Devo Time to wake up Part 4 Isaiah 56:10-12 New International Version (NIV) 10 Israel’s watchmen are blind, they all lack knowledge; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they lie around and dream, they love to sleep. 11 They are dogs with mighty appetites; they never have enough. They are shepherds who lack understanding; they all turn to their own way, they seek their own gain. 12 “Come,” each one cries, “let me get wine! Let us drink our fill of beer! And tomorrow will be like today, or even far better.” The shepherds get drunk on the wealth of the people. They see nothing wrong in drinking and getting drunk. It blinds their eyes and they lead the flock astray. These are watchmen appointed by the people not God. They create a God in the image of man, so men can do as they please. Sexual immorality and drunkenness blind the people’s eyes and they sleep in a stupor so they know nothing of what God is doing or that he is soon coming back. They fail to see with their eyes or hear with their ears that He is at hand. Wake up oh sleeper the Lord is at hand. Pastor Jeff Lane
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Devo Time to wake up Part 3
Jeremiah 6:16-23 New International Version (NIV) 16 This is what the Lord says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ 17 I appointed watchmen over you and said, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’ But you said, ‘We will not listen.’ 18 Therefore hear, you nations; you who are witnesses, observe what will happen to them. 19 Hear, you earth: I am bringing disaster on this people, the fruit of their schemes, because they have not listened to my words and have rejected my law. 20 What do I care about incense from Sheba or sweet calamus from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable; your sacrifices do not please me.” 21 Therefore this is what the Lord says: “I will put obstacles before this people. Parents and children alike will stumble over them; neighbors and friends will perish.” 22 This is what the Lord says: “Look, an army is coming from the land of the north; a great nation is being stirred up from the ends of the earth. 23 They are armed with bow and spear; they are cruel and show no mercy. They sound like the roaring sea as they ride on their horses; they come like men in battle formation to attack you, Daughter Zion.” God appointed Jeremiah as a watchman for Judah, but they would not listen. They Appointed their own watchmen who spoke out of their own vain imagination, so God punished the land. He sent Babylon and swallowed them up. The difference is this is the end. There is no other chance to be saved. Pastor Jeff Lane Devo Time to wake up Part 2
Matthew 24:36-41 New International Version (NIV) 36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. How will the church be asleep? They will be busy with the cares of life. Some of the largest ministries today are about financial freedom. I am not saying this is not important, but Jesus’ teaching on financial freedom was to seek Him first, but that’s for another lesson. The point is Luke 21:34 King James Version (KJV) 34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. The interesting thing is it says that these people knew nothing of what would happen. Noah had been building this ark for a hundred and twenty years and preaching the whole time of what God was going to do and that they should repent. Were they stupid or what, or maybe they just were too busy to listen? Their hearts became hard with the cares of life so they could not hear. Are you ready or will Jesus come back and find you sleeping? Hey maybe your financial freedom will help you buy some oil, but then again it will be too late .Pastor Jeff Lane Devo Time to wake up Part 1 Matthew 25:1-13 New International Version (NIV) 25 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. 6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ 7 “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’ 9 “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ 10 “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. 11 “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’ 12 “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’ 13 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour. My wife and I have raised four children. The teenage years are a time of trying of your soul. LOL! It is a time when you think they have grown up enough to understand that soon they will be on their own and they have matured enough to get out of bed (on time), get themselves ready, study, clean their rooms, oh you get the point. Instead you find yourself constantly trying to wake them up in the morning and worse yet to life. Hey kid wake up because soon things are going to change. You will have to fly on your own. Of course, many parents to day never force their children to wake up. They become a drain on them and the rest of society. This reminds me of the church today. They are sleeping through the greatest time of history. It is a time of the greatest outpouring of the Holy Spirit to hit the earth and they don’t have enough oil to light a path let alone the world. It is the time the fields are white unto harvest. We either gather the harvest or lose it. The church has become weary in well doing. They are slothful and a sleep. This is the greatest time to serve the Lord of all the earth and they are missing it. We may not know the day or hour He is coming back, but we do know this is the generation. God didn’t just call us to get the first ride out of here, but to be about His business. Those who know Him serve Him and He them. God is telling us to be prepared and that you can’t wait till the last moment. Church wake up. We have souls to save. I know some are of the opinion that whatever will be, will be, who ever will be saved will be saved. But what about Ezekiel 33:6 New International Version (NIV) 6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone’s life, that person’s life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.’ You see some will go to hell if we don’t wake up. Pastor Jeff Lane Devo I don’t belong here Isaiah 5:20 New International Version (NIV) 20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. I watched a video of a man sign into law, (with a big smile on his face and to the applauses of many) a law that made it legal in New York to slaughter babies in the womb up to day of birth. I was horrified and sicken to think I live in a country that we rejoice at the murder of babies in a place where their own mothers should see to it, they are safe. It’s not just the death of the babies it is the death of conscious in our mothers, law makers, leaders, and much of the nation. God says that children are a reward from heaven. They are a gift from God. The world says they are a deficient, a bother, an inconvenience. Instead of being a sweet gift they lead to a bitter life of regret. You could have so much more. They are evil and not good. I plain don’t belong here anymore is how I feel. This world is having less of a hold on me. Hebrews 11:13-16 New International Version (NIV) 13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. My wife went to heaven as a teenager. She was in her canopy bed which she loved and thought was so beautiful. When she returned to her body, she said the first thing she saw was that canopy above her. She said it looked like a skeleton and looked so ugly compared to all she saw. It was faded glory to come back. She long to go back to Heaven. That is how I feel about this world. Oh! how I long to be in Christ’s presence. This world has become so evil and ugly I long to be with Christ just as Paul spoke about. To live is Christ but to die is gain. Pastor Jeff Lane Devo Only Believe Part 19
