DAILY DEVOTIONALS: 4.29.23

Be encouraged for the Lord is with you - Bill Wilson - www.dailyjot.com Have you ever mourned? Did you ever feel down in the spirit? Have you been humbled? Do you hunger and thirst for righteousness? Have you ever shown mercy? Do you have a pureheart? Have you ever made peace among your friends and family? Do you feel persecuted because of your stand for what�s right? Has anyone ever falsely accused you or spoken bad about you because of your belief and faith in Christ? Then you should be able tolook at this dark and dying world and grab onto the promises of Christ for there is much blessing, inheritance and comfort ahead as you will see God and be called a child of God! Be encouraged this day for you have seen another dawn, another opportunity forlife. It is not difficult to look around you and believe what you see. But it is in what you do not see are the blessings and strength and courage found in the Spirit of the Lord.As is written in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, �Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding andeternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.� Remember this, for your calling is higher and onethat is not of fear, but of power, and love, and of a sound mind. These dark and evil times wish to hold you captive, but instead are proving you opportunities to be the salt and light that pierces the darkness. As Christ said in Matthew5:14, �You are the light of the world,� and in Matthew 5:16, �Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.� When darkness is hurled at you, you have the power to touch it and it will disappearbecause it cannot withstand the light which is in you. Indeed, we are living in perilous times where the things around us appear lost in many respects. But do you believe as I do that God works together all things for good to them that love God? Then as isasked in Romans 8:35, �Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?� Romans 8 continues: �Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the Love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.� As the Lord said in Isaiah 42:10, �Fear not, for I am with you; Be notdismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.� The natural human instinct is to shrink back under the pressure we feel from government and society. Remember, though, the early Christianswere under tremendous persecution from the Roman Empire. They found ways to stand and be courageous. They turned the world upside down. So can you. ------------------------------ Doxology to the King “Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (1 Timothy 1:17) In this stirring doxology to the One who allowed him into the ministry (vv. 12-13), whose grace “was exceeding abundant” (v. 14), who “came into the world to save sinners” (v. 15), who showed mercy and longsuffering, and who grants “life everlasting” (v. 16), Paul uses several majestic descriptive terms. Each deserves our attention. The King eternal. God’s sovereign kingship is in view here. The phrase literally translates, the “King of the ages.” “But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king” (Jeremiah 10:10). He is the King, and we must stand in submissionto Him. Immortal. The Greek word used here implies more than mere exemption from death. A fuller meaning would include total incorruptibility; i.e., the inability to be stained by either decay or death. What a comfort to realize that the believer’s crown in glorywill be likewise incorruptible (1 Corinthians 9:25), as will his resurrection body (1 Corinthians 15:52). Invisible. God is a Spirit and as such cannot be seen. He has chosen to appear on numerous occasions, most notably as Christ, but is usually unseen, the primary meaning of the word. Christ “is the image of the invisible [same word] God, the firstborn ofevery creature” (Colossians 1:15). Seen or unseen, He merits our praise. The only wise God. God is unique in His existence and wisdom, “God only wise” (Romans 16:27). He stands alone, solitary, apart from all others. Surely to this eternal, incorruptible, unseen, unique, wise, sovereign King belongs “honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” JDM --------------------------- The Good Deposit “That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.” (2 Timothy 1:14) The good thing that Paul referred to surely involves God’s “gift” that young Timothy was given as he entered the ministry. All gifts include the gift of “power, and of love, and of a sound mind” that God has given to all of us (2 Timothy 1:7). The HolySpirit deposited that gift in us, and we are expected to guard it through the same Holy Spirit. The action and responsibility are ours. The means by which we obey is the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, who entered our bodies at the time of our salvation (1 Corinthians 6:19). That unique down payment of the triune Godhead (Ephesians 1:14)made it possible for us to keep the good with which He entrusted us. The breadth of God’s gift to us is beyond imagining, but there are a few insights that may help us understand His bounty. In the most broad perspective, we are given “to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 13:11). That gift requires that we be given “the mind of Christ” so that we may grasp these great spiritual truths (1 Corinthians 2:16). The depositthat God placed with us is not a leap in IQ or mental ability. It is truly a “new man” that God has empowered to be “renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him” (Colossians 3:10). But this great spiritual capacity must be guarded. There is no guarantee of spiritual wisdom this side of eternity. We must beware “lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world,and not after Christ” (Colossians 2:8). God has made it possible for us to gain the wisdom of holiness so “that [we] might be filled with all the fulness of God” (Ephesians 3:19). HMM III ---------------------- HoldFast “Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.” (2Timothy 