Daniel’s Seventy Weeks: A Commentary on Daniel 9 – Now Available

Posted on January 20, 2021 by ccpastormike

What does the Bible say about the end times? Is there a timeline of events that are presented to us? Will the AntiChrist be a real person ruling over the earth for a period of time?

In my newest commentary on the incredible prophecies contained in Daniel 9, I answer those questions and more. For your signed copy please contact me at pastormike@cclohio.org

Suggested donation of $10 plus $2.50 shipping.

You may support The Transforming Word Ministry by sending your gifts to:

Dr. Mike Spaulding
PO Box 3007
Lima, OH 45807

Online at http://www.thetransformingword.com
Or by PayPal studies@thetransformingword.com

Learning From Jonah – Pastor Mike Spaulding

Posted on January 19, 2021 by ccpastormike

When was the last time you studied the book of Jonah? It is a short read, with only four chapters. But, oh, how powerful are the spiritual insights contained in those four chapters.

I have referred to Jonah as a perfect party planner – a pity party planner that is. When we read through the book of Jonah the following points are significant for our understanding of how to avoid planning and carrying out our own pity party.

(1) Set up your self-centered shelter where you can sulk. We see that in Jonah 4:5.

Then Jonah went out from the city and sat east of it. There he made a shelter for himself and sat under it in the shade until he could see what would happen in the city.

(2) Seek happiness in what is unimportant. That is Jonah 4:6.

So the Lord God appointed a plant and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant.

(3) Be dismayed when God removes what is hindering you from serving Him. Jonah 4:7.

But God appointed a worm when dawn came the next day and it attacked the plant and it withered.

(4) Think the whole world is against you and life is not worth living when God is merely drawing you back to Himself. Jonah 4:8.

When the sun came up God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint and begged with all his soul to die, saying, “Death is better to me than life.”

(5) The result of your well-orchestrated pity party is misery. Jonah 4:9.

Then God said to Jonah, “Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “I have good reason to be angry, even to death.”

Throwing a pity party is a steady descent into an emotional abyss. BUT, there is hope even there! Psalm 69:14-15 says:

Deliver me from the mire and do not let me sink;
May I be delivered from my foes and from the deep waters. May the flood of water not overflow me
Nor the deep swallow me up, Nor the pit shut its mouth on me.

God is gracious and loving even when we are wallowing in self-pity. Jonah 4:10-11 shows us that God walks Jonah out of his emotionally distressed state and back into the reality of His love for people.

Then the Lord said, “You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight. Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?”

Have you considered who the 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and their left hand are? Those 120,000 persons are children. God concerned Himself with the children of Ninevah. Jonah was too focused on himself and his desires to understand God’s love for those Jonah thought untouchable.

What is God showing us today through this prophet? God is reminding us that He is the One who sets His love upon people and desires that they hear the life-saving message of salvation in Jesus Christ. We must never get to a place where we think God is mistaken for sending us to people we believe are not worthy of the message of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. What might have been the outcome of your life if people thought that way about you?

There is no benefit to resisting what God is leading you to do. When we allow our stubbornness to foment rebellion against God we are setting ourselves up for heartache and distress. Self-pity exhibits a heart that is not surrendered to God and does not have God’s perspective.

So how should we respond when God calls us to go somewhere on assignment for Him or do something for Him? We should respond by saying, “Yes Lord, I will go or I will speak as You lead me.” In our day of increasing darkness, the only light, the only hope we have to offer anyone is that God is in control of all the affairs of man; that God is still saving people, and that God is still calling His people to unity so that His mission in the world will be completed. What matters to God is that His people are found faithful to tell everyone He sends us to that Jesus saves. Romans 15:7 reminds us to pursue the bond of unity with love for one another so that in our common lives we honor God.

Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.

Ephesians 4:32 is of paramount importance for healthy body life.

Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

Christians are strong when we love one another. May we increase our efforts to love God, obeying Him in all things for the salvation of all those yet to be added to His glorious eternal kingdom. While we are here in this world let us show appreciation for one another and encourage the brethren daily. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 reminds us of this.

Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.

God’s abundant blessings and favor be upon all of you today.

