Faith Builders Devotional

Daily Devotional

February 22 - February 28 2026

I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; 20 that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; NKJV

Being a minister is not a job for the faint-hearted. You get a chance to see all sorts of things. As a minister your job is to encourage people, teach the Word of God, and show people how to live the victory the Jesus won for us when He came back from the dead on resurrection day (also known as Easter).

To me, Resurrection day is the most important holiday of the year because if Jesus did not come back from the dead, then there is no point of being a Christian. Jesus did rise from the dead, and we’ve got unbiased historical evidence (a Jewish historian of the time, Josephus is one of many sources) to prove how the world changed through this little group of believers which now numbers in the millions of committed believers world-wide.

However, when you are in ministry helping out at your church, you really see that life is all about choices (definitely help your pastors as they need your support). God has given us all a life to make choices. What we are going to do with it? In Deuteronomy, we see Moses making it very clear. He asked people to make a choice, follow your own way and be cursed or follow God’s way, be blessed and be blessing. Once you know about God you really have to choose whether you are going to serve God or are you going to serve yourself.

Most churches have so many people coming and going. It breaks my heart to see these people that come occasionally to church and wonder why God is not doing more in their lives. They wonder why their children rebel. They wonder why they have marital problems. They think God is not faithful because they are financially struggling. People, we need to find a good church and be there every Sunday. It is the father’s responsibility to make sure to get his wife and kids to church. If the wife will not come, then the husband needs to be there every week showing his children that he is putting God first.

If you practice with champions, you are more likely to be a champion. Our church is very strong on faith. We are also strong on giving as God wants us to be good stewards with our resources. Countless times I have had people come to church asking why God is not blessing them. One question usually mutes their question immediately, “Are you regularly tithing to your home church?” The answer has always been “No” or “I do when I can”.

People are wondering why they are not blessed financially or in their job. The answer is clear, they chose not to give their first fruits to God and so He cannot bless them. In fact, when we don’t tithe, Malachi 3:8-10 says we are actually robbing God. Tithing is a choice, and actually what you do every day is your choice.

We make a major choice when we choose a certain job, a certain spouse, a certain place to live.. Most of the things that happen to us each day are because of the choices we have made. We also have to make choices each day, “I feel an itch in my throat”, will I fight it or just accept it? My boss has treated me harshly, will I try to get even or do more by praying for his or her salvation? I am very upset about what my spouse said to me, will I shout back or pray that God make that person to be more sensitive to my feelings?

Life is about making the right choices. Most of our troubles are caused by making the wrong choices. However, when you believe God and are committed to Him each day, you will start to see Him working in your life if you let Him. He will give you wisdom if you ask Him. But you have to choose who you are going to serve.

Tired of making wrong choices? We all have done it. Draw closer to God and He will help you make the right decisions and live a full and abundant life.

Feb23

The Good Steward- Applying Yourself

Gen 39:4-6
4	So Joseph found favor in his sight, and served him. Then he made him overseer of his house, and all that he had he put under his authority. 5 So it was, from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in the house and in the field. NKJV Growing up in America, we have this so-called American Dream that says we should have a house, a car, a healthy family and much more. After World War II, many people worked very hard and attained that dream. However, with time it is really easy for us to get lazy and just think we deserve something because the neighbour has it. Governments may try to implement socialistic platforms such as this, but this is not how God’s Kingdom or His law works. You have to prove yourself. You’ve got to be a good steward. A steward is someone who is responsible for managing, allocating, and using other people’s things that are entrusted to them. If you want to do more in God’s Kingdom you have to be faithful with what you’ve got. You can’t complain about being born into a poor family, being abused as a child, your husband or wife, your bad job, your living conditions. Start where you are at. Joseph is one of my two favorite men in the Bible. He went from the favorite son of his father who got whatever he wanted, to a young man sold into slavery in a foreign land with nothing. He didn’t whine or complain and wallow in his situation. He worked hard in his situation and loved God with all of his heart. He was a good-looking guy and he was blessed because he was a good steward. We know his heart was right and this was his strength and will be ours as well. Several times his boss’ wife tried to seduce him. He replied,
9	How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" Gen 39:9 He stood up and did the right thing and God blessed Him even more. He eventually became the top guy in the country just under the king. When you are entrusted with things, you have to remember that God is the ultimate owner. I am sure that Joseph’s boss was very pleased with his faithfulness. As a believer, Yahweh blessed the fruit of Joseph’s labor because he kept a pure heart. God has entrusted you with various things. Be a good steward of what you’ve got. Once you have proven you can handle small things God will entrust you with bigger and greater things.