1:13) There are several significant pieces to this important command. We must “hold firm” to the “pattern” of the “wholesome words” that have been given to us. And that firm hold must rest in the faith and love that we have in Christ Jesus. This is not an option. We are to hold to the form of the sound words. Hupotuposis is the Greek term, only used one other time in the New Testament, where Paul insists that his life was to be “a pattern to them which should hereafter believe” (1Timothy 1:16, emphasis added). We are to be “under” (hupo) the “outline” or “pattern” (tupos) of the wholesome words. The purpose of the two letters to Timothy was to encourage the young pastor to follow the example of his human teacherPaul, who had completely submitted himself to the authority of all Scripture. To the Roman Christians, Paul was delighted that they “obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered” to them (Romans6:17, emphasis added). To the Corinthians, he reminded them that the events recorded in the life of Israel had “happened unto them for examples” (1Corinthians 10:11, emphasis added). Paul also insisted that the people of the church at Philippi should “be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample” (Philippians3:17, emphasis added). Both biblical and church history provide us with patterns to follow. But the sound words of Scripture give what is “profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnishedunto all good works” (2Timothy 3:16-17). HMM III ----------------- Once,Finished, Forever “But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God.” (Hebrews10:12) This verse in Hebrews 10 stands in comparative contrast to the previous verse, which says, “And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins” (v. 11). It’s noteworthy that the Old Testamentpriests had to “standeth daily” as they did service in the tabernacle. There were several reasons for this. The first was that “it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins” (Hebrews10:4). Another less obvious reason was that the tabernacle of Moses and the later temple in Jerusalem didn’t have a single piece of furniture designed for sitting. In other words, there wasn’t a chair in the holy place for the priest to take a rest. Therewas the altar of incense, the menorah, and even a table of showbread, but no chairs. This was probably to signify that the work of the Old Testament priest was never finished. In dramatic contrast, Christ Jesus, functioning in His office of high priest, offered His life as a single sacrifice and payment for all our sins—past, present, and future—and then “sat down” at the Father’s right hand. Jesus emphatically sat down to demonstratethat the work of redemption is indeed finished! In God’s eyes, His people are forever perfect, spotless, and washed whiter than snow by the precious, eternal blood of His Son. Our part is to believe and receive all that has been done for us by Christ, “whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation throughfaith in his blood” (Romans3:25). JPT ------------------- Visit “Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for hisname.” (Acts 15:14) Our English word “visit” has come to mean a social call, but not so in the Greek, where it can mean to inspect, to look upon in order to help, or benefit. For example, when Christ said “sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not” (Matthew 25:43), He had in mind more than a social call. The prisons of the daywere miserable places with no amenities whatever. Prisoners desperately needed help from the outside. Paul wrote to Timothy from his Roman prison, “The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee” (2Timothy 4:13). By better understanding the word “visit,” Christ’s teaching takes on a richer meaning involving more the idea of a personal commitment. The events surrounding the birth of the Messiah were considered a “visitation” by Zacharias when he prophesied over the baby Jesus, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people....the dayspring from on high hath visited us” (Luke 1:68, 78). After Christ raised to life a dead boy, the people exclaimed, “A great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people” (Luke 7:16). In that light, consider our text for today as James explained to the church leaders Paul’s ministry to the Gentiles. With our expanded understanding of the word “visit,” we could now expand the verse to read “how God for the first time did look upon the Gentiles,in order to help them. In doing so, he took out of them a people for his name.” God, in His grace, has done all that was necessary to help us, to bring us out of bondage to sin, and to stamp on us His holy name. JDM ------------------- TragicIgnorance “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, havenot submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.” (Romans10:3) There are several important doctrinal truths about which unbelievers—and sometimes even Christians—seem tragically ignorant, with an ignorance affecting their very lives and destinies. Perhaps the most tragic is that mentioned in our text. Paul was writingspecifically of the Jews, but the same ignorance is found in countless others—people who seek to earn salvation by their own religious and moral works rather than through faith in the imputed righteousness of Christ, who died for their sins. There is also widespread ignorance concerning death and life beyond the grave. “I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and roseagain, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him” (1Thessalonians 4:13-14). With respect to Christian life and ministry, Paul says: “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant” (1Corinthians 12:1). Yet, most Christians neglect to develop or use their gifts, mainly because of ignorance concerning their proper function as described in 1 Corinthians 12, 14; Romans 12:3-21; Ephesians 4:7-16, and other key passages. We urgently also need to be instructed concerning