Faith Builders Devotional

Matthew 10:8
Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. NKJV
Does going to church make you a Christian? If you can recite the Lord’s prayer, are you in tune with God? Does being born to committed Christians parents make you a believer as well? Furthermore, if you have prayed with someone to repent, turn to Jesus, and come to God, does that mean that you can sit and just watch the rest of the world go by? The answer to all these questions is no. Being a believer is a lifestyle. It is a daily thing. It is not a club, religion, or even a social thing. Your life should be active, living each day in faith and victory.
Some folks would tell you that the signs and wonders that happened in the book of Acts were something that died with the people of that time. The problem is that these things have continued happening ever since. The ‘died with the times’ crowd have likely not seen God’s power working in their lives, so they try to explain away this powerlessness. Don’t believe this lie! If God’s power changed after the Bible and the New Testament believers passed, then the Word would have told us that. It doesn’t, because nothing has changed. Mark 16 tells us all authority and power has been given to us so that we can go make disciples of all the nations.
King Jesus commands His friends in Matthew 10:8 to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead and cast out demons. He tells them that they freely received these prayers so they should freely give the same thing to others.
I have seen hundreds of people healed, many demons cast out, but I haven’t dealt with lepers or raised the dead yet. Looking forward to seeing someone raised from the dead!!
As you read this Word in Matthew 10:8, think on these things. As a committed Christian, you are supposed to be praying for the sick, you are supposed to be casting out demons, you are supposed to be a giving the freedom you have to others.
Even though I have seen hundreds of healings, I am still always excited when I see someone we pray for receive their healing. I have put my hands on people and prayed over them and seen things happen. However, think about this: If I see someone who has a physical need and I just ignore them, wouldn’t that be sad? If I knew that a couple couldn’t get pregnant and did not pray for them, wouldn’t that heart wrenching? That couple may very well end up never having children because I didn’t exercise my faith for them.
This year, as you read the New Testament notice how Jesus was ‘moved with compassion’ when He saw people in need. Check out Mark 1:41, it says
Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, "I am willing; be cleansed." NKJV
We are also to be compassion people. Helping people get completely well and right with God, this is the passion that our King Jesus has for people, and we are supposed to have it as well.
Ask the Holy Spirit to guide your spirit and soul today. As Him to give you direction on who needs His compassion and touch. Never forget, you are His hands and His feet. If you don’t touch people today, who will?

Mark 11:21
And Peter, remembering, said to Him, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away." NKJV
As a believer or an unbeliever, your words are containers of influence. If you tell your spouse, “I don’t love you anymore”. It could very well hurt that spouse. I prefer to be around positive people in life over negative people any day. You feel better around positive people. In general terms, people who have influence (rich) are very good at learning. They are constantly looking to improve themselves and find a new product. Conversely, people who are lacking in influence (poor) are that way because they have accepted their ways. They are complaining and criticizing the people that have.
I am convinced that people that have more influence, mostly have it because they have kept an open mind. Of course, there are those people who have inherited their wealth and influence. However, the vast majority have what they have because they never assume they know everything or that they have “arrived”. Of course, these actions are important but for a believer what we say is really powerful.
Jesus was with His friends going into town. He went to a fig tree looking for figs. There were none so He cursed that tree. Later, on the way back out of town, they found that tree that Jesus had cursed. It was withered up. What exactly was happening here? I think it was our Lord Jesus showing the power of words. As a believer, our words carry incredible power and the authority of the Word behind them.
In Japan, we have a group of organized crime, a mafia of sorts. Like mafia in any country, in actuality they make an effort to steal from people, while putting on a feel for legitimate business through a store or some other business. In our neighborhood there was a business doing a front called “Bulldog”. They weren’t doing a real business as it was a variety store were many mafia would gather. As I walked by this store one morning on my way to the train station , I was reminded of Jesus cursing the fig tree. I knew that these people were up to no good. So I cursed that store and commanded that it go out of business and be unproductive.
I forgot about that prayer and continued walking to the station each morning and back home each night. After one week, that shop closed. It was then, the Holy Spirit reminded me of my prayer. I shared how the store was cursed and closed in one week with my wife. She explained how she had prayed the same prayer at the same time. Isn’t the leading of the Spirit so wonderful!
You see, as believers we are to be a blessing. But if the enemy is using something to cause trouble, we can and should do just like Jesus did. Be a blessing but don’t be afraid to curse the works of the enemy.

