Floodgates of Heaven Devotions: God's Word

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Can we be SURE we have a Reliable Bible???

Today’s Reading: Psalm 10-12, Acts 19:1-20

Today’s Reflection: Psalm 12:6-7 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. 7 Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

Sadly, if one were to listen to the average liberal seminary graduate today, you would be led to believe that we cannot be sure that we have a pure, preserved, trustworthy, and reliable copy of the words of The LORD for this generation.

But what does the Bible say? Verse seven says, “Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.” So either man is wrong, or God is wrong, and I’ll take my chances with God that He is the One who is right!

You see, the word “keep” means to put a hedge about, or to guard, or to protect, or to attend to, or to keep watch over. And then the word “preserve” means to maintain. This scripture teaches us that God personally supervises the oversight of His words written down in the earth so that every generation after it was originally written has a perfectly preserved copy.

So the question, then, is this; how can we know for sure which Bible is the preserved word of God for our generation? Before we offer some thoughts on that, we must first agree that things which are different are not the same.

If we have two or more Bibles that say vastly different things with the changing of the words, then they can’t all be right, right? That said, one must be careful when selecting a Bible that he or she selects one where the source (set of manuscripts used), the style of translation (word for word, paraphrase, etc.), and the system used when translating (for checks and balances) are all of utmost integrity and as detailed as possible for the most accurate and reliable translation results.

And after careful studying, it is my conclusion that there is no other Bible translation in the English language today that is superior to the accuracy and care given in the translation of the King James Bible.

I encourage you to do your own homework on this to draw your own conclusions, but one thing is certain; we must agree that if God’s Word promises He will preserve His word to all generations, then there must be a superior text to all others thereby signifying God’s hand in its preservation. Today, we can thank God that His Word is preserved!

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Floodgates of Heaven
Volume 2
Entry 195 of 365

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copyright © by Gary D. Caudill

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Just as gravity cannot be ignored, neither can the Bible be ignored!

Today’s Reading: Nehemiah 8-9, Acts 3

Today’s Reflection: Nehemiah 9:23 Their children also multipliedst thou as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them into the land, concerning which thou hadst promised to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it.

“…concerning which thou hadst promised…” God’s word is ALWAYS good! Whatever He speaks comes to pass. He cannot lie! And THIS is why we simply cannot ignore His word, because His word is law! That is, His word goes.

When God speaks, whatever needs to line up to fulfill His commands and demands, does. Let there be light…and there was light. Sound familiar? For God to be able to speak to nothingness and command something as sophisticated and brilliant as light to come forth from it, and then for that nothingness to turn into something from which light is produced, is absolutely awesome!

Now that we have established just how powerful God’s word is, we must make application for our own lives. What does this truth mean for us? Some would dare, believe it or not, to attempt to ignore God’s word, as if they can live, breathe, and die without consequence.

However, just as one who denies or is ignorant of the laws of physics cannot live without being effected by gravity, neither can one who either denies or is ignorant of God’s word live without being affected by it.

A law is a law is a law. Think of how dreaded the consequences would be if NASA designed and built the next rocket without any consideration for the laws of physics. It would be disastrous! Even the slightest miscalculation of weighing in the laws of physics would reveal the flaws of the design, for the laws themselves would remind the designers of the rocket that they miscalculated, and must pay the dreaded price for doing so.

When I was a child, I thought it would be a great idea to jump off of my Dad’s small tool shed. I had it all planned out. I had an old couch cushion on the ground beneath. Looked soft to me! Except there was one slight problem; gravity quickly informed me that I slightly miscalculated the impact it would demand upon landing.

Needless to say, I barely noticed any cushioning underneath at all when I hit the ground. In fact, to make matters worse, when I landed, I bit my tongue! The lesson I learned? Any law God sets in place needs to be calculated for; best to do so BEFORE the landing!

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Floodgates of Heaven
Volume 2
Entry 168 of 365

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copyright © by Gary D. Caudill

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God is STILL sending men!!

Today’s Reading: 2 Sam. 12-13, Luke 16

Today’s Reflection: 2 Samuel 12:1a And the LORD sent Nathan unto David…

God is still sending men!! I could not help but immediately stop upon reading these few opening words of chapter twelve and begin thanking The Lord for the men of God He has sent into my life over the years to give me correction, instruction, wisdom, sound doctrine, and vision for my life, my family, and my ministry.

The ones who have spoken the loudest in my life have been those of most consequence to the course of my destiny, for which I am very grateful. I wonder if I have any readers today who would take a few moments even now to thank The Lord for sending His servant into your life with the Word of God, at a time when you desperately needed it?

Maybe, if they are still living, it would do you (and them) some good to pay a visit, send a letter, or at least make a phone call or send a text, thanking them for obeying God’s voice in going where He sent them!

And make no mistake about it; if you are hearing God’s word through God’s Spirit from the lips of an individual who just so happens to be in your life right now, they WERE placed there BY GOD for YOUR benefit! Never doubt that!

Many make the common mistake of thinking that God would never “go through the trouble” of raising up a man of God to send him to one individual. Nothing could be further from the truth! God never needed a mass group of people to speak to. Jesus, in fact, would delay meetings with crowds, just to stop and minister to one. And He did it over and over again. So it is with YOU!