the deceptions of the wicked one, “lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices” (2Corinthians 2:11). For all who seek instruction rather than ignorance, let them study God’s Word, for “all scripture...is profitable for...instruction in righteousness” (2Timothy 3:16). HMM ------------------ Thingsto Keep “And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wiltenter into life, keep the commandments.” (Matthew19:17) The two main Greek words for “keep” in the New Testament both mean more than just “obey,” though this meaning is certainly included. They also mean “guard” and “preserve.” We are thus told by Christ, in our text above, to guard and obey God’s commandments. The same urgent command to keep what God has given is applied to many other entities in Scripture. For example, Paul stresses that we are to “keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falselyso called” (1Timothy 6:20). In other words, false science (evolution) and vain babbling (humanistic philosophies) will seek to destroy the tenets of God’s truth, so we must always be diligent to guard and protect these truths. Each person is also urged to “keep himself unspotted from the world” and to “keep thyself pure” (James1:27; 1 Timothy 5:22). The forces of darkness make perpetual attacks against the spiritual and moral integrity of the Christian, so we must constantly be alert to protect ourselves against their enticements. Then, we must also endeavor “to keep the unity of theSpirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians4:3) and to “keep yourselves in the love of God” (Jude1:21), for the enemy will continually try to sow discord and bitterness among God’s people. There are many verses that stress the keeping of His commandments (e.g., John 14:15) and the keeping of His words (e.g., 1 John 2:5). Finally, in the very last chapter of the Bible, the Lord sums it all up, as it were, when He promises: “Blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book” (Revelation22:7). HMM ------------------ Yahweh’sForgiveness and Healing “Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, andforget not all his benefits: who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy life from destruction.” (Psalm103:1-4) In this psalm, David directs believers to personal praise, reminding them to worship Yahweh for spiritual forgiveness and physical healing. Do all believers receive these two benefits unilaterally? If we are calling out for sin’s forgiveness—unequivocally yes (1John 1:9)! The Lord has always demonstrated His concern for His children’s physical well-being. “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew6:11). But physical healing is never a guarantee—the only such guarantee is found in the believer’s future glorification (Romans8:30). David prayed hard for spiritual and physical healing after committing his sin against God, Bathsheba, and Uriah (2Samuel 12; Psalm 51). Spiritual forgiveness was unilateral and immediate, but Yahweh had different plans for David’s precious baby (2Samuel 12:23). Be reminded, believer, that we live between the pages of Romans 8. We see the groaning of the creation and painfully feel the groaning we ourselves experience. Even so, God providentially sustains our bodies as we carry out His will until His Kingdom comes (Matthew6:13). I am reminded of what one dear believer experienced from a very painful disease. Given only a year to live, God miraculously allowed her an additional seven years, during which she discipled more than 10 women and led several to a saving knowledgeof Christ. She was finally called home into the arms of our Lord Jesus Christ. Regardless of our circumstances, we must always “bless the LORD” and trust in Him. CM --------------------- WhatWeakens Our Witness - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org Therefore, put on every piece of God�s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. �Ephesians6:13 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/what-weakens-our-witness/- Listen Someone has defined integrity as what you are when no one is looking. We may come off a certain way in public, but what are we like when we�re alone, when no one is in theroom with us? That speaks of our integrity�or lack thereof. Foremost in our Christian experience, we need truth. As followers of Jesus Christ, we need to be what we say we are, both privately and publicly. When the apostle Paul wroteabout putting on the armor of God, he began with the belt of truth. He said, �Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth� (Ephesians 6:14 NLT). We could call it the utility belt of truth. This represents a life and mind that are pulledtogether and ready to serve for the glory of God. It speaks of integrity. The opposite of integrity is duplicity. Duplicity is hypocrisy. It�s trying to live a double life. This is what weakens so many Christians today. James says, �You adulterers! Don�t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: Ifyou want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God� (4:4 NLT). Trying to live in two worlds just doesn�t work. When we put our faith in Jesus Christ, we join God�s army, so to speak. We�re no longer civilians; we�re under the command of the captain of our salvation, Jesus Christ. Ofcourse, we have given up certain privileges, but we have gained far more. If we haven�t put on the belt of truth, then all other pieces of spiritual armor will become somewhat irrelevant. We will be worthless and immobilized. Duplicity and hypocrisy weaken our witness to a watching world. We need the belt of truth. We need integrity before God. ---------------------------- Pick Up Your Sword - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. �Ephesians 6:17 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/pick-up-your-sword/- Listen Before I became a Christian, I read some of the Bible, but it seemed largely meaningless. After I became a Christian, however, the Bible came alive to me. I remember reading it and understanding it for