​Love you all, praying for you,
 
I just love Gods Word.  No matter how awkward, or uncomfortably direct.  I love that it tells you the truth, and it even gives you a template and structure for it.  It doesn’t have to use every word in the English language, to cover every possible variation or situation or nuance.  It tells you the principle – it’s your job to apply it across the board.  Proverbs 22:24-25 – Do not make friends with a hot-tempered man, do not associate with one easily angered, or you may learn his ways and get yourself ensnared.  This is not about anger management.  Do not associate with anyone who is not Godly, who does not have the Fear of the LORD as their first priority.  Do not associate with a prideful man – God opposes them, their fall is soon coming. (Pr 16:18)  Do not associate with a greedy man, eager to get rich – they are unaware that poverty awaits them. (Pr 28:22)  Do not associate with a lustful man – they are slaves. (Romans 6:16)  Do not associate with a complainer (a negative man, a grumbling man), it displeases the LORD and will shorten their life. (Num 17:10)  What they complain about like what they fear will always find them, they will never rise above it.  Do not associate with a fearful man, they are paralyzed, disobedient. (Isa 41:1)  Do not associate with a slanderous man, who constantly speaks ill of others, God hates it. (Pr 6:19) Do not associate with a lazy man, they are destined for poverty. (Pr 10:4)  The ways of all of these – will ensnare you just as much as the way of a man who is easily angered – better to control your temper than to take a city. (Pr 16:32) Do not associate with those who are ensnared by sin.  Or you too will be ensnared by what ensnares them.  No one is perfect, but you can tell those who are obeyers and those who are not.  Who you associate with – you will become like.  If they do not seek after the fear of the LORD, if they do not seek to walk with God, hear his voice, and fully obey.  You will become ensnared by what ensnares them.   Don’t focus on who not to associate with, just something to be aware of.   Instead seek out these men (or women, if you are a woman) to associate with.  Associate with a humble man – God will exalt them. (James 4:10)  If they’re not humble, it doesn’t matter what else they are.  Associate with a diligent man, they will prosper. (Pr 10:4)  Associate with a giver, a generous man – for much more is coming to them.  (Pr 11:25)  Associate with a kind man – they lend to the LORD, and He will repay them.  (Pr 19:17)  Associate with a pure man – they will see God.  (Mt 5:8)  Associate with a man who is faithful to his wife, and children.  They will leave a legacy.  Associate with a man who fears God, who obeys in this hour – they are not fearing God for nothing.   Associate with a faith-filled man whose words are faith and belief, and hope, and eternal destiny – this pleases God. (Heb 11:6) -  Associate with a joyful man – they have the strength of the LORD. (Neh 8:10)  Associate with a kingdom-minded man whose ambition is to win souls, not money or fame.  They are wise. (Pr 11:30)  And you will learn his ways, and become like him, you’ll be enriched by what enriches him, you will sharpen each other, and strengthen one another, and overcome together.  Even the world knows you are your four closest friends.  Choose wisely, choose for eternity.  Praying that you will run after God with those who seek Him with all of their heart. 
 
Love you all,
dad    

Love you all, praying for you.
 
I just love God’s Word.  It is insight and instruction.  It leads you to a deeper level of understanding, so you are not just doing, but you know the significance of it, the reason for it, and the benefit that it brings.  So you can operate with new authority, and walk in new victory.  It gives instruction and explanation so you don’t just do it, but understand why.  Psalm 88:9 – I call to you, O LORD, every day; I spread out my hands to you.  This was a David’s habit, a man after God’s own heart.  It was something he thought was important enough, that he did it every day.  Psalm 119:48 – I lift up my hands to your commands which I love, and I meditate on your decrees.  Psalms 141:2 – May the lifting of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.  One of the postures of worship – is the lifting up of our hands to the LORD.  It is a powerful thing.  Psalms 63:4 – This is how I will bless you as long as I live: I will lift up my hands in your name.  Psalms 143:3 – I lift up my hands to you.  I thirst for you like a parched land thirsts for rain.  Nehemiah 8:6 – and Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God.  And the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands:  and they bowed their heads and worshipped the LORD with their faces to the ground.  Psalms 134:2 – Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD.   There is something about lifting up your hands, that speaks to God, that reaches Him, that draws Him.  It’s important enough to do every day.  What does it mean to lift up your hands?  First, it is Praise.  Psalms 9:1  I will praise you O LORD with my whole heart.  Praise that word 'Yadah' literally means to throw out the hands – to extend your hands.  When you lift your hands – it is a physical expression of Praise.  It is worshipping God.  And He comes to inhabit the praises of His people.  The second thing that extended hands means, Surrender.  If you lift up your hands you are surrendering to His will and His way.  You are coming under his mission, it is a physical expression of submission.  A physical demonstration of a mental recognition, that His ways are better than my ways, that His plans are better than mine, that He knows what I don’t know, and that His love for me endures forever.  The third thing that extended hands means.  It is a physical expression of a desire for intimacy.  What does a child do the first thing when Daddy comes home from work.  They run to him and lift up their hands!  What are they saying?  "Daddy Hold me!"  "Pick me up!"  "I want to be closer to you."  When you lift up your hands in praise, and surrender, and in a desire to be close to Him.  God brings himself close to you.  It’s the intimacy that positions you to hear his voice, to go with Him where He goes.  It’s the place of protection, of acceptance, and of closeness with Him – who not only loves you, He has everything you will ever need, and everything He gives is good.  Praying that you like David, will lift up your hands every day, in Praise, in Surrender, and in Closeness to your Father, so you grow in your love for Him, and learn to know more of His great love for you. 
 
Love you all,
dad 

​Love you all, praying for you.
 
