RAISE UP THE STANDARD!
"To Him Who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious Presence without fault and with great joy - to the Only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen." (Jude 24)
Morning Devotion: Feasting in His Presence - Read John 15:5-6
Jesus brought glory to the Father by completing the work He was called to do. The love of the Father, and accomplishing His will, was the soul focus of Jesus' life and ministry. He exemplified for us the way we are to live our lives now that His life blood flows through us. He is glorified in us when we remain in Him and allow Him to work in and through our lives. The life we now live, from the moment of salvation, is not our own. We have been separated and set apart to be His very own so He can do with us however He pleases. It should please us to let Him work through us, for He knows what is best to bless our lives, and what will bring glorify to His name.
"I am the Vine; you are the branches.
If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit;
apart from Me you can do nothing."
(John 15:5)
We bring glory to the Lord by abiding in Him and bearing good fruit. Before we came to believe in Christ we were separated from the Father and had no possibility of bearing His fruit. Now that we are His, His life flows through us and enables us to produce the fruit that will prove, not only, that we are His, but that we are alive in Him; for where there is fruit, there is life. It is to God's glory that we bear fruit, because He wants to use us to feed this spiritually starved world with His truth so they may come to believe in Him just as we have come to believe in Him. In yesterday's devotional, Jesus was hungry and wanted to eat, but the fig tree offered Him no sustenance (reference Matthew 21:18-19). As we live and walk in this world, there will be many people who the Lord will bring across our path who He expects us to nourish with His truth, but if we aren't bearing His fruit they will walk away empty handed and look elsewhere for a way to be satisfied. And this will not please the Lord.
"If anyone does not remain in Me,
he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers;
such branches are picked up,
thrown into the fire and burned."
(John 15:6)
Jesus showed His disappointment for the fig tree not bearing fruit as it should by cursing it and causing it to wither. So too is the judgment that awaits those who are not branches of the true Vine and who do not bear fruit. The sustenance we need each day comes from the connection we have with the Lord as He allows His life to flow from Him to us. The fruit that is produced out of that living relationship is not fruit that we eat, but rather fruit that will feed a spiritually hungry world; with the truth of His words that we speak and the works of His service that we do. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control" (Galatians 5:22-23).
"A good tree cannot bear bad fruit,
and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down
and thrown into the fire.
Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them."
(Matthew 7:18-19)
When we remain in Christ, as He remains in us, the fruit that is produced out of that vital union is spiritual fruit. The more we remain in Him and allow Him to work in us the greater the produce that we bear. As we learned yesterday, it is essential that our Master Gardener prunes us so what we have to offer the world is of the greatest quality; so the hungry are not just being fed, but are also getting the finest fare. When we feast at the table of the King He gives us His very best, and, as His children, He expects us, in turn, to do the same as we share Him with the rest of the world. May we take the necessary steps each day to cultivate this precious life that dwells inside of us so we will be a planting of the Lord in the garden of the King, and bear His royal fruit that will satisfy a starving world (reference Psalm 34:8).
"They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of His splendor."
(Isaiah 61:3b)
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REVOLUTIONIZE THE WORLD!
"Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty." (Zechariah 4:6)
Afternoon Devotion: Filled with His Power - Read Matthew 23:1-39
When Jesus was hungry He found nothing to satisfy Him; the fig tree that was in His path was not bearing what it naturally should. Just as a fig tree is created to produce figs, so, too, is the believer meant to produce spiritual fruit. We have been created by God for His pleasure and for the purpose of bringing Him glory. When our Lord is hungry, we are the food that He eats. "For the LORD's portion is His people" (Deuteronomy 32:9a). Our Lord finds satisfaction from our worship of and dependence upon Him. It is a shameful thing, to not only waste the opportunity we have each day to show up at His table to eat His spiritual food and be nourished and satisfied, but, also, to rob Him of the food that He longs to eat - fellowship with the ones He dearly loves!
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!
You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces.
You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to."
(Matthew 23:13-14)
In His last public message, Jesus condemned the religious leaders for bearing false fruit. The
Pharisees had power, privilege and authority, but they abused it to promote themselves instead of proclaiming the truth of God and meeting the needs of the people. Instead of being set apart for God's purposes they set themselves apart from the people to line their own purses. Their hypocrisy was driving the people further away from God and Jesus had come to set them straight. "But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach" (Matthew 23:3).
"You brood of vipers!
Who warned you to flee the coming wrath?
Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
The ax is already at the root of the trees,
and every tree that does not produce good fruit
will be cut down and thrown into the fire."
(Matthew 3:7b, 8, 10)
God has saved us and sanctified us so we will be set apart, but that does not mean our connection to Christ is meant to disconnect us from the world. On the contrary, we are to be His conduits of grace to the world, therefore essential that we abide in Him completely so His grace can flow freely through us. The Pharisees had clogged up the lines with their self-righteousness. They had imposed heavy burdens upon the people, and instead of leading them to freedom in Christ, they made it impossible for them to get to Him. They were robbing all the honor and glory that belonged to God and keeping it for themselves. If they bore any fruit at all it was false and rotten fruit that only starved the people and kept them dependent upon them instead of God. They were sanctimonious leaders who were hindering the work of God.
