Faith Builders Devotional

This Faithbuilder is written specifically for adults; married people and those who are planning to marry.

1

Cor 7:5

5

Do not refuse and deprive and defraud each other [of your due marital rights], except perhaps by mutual consent for a time, so that you may devote yourselves unhindered to prayer. But afterwards resume marital relations, lest Satan tempt you [to sin] through your lack of restraint of sexual desire. AMP We cannot count how many times we have seen dysfunctional marriages in our ministry. It is likely the tip of the iceberg if you could see every marriage in the world as It is possible for any of us to have a marriage on the rocks. In life, just like science, we see that most things go from ‘order’ to ‘disorder’. Marriages usually start good but can fall apart if you don’t make an effort to keep a fire in your marriage. We have met spouses whose last time they had sexual relations was when they conceived their teenage children. That is wrong and not God’s design. It is also tragic as physical relations is a beautiful part of every marriage. Marriage is not only a spiritual union but it is a physical union. When you are married, you are never to withhold yourself sexually from your husband or wife. You should be so passionate about them. You should be chasing them around the house! At the same time, if you want to be chased, you need to keep yourself attractive for your spouse. Why would the wife want to kiss a husband who doesn’t regularly floss and clean his teeth or has bad breath? Morever, how can a guy be excited about a wife that doesn’t take regular showers or arrange her hair and appearance every morning? Relationships are a two way street and both people need to do their part to keep the marriage fresh and impress their spouse. When you read 1 Cor 7:5 in the Amplified Translation, it is clear that when you are marrying you are submitting yourself to one another. Although the husband is the spiritual head of the home, the wife needs to do her part in contributing to that marriage. To have the best marriage possible, the husband and wife need make an effort to be ‘in love’ with each other. Just as you decided by faith you are saved, by faith you are healed (no matter how you feel), and by faith you are prospering, you have to decide by faith you love your spouse (no matter how you feel). Faith is not feeling, it is expectation. Smith Wigglesworth said, “I’m not moved by how I feel, I am moved by what I believe”. That is expectation, that is faith. One young man we met married a woman who had been physically abused by her step-father when she was a child. The young man met this young woman at church and they decided to marry. He did not know about the history when they married as the wife was a bright bubbly and happy person when they got married and for many years into the marriage. However, about 15 years into the marriage the wife snapped. She went into a horrible depression and started to started to get easily sickened because of the bad memories of the evil that had been done to her as a little girl. She couldn’t eat right, sleep well, or even work around the house. She went through incredible emotional ups and downs. At that point, many men might of abandoned that wife, but not this husband. He was faithful in praying for her, getting her to counseling, cooking for the children when the wife was just immobile on the couch, and consistent loving her. It looked like all was lost and this woman was going to be forever bound up in her past, but God is greater if we call on Him. Even though the husband probably didn’t feel like loving her, by faith he did. He took care of her and stood beside her as she pledged at the altar at their marriage. That is faith as he was expecting her to get well even as they dealt with those demonic powers who wanted to destroy his wife and family. That couple got through that hardship, banished that depressive demon, and came out victorious. Last time I saw them they were crazy about each other talking about how sexy their spouse was in public it was embarrassing to the rest of us. Don’t give up on your marriage. Don’t lose the physical and spiritual connection that you should have with your spouse. If you have a solid relationship with Yahweh, then your relationship with your spouse has legs to stand on and not only will you have passion for the things of God, you will have passion for each other. Your kids will appreciate that too! Where two are gather, God promised to be in our midst. That is the power of marriage and a godly family. Today’s Reading- Proverbs 11 Annual Bible Reading Plan at www.vwc.jp

Rom 15:4
For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. NKJV
In the fall of 1898 in the United States of America, a man by the name of John Nicholson took a room at a hotel at Boscobel, Wisconsin, for the night. The hotel was fully booked, so it was suggested that he share a double room with another man named of Samuel Hill. After a bit of a chat, the two discovered they were both followers of Jesus. They talked into the evening about God and retired that night to prepare to depart the next day to go about their business. They met months later at another hotel and came up with an idea to start a professional association of believers in business.
For many traveling from city to city and staying in various hotels is a very lonely life. This association of believers was created and in a later meeting one of the business people suggested that they make an effort to get a Bible in every hotel room in their area. From this idea was born the important of this group called the Gideons. The famous Gideon Bibles that are distributed in local languages in 190 countries around the world was born from that suggestion. Through this group of business people started more than 100 years ago, hundreds of thousands of people have come to follow Jesus and receive the salvation through His Name.
Romans 15:4 tells us that we have hope through the Word of God. Just by placing the Word of God in hotel rooms, people open the drawers of their nightstands to see Bibles in the drawers. There are a myriad of testimonies of people near taking their own lives, in deep depression, major financial difficulties, and many other situations where they thought they had no hope. Just sitting in that hotel room and reading that Bible they had found, they were changed. The received hope. Colossians 1:23 talks about the hope of the Gospel. The Gospel is the good news or the Word about Jesus and the only way of life through Him. He is the Word. The only hope we have is the hope of the Word applied in our lives changing us.
So what is it that we are to believe? Romans 4:23-25 says