Have you ever thought the “fuls” in life?  Some are for you, some are not.  I find it interesting a sentence with the same words can have two different meanings.  Ful’s that are for you, and ful’s that are for you.  'For you' means – they are in your favor, to your advantage, for your good!  You want these.  'For you' means – they are what God has for you – chosen for you, selected for you – because they are in your favor, to your advantage…  Whatever He has for you – you want these.  Some fuls are not for you.  Don’t be prideful – God opposes the proud, but He gives grace to the humble.  Don’t be slothful, laziness ends in slave labor, diligence is the precious possession of a man.  Don’t be revengeful – Vengeance is mine declares the LORD.  Plus He can do it better than you can anyway.  Don’t be forgetful – if you forget what God did, you will stray from His will, you’ll start grumbling and complaining, instead of praising and believing.  Don’t be neglectful – don’t neglect the Word of God it’s the wisdom and power you need!  Don’t be doubtful – He who doubts is like a wave tossed by the wind. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, and believe His promises – for they will surely come to pass.  So what are Eleven ‘ful’s’ that are for you.   Thankful, Grateful, Thoughtful, Mindful, Prayerful, Careful, Helpful, Faithful, Hopeful, Joyful, Successful.  Thankful – it’s something that you can do, that you can be full of.  In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus, concerning you. (I Thes 5:18) Can’t get more clear than that.  Develop a habit of giving thanks, and you will be thankful.  Grateful – it’s the heart attitude of appreciation first to God and then others.  Everything you have is because of God, and others have helped you along the way.  A heart of gratitude is what God has for you.  Therefore since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be grateful and worship God in reverence and fear in a way that pleases him (Heb 12:28) Grateful people are the best to be around, they appreciate every good thing that God gives, it’s contagious.  Give thanks with a grateful heart.  It attracts blessing.  Even you as a parent, are drawn to a grateful child - you will surely give them more.  Those that are unappreciative, first need to learn to be grateful for what they have, before they get more.  Praying that you will develop an attitude of gratitude!  Every good and perfect gift comes from your Father in heaven.  Count your blessings, it will increase your gratitude, so you become grateful.  Thoughtful – this means to consider.  Examine yourselves to see if you are in the faith. (2 Cor 13:5)  God says we are to consider our ways.  Take the time to stop and consider how you live, to be sure you are walking fully in the life that God has for you.  Mindful – is different than thoughtful.  Thoughtful is to give thought to, to consider, mindful is – be sure your mind is full of His Word, His commands, His promises, His instructions, Mindful is to always remember, to keep them top of mind.  Prayful – Pray without ceasing.  (I Thes 5:17)  Keep praying, pray in the Spirit, pray in the understanding, Ask God what He wants you to pray, and keep praying.  The prayer of a righteous man and woman – avails much. (James 5:16)  It helps!  It’s significant, it makes a difference.  Careful – this is a little different than thoughtful, and mindful, this is Careful – circumspect, guarding yourself.  If you think you are standing, be careful so you do not fall. (I Cor 10:12)  This means to be on your guard.  Be careful to do all that God told you to do, so you stand firm, so you don’t become naïve to the devil’s schemes.  Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the wicked and fall from your secure position. (2 Pet 3:17) Helpful – God has always helped you, He’s always come alongside you. Be helpful to others – it is an exercise in humility – preferring others over yourself.  It demonstrates the love of Jesus.  There’s a difference between wishing someone well, and showing up to help them.  Don’t just say God bless you, help them, serve others.  Show up.  Look for ways to help them.  It’s love in action.  Be helpful.  Faithful – this is simply to fulfill your duty – to love God with all your heart, and fully do everything He has called you to do, trustworthy.  To the faithful you show yourself faithful.  (Ps 18:25)  And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in my heart and mind.  I will establish his family, and they will walk before my anointed one forever.  (I Sam 2:35)  Well done, my good and faithful servant.  You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge over many things, enter into the joy of your Lord!  Hopeful – The LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love. (Ps 147:11)  Hope is an expectation of a good end.  As for me, I will always have hope, I will praise you more and more.  My mouth will tell of your righteousness and of your salvation all day long, though I know not it’s measure.  (Ps 71:14-15) Part of hope is telling of what He has done – all day long.  Knowing that you haven’t seen nothing yet, the best is yet to come.  When it seems like it’s taking forever, and the devil wants you to think He forgot, or doubt that He said it or doubt that He will really come through.  That’s the time to put your hope in God.  His promise is sure, His Word is true, you will see it come to pass. Stay in his Word and you’ll be hopeful.  Joyful – Count it all joy my brothers when you face trials of many kinds, knowing that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish it’s work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:2) Rejoice always, again I say rejoice.  Rejoice means to take joy again, choose joy and you’ll be joyful, operate in it, live in it, restart it. Choose it, Take it again for yourself.  The joy of the LORD is your strength. (Neh 8:10)  Joy is a fruit of the Spirit, and joy is a choice.  So pray in the Spirit and you’ll stay in the Spirit, and joy will come.  Obedience brings joy, (Matt 25:21) so the more you obey, the more joy you get, and the more your joy will remain.  Rejoice in the LORD! Choose joy.  It’s how you remain joyful! It’s a ‘ful’ that He has for you!  Successful.  God created you for success, He made you to be an overcomer. He delights in the prosperity of his children.  Just like you do – be even more.  Joshua 1:8 – This book of the law shall never depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it.  For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.  God has success for you!  You get it by soaking in His Word.  His plans are for you to be successful.  Praying that you will walk in these eleven fuls that God has for you.  That you will be Thankful, Grateful, Thoughtful, Mindful, Prayerful, Careful, Helpful, Faithful, Hopeful, Joyful, Successful.  And the secret to all of them?  Be Spirit-ful.  If you are full of the Spirit – if you are led by the Spirit of God, instead of by your own thoughts and ways, the Holy Spirit will lead you into every ful that is for you.  Praying that you will be filled with the Spirit – that you would be Spirit-ful – so God can fill you with every other ‘ful’ that He has for you. 
 
