Faith Builders Devotional - Victory Word Center- Tokyo, Japan

Daily Devotional

April 5 - April 11 2026

Apr5

Prayer & The Word For Your Minister

Acts 6:4

… but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word." NKJV

If you want to see change in your church, the most important thing is that you get yourself there. Don’t let anyone or anything keep you from being at church each Sunday. As a pastor, I can’t tell you how encouraging it is for a leader to see people in your church active and contributing to bringing people to Jesus, working on the worship team, planning and executing events, organizing the resources of the church, helping to start new outreaches for the church for the community. It is priceless and a major encouragement for the pastor.

In Japan, much like other countries, it is very easy for the pastor to get caught up in these various activities if there are no people to help him. However, we really need to support our pastors so that they can focus on getting into the Word and spending time in God’s presence. If they are not distracted by the various activities then they can focus on delivering an encouraging word to us each Sunday.

Distractions have always been an issue for believers, but the era we live in has got to be worse than ever. The more technology we have, the more accessible we all are. All the email, website visitors, counseling, helping of the poor, requests from visitors, mobile phone calls wherever you are… the list goes on and on for those in ministry. These things can easily fall into the lap of pastor. However, if we expect to have a good church, we have to allow our pastors to flourish and grow. They need time to feed themselves spiritually. This is especially true for pastors of small growing churches.

The issues were the same in the early church. If you read in Acts 6 you will see that there was growth and things were happening. These days, many people expect the government to take care of them. However, when you entrust yourself and family to unbelievers chances are you will regret it. Our churches are the social welfare of society. We are the ones that help people in time of need. We have to encourage them when they are down, and have the guts to tell them it is time to get up. If one of the committed members of a local church loses their job, the church can certainly help with food, ideas, and maybe a few funds to help get that believer into another job. However, when this becomes the main purpose of the church (like many dead churches in the world) then we have lost our focus. The focus of the church is to worship God and love your neighbor.

The overall purpose of the church is to go into all the world and preach the gospel of Jesus to every tongue and nation. The early church leaders realized that the social programs were taking away from the most important part. Why? Your physical condition is a direct connection to your spiritual condition. If you are strong spiritually, it is much easier to be strong physically. If you are weak spiritually, then it is easy to fall into sickness, sin, and in some cases even death.

Recently, I have seen the spiritual power in our church prayer meetings go up. The fundamental is that people are spending time with God themselves and spending time in the Word themselves. When we come together, the prayer meetings are more powerful because we are ready.
As you go about your week this week, make time with God each day. Talk to Him and listen to what He has to say. Remember that you don’t listen with your physical ears, you listen with your spirit. However, don’t just stop there. Get out your Bible and read the Word a bit each day. God speaks to His people through the Word so if you are not reading it, then it is doubtful that you will hear from God. If you don’t know what to read, see the Bible Reading plan at www.vwc.jp.

Pray regularly for your pastor and ministers. Pray for wisdom and direction as well as physical and spiritual strength. Support them not only with your tithes and offerings but more importantly support them with your heart. With your support and encouragement every week, you will notice powerful messages flowing from them back to you.