23

Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, 24 but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification. NKJV Even in our imperfection, we were perfected by Jesus. It is hard to be excited and positive, when you realize how weak and imperfect you really are. If you think about all the mistakes you make, the things you’ve lost, the people you’ve offended by a stray comment, you could easily depressed. But like those business people who met in Wisconsin, when you love Jesus you get excited to talk about what Jesus has doing in your life. He is SO good and just to see how much He cares for you is amazing. I have found that the more I talk about Jesus and what He is doing in my life, the stronger my faith becomes. The more I read the Word and thank Him for His goodness throughout the day, the quicker my breakthrough comes. When you are baptized in the Spirit, you just have this contagious case of being passionately positive. Why is that? It is because you’ve place the Word, both the written Word (the Bible) and the manifest Word Jesus the Messiah high in your life. Place a Bible in your life. Carry a copy of the Word in your pocket, bag or purse. When you have idle time on a bus, train, waiting for a friend, pull it out and meditate on the promises of God. Feed your spirit a bit of the Word throughout the day and what your inner man become strong in faith and the authority of God. Today’s Reading-

1

John 1,2 Proverbs 8

Rev 1:10
I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, NKJV
In this world today, there are so many people that are unfulfilled or empty feeling. There are even some people who have repented and turned to Jesus. Frankly, the majority of Christians these days are not hearing God’s voice.
If they heard God’s voice, they would make better decisions, live each day of their life with such purpose, and leave behind them an amazing life of signs, wonders and miracles. Even if you don’t see yourself as an evangelist leading thousands of people to Jesus in huge meetings, God wants to walk with you each day just as He did with Adam and Even in the Garden. There is so much more that we need to tap into of God’s power.
In Revelations 1:10 we see that John was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day. What does that mean? “In the Spirit” means that he was seeing beyond the things around him with his physical eyes and was beginning to see things with his spiritual eyes. When does this type of thing happen to you? How do we get in the spirit? Let’s look at another situation and where we seem more vividly another person “in the spirit”.
In Acts 10, we see Peter also saw a vision when he was in the Spirit. When you are in the Spirit, you have become less sensitive to your body and the physical and more sensitive to what is going on around you. It is interesting, the word Spirit here is pneuma, it is translated both human spirit, and Holy Spirit in the Bible based on context. We see spiritual people are people who are spiritual are those who have spirits sensitive to the Holy Spirit.
Acts 10:9-10

9	The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour. 10 Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance NKJV What happened here with Peter? He had gone to spend some quiet time with the Father. He had gone up to the rooftop of the house to pray. It was lunchtime so it was before he was going to have his meal apparently. He fell into a trance. What does that mean? As he prayed, he was able to see the spiritual things not just the physical things around him. In other words, he was in the spirit. How did he get there? He got there in prayer, and in this case it looks like he may have been fasting as well. Fasting is going without food for a time (you should never go without water). Prayer and fasting are ways to help you communicate better with Yahweh. When Peter made time to pray, that is when he saw the vision that helped him to understand that God loves all the other peoples of the earth, just as much as He loves the people of Israel. “Well, pastor, Peter and John this is just a couple examples. Is this really for me?” you may ask. Let every word be established by 2 or 3 witnesses. Here is the third witness in the Word. Paul also learned to walk ‘in the Spirit’. In 2 Corinthians 12, we see a similar situation that Paul describes. He said he (or someone he knew) was called up into the third heaven. Clearly he was relating his own experiences.
2	Cor 12:3 And I know such a man — whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows... NKJV When you see visions, they are just as real as physically seeing something. We as believers have something deeper. It is not just a physical life we live, we are to live according to the Holy Spirit. How do we get to these places? We seek Him with everything we have. We make time to praise Him, to thank Him, to fellowship with Him. This is what followers of Jesus and the way do. While Peter was waiting for lunch, he followed the example of King Jesus and went and prayed in a quiet place. A praying believer is a powerful believer. After reading this, you are convinced you want to go deeper with God. You know you must get into the spirit more and you will be changed, you will be fulfilled. Well, there are 4 things you need to keep in mind if you want to go to the next level. Here they are- - Be Holy- Deal with sin immediately, seek God all the time, and be thankful all the time for His goodness. - Don’t be afraid to deal with the enemy and cut off demonic power from your past. - Be focused- Not moved by any people or situations, grounded in the Word, not distracted - Have faith vision- Believe God for what He has promised. Believe Him for the great things that are going to happen in your life. Stand against the things that are not of God. Have you prayed today? Have you spent time with Him? You can start by just setting aside 10 minutes and going to wait on Him. That is exactly what Jesus did. He made time to fellowship with the Father. He was spiritually powerful and He wants you to be as well. Today’s Reading-
1	John 3-4 Proverbs 11