Pastor Mike

You may support The Transforming Word Ministry by sending your gifts to:

Dr. Mike Spaulding
PO Box 3007
Lima, OH 45807

Online at http://www.thetransformingword.com
Or by PayPal studies@thetransformingword.com

THE SOURCE AND PHYSICAL MANIFESTATION OF OUR WARFARE – PASTOR MIKE SPAULDING

Posted on January 8, 2021 by ccpastormike

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12

Some Christians have been taught that spiritual warfare is against spiritual forces only. They think that people are not involved at all. Their reasoning is that the verse above states that our warfare is not against flesh and blood, but against heavenly or supernatural entities. This is misplaced and requires correcting.

Our struggle is indeed against rulers (arche; Strongs 746), powers (exousia; Strongs 1849), world forces of this darkness (kosmokrator; Strongs 2888), spiritual forces of wickedness (pneumatikos; Strongs 4152). What all of this means is that behind the evil and wicked behavior that people exhibit are demons (daimonion; Strongs 114.

What we must understand is that the wicked, evil, and violent behavior that people exhibit is empowered and motivated by demons. That does not excuse the man or woman who is being manipulated by evil spiritual entities. God will most certainly judge them for their wickedness and for allowing themselves to be controlled by demons.

My point is simply this: Christians must oppose people and their wicked behavior while recognizing that they are merely pawns of our enemy, the devil. Using passages such as this as an excuse to refuse to fight evil because “our war is not against flesh and blood” is naïve and clearly misguided.

Pastor Mike

You may support The Transforming Word Ministry by sending your gifts to:

Dr. Mike Spaulding
PO Box 3007
Lima, OH 45807

Online at http://www.thetransformingword.com
Or by PayPal studies@thetransformingword.com

If Anyone Thirsts – Pastor Mike Spaulding

Posted on December 31, 2020 by ccpastormike

Many readers and others who follow The Transforming Word Ministries know that for the year 2020 Kathy and I have been using CH Spurgeon’s devotional Morning and Evening Devotions. The spiritual wisdom Spurgeon was given by our Heavenly Father is the reason why his works have so long endured and been part of the encouragement and education of millions of believers.

Today’s reading focused on John 7:37 which says: “Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.” As part of his commentary Spurgeon said:

The sinner must come to Jesus, not to works, ordinances, or doctrines, but to a personal Redeemer, who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree. The bleeding, dying, rising Savior, is the only star of hope to a sinner. Oh, for grace to come now and drink, ere the sun sets upon the year’s last day!

No waiting or preparation is so much as hinted at. Drinking represents a reception for which no fitness is required. A fool, a thief, a harlot can drink; and so sinfulness of character is no bar to the invitation to believe in Jesus. We want no golden cup, no bejeweled chalice, in which to convey the water to the thirsty; the mouth of poverty is welcome to stoop down and quaff the flowing flood. Blistered, leprous, filthy lips may touch the stream of divine love; they cannot pollute it, but shall themselves be purified. Jesus is the fount of hope. Dear, reader, hear the dear Redeemer’s loving voice as He cries to each one of us, “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink.

Jesus is the fount of hope!

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Can You See Tomorrow? Pastor Mike Spaulding

Posted on December 30, 2020 by ccpastormike

The Bible is the ageless, always perfect, always applicable word from God’s mind to the hearts of HIs people. I have walked in faith with Yahweh for 37 years now, and I am consistently amazed at the things He reveals to me in the Bible.

Reading in 1 Peter 1 today, a statement there popped off the page. Have you ever experienced that? A passage of Scripture you have read many times before comes into sharp focus? Here is the passage I was reading.

³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, ⁵who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, ⁷so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which perishes though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; ⁸and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, ⁹obtaining as the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

¹⁰As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, ¹¹seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. ¹²It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look.

It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you.

That statement made me pause. I remind people often that what we do today does have an impact on our tomorrow. The same truth applies to groups of people and nations. The choices we make today will impact our tomorrow. My thoughts turned immediately to my grandchildren and my great-grandchildren. Am I truly serving them by my actions today? The prophets of old sought to understand the things the Spirit of God was speaking to them and through them to others and were told that the things God called them to do and say were for the benefit of future generations.

That spiritual truth and principle must be rediscovered and taught to Christians today. We are most certainly serving God in our own day BUT He desires that we leave a legacy of His goodness toward us, a living testimony if you will, that will serve as a strong foundation for our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren long after we have left this earth for our eternal home in heaven. Amen?

I pray you are encouraged today to begin looking beyond the current circumstances of our own times to those of our loved ones who will follow after us. What can we do today that will serve them tomorrow and after we have gone on to our glory?

May God be honored in our choices!

Pastor Mike