Author: James Cheef Wright

7. Only be thou strong, and very courageous, that thou may observe to do all the Law, which my
   servant Moses commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand, or to the left, that thou mayest prosper wherever thou goest.
8. This book of the Law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shall meditate therein day and night, that thou may observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then shall thou make thy way prosperous, and then thou shall have good success.
9. Have not I commanded thee? be strong, and of a good courage, be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee, wherever thou goest.

Joshua chapter 1 is a magnificent new beginning: Moses, God’s chosen leader of His people, has died and God chooses Joshua to succeed him in leading the people to the Promised Land. By verse 7, God is repeating His instructions to be strong and very courageous—going even further, commanding Joshua to not be afraid or dismayed. It’s understandable that Joshua would be overwhelmed at having to fill the shoes of Moses, but why so overcome with fear that God would have to repeat Himself three times?

The journey of the Israelites reveals profound truths about the human condition—we live with doubts and fears that have been with us since Adam and Eve’s fall from grace. Regardless of whether we view their journey from the perspective of the people, or the ministry, we see stumbling blocks, real and imagined, are common. The Israelites faced them as they were led out of Egypt, both Moses and Joshua faced them as leaders—and we face the same mental barriers in our time. Fear, doubt, insecurity, the weight of responsibility—struggles that aren’t new but are woven into the fabric of fallen humanity.

Although we are not under the ceremonial Law of Moses, God’s moral commandments are written on our hearts through the New Covenant—which carry the same promises when we are obedient to Him. Not only did God repeat the instruction to be strong and very courageous, He also repeated the promise of prosperity and success. So why is it that the promises don’t stand out to us as much as the instructions do? Even though we are reminded of God’s promises in the New Testament—stress, anxiety, and fear often play a bigger role in our lives than any of us would like to admit.

Since the fall from grace humanity has been conditioned to expect and see the worst, while not feeling worthy of God’s best. Jesus tells us in John 10:10: “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” The thief Jesus speaks of is the same adversary who stole grace from Adam and Eve, brought death upon mankind, and led to the destruction of a perfect earth. His strategy remains the same today—his desire is to steal your confidence, kill your courage, and destroy your trust in God’s love for you. Every time we stress over financial strain, feel unworthy of love when a relationship fails, or give up prematurely we actively assist the thief.

Simply put, when we mediate on God’s Word, obey His instruction, and walk in His truth, we are not only guaranteed power to stand, love to endure, and a sound mind to remain steady and at peace—we will also prosper. And the beautiful thing is, this is how we make our own way prosperous. Scripture tells us, “For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” It does not depend on prayers to be answered. Good success follows the person who follows God in study, in obedience, and in faith.

Romans 8:16 The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.
Proverbs 20:27 The spirit of man is the light of the Lord, searching all the inner depths of his heart.

The voice of God is something that every believer wishes to hear at some point, if not often. We know from the Old Testament in the B.C. era, God chose prophets that He spoke directly to. Moses was the primary prophet of the Law, yet even before him God spoke directly to Noah. Almost 300 years later He would speak to Abram. But in the beginning He spoke to Adam and Eve. What is especially intriguing about Adam and Eve is that through Satan’s deception we learn that as a spirit, he too was able to communicate with God’s children.

The knowledge of Satan’s ability to communicate is something every believer must remain aware of. It makes discernment essential and is exactly what 1 John 4:1 teaches: “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” False teachers are one of Satan’s primary tools to twist God’s Word to mislead the believer. And when believers are misled, they become incapable of walking in alignment with God.

We know that God is a Spirit and we are made in His image, making us spirit beings as well. We know that Jesus was God in the form of flesh, which makes it easy to understand how we too are spirits inside of a fleshly body. Paul affirmed this when he said, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16). Jesus explained to the disciples that unless He went away the Holy Spirit would not come to them (John 16:7). That promise was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4), when the Holy Spirit came to dwell within all of the disciples that were gathered—including “the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus” (Acts 1:14).

“The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are children of God.” This passage suggests that before God’s Spirit communicates with our spirit, He first discerns the condition of our heart. God is not moved by religious appearance or lip service. It’s exactly what He told Samuel, “For man sees the outward appearance, but God sees the heart of man” (1 Samuel 16:7). Only once the Holy Spirit sees that our heart is aligned with God—and not influenced by the spirit of the evil one—does He bear witness that we belong to God.