Just as the LORD sent Nathan unto David (one man), God sends someone into YOUR life with the specific assignment of being that clarion voice of truth and guidance to help you in your journey. Now, don’t get me wrong; God DOES speak to crowds, too, but He does so in order that each and every individual will hear and take head to His truth.

You can’t have crowds without the individuals who make up the crowds, so it’s ALWAYS about the individual! And before you think that He only speaks to “important” people like Kings (such as David in our text), just remember this; the Bible is FULL of people all throughout both the Old and New Testaments who were average and ordinary men and women, to whom God’s word was sent in order to bless them with its light!!

Even King David was at one point just a shepherd boy out in a field tending sheep. But because he responded to and fell in love with God’s word, God blessed him beyond human comprehension. Will you get YOUR blessing? Then listen!

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Floodgates of Heaven
Volume 2
Entry 111 of 365

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copyright © by Gary D. Caudill

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God's Word DELIVERS!!!

Today’s Reading: 1 Sam. 4-6, Luke 9:1-17

Today’s Reflection: 1 Sam. 4:1a And the word of Samuel came to all Israel…

Can you imagine what a feat that must have been? Just think about it. In a world where communication was either by the spoken or written word, and where mass printing presses and modern telecommunications did not exist, it was certainly an accomplishment for the word of Samuel to be delivered to all of Israel. The Bible does not tell us much about the delivery method, but it tells us all we need to know; the word got out!

Know this; when God has a word for a people, He WILL get it delivered! Several passages come to mind which shed light. I think first of Isaiah 55:11, which says, “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” God never ineffectively sends a word. His word sent will neither fail in its purpose or in its destination.

Another verse that comes to mind is Psalm 68:11, which says, “The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it.” This tells us that God’s word is given in order that it might be published. God does not give a word that is never meant to be published. In fact, not only should it be published, but it should be published on a massive scale!

How much so? Well, in our text, God raised up Samuel to be a mouthpiece, and when Samuel spoke on God’s behalf, that word came to ALL Israel. In Mark 16:15, Jesus tells us to “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” And then Habakkuk 2:14 says, “For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” Do you THINK God wants His word published for ALL to hear? I think so. Furthermore, we just read where it is prophesied that it shall be done!

Now I have a question for you; are YOU a part of that great company which is publishing the word that God has given us to publish and to declare across this world? If not, why not? Some might say, “I would speak, but no one would listen to me!” Listen, dear friend; when you speak what GOD says, God sees to it that your words are delivered to their appropriate audience.

In fact, if you make a regular habit of saying what God says, and not what you have to say, He will even amplify your voice for more to hear, as He did Samuel. Collectively, as members of the body of Christ, with all voices raised, there is no reason and no excuse why we wouldn’t or shouldn’t do our part in helping fulfill God’s promised word; namely, that of getting the gospel to all the world. Go for it!

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Floodgates of Heaven, Volume 2, Entry 96 of 365

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copyright © by Gary D. Caudill

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What if the "Establishment" was God's Word?

Today’s Reading: 1 Sam. 1-3, Luke 8:26-56

Today’s Reflection: 1 Sam. 1:23b …only the LORD establish his word…

Samuel was a destiny child. He came at a time in Israel’s history where there was “no open vision” and where a word from God through His prophet was precious because of its rarity if nothing else.

There was a lot of expectation around the meaning of Samuel’s existence for two reasons. First, Samuel’s mother was not supposed to even have children, but she did! And second, the reason she did was because she prayed and asked The Lord for a child.

But, she didn’t just ask for him so she would be the primary beneficiary. Rather, she vowed to The Lord that she would lend her child to The Lord’s service for the duration of his lifetime! So, you can only imagine that when God answered her prayer with a male child, that they fully anticipated God to have a special purpose in mind for young Samuel.

It is with this frame of thought and mind that Samuel’s father says concerning the plans for the child, “…only the LORD establish his word…”. I believe this phrase has at least two applications, both of which will be consistent with the text.

First, I believe that Elkanah is saying, in essence, “May The Lord reveal His will!”. Secondly, I believe that he is also saying, “May The Lord’s will be done!” Some might even argue that he is saying, “Only if The Lord wills it to be so!” In either case, the point to be made is that in every situation, no matter where we are at in life, we ought always to seek first God’s will and establish God’s word on the matter.

You see, when you study God’s word, you are studying His will. Now that said, because young Samuel had parents willing to give him over to The Lord’s service, Samuel went on to be a great man of God.

In fact, later on we see in 1 Sam. 3:20 “…that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord.” And what did Elkanah say in our text? Only The Lord establish His word? Sound familiar? In fact, now that we consider the two verses side by side, we can conclude that Elkanah’s statement even had some prophetic undertones to it, because of the way that The Lord did indeed establish His word, not only FOR, but THROUGH the prophet Samuel.

Now I said all that to say this; when we’re truly centered around God’s Word, and not some personal or popular twisted version of it, then and only then can we expect God’s will to be accomplished. God’s Word, and therefore His will, is forever established and settled in Heaven, but what about Earth? Let’s pray that He will continue to establish His Word HERE!

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Floodgates of Heaven, Volume 2, Entry 95 of 365

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copyright © by Gary D. Caudill

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