Feb24

The Eye Of The Needle

Luke 18:25-27
25	For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." 26 And those who heard it said, "Who then can be saved?" 27 But He said, "The things which are impossible with men are possible with God." NKJV I have heard so many people share this story of the Eye of the Needle and say, ‘See, rich people can’t go to heaven’. If that were true, then wouldn’t that make God unfair to limit rich people from heaven? We have to be certain that when we hear people make comments like this to make sure they are taking the Word in context. We are supposed to love God with all we are. Deuteronomy 6:5 says
5	You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. NKJV God loves you wholeheartedly, and He desires that we return that love to Him. God is love. Picture this, a religious guy comes to Jesus and says He wants to follow Him. The guy is probably from a rich family, because the Word says he has wealth. This rich leader came to Jesus expecting to be commended or honored as that is what he was used to receiving from people. He was known because of his possessions. However physical things don’t matter in the Kingdom of God so much. The question is not what you have it is who you have. How is your relationship with Yahweh? Jesus tested this guy because He knew His heart. The guy said he has obeyed the law, but we all know that no one is perfect. So Jesus challenged him saying, okay, then all you have to do now is give away everything you own. The guy left there with his head down because he didn’t want to do that. If he would have just shown that His relationship with God was more important than his goods, the story would have changed. His response disappointed Jesus as well. When he left Jesus said, it is more difficult for a rich man to enter heaven than you can imagine. His illustration was that of a gate called ‘The Eye Of the Needle’. It was a gate within a gate. At night, cities would close their gates to protect from attack. Individuals would have to come in one by one through a smaller gate. You would have to demount the camel, unload all the luggage, and lead the camel through the little gate on it’s knees. Once on the other side of the wall, you would carry all your luggage through and eventually reload it on the camel on the other side. It was a lot of work for the traveller to bring the camel through the eye of the needle if they arrived at a city after dusk. Jesus’s statement shocked His friends as they thought he was saying it was impossible for rich people to get into heaven. He clarified by saying that nothing is impossible with God. God is not a respecter of persons. He sees all of us equally. When we confess our sins, repent, and turn from them He sees us as perfect because Jesus is perfect. His blood has washed us clean. However, we have to be careful that our earthly things don’t become spiritual baggage that holds us down and prevents us from attaining His plans. God wants you blessed so you can be a blessing. He doesn’t want you tied down by what you have. He wants you to use what you have for His glory. Tithe to your local church, give to those ministries that are helping people, become a giver and watch what you have increase. That is God’s plan as He wants people know that He loves them and has a wonderful plan for them.

Feb25

Don’t Get Devoured

1 Peter 5:8
8	Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion,seeking whom he may devour. NKJV Before starting our church, I visited many churches. There is such a need for spiritual-filled churches in our world. If you want religion, it is easy to find the Cultural Christians, the churches that are dead and boring. My wife trusted me as the head of the family, and although I wanted her to come along she couldn’t bear the thought of having to be around those people drowning in tradition and lacking in power. We visited many churches around the greater Tokyo area. My children and I visited a church on the South side of Tokyo. Although we visited many churches, I will never forget this experience. It was a beautiful building all light and pretty. They sang the old hymns and they tried to do it with zeal. But there was just something wrong. As the guy next to me shared his hymnbook with me and sang loudly with some zeal, I asked Yahweh “What is wrong with this place?” His replied, “I am only here because you are here”. I was shocked as it seemed like a real church with a pastor, choir, and a bunch of people coming together on a Sunday even talking a bit about Jesus. When I got home, I did some research on the group and found out this group was a Christian cult. A cult is a group of people that becomes introverted and exclusive. In this particular case, this group said it in their actions by saying, if you did not accept Jesus and get baptized in their church, then you weren’t ‘saved’. Beware of people that say they are the only true church of God or way to God. One week later, my children and I visited another church. They sang the exact same old hymn at this other church, however this time I sensed the Holy Spirit in that place. Although, this church was clearly not of strong faith, you could tell they were sincere and loved Yahweh. What was the difference? The other church was a cult. A cult is exclusive, saying they are the only way to God. They usually convince people that there is no life outside of their one group. Most of the time, they start to bleed their member of their finances. Well, God is not like that. He speaks to various people in various ways. There is no perfect church but this type of problem has been around. Paul says in 2 Cor 11:13-14
13	For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Find a good church and be a part of it, be there regularly and give your tithes! But that is not what it is all about, give you time, give your love, encourage people, be a blessing to someone (give them someone nice), teach the children, get into the Word daily, pray in the Spirit, be led by the Spirit. My goal is to tell someone about Jesus each day and invite them to church. God wants to take you to the next level, but you have to make the response. He is not a controller, He is our Father who loves us more than we will completely understand. Today I encourage you, to go for Jesus with all of your being. When you know Him, He will guide you and give you wisdom so that you won’t be devoured by the enemy. For greater is He that is in you. Hallelujah!

