W. Spencer Perry

“‘How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way of peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes.’” Luke 19:42 NLT Title - “If You Had Known!” Underlines: “What is it that blinds you to the peace of God…? Do you have a strange god…that controls your life?” “If you had known…” “God holds us accountable for what we refuse to see or are unable to see because of our sin.” “Never be afraid when God brings back your past….It is a minister of God…” Notes: -we must yield our nature to Him -let go of the strange gods: pride, arrogance, greed, control, fear, worry, etc … What emotions are you letting control your life? Emotions are not truth. Feelings are not gospel. In perfect harmony with Jesus, feelings and emotions will have less control over us. Peace will prevail.  Jesus knew what was to come as He speaks this. He is in tears, as it says in verse 41 “He began to weep.” It’s like trying to advise your kids on how to behave or the right course of ac...

“‘Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’” Acts 9:17 NLT Title - “The Glory That’s Unsurpassed” Underlines: “When Paul received his sight, he also received spiritual insight into the Person or Jesus Christ.” “…maintain a strong degree of character in our lives…” “The lasting characteristic of a spiritual man is the ability to understand correctly the meaning of the Lord Jesus Christ in his life, and the ability to explain the purposes of God to others.” “Never allow anything to divert you from your insight into Jesus Christ. It is the true test of whether you are spiritual or not. To be unspiritual means that other things have a growing fascination for you.” Notes: -are your spiritual or unspiritual -fascinated with Christ, or other things  -after God’s own heart or your own desires  We must be seeking the mind of Christ constantly. All else will fade away. His Glory is ...

“It is Christ…who also makes intercession for us…the Spirit…makes intercession for the saints…” Romans 8:34, 27 Title - “Helpful or Heartless Toward Others?” Underlines: “…a look at our current circumstances. Do crises which affect us or others in our home, business, country, or elsewhere, seem to be crushing in on us?” “Beware of getting ahead of God by your very desire to do His will. We run ahead of Him in a thousand and one activities becoming so burdened with people and problems that we don’t worship God, and fail to intercede.” “…unless we are worshipping God the natural tendency is to be heartless toward them (people we have no interest in). We give them a quick verse of Scripture, like jabbing then with a spear, or leave them with a hurried, uncaring word of counsel before we go.” Notes: -COVID-19 (wrote that in margin in 2020 next to line talking about current circumstance, crises) -we have to be worshipping God to be in tune with Hin and to truly have His heart for people The...

“If you see a fellow believer sinning in a way that does not lead to death, you should pray, and God will give that person life.” 1 John 5:16 NLT Title - “Heedfulness or Hypocrisy in Ourselves?” Underlines: “If we are not heedful and pay no attention to the way the spirit of God works in us, we will become spiritual hypocrites.” “Be careful that you don’t become a hypocrite by spending all your time trying to get others right with God before you worship Him yourself.” “…burden of discernment concerning others…” Notes: -discernment: to form the mind of Christ in us -intercession must be done wholeheartedly  My biggest takeaway is regarding discernment. In order to understand how to pray for a person, or even a situation, we must first worship and connect with Christ. When we are connected to Him, the Holy Spirit will reveal to us Christ’s mind about the person. That is when we have discernment on how to pray or what to say.  When I have thought about discernment, I always have ...

“He was amazed to see that no one intervened…” Isaiah 59:16 NLT Title - “Holiness or Hardness Toward God?” Underlines: “The reason many of us stop praying and become hard toward God is that we only have an emotional interest in prayer.” “Worship and intercession must go together.” “Instead of worshiping God, we recite speeches to God about how prayer is supposed to work.” “Are we worshipping God in a way that will raise us up to where we can take hold of Him, having such intimate contact with Him that we know His mind about the Obed for whom we pray? Are we living in a holy relationship with God, or have we become hard and dogmatic?” “Preaching the gospel has its share of pitfalls, but intercessory prayer has none whatsoever.” Notes: -pray earnestly and sincerely for others, seeking the mind of Christ  We all have the ability to encourage others and to pray for others. Asking God to intervene, to intercede, and to help someone is a form of worship. Prayer can be spontaneous and org...

