Faith Builders Devotional

Daily Devotional

June 21 - June 27 2026

For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, 7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. NKJV

In 2 Timothy 3 we see a list of the characteristics of the way people will be in the last days. I see that this can be summarized in two points. People trying to please the

1)Self

2)The flesh

When you become more important that those around you, then you can tell there is a problem with you. If all the people around you are focused on ‘me’ as number one, then society has a problem. A manifestation of this ‘me first’ mentality is when they try to please themselves before thinking of others. So busy wanting to eat, that they forget to let others get something or go first.

On a mini-vacation to Hawaii, my family and decided we wanted to eat something near the hotel and not pay the price of hotel food. We discovered a diner-type restaurant across the street from the hotel that looked tasty and cost effective. We went there for breakfast that day and enjoyed the meal. A few days later, we went there for dinner. The hostess sat us down at a table on the far side of the restaurant near the wall. In the middle of the restaurant was a salad bar with soups, breads, and all sorts of food. Sitting next to us was an South Asian family with the father, mother, son, and what appeared to be the grandfather and grandmother.

I first saw the grandfather at the salad bar. He was jumping in front of people trying to get his food. Going back to the table with the salad, I couldn’t help but notice the father. He was belching at the table and eating and eating and eating. It became difficult to enjoy my meal due to his grotesque actions. My whole family was appalled.

Since I had lost my appetite, I watched him as he ate from the corner of my eye. This man was extremely overweight and could eat and eat. He went back and forth to the salad bar repeatedly and then ate his main dish that the waiter brought. With each plate I saw him slow down. He sat there with the fork in his right hand and his left arm around his plate as if to protect it from ‘wild animals’ around him. He kept eating and eating. As I looked closer I saw this was a man extremely overweight who probably suffered the various side-effects from gluttonous living. People who eat huge volumes of food suffer from hemorrhoids, potential diabetes, have a high-risk of a deadly heart attack, and even have difficulty in thoroughly washing themselves.

Although this is a real life example of ‘pleasing the flesh’, much of the fleshly sin in the world is sexual sin more than anything else. People fornicating (having sexual intercourse outside marriage) or in adulterous relationships. The pressure from the films, music, and even famous leaders many times glorifies sin but neglects to tell you it will kill you. Whether you be a glutton, an alcoholic, or even involved in sexual sin, these fleshly wrongs can easily separate you from God for eternity if you don’t separate yourself and overcome it.

Sin doesn’t come in with great fanfare. It creeps in. It slowly tries to take control of you through little things. If you have a house infested with flies, it is likely started by some food or garbage that has gone bad and maggots have begun to develop there.

As you seek the Lord today, as you spend time in His presence, ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you where the sin has creeped in. Ask Him to reveal where the sin is in your life so you can deal with it and cut it out of your life. If you don’t act now, it could cost everything.

Put your faith to work now and stop the creeps. You will be so glad you did. God wants you to live long and strong on the earth.

Jun22

Seven Steps To A Long And Happy Life

1 Thessalonians 5:16-22

Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies. 21 Test all things; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil. NKJV

In our generation, people close out their conversations by “Have a great day”. Some believers even say “Have a blessed day”. Nice words and a good positive confession, but without Jesus, is it possible to really ‘have a great day’? Well, if you have never tasted great food before it is hard to describe that untasted food to someone else. If you know Jesus and have had a great day, there is nothing like it.

Thessalonians gives us seven steps to having a long and happy life. These are amazing. If you keep these things in mind, every day is going to be a wonderful day for you. Let me go through them.

1) Rejoice Always-
They say that happy people live longer. People like to buy from happy, confident sales people. Happy negotiators can conclude agreements quicker. As a believer, you are not just a human in the present, you are a product of the future. You can rejoice always because you are from the future. You know your future and have something to rejoice about.

2) Pray without ceasing-
I like to say, “If you aren’t praying, it ain’t happening”. If you want to change your situation, you better start talking with God. He knows what the future holds. When you stop praying, that is when stuff stops happening. When we started praying more intensely at our church, that is when the breakthroughs began.

3) Give thanks in everything-
When I have to deal with a clerk at a store even though I am buying something (and they should be thankful), I show appreciation for their service. It is amazing how well people respond to you when you are thankful and friendly to them. We have so much more to be thankful for to our heavenly Father. He is so good. Be thankful for everything and watch the good increase back to you.