This is the true meaning of “The spirit of man is the light of the Lord, searching all the inner depths of the heart” (Proverbs 20:27). Just as God’s light reveals who He is, our light reveals to God who we truly are—the motives behind our actions and the intent behind our words. Our spirit is the lamp God uses to search the hidden places of our hearts that others do not see—exposing whether our walk with Christ is sincere or merely an outward appearance. God always knows the difference. Jesus reminds of this in Matthew 15:8: “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” This may be one factor in how God chooses with whom He communicates.

But it is of great importance that the believer understand that God is not the only voice speaking to His children. Not every thought, impression, or inward prompting originates from the Holy Spirit. And when temptation comes, we must remember what James 1:13 teaches: “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.’” God does not dangle sin before our mind like bait, stirring the flesh to overpower the spirit. The Spirit of God, the flesh, and temptation all seek to be heard in the battlefield of the mind—making discernment essential, not optional.

Amen.

17. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ: if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.
18. For I reckon, that the sufferings of this present time, are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

With a profound ability to illustrate the Christian identity, Paul paints a masterpiece with Romans 8:17-18. In just two verses, we learn five truths that apply to every believer: we are adopted into God’s family; we are brothers and sisters with Christ; and our faith is in the life to come. We also learn that there is glory to be gained in our sufferings, and that our afflictions affirm who we are in Christ—provided we remain faithful to Him.

As believers, we know that adoption into God’s family and the inheritance of salvation are real. We know this not only because the Holy Spirit testifies to this truth within our spirit—in a way that is only understood once we are born again spiritually—and by the fact that adoption forms a foundational pillar of Christianity. It is also echoed by almost all of the New Testament writers. Matthew, Luke, John, James, the writer of Hebrews, and Peter were all inspired at different times, in different places, and without the knowledge of each other’s writings. Yet each of them wrote about being adopted by God and becoming heirs with Christ.

Being adopted into God’s family means you are never alone in this temporal world. This is one reason Scripture emphasizes fellowship. John 1:7 teaches us that: “If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another.” This shows that when we follow the path of Christ, we will recognize and be recognized by our brothers and sisters in the world. Hebrews 10: 24-25 reminds us to “not forsake the assembling of ourselves together” because when believers gather together we encourage one another to walk in love instead of anger, and to always choose good over evil. Fellowship with our brothers and sisters makes it easier to travel the path less taken—the one that leads to the strait gate (Matthew 7:14).

Not only do we have the strength of Christ when we are adopted into God’s family, but we also gain the service of His holy angels. We learn who the angels are in Hebrews 1:14: “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” This does not mean that God’s angels are in subjection to His children, but that as His children we receive their assistance as we walk toward our salvation. Although our physical eyes are blind to the spiritual realm where the angels dwell, adoption opens our spiritual heart to sense their presence and their work on our behalf. The ministry of angels enables God to work through His children, allowing His glorious light to flow from them into the darkness of the world.

3. Jesus answered, and said unto him, Verily, verily I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
4. Nicodemus saith unto Him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time unto his mothers womb, and be born?
5. Jesus answered, Verily, verily I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

If you ask a Christian if they have been born again, most will quickly answer yes. But if you ask them how they know they’ve been born again, the answers vary. Some may point to being raised in church or believing in God. Others may mention being baptized or having accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Some may even point to the promise in Scripture of eternal life. There is nothing wrong with these answers as expressions of faith—but are any of them proof of being born again?

Being born again is one of the most misunderstood aspects of Christian life. And like most things that are misunderstood, it is often taken for granted. This should concern every self-proclaimed Christian, because Jesus made it unmistakably clear in John 3:3: “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” There is nothing confusing about that statement. There is no reason to over-complicate it by cherry-picking doctrines about law and grace, or faith and salvation.

In John 3:3, the phrase “born again” is translated from the Greek gennēthē anōthen. Gennēthē comes from the root verb gennáō, which means “to beget” or “to give birth to.” The word anōthen carries a dual meaning. One meaning is ‘again’, and it can also mean ‘from above’. It is not entirely clear why Nicodemus interpreted Jesus’ words to mean “born again,” especially when Jesus immediately connected the phrase to “see the kingdom of God.” It is also noteworthy that John makes no attempt to clarify the meaning for his readers. The most reasonable explanation is that John assumed his audience would understand that Jesus meant born from above.

John uses the term anōthen in other passages, and he always uses it to mean “from above“. In John 19:23 when describing Jesus’ coat, he writes that is was woven “from the top throughout.” And in John 3:31 he declares, “He who comes from above, is above all.” John consistently uses anōthen to mean “from above,” not “again.”

It is the Holy Spirit that performs the work of regeneration—giving the believer a spiritual heart, and making them a new creation. No writer of Scripture speaks more boldly about the Spirit’s work than Paul.

