus? Is there more than one Jesus? AI Jesus is available 24/7. Both older and younger people all over the world are mesmerized with this new access to so-called “spiritual enlightenment.”

Are you wondering where AI Jesus came from? Ask_jesus is a project by The Singularity Group (TSG), a team of self-described “driven and ambitious volunteer activists” building games and creating AI solutions [https://kotaku.com/twitch-streamer-ai-jesus-fortnite-star-wars-chatgpt-1850533473, By Levi Winslow, Published June 13, 2023].

But the real concern seems to center around the probing question—is it biblical?

During a time in our world with so much deception, believers in the God of the Bible must be discerning and ready to defend their faith. Can you? But honestly, should we really be surprised? Didn’t Jesus foretell His disciples this would happen?

1) LOOK OUT for “FALSE CHRISTS”!—“For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Matthew 24:24). Fox News reports the following on AI Jesus: ‘A chatbot “version” of Jesus Christ called “Ask_Jesus” is streaming on the gaming platform Twitch—and it stands ready to answer questions from humans on anything from morality issues to the video game Fortnite to super-powered rodents.’

But is AI Jesus reliable? Credible? Biblical? Spiritual? Political? The only way to detect a counterfeit is to study and know the “REAL JESUS”!

3) LOOK UP for the REAL JESUS!—“Behold, I have told you before” (Matthew 24:25). While these unparalleled “signs and wonders” are upon us, all of this points to the further fulfillment of Bible Prophecy. That means, it must be getting closer to our Lord’s return, which He announced in this same chapter (Matthew 24:36). But before the second coming of Jesus Christ, the next event on God’s calendar is the RAPTURE of the Church.

Conclusion: All of this AI Jesus movement is another “Sign of the Time.” Not only did the real Jesus (not a robot or computer) live a perfect life without sin in order to pay the debt—penalty for our sins—but He also conquered death, hell, sin, and the grave! The real Jesus will forgive our sins through His precious blood and take us to heaven when we die.

And last but not least, He has promised to come again for His bride—the Church! Keep looking up!!

1. Government will control the money! (Rev 13:16-18)

“And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 17And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 18Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.”

“And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. 6And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.” (Rev 6:5,6)

2. Government will control the Churches! (Rev 17; 13:11-15)

“12And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. 13And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, 14And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. 15And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.”

3. Government will control the world! (Rev 13:1-8)

“And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.”

Introduction: Are you addicted? The truth is we are all sin recovering addicts! But how can a believer OVERCOME addiction?

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: 4(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”

It’s a battle for the mind. Who wins between flesh and Spirit? 

Answer: whoever you feed…i.e. feed the flesh – flesh wins; feed the Spirit- Spirit wins.

In order for there to be a breakthrough, a person has to come to themselves like the prodigal son, follow through on the change of action.

“And when he came to himself.” (Luke 15:17)

Also please note that before a person is born again, he or she is not in their right mind.

“And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.” (Mark 5:15)

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

Paul, led by the Spirit, reminds believers that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

“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? 20For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (1Cor 6:19,20)

Some in the Church of Corinth – like today – attempted to serve the devil and Jesus.

“Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.” (1Cor 10:21)

“20And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. 21For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: 23All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.”

Without a guard on our heart, Satan can plant his dirty seeds that sprout up and turn into poisonous fruit!

Is your heart planted with good fruit?

Conclusion: While this devotion discussed primarily the bad addictions, every CHRISTIAN must battle with the “not so” bad addictions; i.e. things we like to do, places we like to go; and people we like to see can all become addicting.

JESUS CHRIST desires to be #1 in our life!

Yes, He demands to be #1!!