Feb26

The Missing Ingredient

Matt 18:19-20
19	"Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them." NKJV As we were preparing to start our church, I knew that sowing and reaping is an important part of life. If you give, it will come back to you. For me, there are two types of giving, one is tithes and the other is my offerings. My tither goes to my church. Tithe means a tenth, so I give at least a tenth of my income to my church (Malachi 3:8-12) and anything above that is my offering. I do know of people that have tithed higher percentages of their income and have awesome testimonies about how God blessed them even more. Offerings can be given to any ministry but are above and beyond the tithe. I decided I was going to offer some of my time to pray with a local pastor. I knew that what I sow into others in His Name, I will reap back. He was an American who came as a missionary to Japan. A very nice guy, but did not experienced in the gifts of the spirit. We started praying together once a week at his church. I learned through my experience with God at the Brownsville Revival that prayertime is not sleep time so he was surprised by the power of my prayer. Communicating with God is not talking in some religious weird English language, when I go to talk to my lovely wife, I don’t lay on the couch and start talking with her. I sit at the dining room table and share what is going on and hear what is going on with her. Prayer is communicating with God. The pastor that I began to pray with came from a traditional background, he had studied organ playing in Bible school. When we began to pray he was surprised at the power and anointing that came as I walked around the church thanking God for His goodness, sang praises along with the worship music that I had brought, read from my prayer book thanking Him for all the answered prayer, and kneeled or laid out flat on the floor just waiting an listening to Yahweh. I saw this pastor’s excitement rise as he began to sense God’s presence in that church each time we prayed. He learned that faith is an essential ingredient of all prayer. I detected that this was really the first time that the pastor really saw power in prayer. He became addicted to God’s presence and glory. It was so awesome! There were two things at work in those prayer meetings. One thing was when a spirit-filled believer begins to talk with God, things happen. But the second thing is just as important to remember as we are promised, if two or more are gathering in the Name of Jesus, He will be there. God’s presence was at those prayer meetings because we were there gathered in His Name. God’s presence is powerful in our church, because we are gathering in His Awesome Name. Signs, wonders, miracles and all sorts of things happen to those who are faithfully gathering, singing, rejoicing, shouting, praying, and agreeing in the name of Jesus. Isn’t is interesting, the first thing the enemy wants to do to you and I is discourage us from regularly going to church? Why? If the demonic world can get you out of church, they may be able to eventually discourage you and damage that fellowship you have with Father God. If we have no relationship with Yahweh, then there is no hope. But fellowshipping with God each day is awesome. There is power in gathering in His Name. It doesn’t end there, remember when Jesus sent people out to let them know He was coming? He didn’t send His people one by one. Luke 10:1 says
10	After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. NKJV There is power in numbers. The powerful prayer ingredients are pray in faith, get together with other believers regularly, pray in His Name, be in agreement then watch the presence fall.

Feb27

Being A Tree

Ps 1:3

He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper. NKJV

Along the coast of Northern California, there is a famous tourist destination called the Redwood Forest. Redwoods are a type of tree. They are massive as they have been growing there for hundreds of years or more. Many trees are over 600 years old, with the oldest known tree being 2,200 years old. They can get up to 115 meters tall, and 8 meters wide. The bases of these trees are so huge, you can drive a car through them if they had an opening. To support the tree above the ground, there is a huge system of roots going down from the base of the tree deep into the ground. These roots are needed to support the weight of these enormous trees. I am sure the roots go down so deep that even if there were a little bit of a drought, they would draw on the water table (the subterranean accumulations of water deep below the ground). These trees are massive so they are not something you can just pick up and move.

Yahweh compares us to trees but not just anyone. Who are like trees? Psalm 1:1 says people who; don’t follow the advice of evil people, stand around with sinners, or join in the mocking of these people of others are like trees. Maybe we should call them tree people. Who are the tree people? The tree people are people who care for the uncared, people who stand up for those who don’t have a voice, people who do the right thing even when all the people around them are going another direction. Moreover, these people who are like trees love the Word of God, reading it in the morning when they get up, and thinking about it all day, all the way until they go to bed at night. They love God’s Word (the Bible) because they see it working in their lives.