In 1 Corinthians 3:16 he reminds us:
“Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?“

And in 2 Corinthians 5:17 he declares:
“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”

It is the Holy Spirit who convicts us of sin and leads us to repentance. He holds a mirror to our lives, exposing our once ignored ungodliness. He gives us the desire to be obedient to God and restrains corrupt language, old habits, and fleshly desires that once separated us from God. This is the work of ‘regeneration’—a transformation that begins in our spirit and renews our soul, making us a new creation from the inside out.

3. For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and
   pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.
4. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
5. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.

It is no secret—and often said—that we live in a fallen world. There is no better proof of this than our natural attraction to what harms us and our resistance to what is good. Why is it that good girls like bad boys? Why do boys want to be “bad” in the first place? Why do we associate pleasure with the very things we come to regret, even though as children we were warned against them? There are many examples that show our pleasure principle leads to pure vanity. So why do most of us spend our youthful peak years feeding our flesh?

It may surprise many, but God’s perfect order for mankind is that we begin life in our natural state before we come to understand who we are spiritually. This does not mean that God wants us to be led by sin. Paul explains this in 1 Corinthians 15:46: “However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual.” What Paul is saying is, our spirits first dwell in earthly, natural bodies before we receive our eternal spiritual bodies. Also true is that our natural impulses come first in life—and along with them our fleshly desires and weaknesses that Titus 3:3 describes so honestly—before we learn who we are spiritually.

This natural-then-spiritual order is unique to mankind. Scripture shows that before God created
humanity and earthly creatures, He had already created spiritual beings that dwell in the heavenly realm—angels who could observe mankind and even walk the earth. Job 38:7 tells us: “the morning Stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy“, when God laid the foundations of the earth. Genesis 6:2 speaks of angels who abandoned their proper place in Heaven, saying, “the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were fair, and they took to them wives, of all which they chose.” But even these were not the first to rebel against the spiritual order God established.

God’s will for the natural to come before becoming spiritual only makes sense when we consider the fall of Lucifer. Ezekiel 28 gives a vivid description of who Lucifer was before iniquity was found in him. Verse 12 describes him as: “full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.” Verse 13 reveals: “Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering,” showing the honor and splendor God had given him. Verse 14 goes even further: “Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so.” These verses reveal the extraordinary trust and authority God placed in Lucifer. And verse 15 tells the tragedy of his fall: “Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.“

Most people say the first sin in the world was the partaking of the forbidden tree. But few recognize that the first sin in the universe was the pride of Lucifer. Pride is the same sin he used on Eve when he told her in Genesis 3:5, “you will be like God.” This was the very delusion that led him to oppose God. This is why God hates pride in man. Pride corrupted a perfect spiritual being, and pride led humanity into rebellion. Yet it was also Lucifer’s fall that led God to create mankind in His own image—although lower than the angels, yet possessing something the angels do not have: free will with the gift of redemption. So it makes sense, when considering the rebellion God experienced from His angelic creations, that mankind would first experience life through the trials of our fallen state, to allow our free will to lead us to choose God and mature spiritually.

Amen.

16. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

Many Christians have the beliefs they do because they were exposed to church and/or the Bible as part of their upbringing. Parents or guardians taught them to pray with the familiar words “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep…” Many grew up going to church most Sundays, while others were limited to attending on holidays. For others, it wasn’t church attendance at all; rather, they saw a Bible resting in their home every day. Regardless of how, the understanding of God and Jesus was planted in their minds.

But what about the heart? Why doesn’t childhood exposure alone make faith take root, and the
scriptures come alive for everyone? Why do most of us drift from God and deeper into a life of sin that typically begins in our teenage years? Why do we lose sight of God but still claim to believe in Him?

Because we are born rebellious toward God, we are born spiritually blind. Not until we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior can the Holy Spirit begin to lift the veil that separates us from God. Paul explains this in 2 Corinthians 3:16: “But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” Therefore, being taught to pray, going to church—no matter how often—or even seeing a Bible resting at home has little effect on building a relationship with God. In fact, merely professing with the mouth that Jesus is Lord and Savior has little effect when the heart remains distant. Jesus addressed this when He said in Matthew 15:8: “These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.” A distant heart is as useless to God as a Bible resting in the home that is rarely read.

Without engagement, the Word cannot take root in your heart. And without the Word being rooted in your heart, the Holy Spirit cannot begin the work of regenerating your heart. While spiritual blindness remains, it is impossible to be born again.

