We live in a fallen world, where we are constantly bombarded with negative things. We live in a time where the ungodly appear to get more and more prominence. We live in a world where nearly all of the reports we hear through the news media are all negative. We live in a time where one has to make a deliberate effort to be positive and counter this negative culture that we live in.

“A Psalm of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed. I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together” (Psalm 34:1-3).

Praising God is something that we are supposed to do all the time. When we check our praise life, it is like checking our spiritual pulse. If we are not praising God and if we do not have a life that is constantly giving thanksgiving and praise unto God, then we are not spiritually healthy. From a spiritual standpoint, there is no excuse for anyone not to praise God. This is not to say that there may be a reason why one does not praise God, but there is no excuse as to why one should not praise God. Most people want to wait until everything is perfect before they give God praise, but the problem with that notion is that they will not be praising God often or they will not be praising God at all.

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God warns us not to believe every spirit, which is great advice. He tells us “to test the spirits to see whether they are of God” (I John 4:1), which so few of us do. However, there is one major problem, a flaw, if you will with this testing of the spirits. The testing of the spirits does absolutely nothing if the answers to the test are not available to the one performing the test. A teacher who gives students a test will already possess the correct answers before giving a test, which enables the teacher to determine if the answers from the students are correct or not. In order to test, you must have some knowledge of the truth, for without it, you place yourself in a position where the wolves will devour you. This is why everything is important as it pertains to the Bible, no matter how trivial it may appear to be. The same applies to the one that we profess to follow, every little detail about him is very important. The one thing that we all have to understand is that one misspoken or misprinted word can alter the truth, slightly turning what once was truth into an untruth, a deception, a lie, a counterfeit.

Because we do not know the real thing, we accept the counterfeit. The counterfeit to the average person appears to be the real thing. The intent or the purpose of a counterfeiter is to make or forge a copy of the original usually with the intent to deceive. Please understand that the counterfeit exists for the sole purpose of defrauding or deceiving someone. God warns us that Satan can transform himself into a counterfeit of the real deal. He also tells us to be on the lookout for “the wolves in sheep’s clothing” that appear to be prophets, for they are not kind (Matthew 7:15). The strength of the deception is such that “many shall be led or carried away” (Matthew 24:5), which would include those that were thought to stand fast or those thought to be the elect.

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Previously, we talked about what “the last Adam’s” (I Corinthians 15:45) ability “to seek and to save that which was lost,” which was the authority or dominion that “the first Adam” had lost in the garden when he ate of the fruit. Though many believe the son of man’s main purpose for coming was to save individual lost souls, we know that saving lost souls was “the by-product” of what he actually did. In getting back this “authority (dominion),” Jesus gave us “the power or authority over all of the power of the enemy,” which we know is the devil. He also gave us the “authority” to use “his name, the name of Jesus, to cast out demons (Mark 16:17 NKJV).”

“Yet it was because of this that God raised him up to the heights of heaven and gave him a name which is above every other name, that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11 TLB).

“The name of Jesus” has incredible power. For at the very “name of Jesus,” every knee shall bow in heaven, on the earth, and under the earth and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord. All of this power in a name because God gave him a name that is above every other name.

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There were many things lost because of the disobedient actions of “the first man, Adam.”

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Romans 5:12).

Not only did the “first man” bring sin and death into the world, he also gave away the authority, the dominion that God had gave him.

“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth” (Genesis 1:26-28).

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Recently, we talked about “taking a snapshot” of you and your faith. The purpose of “that snapshot” was not to give you a picture of where you wanted to be with your faith but to reveal to you where you were with your faith and where your faith currently stood. Just in case your faith is not where it should be, we thought it would be encouraging to look at a portion of the life of Abraham (Abram before his name changed), who would later become known as “the father of the faithful” and see how he ended up with that honor.

“Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith. If God’s promise is only for those who obey the law, then faith is not necessary and the promise is pointless. For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!) So the promise is received by faith. It is given as a free gift. And we are all certain to receive it, whether or not we live according to the law of Moses, if we have faith like Abraham’s. For Abraham is the father of all who believe. That is what the Scriptures mean when God told him, ‘I have made you the father of many nations.’ This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing” (Romans 4:13-17 NLT).

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Did you know that the Bible is not a history book? No, it is not a historical accounting for all of mankind, though it does contain some historical facts. More interesting, is the fact that many of the events depicted in the Bible are not even in chronological order. They appear to be somewhat randomly placed. One can read about an event in one chapter of a particular book and find references to it or another version of the same event several chapters later and even in some cases, many, many books later. On the surface, it can be one of the most confusing books to pick up and read. So why are believers told to read the Bible?

What many people do not know is that the Bible is actually a mystery book. As one person once put it, “The Bible is a coded book, written as a kind of jigsaw puzzle creating a series of smaller pictures within an overall picture that only becomes clear in meaning when one properly piece together all passages on a subject.” The Bible is a book that holds a double message, one by which his children can find the true will of God for their life when they read it and one that just completely confuses the naysayers when they read it. The Bible is an instruction manual, designed to tell God’s children all they need to know to achieve the maximum benefits in this life. It is only when they find the keys that they are able to unlock the mysteries or put together the puzzle pieces that allows them to understand the true word of God contained in the Bible.

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Scripture clearly states that we are all involved in some type of warfare, where “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12). You see, we do not wrestle against people made of flesh and blood but against the evil rulers of the spirit realm, against those mighty satanic beings, against the great evil princes of darkness, and against the wicked spirits of this unseen world. Although we live in this world in the flesh, we do not engage in this warfare according to the flesh and by human standards, as the world typically engages in war.

“For though we walk in the flesh, we don’t wage war according to the flesh; for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the throwing down of strongholds, throwing down imaginations and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ; and being in readiness to avenge all disobedience, when your obedience will be made full” (II Corinthians 10:3-6 WET).

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Just how important is your faith? In past discussions we have defined “faith” as “the confident assurance that something we want is going to happen and it is the certainty that what we hope for is waiting for us even though we cannot see it up ahead.” Faith is “trust in somebody or something, especially without logical proof.” It can also be defined as “trusting in somebody that you consider worthwhile and truthful.” It is by faith that we “accept that something exists when there is no physical proof of its existence or of its reality.” But just how important is your faith in all of this?

We know that according to the scripture, “God has dealt to every man the measure of faith” (Romans 12:3). We know from our discussions, that God has dealt to everyone “the same amount of faith.” This means that no one has been given more faith than anyone else has, for we all have been given “the same amount” and not some “random or varied amount of faith.” We also found that you could not get more than the measure that has been dealt to you at birth by God. We know that faith is something that you increase through exercise, where you sort of develop your faith by building it up. The only way to increase your faith is through the knowledge gathered through the word of God. But just how important is your faith in all of this?

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Dear brothers, is your life full of difficulties and temptations? Then be happy, for when the way is rough, your patience has a chance to grow. So let it grow, and don’t try to squirm out of your problems. For when your patience is finally in full bloom, then you will be ready for anything, strong in character, full and complete (James 1:2-4 TLB). We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us—they help us learn to be patient. And patience develops strength of character in us and helps us trust God more each time we use it until finally our hope and faith are strong and steady. Then, when that happens, we are able to hold our heads high no matter what happens and know that all is well, for we know how dearly God loves us, and we feel this warm love everywhere within us because God has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love (Romans 5:3-5 TLB).

Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: but every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust and desires, and enticed. Then when lust and desire hath conceived, it bringeth forth and gives birth to sin: and sin, when it is finished and full-grown, bringeth forth death. Do not err and be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness or variation, neither shadow of turning (James 1:12-17).

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