4) Do not quench the Spirit-
This is a huge point. There are so many dead churches in the US, Japan and around the world that are filled with dead Christians. These cultural Christians have likely not experienced the power of God, seen a divine healing, seen an angelic intervention or any other supernatural manifestation of the hand of God in their lives. Don’t be so organized in your church worship, Bible studies, or even prayer times that you don’t take time to listen to the Holy Spirit. Those who are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

5) Do not despise prophecies-
As people change, so do situations. However, the Word of God never changes. It is the same yesterday, today, and forever. God frequently speaks to Spirit-filled, committed Christians via prophecies. A prophecy is an insight of what God is planning to do through you. Prophecies are not ‘fortune telling’. If you hear a prophecy from someone about you, your church, or your family, check it to the Word and ask God about if that word is right for you or not. If not, dump it like a dirty rag. If it is, then just wait on the Lord for the timing. Some things I like to put on my ‘mental shelf’ and just see what happens. If you know it is right, ask Him for wisdom on how to make it come to pass. God speaks through prophecies.

6) Test all things and hold fast to what is good-
Just like prophecies (words people speak to you that they think God is saying), don’t just take whatever comes. Test ALL things. The best way to test something is according to the Word of God. If your spirit and the Word don’t confirm something, then don’t do it. If you are praying about buying a house and a salesperson pushes you to buy, don’t be influenced. Ask God for wisdom on it. When our church was just a handful of people, someone prophesied we would become thousands. We know God wants us to ‘Go into all the world’ and so we have held onto that word and watched our numbers increase. Don’t take everything that comes your way. Ask Him and He will give you wisdom.

7) Abstain from every form of evil-
With God, there is not a speck, not even a particle of evil. He is 100% pure and just. Would you drink a glass of water if there were 10% sewage water (toilet water) mixed in? What if there were 5%? You wouldn’t drink it at all if you knew, and neither would I. When the Holy Spirit reveals something in your life that is wrong, you need to deal with it. Most of the time, it involves getting away from some place, some people, some influence. The fear of the Lord is not being fearful of God, it is hating evil.

Want to have a long and happy life? Just keep these seven steps in front of you and you will. Every time someone tells you to ‘Have a nice day’, remind yourself of these seven steps and you truly will ‘Have a nice day’. Those who serve our awesome God have amazing days!

Jun23

Are We In The Last Days?

2 Thessalonians 2:3-4

Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. NKJV

There is a bit of confusion about what is going to happen in the last days. When you read Thessolonians you will see that this is not something new. People have gotten confused about the last days. Especially believers who are not that familiar with the Word of God. Frankly, the better you know the Word of God, the better you know the God of the Word.

To gauge where we are in the last days, 2 Timothy 3:1-5 gives you a clarion clear view as to what people will be like towards the end. In my forty some years, I have seen people change more and more in this direction. It is clear King Jesus is coming back soon and we need to be ready. So what are some of the things we know about the last days besides the changes in people?

Here are some of the things we know from the Word of God.

1. There will be many false prophets and leaders that will rise up and deceive people pulling them away from the Word. (Matt 24:3)

2. There will be one person who will rise up and will proclaim he is god. He will coerce people to worship him. He is called the antichrist or the son of perdition. He will set up a ‘temple’ in Jerusalem. (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4, I John 2:18)

3. There will be a one world government. (Rev. 13:1-15, Daniel 7:16-24)

4. There will be one world currency. (Rev. 13:1-15, Daniel 7:16-24)

5. People will be required to get some type of marking or computer chip implant to be able to buy or sell. (Rev. 13:16-17)

6. Many people will fall away from Jesus. (1 Timothy 3:1, 2 Thess 2:2)

7. King Jesus will come to get His own. We will meet Him in the air. (1 Thess 4:17)

8. People will become more and more selfish. They will look towards satisfying their own lusts and won’t care about how many people they hurt along the way, as long as they get what they want. (2 Timothy 3:1-5, Phil 2:21)

9. The Holy Spirit will apparently leave the Earth for a time when the believers are removed. (2 Thess 2:7)

10. There where be a great revival as the believers are removed from the earth for a time, and those who heard the message of how they need Jesus will accept when they see us gone.

11. There will be wars and rumors of wars. (Matthew 24:6)

12. There will be famines and people unable to eat. (Matthew 24:7)

13. The nations of the earth will focus on Israel and a battle will be fought there. Jerusalem will be encompassed by the armies of the earth. (Revelations)

There is so much you can say about the last days. More than just the thirteen items I have listed.