Apr6

Following Your Spirit

Acts 17:16
16	Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols. NKJV We know from 1 Thessalonians 5:23 that humans are not just “body and soul” as some singers proclaim. We are spirit beings, that live in a body, and we have souls. We know that our soul is made up of our mind, will and emotions. The whole you is your spirit, soul, and body. We know from Hebrews 4:12 that our soul and spirit are inseparable. That is you. Our bodies are just a shell for us. We know from John 4 that Jesus said God is a spirit. Makes sense! We are spirits and Genesis 1 tells us that we are made in His image. Human beings are just an amazing creation. Praise Yahweh! Our weakness is that we can easily live our day to day lives based on what we thinking about but nothing spiritual. For example, most people tend to live each day based on what they think they should do. This is based 100% on our soul areas (mind, will, and emotions). I think I will get a new job, I think I need to get married, I think I need to change my hair color. If you look at it more closely, when we do this we are actually making decisions based on not only what we think, but also how we feel. Everyone has had a bad day, but most people decide they are going to have a bad day because that is what they were expecting. Basically, most people live very soulishly. They are guided by their thoughts and feelings. However, God has something better for us. God wants us to be led by His spirit. That is why Romans 8:14 says
14	For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. Yahweh wants us to be led by the spirit. In the New Testament, the word “spirit” is actually from the Greek word pneuma. Pneuma means a breath, wind, spirit. When Yahweh created Adam, He breathed life into the body. Yahweh basically pneuma-ed Adam to create us. The body without the spirit is dead. Pneuma is translated human spirit and for the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. When you see spirit capitalized (Spirit), that is where the English translators thought pneuma was referring to the Holy Spirit. I keep this in mind as I read the Word. Whenever I see spirit whether it is capitalized or not, I determine whether we are talking about the Holy Spirit or the human spirit based on the context of the paragraph. Romans 8:14 is clearly talking about Spirit of God, however how does the Holy Spirit lead humans? He leads them by their spirits. When Paul went to Greece, he was provoked. He saw the pantheon of gods and knew He needed to do something. Acts says he was provoked in His spirit. Like Paul, you and I need to learn how to be lead by our spirits. We need to learn how to follow the guiding and direction of the Holy Spirit. He wants to lead us but we need to listen to our spirits. In 1983, God called me into the ministry. How did He do it? I was at a summer camp, my spirit was sensitive as I was in worship, hearing preaching, and focused on God intensively with all the other kids. One evening when the speaker asked for those who felt they were called into missions to raise their hands, I wanted to because I sensed a calling. At that time, the Holy Spirit spoke to my spirit and said “I will make you a minister and a missionary to the nations, but you will be a different type of missionary”. He also spoke to me that I would go to a state university first then do my Bible schooling. As I look back at how He has directed me over the years, I see His amazing plan for me so much better. My biggest challenge over the years has been to block off the distractions and listen to His spirit. I am sure the same challenge exists for you. The key is making time to be with God and removing yourselves from the distractions of life. One American Evangelist was famous as the counselor to many US presidents. There was a story of the President of the United States of America calling his home while he was having his prayer time. When his wife interrupted his prayer time to ask if he would take a meeting. He told her to tell the President that he was ‘in a meeting’ so he would call back later. That is great! Our time with Yahweh should be so precious that we should let nothing distract us. As we spend time with Him, our spirits become in tune with Him and we can clearly hear His voice in our spirits. We have to realize that our spirit is our connection to the Almighty. It is awesome. Learn to listen with your ear. It will change you!

Apr7

All You Need For Life

2 Peter 1:3

as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue…

My parents did not get saved until after they had my oldest sister. I was raised in the church but chose to repent and turn to Jesus in 1978. It was a day I will never forget.

I went for many years knowing God, but not in a real way that changed me just before going to University. I got so hungry for knowing Him and His presence that just going to church was no longer good enough. I said, “God, I want to know You in a real way. I want to hear Your voice and be directed by You” in my prayer.

If you look at 2 Peter 1:3, you will see that God has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness. That is right! He has given you every thing you need to walk in His ways and grow and develop in Him. Look at it carefully though. There are two parts to that promise. He has given us all things for 1) life and 2) godliness. One part is regarding life, and the other part is regarding godliness. That covers everything you and I need as we need to be like God, but at the same time we have a daily life to live.

The big question is how do you latch onto “all things” here? If we look at 2 Peter, it tells us. All things come from ‘His divine power’. How do you change your situation? You connect yourself to His divine power! How do you connect to His divine power? You connect to His divine power by

1) Spending time in reading and meditating the Word of God
2) Spending time in prayer and fellowship with Him

It is all about making time for God. Just as a husband must make time to fellowship with His wife each day to know her better, we as believers also need to make time to be with the Father. As you make time to be with Him, He will take care of the rest.

I have found in my prayer time, God tells me about the true intentions of other people, God gives me direction as to what to do for our church, God shows me what is coming up so I can prepare my heart, God gives me wisdom on how to be a better father to my children, God reveals my weaknesses to me so that I can deal with them.. It goes on and on for what God does when I make the time. It is amazing to me that just reading my Bible, the Holy Spirit speaks to me. I can be reading about Daniel, Joseph, Israel, John, James, the Proverbs, Psalms or whatever and it is amazing how the Word speaks. I spend most of my time reading the words of Jesus (the red sentences in most English Bibles) and the New Testament, as you really sense the anointing on the Word there.

As you spend time with Yahweh and His Word, you will see yourself change. As you become sensitive to Him, you will see that He truly has given you all things that pertain to life and godliness.