Love you all,
dad

Love you all, praying for you,

I just love God’s Word.  It gives principles and promises.  It is absolute truth for us to walk in.  Here is God’s promise.  He has victory for you today!  You can have victory in the big things, the small things, even the mundane.  “For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.  He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.” (Pr 2:6-8)  “No weapon formed against you will prosper.” (Isa 54:17)  “He delights in the prosperity of his people.” (Ps 35:27, 106:5)  He fulfills his purpose in you. (Ps 57:2)  He gives you more grace. (James 4:6)  Unmerited favor and Divine power not just to say “No” to the things that are not from him, but He gives His grace - which is unlimited power to fully do everything He has assigned for you in this hour.  God has victory for you today!  In football, at the end of the game, teams go into ‘victory formation.’  When the end is sure, and time is almost out.  They have close linemen, and backs next to the quarterback, who takes a knee and runs out the clock.  That means victory is already won.  That’s what God has already done for you.  What He has purposed will surely come to pass.  All you need to do is stay in His victory formation, and follow His plan.   God’s Way is a little different.  What if you could start in that victory formation before the game even begins, so you make sure you do it at the end?  You can!  God’s victory formation is for the beginning as well as the end of the game.  So what forms your victory?   #1 Declaration, #2 PiVAT, #3 PRISM, #4 Praise, and #5 Prayer.  Declare the victory that God has for you today.  Believe it, and you will walk in it.  Declare it, and you will walk in it.  “God, I declare Your victory in my life today.  I will do everything You tell me to do in this hour.  I will set before my eyes no unclean thing,  I will obey everything that You tell me to do, and that you tell me to say.  I will follow Your plans, and come back to Your Word, I will praise You for grace, and power to do everything You tell me to do.  I will praise You with my testimony!  I will pray in the Spirit and with the understanding, for myself (building my faith), and interceding for others.  I will give You glory for everything You do today.  I will be watching for it!  I will not fear, I will not doubt, I will not complain, I will not turn, only praise, I will be instant in obedience, constant in praise.  I will walk in humility, and share Your love with others, as You open the door of every opportunity.”  Declaration is powerful – it sets your course, it’s the start of your victory formation.  You can declare in first person, in prayer to God, or in third person, just declaring to yourself, using the word “Him” instead of the word “You” – talking to Him in prayer.  Praying that you will declare the victory that He has for you today, so you lock yourself in – to walking in it.  If you make a wrong choice, either delayed obedience, distraction, or lost opportunity when the Holy Spirit prompts you… just repent immediately, ask God what to do next, go back and do what you missed, or keep going to the next thing He has for you – whatever He tells you.   God can make up for lost time, and will give you another opportunity to walk in His victory for you.  Come back to PiVAT all day.  It’s easy to get off track, or on your own track, or do what you think you have to, rather that what God is telling you. Every day brings distractions, but if you keep coming back to PiVAT - His plans (double-check with Him, He loves the conversation), write the testimonies so far, of what God did as you just obeyed!) He will lead you step by step so you leave nothing on the table from today.  So your progress is sure, and your joy is full.  Keep coming back to PRISM – His Word for today -  Soak in it – especially M: Meditate on the Word.  Take that PRISM Topic with you – the one He told you for today - the power of God’s Word on a single subject.  Praying that you will review the PRISM Topic - Starter Verses.  That remind you of the victory that He has for you every day!  Keep coming back to Praise and Prayer – with every change of venue, or activity today.  Every time you are in the car, between appointments, come back to Praise and Prayer.  It will keep your eyes on Him, and will keep your eyes open, looking for the next opportunity to overcome with your testimony, and help others discover theirs… To love others, with the love that God longs to show them – through you.  Be diligent in every task He has for you, it’s the precious possession of a man or woman.  Diligence in what He tells you makes the victory formation work.  Redeem the time.  Celebrate every victory, every good choice, every time you choose His Way, instead of any other way.  And you will walk in the Victory that He has for you today. 
 
Love you all,
dad

​Love you all, praying for you.
 
Praying that you will bear much fruit, exactly what God has appointed for you.  Today’s is a tough one, because without humility and the Holy Spirit, it might be misunderstood.  “Judge not lest you be judged.”  -  the favorite verse of the ungodly.  They will quote that verse (the only verse they know in the Bible) anytime someone speaks the truth about sin.  God says don’t judge people, but the Bible clearly tells us that we are to judge actions, “make righteous judgments.” “Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life. (I Cor 6:3) “Stop judging by outward appearances, but judge with right judgment.” (John 7:24) “My dear brothers and sisters, if someone among you wanders away from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.”  (James 5:19-20)  How could anyone do that without making a right judgment.  Not judging the person, but judging the fruit, and loving them enough to speak the truth in love.  Clearly we are to judge fruit, make righteous assessments, and then act accordingly for ourselves, and to help others.  But be careful…  God said if you join in with the wicked, (If you don’t turn them, or turn from them) If you join them, you will share in their destruction. “Have nothing to do with such people.” (2 Timothy 3:5, Proverbs 24:22, Proverbs 13:20)  Be careful, do not be on the same path, do not partner with them.  Don’t judge a person, but we are commanded to judge the fruit that comes from them.  Are you tied with someone or someone’s whose lives do not produce good fruit?  Whose actions and beliefs and words are death, not life?  We had a friend that was in business with someone who claimed to be a Christian, but their actions were dishonest and ungodly.  He could no longer be joined with them.  God says do not yoke yourself together with unbelievers.  Not what they say they believe, but what they do that reveals who they are and what they really believe.   Choose your friends carefully, your relationships carefully, those you spend time with, and associate with, and live life with.  If you are tied with someone whose priority is not the fear of the LORD, whose life does not produce the fruit of repentance, you need to distance yourself.  That’s not what God has for you.  It brings no good in the end.  We raised six of you children.  We have seen people come and go.  Few people in life, are lifelong relationships.  Very few.  More than several have come and gone, they will stay as long as they can get something from you.  Those who do not fear God, and do not walk in the fear of the LORD are not your responsibility.  God calls you to love them, but he has not called you to save them.  They are God’s.  God loves them, He can save them, but He won’t make them turn, and you cannot make them turn either, no matter how much you love them, or desire God’s best for them.  It’s not your job.  God will save them, not you.  God has called you to love Him with all your heart.  And do not join with those whose words or deeds oppose the love and kindness, and truth and repentance that characterize those who have given their life to Jesus Christ.  What is the fruit that they produce?  Love?  Faith? Humility? (Are they quick to repent), Kindness? Obedience?  God said be ‘in the world, but not of it.’  Some people hold on to relationships in their life that lead them away from God and prevent them from walking in the good and the abundance that He has for them.  God said we are to judge fruit, not people.  We can pray for them, love them, but not live life with them, or we will become like them.  Bad company corrupts good character. (I Cor 15:33)  He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools will be destroyed.” (Pr 13:20) Cast them a line, but don’t jump in the pit with them, or you will drown just like they will.  God loves them more than you do.  God will save them, not you.  If this relationship or activity is leading you away from where you are supposed to be, and not to where you are supposed to be… it’s an NFL relationship – Not For Long.  God doesn’t want you to continue in it, you have sown what you could.  God may have another place for you to sow.  Be careful that you are not the one that God is talking about.  What path are you on?  The path that leads to destruction along with those who seek the pleasures of the world?  Or are you willing to seek God first, completely, His ways only, and distance yourself from any relationship that leads you away from God, rather than to Him?  David said, “The deeds of faithless men I hate, they will not cling to me.”  Are your choices towards God?  You can find plenty of friends on the road to pleasure.  But they are not friends, they are only with you if you are on their road.  They care nothing about you, or what God has for you.  They are bent on their own way.  God can save them, but He tells you to separate yourself from them.  This is important.  You don’t have to make it a big altercation, or declaration.  Just go your way, Do PiVAT before dinner, know God’s plan for you today and follow it… the way God has chosen for you, the way best for you!  And let Him bring alongside you – the ones whose hearts are for Him!  God knows how to separate wheat from chaff.  This is not condemning anyone, nor is it justifying yourself.  It merely is humbly following the path that God has chosen for you, and trusting Him to bring those along your path that will help you reach where God has purposed for you.  You have to love God more than you love other people, even more than your own family.  Jesus said, unless you are willing to leave father mother sisters and brothers to follow me, you are not worthy of me.  He wasn’t saying abandon your family or responsibility, He was saying don’t let other people’s opinions of what you should do, rise above what God has told you to do, and called you to.  And don’t spend your time with people, who could lead you away from him.  You have to love God more than you love the people you have been associating with.  Friends are few, and those who do not provoke you to love and good works, are not friends, they could be frienemies.  It is very difficult to change networks, and associations.  But you only have twenty-four hours in a day.  Only so much time for involving and engaging with people.  And if you hold on to those who do not want to walk in full obedience to the LORD, you will never gain the circle of friends and counselors God has for you -  who will sharpen you, and encourage you in the LORD to walk in truth and life.  It’s important.  Most importantly – who are you?  And what do you do?  Not if there are friends you should leave behind, but first consider, should Godly friends leave you?  Are you salt and light, are you love and kindness, faith and encouragement?  Is your heart after the things of God’s heart?  Do you fully obey God, immediately and completely? Are your words faith and life?  Is your heart after God first and completely?  Follow Jesus with all your heart, the plans He has for you!  And God will fade some relationships away, so He can join you with those who will challenge you and grow you, just as you build them.  Praying that you will ask God for a Daily Call – it will grow you and them, in what God has for you!  It’s straight up, obeying God’s word.  Hebrews 3:13.  “Exhort one other daily.”  Praying that you will seek God with all your heart, and let God reveal the ones he has chosen for you to run with.  But know, that there may be some you need to run from, before He brings the ones He has called you to run with.  Praying that you will never judge people, but that you will judge fruit, first and most – in you.  You can trust God.  Nothing He wants you to leave behind is worth keeping, and nothing He has for you would you ever want to miss out on.  Praying that you will love everyone, invest in who God leads you to, and walk closely with a few.  Praying that your life would bear much fruit, that God would prune anyone or anything in your life that is just leaves, but not fruit. 
 
