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Featured Devotional
Empowered Living in Troublous Times
God’s desire for us as Bible believing
Christians is to reign in life, no
matter what our circumstances may be,
even in the most adversity of times. As
the end of this age draws to a close,
the spiritual climate will become more
and more hostile and troublous to those of us who are
true followers of Jesus Christ. It will
be extremely important for us to
recognize and embrace this season so
that we are not taken by surprise. We
must take heed to the exhortation Paul
gave to Timothy.
2
Timothy 3:1-5 But know this,
that in the last days perilous times
will come; 2 For men will be lovers of
themselves, lovers of money, boasters,
proud, blasphemers, disobedient to
parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving,
unforgiving, slanders, without
self-control, brutal, despisers of good,
4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers
of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5
having a form of godliness but denying
its power. And from such people turn
away.
The Bible is very
clear that the end-time environment will
be wrought with perilous and troubled
times. Jesus said very clearly, we as
Christians will be hated by all nations
before He returns. Many believers will
fall prey to Satan’s devices and will
actually betray their brothers and
sisters during this time. Because
lawlessness will abound, the love of
many will grow cold. In light of all
this, we are strongly encouraged to
reign during troublous times and a
hostile environment.
The question
is, will we be one of those who fall
victim to troubled times in a hostile
environment and betray our brothers and
sisters or will we be of those who reign
with Christ and lead others to Christ?
The choice is ours to make. We must
begin now to prepare our hearts for all
that is to come. It’s becoming
increasingly obvious that we are
entering into the beginning of the birth
pangs that Jesus spoke of.
As the apostle Paul exhorted Timothy
when he said, “You therefore must endure
hardship as a good soldier of Jesus
Christ,” so it is with us. We must
fortify ourselves in the Spirit if we
are to reign in a hostile environment.
If we can’t handle opposition now while
it is still relatively easy, how will we
do when the hostility become unbearable.
In other words, if the footmen have
outrun you, how will you contend with
the horses? Look around; hostility
towards righteousness is everywhere. We
can’t avoid it.
Jeremiah 12:5 If you have run
with the footmen, and they have wearied
you, then how can you contend with
horses? And if in the land of peace, in
which you trusted, they wearied you,
then how will you do in the floodplain
of the Jordan?
We have been
given an abundance of grace to reign in
life over every situation that comes our
way, which includes an environment that
is full of hostility.
Romans 5:17 For if by
one man’s offense death reigned through
the one, much more those who receive
abundance of grace and the gift of
righteousness will reign in life through
the One, Jesus Christ.
So,
the question is, how do we reign? The
answer is in the above Scripture. We
must continually draw from the abundance
of grace that has already been freely
given to us. In order to continually
draw from the abundance of grace given
requires total reliance on the
sufficiency we have in Christ. We must
learn to trust in Him in every aspect of
our lives without leaning on our own
understanding, and not being wise in our
own eyes.
2
Corinthians 3:5 Not that we are
sufficient of ourselves to think
anything as being from ourselves, but
our sufficiency is from God.
2 Corinthians 9:8
And God is able to make all grace
abound toward you, that you, always
having all sufficiency in all things,
may have an abundance for every good
work.
As we are faithful to trust in God
for all things and situations without
leaning on our own understanding, He
will give us the grace to reign and act
wisely towards all amid all the
hostility that comes our way. He is
faithful. As a result we will be among
those who reign and rule amid all that
is hostile. His grace is sufficient.
Amid all that’s going on in our
world today, we must respond as Jesus
did in the face of an angry hostile
crowd that sentenced Him to death. He
said, “Father forgive them for they
don’t know what they’re doing.” Many in
the world today are caught up in the
collective mindset of the world with
Satan leading them on with his lies and
deception. They’re deceived and don’t
know, just like some of us were before
our eyes were opened. We must follow the
advice Paul gave to Timothy when
confronting hostility. This is how we
reign in a hostile environment.
2 Timothy 2:24-26
“And a servant of the Lord must
not quarrel but be gentle to
all, able to teach, patient, in
humility correcting those who are in
opposition, if God perhaps will
grant them repentance, so that they may
know the truth, and that they
may come to their senses and escape the
snare of the devil, having been
taken captive by him to do his will.”
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The
"Rise of the Anointed Ones"
is a 40-day devotional book
that perfectly fits our
present times. As you read
through the 40 devotionals,
you will find a beautiful
blend of timeless truths
fitly applied to today's
culture and challenges. The
majestic flow from theme to
theme contains powerful
prophetic revelations as God
calls His Anointed Ones to
rise. Each of these
devotionals stands on its
own, but together they will
propel the reader into a
rewarding journey of
experiencing God's presence
in tumultuous times. Each
devotional ends with a
Davidic poem in nature
flowing like a delightful
stream with heavenly
impartations. "Rise of the
Anointed Ones" is like a
voice in the wilderness
calling God's beloved away
from all that distracts to
Him who is jealous for His
bride.