You should get into the Word and study for yourself. Check out the books of Timothy, Thessalonians, Revelation, and even a lot in the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John) show the Messiah Jesus discussing and explaining what we should expect.

Matthew 24 is especially good as many things can come up for debate with varying end-time interpretations. For example, there are varying opinions on the Rapture (when believers will meet Jesus in the air). People debate whether we are going to be pulled off the earth or have to go through a time of great tribulation when the antichrist is controlling people. I want to be on the ‘first load out’. However, that is not the most important question. The most important thing is “Have you repented and do you know Jesus or not?” From there you should ask yourself, “Are you living for Him today?”

Are we in the last days? You really have to look around you. My word to you is search the Word for yourself as you are looking at the signs of the times. In the meantime, go after God with everything you’ve got in you.

Jesus is coming back soon!

Jun24

But They Deserve It!

2 Thessalonians 1:6
6	since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, NKJV In God’s Kingdom there are no thieves, perverts, homosexuals, cheaters. God is good, we can only be good like Him by repenting, turning from our sin, and following Him and His ways with everything we’ve got in us. Living on this earth we are still around many dishonest and outright evil people. For this time, we need to work hard as we go about our daily lives. But we also have to work very smart. The enemy uses people to attack us, as a demonic spirit has no physical body. This is why we have to make sure we protect ourselves and our families and be smart. In my third year at University I decided to live on campus. There were multiple dormitories at my school so I picked one that seemed convenient. (It turned out to be a bit of a “geek” sanctuary of sorts so I wasn’t there long). I had transferred in mid-term and had a car that I needed to park. I was unable to get a parking pass so during the day I had to park my car in the massive university parking lot and move it during the night. Thinking I was being smart, one night I parked my car with about 10 other cars under a bridge that evening to keep off the street overnight. The next morning when I went to get my car to move it to the parking area I noticed it had been broken into. The back glass behind the driver’s seat was broken as they had smashed that small window to get in. Items were stolen from the glovebox and the two speakers were ripped out of the back of the car behind the back seats. They couldn’t seem to get the stereo out. I felt so violated. The feeling of being ripped off was really bad as you didn’t know who took your things. If I knew who would have done it they would have had a horrible price to pay. The worse part about being ripped off is someone has to clean up the mess. I had to drive a car with a blown out window. That is how sin is. The offender thinks doesn’t think about how it will affect those around them. Sin is painful for anyone related. When a spouse cheats on the other, they don’t think about how it will affect their kids. Husbands and wives, develop a passion for your spouse and give yourself wholly to them and making that marriage a good success. Businesses near the university were usually a bit more expensive so I had to drive my car back to my hometown about 1 hour away as I needed to get the window replaced. The window was replaced and so were the speakers. The items in my glovebox I have never seen again. Very unfortunate, but a good lesson on being diligent and being smart. The most important thing I learned is I don’t have to worry about taking revenge or vengeance on people who ripped me off. God will have those people repay for what they have done. Many have heard the famous saying of the Word on vengeance in Romans 12:19
19	Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. NKJV We can also see in the same theme in Deuteronomy 32:35 which says,
35	Vengeance is Mine, and recompense; Their foot shall slip in due time; For the day of their calamity is at hand, And the things to come hasten upon them.' NKJV But I think if we go by worldly feelings it is easy to get distracted. The world glorifies getting revenge. As believers, we don’t need to get back at anyone. When you read on in Romans you see Romans 12:20-21 saying
20	Therefore "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head."
21	Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. NKJV We need to remember to just leave all the judgment, frustrations, and vengeful thoughts. Roll everything on Him. Give it all to God in Jesus’ powerful name. Pray for that person that ripped you off. Don’t let the enemy get the best of you or steal your joy. Fight the forces of hell the right way and pray for the salvation of that person who ripped you off. Pray that God will put someone across their path that can bring them in the kingdom. Don’t be bothered or concerned about those things. God will bring more if you are faithful to Him. Be more concerned about the person who is lost and going to hell. God is good and His mercies endure forever!