Love you all,
dad 

Love you all, praying for you.
 
What does the world need most?  Jesus?  Yes, of course, but what the world needs most is truth.  Jesus is truth, so if you know truth, you know Jesus, if you know Jesus you know truth.  Jesus said, I am the way the truth and the life. (John 14:6) In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)   And the Word became human form and lived among us, and we have seen His glory, the glory of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14).  Jesus is the truth, he came to testify to the truth. (John 18:37) Without knowing what is true, you cannot please God, and you cannot walk in the full blessing that He has for you.  That’s why God promised the Holy Spirit – to lead you in all truth.  That’s how you know who knows Jesus, they know the difference between truth and lies.  The devil blinds people with lies, so they won’t know the truth, or they would repent and turn, and be saved.  God even said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” (Hosea 4:6) It means they are lacking truth, they are ignorant of it.  They are not resisting sin, they are blinded by it, they don’t even believe it’s sin.  They have justified their behavior and hold God to their standard, rather than hold themselves to God’s standard.  Could this be you?  Wherever you are missing truth in your life, you are being destroyed, ruined.  The devil always brings lies because he hates truth, he wants you ruined and destroyed.  Some people are opposed to truth. That’s what happens when you reject truth, you soon become opposed to it.  And then it won’t be long before you call lies the truth, and truth a lie. God says “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.” (Isaiah 5:20)  Woe, that means sudden and complete destruction – they won’t escape it.   It’s now believed that everyone has their own truth.  Untrue, false, a lie.  You can have your opinion and your experience, but you may or may not be sharing truth, you might just be sharing what you think, and what caused you to think that way.  There is one truth, truth is eternal.  It’s truth or not.  God is the author and measure of all truth.  What He says is true, anything other… is false, a lie, deception.  Many count what God says is true, unless he says something we don’t like, or something that we do, and want to keep doing.  Then we ignore it, or twist it, or make excuses, or interpret it to be the opposite of what He really said.  Or we say, “He didn’t mean always… or I’m excused, or it’s better than doing that other thing…”  God says there are two sides of truth.  The side of truth, and the other side.   Those on the side of truth, listen to Jesus Christ (John 18:37) – they accept the Word of God as true.  Those who deny the Word of God, deny the truth, and when you deny truth, you deny Christ.  Once you are opposed to truth, you are opposed to God, His Word, Jesus Christ.  Every lie is anti-Christ, anti-truth, and anti-life.  Because He is the way the truth and the life, the only way to come to the Father – is through Jesus, the truth.  The devil tries to get people to believe a lie is the truth.  That’s why lies and deception are rampant in our culture, even in the church.  There are those who defend doing what God says is sin, and even call it ‘moral’ or ‘good.’ God calls them foolish.  Some people rank sins.  One not as bad as another.  Some people justify sin, and even claim that God is for it, or God made it, or made them that way so it must be ok.  They believe that you can still do that sin, and believe in God, or be a Christian (whatever their favorite sin is.).  What about you?  It’s easy to see others who do that, but have you ever asked God to reveal where you do that too?  God sent Jesus to die to save us from our sins, not save us to sin.  If you keep sinning, what are you saved from? And what are you saved for?  That’s not freedom.  That’s not freedom from sin, that’s remaining in bondage to it.  Paul said, Should we keep sinning so grace might abound?  God forbid!  If sin is OK, then Jesus died for nothing.  God says different.  I John 3:6 – No one who lives in him keeps on sinning.  No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.  Dear children, do not let anyone deceive you.  The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.  The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning.  The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.  No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.  This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are:  Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.  For this is the message you heard from the beginning:  We should love one another.  Part of love is speaking the truth in love, to yourself first, and then others.  Be careful, don’t let the devil use this verse as a guilt trip as if there is no hope for you because of what you have done.  God forgives.  Your flesh tends to sin, that’s why you need to choose His grace – to say No to it. (Titus 2:12)  If you feed the flesh more than your spirit – you will get caught up in sin.  That’s not the same as continuing in it.  If you repent quickly and turn from it, and ask God to forgive you, He will!  God will forgive you and give you the strength to choose his grace to overcome the next time.  This is talking about people who reject God’s word and justify the sin they want to continue in.  Some people try to match the Word of God to their beliefs and behavior – rather than conform their behavior and what they believe, to God’s Word.  And it’s so easy for me to see your sin as bad, and my sin as ok.  Yours is worse than mine.  God doesn’t rank sins like we do.  Anything less than what God said, or God’s best  - is sin.  We are all prone to sin because of the sin nature we will carry until we get our new bodies one day in heaven.  Until then we will battle the flesh, but the good news is this!  God is bigger than the devil.  God’s truth is stronger than the devil’s lie, and His Grace is sufficient for you!  Don’t condemn anyone just because they sin.  But for the grace of God everyone is trapped in sin.  God just offers freedom from sin, not freedom to sin.  That’s why those who truly believe in Christ, and are filled with His Spirit – and choose His grace to overcome sin, don’t accept sin, they reject it, and hate it.  Just because you love people, who sin and believe it’s ok, even moral and right, doesn’t mean that sin is ok.  God hates it, you can’t live in sin, and say you love God.  And God loves those people too – even the ones that hate Him.  He longs for them to turn, so they can be set free from sin.  One day if they don’t turn, they will be eternally separate from God.  Then they will see that the devil deceived them, they got punked, and now they are in outer darkness for all of eternity, without hope.  So those that hate you for telling them the truth, don’t hate them, love them.  We were all deceived before Jesus set us free from sin.  God can set you free from sin, if you want to be free.  If you don’t – what God died to give you – freedom from sin, you forfeit along with the grace that could be yours.  Sin is a scary thing.  One is not worse than another, each of us needs to examine ourselves. And ask God by His Holy Spirit to reveal if we are still walking in the grace of God, or are compromised with sin.  The first thing is to accept God’s Word as truth.  What God calls sin – call it the same, or you don’t really believe in God, you believe in you.  Jesus said, you’ve heard it said, do not murder, but I tell you anyone who hates his brother in his heart, it’s like murder.  “Well I don’t believe that… I think we should love our friends and hate our enemies.”  That’s believing what you want, not what God says.  God says anyone who looks at a woman to lust after her in his heart is like committing adultery.  But others say – just because I’ve placed my order, doesn’t mean I can’t look at the menu… (what verse is that?)  If you don’t believe what God says, you will believe what the devil says. You’ll make up your own beliefs.  Whatever you say, you will believe.  We can be quick to condemn others of their sin, quick to recognize the spec in someone else’s eye, but fail to recognize the log in our own.  David’s heart, a heart after God, prayed this.  “Search me O God, and know my heart, see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.  That means – you should ask God, “Is there anything in me – in my belief system, that I believe to be true - that is not true?  Am I standing for something - that you stand against? Or that you are not standing for?”  Here is where the rubber meets the road -  When faced with truth, are you willing to change?  Are you willing to accept God’s Word as truth, and no longer believe - what you believed was true?  Ask the Holy Spirit, He will show you.    Praying that you will always know truth, that sets you free, that you will never accept the devil’s lie as truth.  That you would always respond with humility when the Holy Spirit reveals truth to you, that you might have missed.  Praying that the Truth of God’s Word will establish you in His good.  That nothing in you would be less than His Word, and His Plan, and His best.  Praying for what the world needs now, truth.  So they can know the God who loves them.  Praying that you will share the truth in love.  So God can save one more.  That’s what he’s waiting for…     
 