Psalms 3:3-4

3	But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, My glory and the One who lifts up my head.
4	I cried to the Lord with my voice, And He heard me from His holy hill. NKJV Growing up on a small farm in Oregon, I had complete confidence that no matter what happened, my father would protect me and take care of me. I think many children have this faith in their parents. That is probably part of the faith of the child the Lord Jesus was talking about. My dad is tough and as a champion wrestler in Oregon State, I thought nobody would ever mess with him. As that young boy, I was confident that nothing would hurt me and even if someone rose to attack or hurt me, my father would be there to stop it. In my mind, he was a shield to me. You can be assured if anyone did try to harm us, he would protect us. There is a reason why God is referred to as our “Heavenly Father” in the Word. It is because He is Almighty. He is the one who protects and guides us. Don’t just rely on some family member to protect you. Don’t just even think the police will protect you. You have to realize that Yahweh will protect you if you trust Him. Do you trust Him? Psalms 3:3 says that God is our glory and the one that lifts our heads. Of course, you need to keep excited about life and be joyful. But you have to tap into God’s joy. If you do that, nothing can take that joy away. Yahweh God is our unending source for everything. In business, I have dealt with all sorts of people. Many people in Tokyo have seen me every day. One day I greeted a real estate agent in Tokyo. It was just like any other day that I saw him. I was my normal happy self and he was clearly not having a good day. At that moment, he seemed to forget his problems looking me straight in the eyes saying, “Spencer Patrick, why are you always so happy?” I was pleasantly surprised to hear that question, and I thought for a moment asking the Holy Spirit how to answer and responded. I explained with a smile on my face that because I knew Jesus I was always happy. I further explained that there was no reason to be sad because I knew, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that I will always have the victory. He was surprised at my confidence. Many times I have heard Christians misquote Romans 8:28 saying that whatever happens to a believer is “God’s will” just because they are Christians. That couldn’t be any further from the truth. You’ve got to be consistently praying. In Romans, they forget to start at verse 26 that shows the context is talking about praying in the spirit. Psalm 3:4 says,
4	I cried to the Lord with my voice, And He heard me from His holy hill. NKJV Notice that you have to call out to God. You have got to pray. If you want God to be your shield, pray His spirit around you. Pray His protection and confess it over yourself and your family. Please keep in mind that once you pray for protection, don’t keep praying for protection. Act in faith and in prayer start thanking Him for that protection.

Matthew 12:48-49
But He answered and said to the one who told Him, "Who is My mother and who are My brothers?" And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers! NKJV
Probably the most important part of society is the family. If the family is in good shape, the children are nurtured to go up and become the major contributors to ministry, business, and even education. However, broken families have the potential to produce broken children. The vast majority of men in prisons in the United States have grown up in homes where there was no father figure. There was no dad around to show the boys how to operate with honor and integrity. The family is very important to society. If the enemy can break down the family, these evil spirits can break society. We see that it is true, and as believers we must make the best effort to be the best fathers and mothers, just as well as grandfathers and grandmothers.
In Matthew 12, we see Jesus’s mother and half-brothers coming to where he was surrounded by people and asking him to come meet with them. Clearly Jesus was under incredible demand as people were hungry to hear the Word, get prayer for healing, and looking for wisdom. There was a meeting going on and these people were a clear distraction. It is quite presumptuous that they would come and expect Him to drop everything and everyone, just to talk to them. However, we have to realize sometimes family members can be that way. Sometimes family can hold us back from God’s plan. In fact, I have to say many times family will hold you back. That is why God told Abraham to leave Ur and go to the place He had called him to.
I come from a wonderful family living in an area called Pacific Northwest in the United States. From an income perspective at the time, we must have been a lower to middle income family. We didn’t have much, but we had each other. I am who I am thanks to great parenting. My parents were so loving they even adopted three orphaned girls from Korea. What love to give others a chance!
At the core, we are a very tight-knit family and love each other dearly. However, one thing you have to know when you get married is that your family is no longer your father, mother, sister or brothers. You family becomes that of you and your spouse. Remembering this will save you a lot of trouble. The parents and brothers and sisters become your “extended” family. If you do not get this right, you will bring unnecessary stress into your marriage. In some instances, I have seen marriages ending in divorce because one of the spouses couldn’t keep their extended family out of their marriage.
Jesus understood this. Although there was no need for Jesus to marry a human, He realized that His family became His extended family. Although He was an exception, His ministry was His family. He knew He had a purpose and He was not going to allow the “family” or in His case, woman who bore His human body, to distract Him to do what He was called to do.
Praise God for great families. But don’t let any extended family member hold you back from giving your all to your spouse. Furthermore, do not allow your spouse or kids to keep you from your relationship with Yahweh through Jesus. If you ask me to give you my priorities in life I would say, 1. God 2. Spouse 3. Church 4. Job. If I get these out of order, then things are going to be a bit challenging. Is your family holding you back? Are you listening too much to your extended family?