Jun25

The Danger Of Name Calling

Matt 5:22
22	But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, 'Raca!' shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire. NKJV When you visit Japan and listen a bit to the language, you will hear some of those famous words, konnichiwa (good day), arigato gozaimasu (thank you), sumimasen (pardon me). However, from the first time that I visited, I heard a word used by students a lot. It is used in both playful jest as well as red-hot anger. This overused word in Japan is ‘baka’. Baka means fool or foolish. I have seen students call their close friends ‘baka’ when they are teasing them about something. I have seen people on game shows call their fellow players ‘baka’ when they make a joke that gets their attention. The really distressing thing is I have seen mothers and fathers call their children baka when they are mad about something they have done. According to the Word of God, we should never call anyone baka or fool in any language. As a matter of fact, King Jesus said that we would be in danger of hell fire. What does that mean? Calling names can lead you right into hell and eternal separation from God. In general, if you are going to resort to calling someone names you are showing your immaturity. In the US, our famous saying is “If you can’t say something nice, then don’t say anything at all”. It takes some work not to say negative things about people because there are so many people that seem to have earned it (or even deserve it). So why was the Lord Jesus so strong about calling people names; and especially in this case, calling people fool? When we are calling names, we are passing judgment on someone else. We are essentially saying that we are better than them. The Bible tells us not to judge others (Matt 7:1). A better English translation of that would be, not to be judgmental. Matthew tells us that the way that we deal with others is the way we will be dealt with. Think about that! The way you deal with others is the way you will be dealt with. If you are demanding, harsh, and judgmental, you will be treated the same by the Father. However, if you are honest, hard-working, a clear communicator, and forgiving, that is how you will be treated. Remember Luke 6:38 says,
38	Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you."NKJV We know that if you don’t tithe to your local church, you shouldn’t expect much from God because you are stealing from Him (Malachi 3). But this same scripture can be applied to the way you talk to people and deal with people. When you call names you are passing judgment. There are evil people out there. There are also people that just want to cheat you. If you’ve been ripped off by someone, learn not to talk about them. If someone asks you about them, it is okay to say, “I have no comment”, or “I recommend you be very careful” and just leave it at that. We’re told not to be judgmental, but we’re not told to avoid warning people about thieves, cheats, seducers, or other people that are clearly hurting folks. I have learned from Mark 11:22-25 that faith is speaking what you expect. What you say as a believer has power. James even talks about how our tongues (talking) can be positive or they can be negative, even poisonous.
James 3:8
8	But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. NKJV There is no hope for the lost, but when you have Jesus and are filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, you have nothing to fear. You can get you mouth and that tongue under the power and the anointing of the Holy Spirit. You must be diligent and watch what you say. As for me and my house, I decided we will never call anyone fool. We will avoid name-calling. If we slip and say something, we will be quick to ask forgiveness and forgive others. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you today. Ask Him to show you what you can do and how He can use what you say to glorify God.

Jun26

Brilliantly Simple

1 Cor 1:20-21
20	Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. NKJV Going through the University of Washington for my undergraduate studies I learned a lot. I actually learned a lot more about people and relationships than I did about the subjects they were teaching. Before reaching university I had studied very hard in High School and Junior High school. In Junior High school, I learned the secret to success in school. I have since discovered that secret is the same for all of life. The secret of success is what I say is “Building a bit of progress every day”. Don’t try to do everything at once. That’s right, cramming for a test is cheating yourself of actually learning the topic. One year in Junior High, before our 2 week Christmas break, the class was informed by our teacher that we would be given a test in earth science immediately when we returned to school in January. When given something to do, most of us tend to put it off until the last minute. For some reason I sensed I better study a bit every day if I wanted to do well. So that is what I did. Every night before I went to sleep I would review my notes. The teacher had told me that if you want to remember something, ‘whatever you go to sleep thinking about is what you will wake up thinking about’. I used his advice and studied for that science test a bit each night. In January, it was clear that not many of the students had studied during the break. I was one of the students who aced that test. A good teacher is one who makes difficult subjects easy for their students. If you look at life, it is really not to difficult to figure out. If you desire to know God, He will do whatever it takes to get the Gospel good news to you. I had worked hard before university and I have to say I was a bit burned out with school. One of the things that surprised me was the pride of most the university professors. Many of them would stand there in front of the classes of hundreds trying to impress their class with how knowledgeable they were about their area. They were doing the opposite of what a good teacher should do. Those professors were making difficult topics even more complicated. The Gospel message of God’s Kingdom, The Way, Jesus the Messiah, is so simple. We are imperfect and have no right to talk to or fellowship with our creator. Blood through the animal sacrifices could cover our sin, but not clear up or forgive our sin. Jesus the Son of God, came to the earth by being born through a human. He came and lived with us, and demonstrated how we can live on this earth. He gave Himself up and died on our behalf as the perfect sacrifice to make us right. If you repent and turn from your sin and wrong ways, you can be made perfect before God. When you are perfected, you can enter into His Kingdom. It is so simple. People seem to think that they need work to attain some higher enlightenment, and work to understand the divine. That is not the case. There is nothing you can do to make yourself right before God. However, many people are tricked by the enemy, and others are just overcomplicating things. Those that recognize that they were created try to explain away things. If you continue on 1 Cor 1:22-23 says
22	For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness. NKJV These days, it seems some people just think it is foolish to believe in God. The Way to God is not foolish, it is just plain simple. It is so simple that anyone can get it. God’s kingdom is not limited to short or tall, fat or skinny, black or white, red or yellow; God’s Kingdom is for all those who believe. Do you believe?
1 John 5:1
1	Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God..NKJV The gospel is so brilliantly simple. Share His love with someone today and watch the power of God in your life activate because of your faith.