Love you all,
dad

Love you all, praying for you. 
 
What triggers you?   Are you triggered?  Be honest… are you reading this Daily Huddle - to see if what I say is offensive?  Will you take offense?  Was Jesus triggered?  No, He was holy.  In the temple seeing people cheat the poor in the name of God.  It ticked Jesus off, and he overturned the money changers tables.  Get out!  You have turned my Father’s house, a house of prayer, into a den of thieves.  These guys were profiting off of the law that you had to sacrifice a certain kind of animal.  They jacked up the prices, they were profiting off of others’ needs.  Even under the old covenant, God’s requirements didn’t ostracize or prey on the poor.  If you couldn’t afford a bull or a lamb, you could bring a dove (you could catch one of those, it’s not like people had a ranch that raised them.)  Sometimes God wants you to stand up for what is right, to stand up for those who cannot stand for themselves – who have no voice.  That’s not triggered, that's righteousness.  And you will be hated for it, by the triggered.  The problem is, many people are standing up for ‘what is right’ these days, but they do not know what is right.  They stand up for what seems right, but they are deceived.  What man says is ‘right’ today, will change by tomorrow.  What God says is right is established for eternity.  What is the easiest thing to see in someone else?  Hypocrisy.  We always see it in others, rarely do we see it in ourselves.  What is hypocrisy?  Expecting something of someone else, that you do not do yourself.  Or accusing someone of doing something, when you yourself do the same thing – just in another area or in another way.  We live in a triggered culture, a cancel culture.  Some things are ok, other things are so bad you will be shamed into oblivion, lose your job, lose your voice, lose your livelihood.  It doesn’t matter how long ago the deemed offense was, nor does it matter the evidence or lack thereof, of the current issue at hand.  You are deemed guilty in the court of public opinion of the triggered minority.  Notice it is not just, fair, or equal, some things are completely ignored.  It isn’t based on current law, just current group-think.  There is no mercy, just favoritism.  Some people’s apologies are accepted, others are not accepted, depending on what group you belong to… they must be shamed and punished.  Yet other offenses, actual crimes, like assault, arson, theft, even murder are forgiven, while certain words or opinions are not.  You can murder a baby in cold blood, yet you cannot speak the truth about basic biology.  Why are you talking politics?  Another lie, morality is a-political.  God alone determines what is right and what is wrong, what is sin, and what is righteous - not governments or any political party.  Morality supersedes government or politics -  the only ones foolish enough to confuse the two – are the triggered.  You can decry one thing, and in the same breath do that same thing to someone else.  Triggered means to slander, accuse, with the objective to cancel. To remove someone’s right to speak, or influence, to ruin their reputation, and remove their ability to work or earn a living.  The Pharisees were triggered.  They caught a woman in adultery, and drug her before Jesus in front of everybody - demanding what should be done with her?  They cared little about the sin, they didn’t care what grieved or offended God, and certainly didn’t care about the woman.  Puzzlingly… Where was the man?  I’ve never heard of a woman committing adultery all by herself…  These people just hated Jesus.  People who hate are always triggered, and even more amusingly than ironically, they are the first to accuse others of hate.  They were trying to trap him.  If he exonerated her, he couldn’t be from God, because God cannot excuse sin.  But if he said, follow the law and stone her, then he would lose the people, they would no longer follow him.  They gleefully awaited his reply.  He didn’t.  He just started writing something in the sand.  After a long silence, finally he spoke.  “Stone her then…  but let the one among you who is without sin, be the one to throw the first stone.”  In the awkward silence that followed… crickets.  One by one from the oldest to the youngest, the accusers, the cancellers, the attempted murderers, slinked away with their tails between their legs.  So that left only One to throw the stone, and He could have.  He was without sin, and the law stated the punishment for the crime.  But Jesus merely asked her.  Where are your accusers?  Since no one is left to cancel you, neither do I.  Go… and sin no more.  Jesus just set her free twice.  He saved her life from certain death, and then, He set her free from the sin that would lead to death again.  Go, you are free, and free to sin no more.  Sin is never an excuse or excused.  You are forgiven, you are set free, and if you stop sinning, you will really be free.  Jesus never cancelled people.  He forgave them, he set them free.  He only exposed those who were triggered, the Pharisees, who put burdens on people they themselves didn’t do, and couldn’t live up to.  Jesus said, I didn’t come to condemn the world, I came to save it.  Because Jesus gave up his life, we can be free from the sin that once bound us!  And we can love others, with the compassion that He showed.  Righteous laws must be enforced, if you are triggered by anything it should be the injustice of hypocrisy, and the willful ignoring of righteous laws, by those in power who don’t agree with certain ones that don’t match their ideology - their religion of government control of people.  But triggered people, accusers, slanderers, trying to destroy others for what they themselves do...  They just do what their father does.  The accuser, the liar, and the father of lies, he is a murderer from the beginning.  You can be sure of two things -  God will bring Salvation for all who will repent and turn.  And in the end, He will surely bring justice.  Praying that you are not deceived by false morality… Praying that you are never triggered by what the devil incites division and accusation with.  But that you would be triggered by what triggers God.  Love, Forgiveness and Salvation – not free to sin, but free to sin no more.  Praying for you, that love will be your motivation, love for God, love for truth, and love for others.  Not excusing sin, but loving people into freedom from it.  It starts with sharing the truth in love.  If you love someone, you’ll love them enough to tell them the truth, not to cancel them, or shame them, but to save them, and raise them, so they can walk in every good thing that God longs to give them. 
 