“‘You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.” Like 12:40 NLT Title - “Our Lord’s Surprise Visits” Underlines: “A Christian worker’s greatest need is a readiness to face Jesus Christ at any and every turn.” “…the need is the face HIM.” “He appears where we least expect Him…” “This readiness will not be brought about by service, but through intense spiritual reality, expecting Jesus Christ at every turn.” “…expectation will give our life the attitude of childlike wonder…” “…we have to stop being religious. In other words, we must stop using religion as if it were some kind of a lofty lifestyle - we must be spiritually real.” “You should trust no one, and even ignore the finest saint on earth if he blocks your sight of Jesus Christ.” Notes: -expect Hin to show up -like hunting with expectancy. I am always filled with excitement and wonder, never surprise when something shows up We must be spiritually real. Any idea of how good you are at being a...

“But his disciples objected, ‘Rabbi,’ the said, ‘only a a few days ago the people in Judea were trying to stone you, are you going there again?’” John 11:8 NLT Title “Isn’t There Some Misunderstanding?” Underlines: “I have no right to determine that He must be mistaken.” “I know when instructions have come from God because of their quiet persistence.” “Faith however, is not intelectual understanding; faith is a deliberate commitment to the Person of Jesus Christ, even when I can’t see the way ahead.” “…take a step of faith…or…wait until you can clearly see…” “Simply obey…” “Are you faithful to Jesus, or faithful to your ideas about Him?” Notes: -questioning Him?! -we must move ahead in obedience, even when we can’t see the way The disciples were physically with Jesus, yet they still questioned Him. How much more so in our faith do we question Him? Don’t wait for a sign or some clear revelation. Listen to the persistent, small voice and just move on His direction. Clarity come after bei...

“Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place…”  Revelation 4:1 Title - “Spiritual Vision Through Personal Character” Underlines: “A higher state of mind and spiritual vision can only be achieved through the higher practice of personal character.” “When God elevated you by His grace into heavenly places, you find a vast plateau where you can move about with ease.” “God has to hide from is what He does, until, due to growth of our personal character, we get to the level where He is then able to reveal it.” Notes: -freedom -growth of character - spiritual maturity We cannot expect God to reveal what/why He does something until we are ready to see it. The devotional talks about spiritual warfare. Because Satan too wants to elevate you through temptation. Satan dangles the carrot of an idea or thought that you might believe will bring you closer to God or make you more holy. Then work and striving and struggle begin to try to attain this goal. When this happens, Chamb...

“God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.” Matthew 5:8 NLT Title - “Spiritual Vision Through Personal Purity” Underlines: “Purity is not innocence… Purity is the result of continued spiritual harmony with God.” “…spiritual vision depends on our character - it is the ‘pure in heart’ who ‘see God.’” “If we want to maintain personal intimacy with the Lord Jesus Christ, it will mean refusing to do or even think certain things.” “…see them as God does.” Notes: -see others as God does - perfect in Christ -so do we avoid people who can tarnish our purity? I don’t think so, Christ didn’t seem to avoid them -we are never going to be perfect or in innocent, so we must strive to maintain our character I have always thought of, or understood “character” as how you would act or behave even if nobody was looking. So that purity, on the inside, trying to have the character of Christ, can make us pure in heart and keep us intimate with Him. As Chambers says, you have to be inten...

“…the best man is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows.” John 3:29 NLT Title - “Maintaining the Proper Relationship” Underlines: “Goodness and purity should never be traits that draw attention to themselves, but… to Jesus Christ.” “…maintain a vital connection with Jesus Christ…” “Only occasionally it is a matter of obedience.” “At those times when a crisis arises, we have to find out what God’s will is. Yet most of our life is not spent in trying to be consciously obedient, but in maintaining this relationship - being the ‘friend of the bridegroom.’” Notes: -maintain a relationship with Him - utmost importance. Him more, me less -be a true friend, a best man.  It is an honor to be asked to be a best man in someone’s wedding. It is also very clear that you are there in a support role and not the center of attention. Is your relationship with Christ like that? Or are you wanting a little of the glory?

“He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.” John 3:30 NLT Title - “Decreasing for His Purpose” Underlines: “If you become a necessity to someone else’s life, you are out of God’s will.” “…pray that his difficulty will grow even ten times stronger, until no power on earth or in hell could hold him away from Jesus Christ.” “…we try to be amateur providences…” “Listen intently…Bridegroom’s voice…” “You may often have to watch Jesus Christ wreck a life before He saves it.” Notes: -let Him work, don’t get in the way  -listen for His voice in others  We are not sanctified so that we can go save others. We are sanctified as we draw closer to Him so that we can live in His will and point others to Him for help and salvation. When we see a person spiraling - don’t ask God why… pray that the person will seek Him. 