the first time. It changed my life as I discovered new principles every day for living the Christian life. When the apostle Paul outlined God�s armor in Ephesians 6, the only piece he listed that is both defensive and offensive is the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God (see Ephesians6:17). With the sword we can block attacks, but we can strike with it as well. The Holy Spirit inspired the Bible and illuminates the Scriptures for us. And the Holy Spirit enables us to know God�s Word, remember verses we�ve studied, and use them appropriately. Jesus modeled this for us during His temptation in the wilderness. He responded to each temptation by quoting the Scriptures. He effectively deflected temptation using thesword of the Spirit. Sadly, a lot of believers have all their spiritual armor in place but never use the sword of the Spirit. They talk about it. They study it. But they never actually use itin spiritual battle. Meanwhile, the devil knows all too well the power and authority of the Bible, and he will try to keep Christians from it at all costs. He fears the sword. He knows the valueof it. What shape is your sword in? Is it polished from daily use and sharpened on the anvil of experience as you apply and obey its truth in your life? Or, is it rusty from a lackof preparation and dulled by disobedience? If we neglect Bible study, our spiritual life ultimately will unravel. Everything we need to know about God is found in His Word. So, let�s follow the example of Jesus anduse it. ------------------------------ The Necessity of Prayer - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. �Ephesians 6:18 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/the-necessity-of-prayer/- Listen In Exodus 17 we find the story of a battle between the people of Israel and the Amalekites. Moses sent Joshua to lead the troops in battle. Meanwhile, Moses climbed up a hill,raised his staff, and interceded for Israel�s army. When Moses held up his staff, Israel�s armies prevailed. But whenever his arms grew tired and he lowered the staff, the enemy prevailed. Eventually, Aaron and Hur, who were with Moses, held up his hands until the sun went down. As a result, Israel won on the field of battle. This illustrates how God�s Word (represented by Joshua�s sword) and prayer (symbolized by Moses� staff) worked together. Someone had to go into battle with the sword. Andsomeone had to pray. The Book of Acts tells us that the leaders of the early church gave themselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word (see 6:4). And Jesus said, �But if youremain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!� (John 15:7 NLT). The Word of God enlightens us, and prayer enables us. The Word of God reveals the will of God, and prayer enables us to do His will. To grow spiritually and stand strong in the spiritual battle, we need a regular diet of God�s Word in our lives. But we also need to pray. The apostle Paul tells us, �Prayin the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere� (Ephesians 6:18 NLT). The phrase �at all times and on every occasion� speaks of frequency. Prayer should be a regular part of our lives. We need the Word of God, but we also need prayer. The Bible and prayer are inseparable. ---------------- Creationand the Sciences �So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.� (Genesis 1:27) The first chapter of Genesis is the foundational chapter of the Bible and, therefore, of all true science. It is the great creation chapter, outlining the events of that first week of time when �the heavens and the earth were finished, and....God ended hiswork which he had made� (Genesis 2:1-2). Despite the evolutionists, God is not creating or making anything in the world today (except for special miraclesas recorded in Scripture) because all His work was finished in that primeval week. He is now engaged in the work of conserving, or saving, what He first created. There are only three acts of special creation�that is, creation out of nothing except God�s omnipotent word�recorded in this chapter. His other works were those of �making� or �forming� the created entities into complex, functioning systems. His first creative act was to call into existence the space/mass/time cosmos. �In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth� (Genesis 1:1). Thisis the domain that we now study in the physical sciences. The second is the domain of the life sciences. �God created...every living creature that moveth� (Genesis1:21). It is significant that the �life� principle required a second act of direct creation. It will thus never be possible to describe living systems solely in terms of physics and chemistry. The third act of creation was that of the image of God in man and woman. The study of human beings is the realm of the human sciences. Our bodies can be analyzed chemically and our living processes biologically, but human behavior can only really be understoodin terms of our relation to God, whose image we share. HMM ---------------------- Heaven Rules - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. �James1:17 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/heaven-rules/- Listen Ancient Babylon was a spectacular kingdom that included one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. One day Babylon�s ruler, King Nebuchadnezzar,was surveying the city from his balcony. He said, �Look at this great city of Babylon! By my own mighty power, I have built this beautiful city as my royal residence to display my majestic splendor� (Daniel 4:30NLT). The Bible tells us that while those words were still in the king�s mouth, a voice came from Heaven saying, �O King Nebuchadnezzar, this message is for you! You are no longerruler of this kingdom. You will be driven from human society. . . . Seven periods of time will pass while you live this way, until you learn that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of the world and gives them to anyone he chooses� (verses 31�32 NLT). Nebuchadnezzar took personal