Love you all,
dad

​Love you all, praying for you. 
 
Sin sucks.  Don’t be naïve.  Learn to hate sin like God hates it.  It will ruin your life, it will affect your relationships, it will destroy your ministry, and ruin your testimony, it will try to steal your destiny.  It’s not worth it – ever.  Not even a little.  What is temptation?  An invitation to something less than God’s best.  To do something He didn’t tell you to do, or something He told you not to.  Sin becomes a habit, if you give in once, its easier the next time, and the third and fourth are guaranteed.  Sin is like a staircase.  A stairway to hell.  The devil wants sin to become your habit.  It doesn’t matter what it is, fear or fret, doubt or unbelief, grumbling and complaining, anger, lust, slander or accusation – a critical spirit, greed, alcohol, over-eating even grief can become sin, it’s certainly less than God’s best.  Some people even blame God for bad things that happen, when their own choices got them where they are, or just things that are common to man.  Sin is habit forming, the devil uses temptation to lure you into it, and he doesn’t care what stair you’re on, as long as you’re on the stairs…  he knows he’s got you.  With sin comes guilt, and shame, and consequence.  Temptation happens to everyone.  The wise avoid it.  So what are Eleven Things To Stop Sinning?  Before we even start… Repent – stop the bleeding.  If you’ve been caught on that staircase… repent – think differently about that sin you’ve fallen into.  No, it’s not OK, it grieves God, it quenches the Holy Spirit, it curses you, it keeps you from your destiny, it blocks God’s good, and will lead to destruction.  So before we learn about prevention, start with a clean slate.  If you ask God to forgive you, He surely will, no matter how bad the sin, or how many times you’ve fallen.  I John 1:9 - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness!  God wants you on a different staircase altogether.  The stairway to heaven - where you walk in victory after victory!  Also just as habit-forming.  The more you overcome the easier it gets, and the devil will flee, and try to come back another time…  but you’ll just be stronger by then!  If you repent, God forgives you!  So now, how do you prepare for the next time temptation comes?  So you are on the right staircase?  What are Eleven Things to Stop Sinning? 
 
#1 Turn  – When faced with sin – turn instantly.  Reject it!  Make it a habit.  The fear of the LORD is to turn from evil.  If you knew the cost of this sin, you wouldn’t do it, you wouldn’t even consider, it’s not worth it - ever.  Turn the channel, hang up the phone, look away, don’t participate, stop engaging, change the subject. Your first response to any opportunity to sin – is to turn immediately! This is the fear of the LORD.  If you play with fire, you will get burned.  If you turn from it, you get stronger very time. 
 
#2 Run – Like Joseph.  Some temptations linger and hover, others get right in your face, and grab your arm.  Run, leave your coat behind if you have to.  Don’t wait around, move your feet, change location, right now – your life depends on it.  Your fellowship and relationship with God depends on it.  If you are in a place you shouldn’t be, or are faced with temptation here, Run, move, change locations – right now!  Don’t wait!  Don’t delay.  He who hesitates is lost.   
 
#3 Choose Grace -  You choose it by rejecting the temptation with your mouth, and declaring that you choose His Grace to overcome this temptation.  His grace is there for you – but you have to choose it.  You get it - if you choose it.  Reject with your words what displeases God.  Call it out, and say out loud.  “Nice try, I’m not going to do it, I’m not falling for it, I’m not taking the bait, I choose Grace!  Declare what you are going to do.  I’m choosing Grace!  I’m choosing the way out that God promised – and I’m walking out the door right now!   Declare out loud. “I can always sin tomorrow, but not today.”  I can always quit tomorrow, but not today.  Then Thank Him for the Grace to say no to anything less than His best for you!  Your words are important they will justify you or condemn you.  Use them strategically, wisely and continually for your victory.   And as soon as you do – PRAISE HIM like you just won the lottery.  You did!  You won something far better than the lottery.  You won a battle with the enemy of your soul, you avoided the path that leads to destruction.  If you get stuck on that path, the lottery won’t help you.  The next time you are faced with an invitation to less than God’s best – reject sin, and choose grace.  I can always sin tomorrow, but not today, His grace is enough for me!  I choose it!  Then give a testimony of your victory – call someone and tell them what God just did – and the victory He just gave you!  You overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the Word of your testimony.  Celebrate every victory over sin, no matter how small.  It’s a big deal!   
 
#4 Praise – Instead of caving in to temptation or sin, Praise God instead.  If you’re praising, you’re not sinning.  Praise Him for who He is – infinitely more powerful than sin.  Praise Him for what He does.  Protects you and warns you for your own good – so He can bless you.  Praise Him for what He gives.  Discernment – so you can see deception for what it is - before it consumes you.  Praise Him for Grace to say no to ungodliness and choose life instead.  He promised!  It works!  Praise Him for the Way Out – that he gave you, that He promises every time you are offered an invitation to compromise in any area of life.  I Corinthians 10:13 – No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to man.  And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.  But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so you can stand up under it.  He gives you a way out – so you can conquer temptation, instead of being ruined by it.  Praise Him for His goodness, and blessing, and promises, for the victory that you have in Christ Jesus.  When you praise, God inhabits it, the devil flees, you get stronger.  When God inhabits your praise, He is light, so light comes with Him, and darkness has to flee.  Praise will help you stop sinning.
 
#5  Call a Friend to pray for you.  If you are battling against temptation, or sense it could be coming.  Call a friend to pray for you. Humble yourself.  God said – Confess your sins one to another and pray for each other that you may be healed.  You don’t have to wait until you fall.  Call a friend first, an obeyer who can pray for you (the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective ) so you choose the Grace that God has for you – and walk in the victory He has in store for those who obey him!  Prayer is powerful.  Jesus said to Peter, I’m praying for you that your faith may not fail.
 