If we believe God and act in faith, we are compared to a tree. Why does He use a tree? I believe it is for multiple reasons. First of all, a tree grows where it is planted. It stays where it is and it grows up from there. But notice it is planted near ‘streams of water’. The tree is not growing out in the desert. It is near a stream. In this case, multiple streams. Rivers and streams feed the plants, trees, and even animals around them. Without the stream, plants would die.

There are multiple streams in life. We need to be near streams of faith. Our stream of faith can be many things, such as our daily time with the Father, our time that we meditate on the Word of God, fellowship with other believers, sharing Jesus with the lost and many other ways of building our faith. For me, a major stream of faith is getting to my church. Worshipping Yahweh, getting in there and just praising God with my voice and music is powerful. After the worship, I hear a word of faith from an anointed preacher. I hate to miss church. It is the most important day of the week.

However, we have to remember that getting into God’s presence is not just a once a week experience. Prayer is not a chant or reciting some lines. Prayer is communion with the Creator of the Universe. He wants us to be like a tree, grounded in the Word, growing and developing near streams of faith. Are you planted by faith streams or in the middle of the desert?

Feb28

Sin Comes To Church

Matt 18:15-17

"Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that 'by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.' 17 And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. NKJV

God is love. There is absolutely no doubt about that. He is pure, untainted love, and our compassion as believers comes from that base of His love. We are called to this world to love this world. People need to know about Jesus, that He loves them, He died so they could live. The whole way Yahweh made us right before Him through the sacrifice of His son is awesome. God is love, and by the sacrifice of His one and only Son, we are redeemed if we turn from our wrong ways. We are saved by His grace.

What is grace? Grace is when someone does something for you that you do not deserve. Jesus died for you and I even though we did not deserve it. His blood covers over the imperfections we have and makes us right before God. Even as a believer, when you fail, you can know that God will forgive you when you decide you will turn from those ways. You’ve got that promise in 1 John 1:8,9.

There are some people that come to church that do not want to listen to what God has to say. The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin, but He does not condemn. These people will ignore the conviction of the Holy Spirit and continue in their sin.

As the family of God, we want to encourage people. We want to build them up. Sometimes we need to talk to people about their sin. Why? Sin has the potential to pollute the local church. The enemy uses it with the end intention of destroying that church and discouraging the people. When you see sin in your church and unwillingness to repent, you need to pray about it and bring it up to the leadership of your church. Then the leaders of the church should prayerfully go to the person in sin and confront them regarding their sin. These sins can be all sorts of things, but many times it is sexual (ex. Sex outside of marriage, homosexual activity).

If we want our churches to go deeper with God, we have to deal with sin. If we know about it, and the leadership allows it to go uncorrected, it is not only bad for the individual but it can also hurt the church. Sin can occur with anyone in the church and we all have to protect our hearts.

My wife and I served 3 years at a local church. We volunteered 50 hours for two years in a row on the leadership board, we gave a lot physically, spiritually and financially. My wife translated for foreign speakers and taught a class after church that was filled to capacity each Sunday after church. We were putting are all into our church. In our third year, we were shocked to find out that the pastor was cheating. He was not reporting all the income into the church and was ‘cooking the books’ as they say in accounting (reporting false numbers about the church’s finances). Cheating is a sin. As the pastor or leaders we have even more responsibility to do the right thing. Of course, if this sin in the church was a member we could have worked with them. We talked to the pastor and tried to understand if there was something we could not see. There was not. When the pastor refused to correct the problem, repent, and turn from this sin, we decided we had no other choice but to leave. A church in sin will not see the presence of God.

A huge thing that I saw about the Brownsville Revival was that sense of purity and holiness. Witches came into the meetings and could not work their magic and curse the meetings. Many of them came to Jesus. Lesbian couples came in and the Holy Spirit convicted and they knew that their relationships were wrong and dissolved their relationships of sin. Gang-leaders, drug-dealers and prostitutes came in and were changed in the awesome presence of God there in those meetings.

The Holy Spirit will move in our meetings as we seek God first. We must deal with sin and make sure that we are right with God. There is no sin in God’s presence so we have to be diligent to keep it out of our lives. Has the Holy Spirit spoken to you about some sin in your life? Deal with it now. Stop it, confess it and cut off its influence in you live now. If there is sin in your church, talk to the pastoral team. A pastor with a heart after God knows he has to deal with it.

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