John 12:48
He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him — the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. NKJV
When you travel around the world you will meet all sorts of people. When you are in a huge metropolitan area, you will find that people are very distracted. They may be busy working for some company, trying to start their own enterprise, or even heavily involved in politics.
One day in Tokyo I had coffee (well, juice for me) with an foreign entrepreneur. He seemed like a nice guy, but when he found out I was a follower of Jesus and The Way, he went on the attack. He asked how I could believe in God and ridiculed me as if committed Christians are not intelligent, or even a bit loopy. I sensed the Holy Spirit on me and God’s love for this guy. About that time he asked, “How can you believe in God?” I responded, saying, “because I talked to Him this morning.” He was dumbfounded. I could tell that he was completely blinded and not open to knowing God. It reminded me of the wise words in Proverbs 15:14 that says,
The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge,
But the mouth of fools feeds on foolishness. NKJV
It is very easy to get distracted by what you are doing in your life, or even just your job or family. In the US in the Pacific Northwest where I came from, there are many people who are thoroughly preoccupied in the summer by all the lakes and mountains. Fishing, hiking, hunting, backpacking, waterskiing, windsurfing, rock-climbing, boating, and many other sports, keep these people from faithfully charging themselves up on Sundays. God’s creation is beautiful, but if your priority is nature over getting into God’s house every week, then you are setting yourself up for spiritual shipwreck. One summer, I remember one of my family members was not going regularly to church. When I saw them, I encouraged them to get back to church. I encouraged them to find a spiritually fit church if they stopped going to church because their previous church got stale. The response was, “I’ll go back to church when the weather starts to get bad again.”
That meant they were going to go to church when there was nothing else to do. That was a very sad thing for me to see. The enjoying the outdoors, His creation, was more important than enjoying the Creator? The Word makes it very clear that we are not to forsake the gathering together of ourselves with other believers.
It is like not going to the gym. When you stop going to exercise, you begin to feel weak. When you are not weekly strengthening yourself by using that body, that heart, those lungs, and those muscles, you will find that your strength even for daily activities will start to dwindle. The more out of shape you become, the more chance of injury you have with that body. That injury could hurt for the rest of your life (back trouble is a huge issue for many). This is the physical side, your spiritual condition affects every part of your life, your job, your relationship with your friends, and even spouse.
You need to have what I call, ‘Face Time’ each day with the Father. Even just a few minutes to start will get you going. Start by telling Him how good He is, keep a list of your answered prayers and thank Him for answering those prayers. Tell Him your concerns, your hopes, your dreams and listen to what He has to say. When you do this, people will see the spiritual strength in your eyes, your talk, and even in your physical condition.
Not everyone will come to the truth and know King Jesus to enter the Kingdom. If they don’t their judgment is decided. Our job is to tell them and pray for them so the Holy Spirit and the angels will have license to draw those people closer.