#6  Pray – for yourself.  Pray in the Spirit – It will be the exact prayer you need, the will of your Father in Heaven for you even though your mind doesn’t understand it.  God does.  The Holy Spirit is praying His will on your behalf.  And Pray in the understanding.  Ask God to help you choose His Grace to say no – to anything less than what He has for you.  Pray His Word over you.  You can read His Word, and Declare His Word – what He said, and that it is exactly what you will do.  Commit yourself with your mouth!  Then Pray that Word over you.  Ask God to help you to do it.  He answers prayer – He will help you if you go to Him.  Declare that He is your refuge and strength, a present help in time of trouble.  If you are under being tempted, this is a time of trouble.  You need God, and if you ask Him He will help you, He will save you – He will give you victory right now – every time.   
 
#7 Obey – Get busy doing what He called you to do in this hour.  This is not it.  Move your feet, and get back on track.  If you reject temptation – by God’s Grace, don’t just stand there looking at it, it will bite you again.  Get moving!  Do what He told you to do right now, in this hour, and you will leave temptation behind.  Go back to PiVAT for today and get busy!  Go back to what He told you to do today, in this hour.  
 
#8 Overdose on God’s Word – When people are iron deficient, they can go to the doctor for an iron infusion – that increases their iron levels.  You need to do that with God’s Word.  Read His Word, Do PRISM again for today!  Read through PRISM and RELATIONSHIP Topics & Packets – the power of God’s Word on a subject. How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to your word. 
 
#9  Fast - Cut off every influence that is a breeding ground for temptation and sin.  Don’t go there!  Fast those things, activities, conversations, social media, music, movies, or people – relationships that lead you to sin, not obedience.  Whatever draws you away from God - Cut It Off.  And then fast as the Word of God instructs.  Fast... food.  If you won’t even eat food – the most basic physical pleasure, you are less likely to succumb to temptation.  It loses it’s affect. I Peter 4:1 – Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin.  As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God… Fasting can break things off of you, and focus you on the things of the Spirit, not the things of the flesh.
 
 
#10  Change Your Diet - It’s how you prepare for next time. You need to stop feeding your flesh more than you feed your spirit.  Certain things are not for you – if the guys at work are going to Hooters, that’s not for you, you just hit Wendy’s drive thru instead.  You need to only feed your spirit, not the flesh.  Rather than binge watch Netflix – being inundated with worldly thoughts and actions, binge watch the Word.  Establish PRISM times in His Word.  How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to your word.  Your word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against you.  Increase your daily dose of God’s Word.  Do it regularly.  God knows the temptations you will face, and He will give you his Word just in time to overcome every single one of them.   Speak your PRISM out loud!  Increase your daily dosage of God’s Word, and Praise, and declaring what He said, that you will do!  Change Your Diet – feed your spirit more than you feed your flesh. 
 
#11  Overcome Daily – God said to exhort one other daily – so none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.  Deceit is dangerous.  If you knew you were being deceived, it wouldn’t be deception.  Sin is deceiving, and is always momentum.  It’s like that staircase, you are either going down or going up.  Every time you entertain a perverse thought (not a perverted thought, a perverse thought – considering any other option than complete and instant obedience) the perverse heart and tongue God despises… if you entertain perverse thoughts, entertaining sin… you are already on the staircase downward.  The devil doesn’t care if you fall of the cliff of sin, as long as he has you on the stairs. Getting a little closer to the cliff – where you soon fall past the point of no return.  Gravity isn’t the problem, it’s getting too close to the edge.  God said exhort one other Daily.  Get a Daily Call – overcome with your testimony, be encouraged by theirs.  It’s God’s built in protection to avoid sin completely.     
 
Eleven Things To Stop Sinning.  First start with a clean slate, Repent - think differently about the sin you’ve been caught in.  Then... Turn, Run, Choose Grace, Praise, Call A Friend, Pray – in the Spirit, and in the understanding, Obey what God told you to do, Overdose on God’s Word, Fast, Change Your Diet, and Overcome Daily.  Praying that you are always on that staircase to victory! 
 
Love you all,
dad

​Love you all, praying for you. 
 
 
I just love God’s Word – it tells you what God says, what to do, and it gives an accurate account of what people did – who are just like you.  Who if you do like they do, you’ll get the same result.  Good, Bad or Ugly.   A recent story got legs in the media when a famous football coach was caught on camera at a bar with a woman dancing who was not his wife.  It’s interesting to see the explosion of condemnation.  This huddle is neither to exonerate nor condemn.  It’s to give warning.  God gives us real life examples, of scriptural warnings, that we ourselves would be wise to take heed.  God gives examples in Scripture of what leads to a fall.  Do this, and you will fall.  It’s as true today as it was then.  Here is what God says specifically  I Corinthians 10:11 – These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, who live at the end of the age.  So if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!  It’s easy to criticize and condemn, we can easily pick out the failures in others, and actions speak for themselves.  But be careful yourself.  One day it might you be in that situation.  Or could you hear of me – having fallen?  I pray never would that ever happen!  But if you think it couldn’t happen to you, it would be foolish.  Here’s what happened.  2 Samuel 11:1 – In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army.  They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah.  But David remained in Jerusalem.  ‘Nuff said, game over – it was just a matter of time before he fell.  David in the spring, when it was time for Kings to go off to war, stayed home instead.  He was on the roof instead of with his troops.  He wasn’t where he was supposed to be.  That’s how he ended up where he shouldn’t be.  That’s when he saw Bathsheba bathing on her rooftop, and the tragedy that unfolded resulted in lifelong consequence for many people, and the whole nation.  What a horrifying story, that came from one foolish decision.  It takes a lifetime to build a reputation, but you can lose it in a moment.  What the coach was doing was disgraceful.  But what was even more ridiculous – why was he even there in the first place?  When he should have been on the plane heading home with his team.  They say history repeats itself.  And before we go pointing fingers we should remember the fingers pointing back at us.  But for the grace of God there go you, or I, or anybody that forgets or neglects God’s Word.  This is a good practice to keep.  When it’s spring, and time for war, you better stay with your troops.  Don’t stay behind when God has a place you should be.  And this is not the place.  Praying that you will remember the stories that God has recorded as a warning.  That you would love God, hate sin, and keep your feet in the right place.  Praying for you… that you would not think that you are standing, and forget to be careful - so you don’t fall.  It doesn’t matter what the offense is.  Anything less than God’s best is not what God has for you.  Praying that you will be in the center of His will – walking with Him in what He called you to do, with those you are called to be in obedience with - far from any place and any person that could lead to your fall.  God is faithful, He will protect you, it’s why He gives warnings.  He that hath ears to hear.  Let him hear. 
 