Jun27

The Origin Of Hell And The Enemy Condemned To It

Matt 25:41-43
41	"Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.' NKJV Hell is a real place. It is dark, it is smells, and there is eternal suffering, fighting, and pain, because when you go to hell, there is no coming back. It is filled with very wicked people and even a few people who thought going to church was their ticket to heaven. If you have not repented from your wrong ways and been made righteous by King Jesus, you will be in hell. It is a horrible, horrible place. Why is there a hell? Why is there a place that will be completely out of range of God and His Kingdom? Why is there a place so bad? Well, the answer is quite simple. It is all about choice. Love is a choice. You can choose to love your spouse or you can choose to fight with them. You can choose to enjoy your job, or you can choose to hate it. You can choose to spend time with your children or you can ignore them and hope that they will turn out alright. It is all about choice. In heaven, there was an archangel whose name was lucifer. lucifer means ‘light bearer’ so he must have really reflected God’s glory. According to Ezekiel 28:12-15, he was beautiful and one of the leading angels in heaven. From what we understand in Ezekiel, he was the worship leader in heaven. God is so awesome and beautiful, it is hard not to glorify and worship him. Evidently one day lucifer decided he wanted the praise and worship himself. He didn’t want to give it to God. Isaiah 14:13-14 says
13	For you have said in your heart: 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north;
14	I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.' NKJV Lucifer rose up in pride and tried to mount a rebellion in heaven. According to Revelation 12:4, it seems he convinced one-third of the angels to help him (ever wonder where demons come from?). Of course, no one can be like God. There is no one like Him, He is right, He is awesome, He is just, but most importantly to me, God is pure and unconditional love. Of course, lucifer’s rebellion immediately failed. He was blasted, he had his chance and he was thrown out of heaven. Of course God the Son, Jesus, was there as He has been around forever and He described what happened in Luke 10:18 saying,
18	And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. NKJV From that point of being thrown out of God’s presence to the earth, his name changed to satan, which means ‘accuser’ or ‘adversary’. When I need to write or type his name, I never even capitalize it because he deserves no attention. So where is this burned out, screwed up deceiver and thief? Isaiah 14:12 sheds light on that.
12	"How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! NKJV He is on the earth trying to kill steal and destroy according to King Jesus (John 10:10). You’ve got to remember, unlike God, satan cannot be everywhere at once and he is not all-knowing. When people get attacked by seducing spirits, generational spirits, spirits of depression or what have you, it is likely not satan attacking you but one of his demons. Why do they attack humans? If you look back at our text in Matthew 25:41 you can see why hell exists. Was it made for humans? Absolutely not! It was made for satan and other demons. They have made their choice and judgement is already on them. What they are trying to do is to get as many people as they can condemned with them. They want to get people entangled in sin, sickness, and disease. Once you are dead and fully in the spiritual realm, there is no other chance to repent and turn to God through Jesus. Hell is a real place. From my read of the scriptures, as well as my university geology studies, to me it is clearly in the center of the earth. More importantly, heaven is a real place. It was made for us. It is more beautiful than any tropical paradise on the earth. I think it is a spiritual place and a physical place. Psalm 48:2 and Isaiah 14:13 point to it being North. Dakes thinks it is directly North of the North Pole and even refers to heaven as a ‘planet’. To me, the physical location is less important than what is there. Everyone there is there because they are filled with love. They have chosen to know God and be a part of His family while they were living on the earth. Have you chosen to follow Him? Are you entangled in some sin? Pray this prayer today- Father, I confess Jesus as King of my life. I repent and turn from my wicked ways. Wash me clean and make me pure before You. I love you and look forward to being with You in heaven some day. Help me to be bold and tell more people about heaven while I am here in this earthly body. I love you Father! In Jesus’ mighty name I pray! Amen.

Today