1 Timothy 6:6-10 New International Version (NIV) 6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. The church seems to zero in on the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil but not the most important part. That is it can cause us to wander from the faith. You can’t serve two Gods, you will either love one and hate the other. The love of money can steal your faith. What’s the cure? Give it away. If it has a grip on you soul., cut it off. I would rather enter heaven poor than not at all. It is a gift given to you by God. When God trusts you with a gift it is to give to others. All the gifts are given to give. Then God can bless you with true riches. It takes faith and obedience to overcome the love of money. Pastor Jeff Lane Devo Only Believe Part 18
Mark 10:17-27 New International Version (NIV) 17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’” 20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.” 21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. 23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” Jesus didn’t ask to man to give up all he had. He demanded it. He said go and give all you have away. It cost him his soul. He could not obey. He could not walk by faith. He trusted in what he could see not in the Word of the Lord. He could have had the Kingdom of Heaven but he chose Hell. Wouldn’t you like to know what the rest of that man’s life was like. Not me. I know enough to cry. Overcome earthly riches and overcome the world. Pastor Jeff Lane Devo Only Believe Part 17
I thought that this would go right along with this message on ‘only believe’. Did God ask people to give to Him? I just began the study and already I find that it would seem He did not. He did tell people to ask Him for things. No, He did not ask people to give, but instead HE DEMANDED IT. He demanded them to give that they would be blessed. Giving is an act of faith and obedience. He tells us to give but I can’t find anywhere where He asks us to. The prophet said to the widow lady to make him bread and be blessed with food. You reap what you sow, and her jar of oil did not run dry nor did her jar of flour run out. God said whatever you give up in this life for Him and the gospel you will receive back in this life a hundred times. Abraham was told to sacrifice his son and was given descendants like the sands on the sea shores. God did not ask them to tithe, He demanded it and if you didn’t you would be under a curse and if you did you would be blessed. It was an act of faith and obedience. You can’t separate them. Judas carried around the money bag for Jesus and His disciples. Somebody was giving to them. He was stingy and did not want to feed the people. He said the cost was too high and it cost him his life and soul. Faith giving can feed five thousand plus women and children with a boy’s lunch. Compassion and impulse giving will only take care of a few. Eight months of a man’s wages would not go far in feeding the crowds. Faith giving will open the storehouses of heaven for you. Walk in obedience and give. It never ceases to amaze me when ever I write on giving people attack me and persecute me. Why, because Satan knows giving releases the blessings of God. If you overcome money you have overcome the world and satan. They are selfish, greedy, self-centered, and God haters. They love money above all else. They try to stop the word of God from being spread. May God have mercy on their souls. If they spent as much time on trying to find reasons to give instead of reasons not to give the world would already be evangelized and Jesus could return. Mark 10:29-31 New International Version (NIV) 29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields--along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” Pastor Jeff Lane Devo Trust in the Lord
Psalm 125:1-2 (NIV) 1 Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever. 2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people both now and forevermore. There are times when we are in dark places. We can’t see the hand in front of our face. Everything seems to be falling apart and we feel forsaken. It is these times we trust the Lord and not our blinded eyes. We go to the cleft of the rock and dwell with Him. We don’t go by what we see, but by what He has spoken. It is then we can’t be shaken and know He has surrounded us. It is then we can have that peace that surpasses all understanding. Pastor Jeff Lane Devo Only Believe Part 16
Hebrews 11:1-2 New International Version (NIV) 11 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for. Joshua 3:7-17 New International Version (NIV) 7 And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses. 8 Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go and stand in the river.’” 9 Joshua said to the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God. 10 This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites. 11 See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you. 12 Now then, choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. 13 And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord—the Lord of all the earth—set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.” 14 So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. 15 Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, 16 the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. 17 The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground. Joshua hears the word of the Lord and tells the people. The priests believed the word. The Priests put a big chunk of gold and wood on their shoulders and walk into the Jordan. Now the Jordan is a very fast moving and muddy river at this time and a mile and a half wide and yet the believed God’s word went to the river and stepped in. Certain in their faith God would do what He said and they did not let circumstance dissuade them from moving forward. Then stood their ground in the middle of the circumstance that others could move forward also. Go, believe God and stand your ground. Sometimes others can’t move forward in their calling because you are standing still. Get moving. Faith is action. Pastor Jeff Lane |
Pastor Jeff Lane
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