Monthly Archives: August 2020

Devotional, Nathan Dooley

You Are To Be Perfect

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“Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Matthew 5:48

You know… this verse… if it doesn’t defeat you… it will have you feeling a lot like Jacob after he wrestled with God (Gen 32:24-32). Because to be perfectly honest (forgive the pun), it’s defeated me on multiple occasions and still does! But I will not give up! To strive with the Word of God (Rev 19:13) is sacred and powerful!

  • It might be that you are experiencing defeat upon wrestling with this verse of perfection?
  • Or it might have nothing to do with this verse at all, but that you are experiencing defeat at this time in your life?

Don’t be discouraged unless you’ve given up contending with God by setting the Bible aside to do as you please, and if that’s the case, let this devotional reignite that faith. To be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect means we have a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Jesus would not have this verse inserted by the guiding hand of the Holy Spirit in Matthew if it was unattainable for us here and now while on this earth. So we first need to believe in the promise this verse provides which is… to be perfect in love …that is what perfection is—love. And how this was exemplified was the event of Christs’ death on the cross. At this point you’re saying, “The only person who could live perfectly was Jesus Christ and therefore it’s impossible for me to be perfect as my heavenly Father is perfect.”

And you’d be correct, but it also leaves us discontent because that truth is insignificant if it proves only that Jesus Christ died for Himself to be perfect. But that was not the will of our heavenly Father. Let us be reminded that Jesus pleaded for the cup to be removed from Him (Luk 22:44) yet remaining obedient to the will of our heavenly Father. And so at that point the weight of our sin was so unbearable it could only be accomplished through the love of our heavenly Father as His only Son carried the weight of you and me… to death.

But see, it didn’t end there! As a matter of fact, our perfection began there when Christ breathed His last by committing His Spirit to God, our Father (Luk 23:46). Because it was in that transaction that the world became witness to salvation, and upon believing from the heart… a person is saved through the forgiveness of sin. So how then are we who believe—perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect—if we are still in sin? And the answer is… faith! Faith is the only treasure on this earth that enables our ability to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect (Heb 11:6, 1Jo 5:4).

I hope this devotional gives you the treasure of our heavenly Father. Let’s be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect, Amen.

Nathan Dooley

When We Sin By Our Vote For Biden Or Trump In 2020

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The question is not a matter of *if* we sin, but when? for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (Rom 3:23). If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us (1 Jn 1:10). Not one person of sound mind is ignorant of sin. Have you watched the conventions? We’ve nominated sinners up in this House! The heck is going on! Who do you think is going to rule the land for the next four years?

POWER OF SIN

Who’s it going to be?! Biden or Trump for 2020?! We’ll soon find out in a couple months. Oh yes, you’re right, I thought the same… “This ought to be interesting!”. It’s quite a choice deciding between the lesser of two evils; that idea should not be perceived as a slight against the character of Biden or Trump—because all of America’s citizens are on trial (myself included). Or… does the Voter not know that their vote is a portal to their identity? And so when the ‘lot’ falls on either the Democratic Party or the Republican Party, it will be due at the hand of your endorsement; we the people is more like we the demon possessing the condition of our White House or “home” to our governing administration. Or… perhaps you are an American citizen who has already voted due the immediately present media harbingers of power? If so… you’ve handed over the birthright of your soul long before there was even a choice you thought otherwise to consider.

Can you perceive the “call to arms”? Peoples defenses conjuring like it’s time for war! You’ve seen the riots lootings and shootings; that at the very least should cause pause, rampant emotions are the reason our country is in the face of civil war. And for radical change to happen we need to talk about the sin of our decisions, specifically—the decision to vote.