Rev 22:17

17	And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. NKJV You can whine, ball, and cry about how bad your situation is but if you aren’t following King Jesus with a passion, then I wouldn’t bet too much on you. “Ah, but Pastor that sounds so harsh” someone might say. When it comes to the things of God, Jesus was very direct. I too want to be be direct, in a loving way with people. Why do I not expect much from people who each week don’t come to church on the Lord’s Day and prayer meetings? They are clearly not hungry. When you are hungry, you go to get food don’t you? If you are eating junk then you are distracted. Many believers are on spiritual junk food. Totally distracted by their job, the internet, or even their social life not putting God first. Some people treat God like He is some Santa Claus type that you just read your wish list to and ask for presents from Him. That is not how it works. In Tokyo, we received a call from a non-Japanese guy. He was married to a Japanese woman and out of work for nearly two years. The wife was working. He emailed to say he was coming to prayer meeting Saturday that week. That Saturday morning, he came but just sat there as the rest of us prayed and waited on God. We had people kneeling, walking around, flat on their faces, praying by faith. There was the presence of God there as we sought Him. It was good to have him there but it just seemed like he was waiting there. When we finish the prayer time, we come together and share the visions, the impressions and the various other things the Holy Spirit revealed to us. We also pray for the people that God has showed us need it and pray for each others needs as guided by the Spirit. When we asked about needs, he mentioned that he was looking for a job. We prayed for him, and guess what? He got a job after two years of being out of work. However, there is a sad part to the story. He has not returned to church. He got what he wanted and did not show up again. It is a very pathetic story because obviously he was not hungry. It seems he wanted to use us for prayer to get him something from God. Once he got it, he was gone. I told one of our leaders about it as it is not a good feeling to feel taken advantage of. One of our pastors commented, “He’ll be back when he needs something, because he knows our prayers work”. We have to come to God, Jesus paid the price so that we can even do that. I felt used by a guy that only came for prayers to get something. If I felt this disappointment in this individual, can you imagine how God feels when we just come to Him with our wish list of what we want from Him? I just see Him there as we are praying saying, “Of course, I would love to give you that but I want to spend time with you. I want you to rely on me my child. Why are you so busy?”
1	Cor 2:12
12	Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. NKJV Praise the Name of Jesus! We have received freedom because of what Jesus has done for us. We do need to pray for people, but the Word for today is, are you choosing God or are you choosing things? Are you looking for a genie god that grants you those three wishes or are you looking to know the Creator of the universe? The only person that can make the choice is you. Joshua summed it up well when he challenged to Israelis in Joshua 24:15, And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." NKJV Who are you going to serve? There’s a saying, ‘Actions speak louder than words’. For the man or woman of faith, words reinforce our actions. Today’s Reading-
2	John 1, 3 John 1 Proverbs 13