Jesus died on the cross to save us and to consecrate us into His service. Consecration is the human side of holiness, while Sanctification is the divine side of holiness. Sanctify means to be "set apart for sacred use" or "make holy." Yesterday we learned that only the forgiven man is a holy man. We cannot be holy apart from Christ. He set us apart for the purpose of making us holy. "...therefore be holy, because I am holy" (Leviticus 11:45b). When we abide in Him His life blood flows through us and transforms us over time to become more like Him. Our Master Gardener takes His time to make us into a beautiful and fruitful planting that will attract the world to Him. May we submit with Holy Reverence for the Father, to His masterful hand, and allow Him to not only do the work necessary in our lives to make us more like Him, but also allow Him to delight in, and find satisfaction in us, by "living a life worthy of the Lord and pleasing Him in every way; bearing fruit in every good work, and growing in the knowledge of the God" (Colossians 1:10). Let Him continue the work He started so we will be complete in Him and that He can look upon His work and be glorified in us (reference Philippians 1:6)!
"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him
who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light."
(1 Peter 2:9)
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RESTORE PRAISE!
"Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever, Amen!" (Revelation 7:12)
Evening Devotion: Focused on His Praise - Read John 17:6-19
As we join Jesus in His intercessory prayer for His disciples He reveals the special interest He has for those who believe in Him. A common thread that runs through the message Jesus was trying to get across in our journey over the past forty plus days has been the difference between those who are His and those who are not. In His farewell prayer, Jesus commends His "special" ones to the Father and asks for His protective and loving hand to remain on them as they remain in Him. Jesus would not remain in the world in His present state any longer, but He would remain in His people so that they, too, would not "remain" in the world, but rather remain in Him. We have been given all of the God's strength, through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, the fervent intercessory prayer of the Son, and the tender watchful care and answered prayer of the Father to stay connected to the Vine. There's nothing that can disconnect us from that vital Source, we are attached to Him securely, so let us draw from His strength and remain in Him. Feast on these words that our Savior prayed so that we would never fall from His mighty hand. Praise God that we never have to doubt or fear that we are His. Offer Him the praise and worship He deserves.
"I have revealed You to those whom You gave Me out of the world.
They were Yours; You gave them to Me and they have obeyed Your Word.
Now they know that everything You have given Me comes from You.
For I gave them the words You gave Me and they accepted them.
They knew with certainty that I came from You,
and they believed that You sent Me. I pray for them.
I am not praying for the world, but for those You have given Me,
for they are Yours. All I have is Yours, and all You have is Mine.
And glory has come to Me through them.
I will remain in the world no longer, but I am coming to You.
Holy Father, protect them by the power of Your name -
the name You gave Me - so they may be one as We are one.
While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe
by that name You gave Me. None has been lost except the one
doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.
I am coming to You now, but I say these things while I am still in the world,
so that they may have the full measure of My joy within them.
I have given them Your Word and the world has hated them,
for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.
My prayer is not that You take them out of the world but that You
protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.
Sanctify them by the truth; You Word is truth.
As You sent Me into the world, I have sent them into the world.
For them I sanctify Myself, that they too may be truly sanctified."
(John 17:6-19)
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Heavenly Father,
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual
blessing in Christ...to the praise of His glorious grace,
which He has freely given us in the One He loves...In order that we,
who were first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of His glory."
(Ephesians 1:3, 6, 12)
Thank You for connecting me to You so Your life blood can
continually flow and strengthen me to do the things You have
called me to do. How blessed I am to know that
You are praying for me so that I walk securely each day
knowing Your hand is protecting me and keeping me close to You.
May my life bring glory and honor to Your name as
I surrender to Your tender hand to do the necessary work
to make me more like You; so that I can live the holy
and set apart life that You have chosen for me
and grow to maturity; that my life may bear good fruit that
will bless and feed a hungry world desperately in need of You.
" Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God
a sacrifice of praise - the fruit of lips that confess His name.
And not forget to do good and share with others,
for with such sacrifices [You] are pleased."
(Hebrews 13:15-16)
Find pleasure in my life each and every day
as I seek to give my best to You by remaining
in Your will and glorifying Your Holy Name.
Be glorified, I pray. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
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The entire CRUCIFIED journey will be available
online in a few days. To access the first 10 days of this journey
go to www.trumpetandtorch.org and
click on the Year of Jubilee seal on the home page.
When the Jubilee page opens up simply go to the
calendar to your right and scroll down to
March/April and click on CRUCIFIED.
Click on the CRUCIFIED image in the center of
your screen to access the pdf and download
and print out the journey.
Additional prayer and fasting journeys are available
online at www.trumpetandtorch.org
under the "HOW TO FAST" button at the
top of the website home page.
If this is your first time participating in a 40-day fast
it is recommended that you begin with
"EAT at the Table of the King"
This journey can be downloaded and printed out
under the How To Fast button
or accessed online in the Temple at LOGIN.
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