Apr8

The Guiding Light

Ps 43:3
3	Oh, send out Your light and Your truth! Let them lead me; Let them bring me to Your holy hill And to Your tabernacle. NKJV If you search in the Word (the Bible) on light, you will discover that God is all about light. He is light and completely bright. There is nothing dark, dim, or hidden about God. Yahweh created the Sun that lights up our planet Earth so that the temperature is warm enough for us human beings to live. We have the right mix of water and natural gases such as oxygen and hydrogen so that plants can grow, animals can live, and most importantly that we humans can easily breathe, The other planets of our galaxy apparently were not created to support human life. If there were too much or even too little light humans would not survive. God has made a beautiful earth for us and entrusted it to us for a time. Psalms talks a lot about light and Yahweh. They are inseparable. In the new heaven and earth did you know that He will be our sun? I am very excited to be with the Father in the spiritual realm or world. However, for as long as I live in this physical world the sun and the light it produces is a reminder to me of God’s promises to me. Here in Psalms 43:3, the prayer to God is to send His light and send His truth. Is this talking about sunlight? I think not. For guidance and direction in our lives, we need God to direct our spirits. We need to have God’s light more and more because we live in a dark world. That is why the Psalmist prayed send your light and send your truth. The only way we can see His light and His truth is by our spirits. Do you remember Proverbs 20:27? In the Amplified Bible it says,
27	The spirit of man [that factor in human personality which proceeds immediately from God] is the lamp of the Lord, searching all his innermost parts. AMP Yahweh guides and directs you through your spirit. That is why it is so important that we make time to make sure our spirit is in tune with Him. If you want to be led by God, if you want that truth and light, you as a New Testament believer, have the opportunity to connect directly to God via year spirit. It’s important that we enjoy life and the physical world around us, however let’s be more sensitive to Yahweh. Let’s be more spiritual. It will change your situation.

Apr9

Daily Freedom, Your Choice

Gal 5:1
5	For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. ESV There are so many addicted to tobacco, alcohol and other stimulant drugs. Many times people ‘experiment’ with smoking one drug, and they get sucked into harder and more powerful drugs that destroys they bodies and brains much faster. Addiction is not God’s plan for us. There are other people who are addicted to looking at unclean things and doing things they would be ashamed to talk about with others. Without Jesus, it is a tough world out there because there are so many distractions vying for our attention. Many cultural Christians would have you believe that once you are saved that you are always saved. Some seem to endorse the idea that once you are saved, you will not have any trouble. Well that is absolutely untrue. Life can be a battle at times for the unbeliever but also the believer. Addictions are bondage. Why? They are things that the person can’t seem to stop. Bondages may go away when you are saved, but most the time they are things we have to deal with. There are many Christians living in bondage. Have you got an addiction you would like to break? There is no reason for us to be bound up in some addiction. Galatians 5:1 says that Jesus came to set us from bondage. Does it say anything in that Word about Jesus just automatically taking away your issues for you when you become a believer? No! In fact, we are told to “stand firm”. If you are single and you are dealing with strong sexual desires, the Word encourages you to marry so that you can focus those desires on your husband or wife. If you are unmarried and you allow those feelings to run unchecked, you could very well end up in a situation where you go too far with someone and end up needing to marry because of a coming baby. You have to guard your hearts in advance before you get into the situation. Proverbs 4:23 is clear on this saying,
23	Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life. We’ve got to protect our hearts! If you are a recovering smoker, the last thing you want to do is sit in the smoking section of some restaurant. If you are a recovering homosexual, you don’t go to a homosexual bar thinking you are going to help others. If you have been freed from witchcraft, you want to make sure that you are rooted and grounded in the Word before you can minister to others. You have to build yourself up before you get back into those unclean situations. It is interesting in Galatians how it says that we should not submit ourselves to a yoke of slavery and bondage. Believer, it is your choice! That is right. You choose whether you are going to be free or be bound up. Is it God’s will for us to struggle and be in and out of sin? No way! If that were the case, then why does the Word (Jesus) say in John 8:32
32	And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. If you want to be free, you have to know the truth. Jesus said God’s Word is truth in John 17:17. Pretty much all of us have struggled with some type of addiction. We have all gone the wrong way. Don’t let the enemy condemn you just because you failed. The enemy wants to destroy us through addiction, doubt, unbelief, discouragement, unclean behavior, drugs, or whatever they can to immobilize us, make us unproductive, and eventually kill us so we can’t change the world for Jesus. Don’t let hell take you down. They can go down by themselves. Do you want to be free? It is your choice. Stand! It is a daily thing. Get yourself around strong believers, a good church, get into the Word, spend time with the Father and you will be a spiritual super hero! Most importantly, you will be free. Hallelujah!