Love you all,
dad  

​Love you all, praying for you. 
 
Have you ever thought about God, what God loves and what God hates?  God loves you, and hates sin, because it’s against Him, and hurts you.  But have you ever thought about what the devil hates?  It’s good to know your adversary, not to focus on him, or give him undue credit or attention.  Your focus is on God and His Word, and His Praise, and His plans for you, but it’s good to be aware of the enemy what he tries, and to consider what he hates.   #1 - The devil hates God.  It’s what he hates the most.  Because God is everything good, and he is evil.  God is truth and light, he is lies and darkness – so he hates God. He wanted to be God, but there is only One God.  The devil let pride creep in, and he began to actually think He was better than He was.  And began to think that what he was, was because of Him instead of God.  Because God created him so beautiful, magnificent and talented, he actually began to believe that the created, could replace or unseat the Creator.  How stupid!  #2 - The devil hates You – for no other reason than God loves you.  That’s why he hates you, anything God loves, He hates.  #3 - The devil hates Praise.  It is what he was created to do, created like no other to do… It is what God created and assigned him – lead the angels of heaven in worship.  But his pride got him fired.  And anytime you do, what He was created to do, and assigned to do, He hates it.  Plus the devil knows that God inhabits praise, He shows up in it.  And the devil hates God, so the devil hates when you praise.  He doesn’t want God showing up – he wants God removed, that’s why he took prayer and the Bible out of schools – but it’s still there... Whenever we need God we can pray.  And whenever we think of God, we should praise!   #4 – The devil hates The Word of God, because he is powerless against it, he is subject to it.  It is the demonstrated authority of Christ which he is eternally under submission and subjection to.  He cannot rise above it, he never will.  The Word is a weapon against him, it’s what defeats him, that’s why he hates it.  #5 - The devil hates Christians.  He hates everybody, because God created and died for everyone, but he especially hates Christians – those who have put their faith in the death of Jesus as the payment for their sins, who have surrendered their lives to obey him.  The devil hates Christians because they remind him of his greatest defeat.  His embarrassing loss. He crucified Jesus, he thought he was killing God, but he was just getting punked into facilitating what God had planned all along!  The death of His son Jesus, in your place, for your sins.  Forever securing Salvation for all who believe – eternity in heaven with God, rather than being tormented by the devil forever in hell.  Those who put their faith in Christ for the forgiveness of their sins, and the fully paid ticket to eternity in heaven to live forever with God, are forever safe from the devil’s death and hell. The devil hates Christians because they are the evidence of the mercy and goodness and salvation of God.  #6 - The devil hates babies, they are created in the image of God, with purpose, plans, and destiny, so he wants to kill them before they even have a chance to live.  And he has convinced many to actually support the murder of the innocent.  Their blood is crying out to God from the ground.  He will not be delay forever.  Those who are responsible and silent will be held to account.  #7 - The devil hates humility.  Jesus is humble, the devil is proud, He hates humility because it’s the seed of obedience that he rejected, and it leads to the fear of the LORD, which leads to wisdom that can easily discern his deception.  Humility is the mark of Jesus, and the beginning of everything, God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble, that’s why the devil hates humility.  #8 - The devil hates Truth, because God is truth, and he is a liar from the beginning, he is the father of lies.  And Truth is completely against him, it sets people free, and he wants them in bondage, so he hates truth, and will do anything he can to pervert it.  He even has convinced people in this generation that truth is subjective, rather than eternally established by God.  He’s even convinced people that they can have their own truth, and has inserted into the vernacular of this culture – speak your truth.  No, that’s just speaking your opinion or your experience.  Go for it, but if your truth is truth, and my truth is my truth, then there is no truth.  Just opinion and argument, If we can’t agree on truth, there is no agreement, no unity.  Speak your truth… He’s still laughing about that one.  Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.  There is one truth, it’s not subjective, it’s either true or it’s not.  Not a matter of opinion, it’s true or false. And there are two sides.  If you don’t believe the truth, and speak the truth, you are on the other side of it.  Jesus said, “In fact this is the reason I came into the world, to testify to the truth.  Everyone who is on the side of truth, listens to me.”  Those who are on God’s side, and on the side of His Word – know the truth, are on the side of truth, and it sets them free.  Those who are not on the side of truth, can’t even recognize it.  They wouldn’t know truth if it was standing in front of them.  “What is truth.” Pilate answered. The devil hates truth, his whole job is to get people to believe the lie.  That’s why they won’t repent, and turn and be saved.  #9 - The devil hates Giving, because he only comes to steal, kill and destroy.  Giving is the opposite of stealing, so he hates when you give out of love for God, and in full obedience to what God prompted you to give.  The devil knows you can’t love God and money, and those who won’t give, it’s because they love money more than God. So the devil hates giving, he’s a taker, not a giver – he’s a thief.  Those who give, wouldn’t steal.  Jesus even put Judas in charge of the money – fully knowing he was skimming off the top.  God’s provision is greater than loss, whether self-inflicted or stolen from you.  The devil knows when you give, you always receive, that’s why the devil hates giving.  #10 - The devil hates The Favored.  When you obey, and God blesses you – it becomes evident that God’s favor is upon you.  His blessing keeps chasing you down!  It becomes a testimony of the goodness and the favor of God.  Your obedience positions you.  So not only does the devil hate that you obey – which grows you in God’s favor, He hates that God is good to you.  That’s why he was always complaining about Job - the man who was righteous in his generation. The one who feared God, turned from sin, and walked in the favor of God, and the honor and respect of all who saw him or heard of him.  So the devil came and accused God of favoritism, and accused Job of just loving God because of the stuff God gives.  “No wonder he loves you…  But take your blessing from him, and he will surely curse you to your face.”  God once again proved the accuser to be a liar.  When you obey God, you get favored, and the devil will hate you.  But don’t worry, he hates you anyway, and God is stronger!  #11 - The devil hates The Inevitable.  He knows his end, he knows he will be bound for a thousand years, released for a little while, but he knows that His end will be eternally condemned and thrown into the lake of fire – where the darkness and torment and suffering never ends, for Him, and all his demons, and all who reject the Gift of God – Salvation through Jesus Christ.  He hates the inevitable.  He’s going to hell, and he will take everyone with him that He can.  And if he can’t get them, he will try to rob them of the destiny that God has for them.  Praise God!  It doesn’t matter what the devil hates, God loves you, and has given Jesus complete authority over the devil and all his attempts, because Jesus humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross, you are set free from the devil’s hate.  He can’t steal kill and destroy you – if you are seated in heavenly places with Christ.  If Christ is in you – through repentance of your sin, and your faith in him, you can overcome the devil just like Jesus did!  Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble, but be of good courage, I have overcome the world.  Jesus in you – makes you an overcomer! 
 
Love you all,
dad