We are all born spiritually blind, yet within us lies a spirit that, when awakened, runs counter to the flesh. In a way, natural maturity is meant to lead us toward spiritual maturity by contrasting the pain and suffering the world offers with the rest and peace described in the Word of God. When contrast becomes discernment, we know the Holy Spirit is bearing witness with our spirit—clearing the sin-obstacles that once separated us from God and drawing us closer to Him. Scriptures that once left you clueless regarding their modern relevancy now come alive, illustrated in every thought, decision, and outcome.

When the world is quieted, your heart is far less likely to be troubled or afraid (John 14:27). Instead of asking what Jesus would do, you begin to understand through Scripture why Jesus had compassion for the less fortunate and righteous indignation toward the proud. When He felt overwhelmed, He turned to prayer, because He knew that prayer opens the pathway to enlightenment and understanding. In His earthly walk, Jesus did not lean on human understanding, but on the wisdom of Father God in Heaven by submitting fully to Him (Proverbs 3:5-6). Perhaps the deepest spiritual clarity comes when we as believers understand that Jesus in the flesh showed us that we are not of this world, and that our understanding of all things in the world must come from spiritual illumination—a heavenly work through which we have access to the Father through the Son.

Amen.

7. Where can I go from your Spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence?
8. If I ascend into heaven, You are there, if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
9. If I take the winds of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10. Even there Your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.

Although the word omnipresent is never used in scripture, we use it to describe the ever-presence of God—that He is everywhere at all times. Along with omniscient to describe His knowledge of all things past, present, and future, and omnipotent to describe His power, these words help us to articulate what Scripture teaches us about God’s nature. Even the greatest minds have grappled to understand how this can be. Many conclude that our limited human understanding cannot fully grasp how one Being can be present in all places at once. But is it really so difficult to understand?

Starting in the book of Genesis, we are given example after example of God’s omnipresence. In fact, the entire Old Testament shows just how active and observant God is—not only of Israel, but of the world as a whole. We see God addressing the enemies of Israel, pagan gods and those who worship them, and the surrounding civilizations. He not only addresses people; He identifies landscapes, terrain, and regions by name.

As humans, we tend to compare other beings to ourselves. We speak of “animal instinct” and see human-like behaviors in animals. And if we’re being honest, most people imagine God as a human-like figure residing in another dimension called Heaven—even referring to Him as the “man upstairs”. But Scripture corrects these misunderstandings. John 4:24 tells us that “God is Spirit, and they that worship Him, must worship Him in Spirit, and in truth.” David illustrates the omnipresence of God perfectly in Psalm 139, painting a vivid picture of God’s all-seeing, ever-present, and ever-guiding providence.

We also know that God created all living things, and He designed them in such a way that the health and survival of all living things are interconnected. This is not limited to humans, four-footed beasts, creeping things, birds of the air, or fish in the sea. By divine design, trees provide oxygen for us to breathe and remove poisonous carbon dioxide that would kill us. Seeds are buried and die, bringing to life fruits, vegetables, and herbs that provide key nutrients we need to survive. This, in itself, is a reminder of the resurrection of Christ—life springing forth from what was dead. Even the season of spring testifies to the Gospel, when it revives what laid dormant throughout winter. Rain hydrates all the living, while the sun gives heat and light that bounces off the moon at night to guide us.

Whether witnessed in the beauty of creation among us, the awe inspiring cohesiveness of God’s
intelligent design, the “sixth sense” many call intuition, protections we can’t explain, or the recurring seasons that mirror the resurrection—God is visible everywhere and in all things.

3. Jesus answered, and said unto him, Verily, verily I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
4. Nicodemus saith unto Him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time unto his mothers womb, and be born?
5. Jesus answered, Verily, verily I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

It is the Holy Spirit that performs the work of regeneration—giving the believer a spiritual heart, and making them a new creation. No writer of Scripture speaks more boldly about the Spirit’s work than Paul.

In 1 Corinthians 3:16 he reminds us:
“Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”

And in 2 Corinthians 5:17 he declares:
“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”

It is the Holy Spirit who convicts us of sin and leads us to repentance. He holds a mirror to our lives, exposing our once ignored ungodliness. He gives us the desire to be obedient to God and restrains corrupt language, old habits, and fleshly desires that once separated us from God. This is the work of ‘regeneration’—a transformation that begins in our spirit and renews our soul, making us a new creation from the inside out.

Jesus was explaining to Nicodemus that his knowledge of the Scriptures—even his position as a
teacher in the synagogue—would not give him entrance to the Kingdom of Heaven. And today, there are many modern-day Nicodemuses on both sides of the pulpit.