If you’re a Christian then your vote was cast at your conversion because we don’t serve two masters (Mat 6:24, Luk 16:13)! I believe the Christians in America that vote are actually voting for a prayer, the coming of Jesus Christ (Rev 22:20); because when a Christian wakes up to reality of His return, it shakes you to the core because only your faith remains intact when He does (1Jo 5:4). The people of God are born again to the purpose of serving the ministry of reconciliation (2Co 5:19), not to vote for Roman whoops—I mean the United States of America’s agenda into power. We the Christian people all throughout the continents, although divided, know the teaching of Christ and it’s time to wake up! The American dream for liberty means well, but does not deliver anyone from their sin because it’s to busy endorsing it… The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; (1 Co 15:56). Do we not fear God?

God our Father has disciplined us to understand the Word of God all the while we trample it underfoot by our allegiance to a government that does not teach true liberty in Jesus Christ (Heb 10:29). Sin is not the law governed by America nor of any other nation than that of Israel, until Christ in the flesh on the cross that gave us the power of deliverance made available to all the world (Jhn 3:16). but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Co 15:57).

RIGHT TO FREEDOM

Did you read that verse closely? but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Co 15:57). So who gives us the victory over the sting of death? God does! How does God give us the victory? but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Co 15:57). What does”…through our Lord…” mean? The Holy Spirit of God is given through your believing by taking part in eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Jesus Christ! That is your right to vote—your right to freedom! The old covenant of the old testament did not deliver anyone from their sin, meaning that no one can earn salvation by voting Biden or Trump! If any christian in their right mind is a true patriot of their Kingdom then they should live as an alien to this country because they’re free indeed. We don’t live as slaves to the misguided nature and condition of this world. We live as ambassadors sent from the Kingdom of God for Jesus Christ!

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.—(2Co 5:17-21)

So why not choose rather, not to vote? Or is it that we’ve placed our faith in this worldly government for the provision of our soul? Why would us Christians expect anything different from a people so desperate for their rights; to chase their sexual appetites, to decide their gender, to fight for their color, to kill for their pride, to steal for their pleasure, to lie for their lust, and to what end when the self-proclaiming “christians” are in a relationship with the devil that confuses the truth for a lie? Why expect… Is it because of what I wrote at the start of this post? Not one person of sound mind is ignorant of sin. So then that excuses the timidity of our christian military, does it? Like when king Saul was in the face of the philistine giant (1Sa 17:11)? Do we not have the same Spirit of king David (1 Sa 17:26)? Don’t tell me the church still needs to be trained on how to be a shepherd in the face of a lion when we’ve already been anointed as king to meet the face of Goliath. We are the rock in the sling, so ummm… let’s fly! Let’s go! Come on Church! What do you want from me?—no but seriously… It’s time.

Nathan Dooley

Walking With A Ghost

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Have you considered going to your local park and walking with no strings attached, just you and the air you share with others on the path? If you haven’t, you should. When you do, you won’t even realize you’ve entered the dreamlike state of your life. You might even start to give off this impression that you’re insane to fellow walkers or over achieving joggers—you know the kind—by expressing yourself to the air as though someone was listening, like a ghost perhaps. See that’s when people should know that you are having a good walk rather than assuming the worst like, “That woman is definitely plotting to kill her husband“.

Sometimes you just need the nature of fresh air to sooth your emotions and balance out your senses before waking up to the chaos of your reality. I’m telling you, you’ll feel much better after your walk!

What’s amazing about a walk is… you’re free to go any direction you choose and place you arrive—even if it’s nowhere—because believe it or not, nowhere is actually a place identified by you because well… you’re somewhere. The point is that you are someone of unique and important value that can be appreciated when on a good solid walk with the ghost of the air. There are a lot of things going on in your life and it can be stressful to manage, that’s not including the pressure of unpredictable people that add to the affect of your life.

We just don’t have all the information about what is going on all the time and that’s ok. We don’t have to have all the information all the time because otherwise the treasure of information devalues like the time you drove that new car off the lot, why not purchase a used car and learn how to take care of it. It will teach a great deal about responsibility and give experience that you can share with others who might could use your skills changing out the drum breaks.

Anyway… the point is… go for a walk and talk to the ghost of the air and then listen closely because you won’t even realize that the ghost is speaking to you until you start to listen as you process. You’re not alone.