Apr10

Be Diligent

2 Tim 2:15

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. NKJV

If you are ever in Tokyo, come visit us at Victory. We are a strong word church. Why? Because the pastor discovered that it all comes down to the Word of God (the Bible). Need salvation? Check out the Word. Need healing? Check out the Word. Need encouragement? Check out the Word. Need financial breakthrough? Check out the Word. Need wisdom on how to raise your children? Check out the Word. Need help to break an addiction? Check out the Word. Need to fix your broken marriage? Check out the Word. Want to hear God’s voice? Check out the Word. Get the point?

Several times when I have preached, I have asked the audience a question; Which is more important, prayer, or the Word? Sometimes people just don’t know. The answer is quite clear. If you haven’t got the Word, we don’t know how to pray or even what to pray.

In 2 Timothy, we are told to present ourselves approved to God. How are you approved before God? The last part of that verse says by “rightly dividing the word of truth”. How do you get approved before God? By knowing His Word! In plain terms, if you have know the Bible, you are well on your way for knowing God more than you could ever imagine. There is a kicker here, it says ‘rightly dividing’. That means understanding the Word. We have to understand the Word. If you understand it, you can apply it.

Do you know the difference between knowledge and wisdom? Knowledge is knowing things. We all learn many things in school and in life. Wisdom takes it one step further. Wisdom is being able to organize and apply that knowledge. If you can use what you know well, you are wise! If you know the weather report says it is going to rain in the afternoon, then you are wise to put an umbrella in your bag in the morning. If you are in business, and you can see that someone is going to discover the apples are very healthy (for example), chances are you are going to buy an apple orchard or start farming apples.

Yahweh wants you to have the best. To have the best, you have to be wise with what you have. The absolute must for a believer is we have to be able to apply the Word of God to our lives. Applying the Word is an everyday thing for a believer. If you want to be spiritually strong, if you want to be right before God, then you have to know the Bible and how to apply it. Have you fed your spirit and soul on the Word today?

Apr11

The Day The Veil Ripped

Mark 15:38-39
38	Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, "Truly this Man was the Son of God!" NKJV The Resurrection Day is the most important day as a believer. If you profess to be a Christian and you don’t believe that Jesus resurrected from the dead, then you are lost. Actually, a person who believes like this is not even a Christian. The whole hope that we have as a believer is that Jesus took every evil, wrong thing we ever did and washed us clean making us right before God. How did He do it? See, Jesus was the world’s only perfect human. He has been through absolutely everything you and I could have possibly been through. Got that? He has had exactly the same opportunities that both you and I have. But unlike you and I, he has never failed. He never given in to temptation. He never sinned. He never used foul language, He never had physical relations with a woman, He never had a bad habit, He never treated someone wrongly, He has never done anything wrong. Nothing. Jesus was perfect. Do you understand what people did to try to get right before God before our Savior Jesus came? They had to sacrifice animals to make themselves right before God. It was the Old Testament directive. Why would God implement this type of plan? Well, it wasn’t His plan, because as you remember in the Garden of Eden people walked in perfect fellowship with God. However, we screwed up and sin came in and separated us from God. We cannot enter the presence of the King if we are not proper. If a homeless person were to be presented to the Emperor of Japan, you can be assured that he will have to be cleaned up, given a change of clothes, and groomed before he comes before the emperor. This is even more true with God. Although the blood of sheep, goat and other sacrifices was a temporary cover for everything we did wrong before God (sin) in the Old Testament. Jesus came to die on our behalf to really make us right before God. Romans 5:9-11 says
9	Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. 10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11 And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. You can be reconciled to God, if you repent. If you want to turn to God, the only way to do it is through Jesus the Christ. You will never be able to be right by anything you can do. You must know Jesus because He brought us in right standing before God. The day that Jesus died, was probably the darkest day in history. From noon that day, the whole area was covered with darkness until 3PM (Mark 15:33). It was not only dark outside but it was even darker spiritually. Hell thought they had finally killed off God’s Son and any plan for a future for mankind. You’ll notice when Jesus gave up His spirit in Mark 15, the whole earth changed. But what happened in the temple? The veil ripped. This was not just some curtain. This was a foot-wide (30 cm) divider between the Holy of Holies where God’s presence was and the outside area. What did this mean when the veil ripped? It meant that Jesus became our high priest making us right before God. You don’t need to go to a priest to sacrifice an animal and confess your sins. Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice for you. You can tell Him whenever you screw up and His sacrifice, His blood makes you right before the Father. The most important holiday in the world is Easter. I call it Resurrection Day. If Jesus did not come back from the dead then He was just a man. However, on the third day He arose after going to hell for us, so we wouldn’t have to. If you are not right with God, get right with Him now. Call on the Name of Jesus. He will save you and He will cleanse you. He has made us all right before the Father. Hallelujah!

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