credit for what God gave him the ability to do. We can work hard, save, and invest wisely. We can have the ability to buy our own food and clothes and make payments on a car or house. Rather than congratulate ourselveson what a good job we are doing, let�s realize that God has given us everything we have. Deuteronomy 8:18 says, �Remember the Lord your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful� (NLT). And James 1:17 reminds us, �Whatever is good and perfect isa gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens� (NLT). If God has blessed you in your business or career, if He has blessed your family, if He has blessed you with good health, don�t give the glory to your great dedication, yourshrewd investments, or the health-food store. Give the glory to God. It�s a blessing from Him. ------------------------------ Lessonsto Learn �But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to callthe righteous, but sinners to repentance.� (Matthew9:13) The Lord Jesus called all who would be His disciples to �learn of me� (or �from me,� Matthew 11:29), and our text verse contains the first use of �learn� in the New Testament, thus indicating a basic item we must learn when we become Christians. The Lord stressed that God cared nothing about the ritualistic offering of animal sacrifices, as such, but rather desired understanding of the meaning of those sacrifices, accompanied by the motivating love and faith of a repentant heart. He referred them backto their own Scripture: �For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings� (Hosea6:6). This is the most difficult but most basic lesson to learn by one seeking forgiveness and salvation. There are many subsequent lessons to learn, of course; many of them very difficult even for sincere, believing Christians. Paul notes one of them he had learned the hard way: �I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content� (Philippians4:11). Another difficult but vital lesson has to do with Christian humility in leadership, �that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another� (1Corinthians 4:6). Even the Lord Jesus Christ in His perfect humanity had lessons to learn. �Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered� (Hebrews5:8). Finally, having learned these and many other such lessons, we must not forget them. Paul, in his final letter, so reminds us: �Continue thou in the things which thou hast learned� (2Timothy 3:14). HMM ------------------------ WhenGod Turns Away - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org Listen! The LORD�s arm is not too weak to save you, nor is his ear too deaf to hear you call. It�s your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, he has turnedaway and will not listen anymore. �Isaiah 59:1�2 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/when-god-turns-away/- Listen After years of walking with the Lord, the apostle Paul said, �I don�t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. ButI press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me� (Philippians 3:12 NLT). The great apostle was saying, �I have so far to go. I have so much to learn. So much is still before me. I�m going to forget what is behind me, not only my past failures,but also my past victories. I want to keep growing. I want to press on.� If we can look at our lives and say, �I don�t really need to study the Bible that much anymore. I think I have it down. I don�t know that I need to go to church that often.I think I�ve heard all there is to hear,� then we are far from where we need to be. If we have a sense of self-satisfaction about our spiritual lives and a resulting complacency, that is an indication that we�re in bad shape spiritually. Certainly we have things in our lives for which we need God�s cleansing on a regular basis. There are sins of both commission and omission. A sin of commission is breakinga commandment, while a sin of omission is not doing what God tells us to do. If we don�t confess our sins, then our prayer lives will come to a halt. And if we are holding on to some kind of sin, then we won�t have our prayers answered in the affirmative.The psalmist wrote, �If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened� (Psalm 66:18 NLT). The closer we are to God, the greater our sense of sin will be. -------------------------- TheUnseen Angels �For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.� (Psalm91:11) God has created �an innumerable company of angels� (Hebrews12:22), and there are many references to them in both Old and New Testaments, but few living men or women have ever actually seen real heavenly angels�or, at least, recognized them as such. We may �have entertained angels unawares� (Hebrews13:2), for they can assume the appearance of men on occasion, but normally they are invisible to human eyes. Nevertheless, they are there! Furthermore, they are �all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation� (Hebrews1:14). God has given them charge over us�that is, over each believer �that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High� (Psalm91:1). They �excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word� (Psalm103:20). Wide is the variety of His commandments with respect to angelic ministry to believers. �The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.... They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone� (Psalms34:7; 91:12). Not only physical protection but also guidance and encouragement are angelic ministries. When a believer dies, angels translate his spirit to the Lord�s presence (Luke16:22; 2 Corinthians 5:8), and we can look forward then to meeting and thanking them personally as we come to understand better all their ministries on our behalf during our lifetimes. They are keenly concerned with our salvation and spiritual progress, �whichthings the angels desire to look into� (1Peter 1:12). Finally, �when the Son of man shall come in his glory,� He will bring �all the holy angels with him� (Matthew25:31) as He judges the world. HMM