Faith is not inherited from parents or guardians. Even if they’ve had you baptized when you were
a child, that does not mean you were born again. Church attendance, religious activity, and the
ability to quote Scriptures does not create a relationship with God. Tradition cannot purify the heart. Memorization cannot cleanse the soul. And outward religion cannot produce inward regeneration.

Born again does not mean without sin, but the born-again believer no longer makes a practice of sin. They will still stumble, but their life is no longer characterized by rebellion, but by a desire to be obedient.

Jesus understands the true nature of a person’s heart. When He quoted Isaiah in Matthew 15:8, He said, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” He was exposing a timeless truth: expressions of religion can imitate faith.

11. For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

12. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

13. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

The focus of Jeremiah 29 is the captivity of the Israelites in Babylon. As is common in the Old
Testament, the Israelites were repeatedly chastised by God for their idolatry, adultery, and stiff-
necked disobedience. Even though God provided prophets like Jeremiah to speak His truth, the
Israelites chose false prophets that would tell them what they wanted to hear, despite living in direct contradiction to God’s law. Because of their persistence in sin, God permitted His people to be held captive in Babylon for seventy years before returning them to Jerusalem—where they would be free and hopefully mindful of His commandments.

To keep them hopeful and content while in captivity, God sent a message through Jeremiah,
instructing the Israelites to build homes, plant gardens, work, even to marry and have children to increase their numbers. This would make their time in Babylon feel less like captivity while making them wiser and hopefully faithful to God. 

The last Old Testament prophet used by God was Malachi, he prophesied after the Babylonian exile. God chose him to confront the corrupt priesthood, not paying tithes and offerings, the rise of divorce, among other things. The Christian church continues to wrestle with the same issues such as false teachers and corrupt members of clergy, and divorce is still an issue among born-again Christians. 

The sins of today are not unlike those of the Israelites. Idol worship is still practiced when love for a person becomes stronger than love for God. Material things are coveted even more today. Adultery and fornication remain common practices. Yet God’s love for His children today is just as strong as it was for Israel.

But God’s unconditional love should not be taken for granted. While it is true that salvation comes through faith alone, every Christian is an ambassador of Christ, and as such are responsible for the image and reputation of the Church body. As children and servants of God we have the awesome responsibility of representing Him on earth. We help to populate the Kingdom of Heaven when we allow His light to shine through us, drawing His lost sheep to Him. This is how the desire to be obedient brings glory to God.

Amen.

1. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
2. But his delight is in the Law of the Lord, and in His Law does he meditate day and night.

It is said that we are not sinners because we sin, but we sin because we are sinners. Paul explains in Romans 5:12: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” So we understand by this passage that just as we are born dying, we are also born sinners. At first glance, these truths would seem to relegate Psalm 1:1 to nothing more than poetic ‘injustice’—for if we are born into sin, how can we fulfill what Psalm 1:1 commands?

With our natural eyes, we do not recognize the evil that disguises itself as light (2 Corinthians 11:14). We often confuse the desires of our hearts with blessings from God when we receive them. The infatuation that yearns for a relationship with someone, if it ends painfully, feels like precious time was wasted—often resulting in a fear to love again. The obsession for a new home or car that leads to deeper debt, when patience may have revealed something far better from God. The frivolous spending on what we feel we ‘deserve’ that distracts us from responsibilities which should have taken precedence. The list of ways Satan deceives us through our selfish desires is endless.

It is God’s desire—and our only protection from spiritual deception—that we cultivate a relationship with our Father in heaven. We know from Jesus’ temptation in the desert that Satan knows every word of Scripture. We also see how Jesus used God’s Word to make the devil flee for a season. Satan knows our tendency to be double-minded, which is how he was able to twist God’s instructions to Adam and use them to tempt Eve’s curiosity.

God’s Word teaches us that every one of us is able to receive His love, mercy, and grace—despite
the mistakes we make along the way or the sinful path we may begin on. Scripture is filled with people who were forgiven after choosing to serve Him. Peter denied Christ three times, yet Jesus restored and chose him to feed His flock. One of the thieves crucified beside Jesus was promised a place in Paradise the moment he acknowledged Jesus as the Christ.

The potential to bring glory to God’s name is within every one of us. Although we are made lower than the angels, we are blessed with the free offer of redemption through faith in Christ who died for us. Every day granted to us on earth is a fresh opportunity to defeat the devil and his fallen hosts, while drawing others out of darkness by the godly light that shines through His children. God has given us His written Word to defeat the evil one and his fallen hosts, while also bringing glory to His name when His light shines through us.

Amen