Exodus 34:7

7

keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation." NKJV I have a desk where I keep my computer, my Bibles, a printer, and phone. It is my little command center as I prepare for worship each week, pray in the AM, research the internet, catch up on email and go about my daily business each week. I am pretty good about sorting through important items and filing them as well as trashing pamphlets, flyers, and the other items that don’t need to set around taking space. Usually, for the items I do need to think about keeping, I end up with a little stack of papers that I need to file in my desk drawer which is my ‘to sort’ stack. Once a week or so, I have to sort through the stack and put the items away to clear my desktop. Most of the time, the stack just grows as I can’t get to it each week. Behind me, when I sit at my desk, I have a closet that I store items that I don’t need to access every day. I can work better with a clear desktop as I can layout a couple Bible translations, open the lid on my notebook computer, as well as have a notebook out to take notes and organize my thoughts. If my ‘to sort’ stack becomes too tall, I will sometimes move the stack to a shelf in my closet. My closet is a great place to put things out of sight. Unfortunately, when you put things out of sight, it is easy to forget things. Why is it that we have children of parents who love Jesus with violence issues, people that can’t assimilate with the good in society, mental health issues, demonic control issues, and various other complications for believers? Why is it that some people can accept Jesus but still hear demonic voices telling them to do evil things or just discouraging them? The answer is just as we have to clean our closets physically, there is some closet cleaning that needs to be done spiritually as well. You need to ask the Holy Spirit to show you if there is sin in your life. He will do it. According to Exodus 34:7, the closets of our parents, grand-parents, great-grand-parents, and great-great-grand parents can affect us. We must deal with these curses and cut them off in the Name of Jesus. That is right. If grandma or grandpa was a prostitute, then you need to cut that curse off your family. If mom was demonically controlled, then you have to cut that off from you. If Dad practiced witchcraft, then you need to cut that off and in prayer, cover yourself with the blood of Jesus. If there was a homosexual spirit in your family, you’ve got to deal with it and get it out. If there is murder, lying or other vile spirits in your family you need to break them off. “But pastor, I accepted Jesus. Aren’t I a new creation?” Yes, your spirit is a new creation but you still have to deal with your soul area. Remember that is your mind, will, and emotions. Just as you have to forgive someone who wronged you in the past, you have to deal with other soul-related issues. Romans 12:2 tells us we have to renew our minds by the Word of God and transform our minds. You can’t just ignore your past, you have to deal with the trouble in past and cut it off in Jesus’ name. Deuteronomy 8:18-20 says,

18

"And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. 19 Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the Lord your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish. 20 As the nations which the Lord destroys before you, so you shall perish, because you would not be obedient to the voice of the Lord your God. NKJV God gives us the power to get wealth. Conversely, poverty in a family can be a curse. No matter what some people do, they can’t seem to be blessed. Things just don’t seem to go well. You’ve got to deal with it, renounce it and break it off your body, your life, your finances, your family, your church, your children, and whatever else the Holy Spirit leads you to. He is speaking to you now, you need to deal with what He is telling you. Pray this prayer now- I thank you Father for your freedom and ask you Holy Spirit to reveal to me whatever I need to deal with in my life. Father in the Name of Jesus, I break the curses of my family off me right now in the powerful Name of Jesus my Messiah. I refuse to allow this curse to hold on to me. Right now, from this day forward I break the spirits of ______________ off me and will no longer give them hold of me. Today’s Reading- Jude 1 Proverbs 14

Hosea 4:6
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being priest for Me;
Because you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children. NKJV
This is a powerful statement from Yahweh. “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge...” My parents repented and turned to Jesus after they got married. I had the opportunity to grow up around various churches filled with both the Cultural Christians as well the Committed Christians that you and I aspire to be. Some people have this idea that when you turn to Jesus everything just turns out alright. This must be a common desire among unbelievers because secular songs often include riffs proclaiming “Everything gonna be alright”. That makes you wonder then why do we have to go through so much pain in life if “everything gonna be alright”.
If you don’t know Jesus, everything is NOT going to be alright. No matter how many people sing it. When you know Jesus, then you are heading in the right direction but if you are not praying, then you are completely open to whatever disaster comes your way because you will not know how to deal with it.
Hosea prophesied a word from Yahweh that people are destroyed because they don’t know. What people or who are these people? He says, “My people”. God’s people? Yes! God’s people can go through the same trouble that any cultural Christian or unbeliever can go through. That’s horrible news, but at the same time, that should be a motivator for the committed Holy Spirit filled Committed Christians. We should be motivated to get smart about the things of God first, as well as the ways the world works. What did Jesus say about knowing? He said in John 8:32,
And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. NKJV
Frankly put, if you don’t know, you may not be free. Imagine a prisoner behind bars in a cell with rows of cells lined along a corridor in a prison. Maybe one day the guard locked up all the cells except his. Maybe the door’s lock jammed and is not bolted shut. If he would just push on that door he could be free but because he doesn’t ‘know’ or have that ‘knowledge’, he is just sitting in that cell wasting away.
If you are praying about whether to buy a property and you are a spirit-filled believer, you are going to be led by the Holy Spirit to buy a property and make money on that property. You will not only have the direction of the Holy Spirit, you will know that people struggle, suffer, and die because they have no knowledge. That is not God’s plan or His way. He wants you to make wise decisions that benefit you, your family, and your church ministry in your area. After all what does 3 John say?

3	John 2
2	Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. NKJV Don’t get shafted by religious folk or the world! Be smart and understand the connection between knowledge and prospering in life. Today’s Reading- Proverbs 7 Annual Bible Reading Plan at www.vwc.jp