“You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world?” 1 Corinthians 3:3 NLT Title - “Am I Carnally Minded” Underlines: “Are you quarrelsome and easily upset over small things?” “He doesn’t ask you to make it right; He only ask you to accept the light of truth, and then He will make it right.” “… a child of light. Confess your wrongdoing…” “… try to vindicate… prove yourself… a child of darkness.” “What is the proof that carnality has gone?” “The proof is in a very practical test. You will find yourself saying, ‘If this had happened before, I would have had the spirit of________!’” Carnal means in the flesh. Are we living in the Spirit or in the flesh. Living with a mind on Heaven, or our mind on the world. Think about the fruit of the spirit and what they produce - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness gentleness, self control. Early in the chapter of Galatians wher...

“They said to each other, ‘Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?’” Luke 24:32 NLT Title - “The Burning Heart” Underlines: “…we must learn the secret of the burning heart” “It is the simple, dreary day, with its commonplace duties and people, that another’s the burning heart - unless we have learned the secret of abiding in Jesus.” “We cannot stay…basking in the light of the mountaintop experience. But we must obey the light…put it into action. When God gives us a vision, we must transact business with Him at that point, no matter what the cost.” Notes: - discernment, obedience, action The middle section talks about testing our emotions against what the final outcome will be. We must take time to discern our emotions - are they from God, then you must act immediately. Will they condemn God - then we must stop immediately.  The mountaintop experiences bring clarity to God’s will for us. We do not live in those moments fo...

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” ‭‭Galatians‬ ‭2:20‬ ‭ESV‬‬ Title - “Identified or Simply Interested” Underlines: “I must take my emotional opinions and intellectual beliefs and be willing to turn them into a moral verdict against the nature of sin; that is, against any claim I have to my right to myself.” “I have been identified.” “…is no longer I who live… My individuality remains, but my primary motivation… changed…” “…the life which I now live in the flesh… the life which others can see… I live by faith in the Son of God…” “…a faith that transcends all imaginable limits - a faith that comes only from the Son of God.” Notes: - Paul said “I have been crucified with Christ” not “I’m really going to try and make an effort” - not a faith in faith. A faith in a person - the Son of God Is the life, death, and resurrection...

“‘Should I hide my plan from Abraham?’ the Lord asked.” Genesis 8:17 Title - “Friendship with God” Underlines: “When you have a right-standing relationship with God, you have a life of freedom, liberty, and delight; you are God’s will. And all of your commonsense decisions are actually His will for you, unless you sense a feeling of restraint brought on by a check in your spirit.” “Once He does (produce the feeling of restraint), you must stop immediately.” “The reason for asking is so you get to know God better.” Notes: - prayer - intimacy with God - oneness where His will is just manifested in our day to day, we don’t have to ask Him or seek His will - prayer and petition This helps me answer the question - how do I know His will? I think we spend too much time searching, studying, asking people for spiritual advice etc., when we should just be spending time with Him.  Prayer and petition are our dialogue with Him. We must be still though. Once we can set that wavelength with Him...

“It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going.” Hebrews 11:8 NLT Title - “Abraham’s Life of Faith” Underlines: “In the Old Testament, a person’s relationship with God was seen by the degree of separation in that person’s life.” These days, with regard to unbelievers, we have “…to be separated mentally and morally from their viewpoints. This is basically a whole paragraph but I loved everything it said -  “Living a life of faith means never knowing where you are being led. But it does mean loving and knowing the One who is leading. It is literally a life of faith, not of understanding and reason - a life of knowing Him who calls us to go. Faith is rooted in the knowledge of a Person, and one of the biggest traps we fall into is belief that if we have faith, God will surely lead us to success in the world.” “A life of faith is not a life of one glorio...

“Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile out body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God.” 2 Corinthians 7:1 NLT Title - “Will I Bring Myself Up to This Level?” Underlines: “I must begin to transform my natural life into spiritual life by obedience to Him.” “Keep yourself cleansed in your daily walk.” “Christ never spoke of His right to Himself.” “Be serious in your commitment to God and gladly leave everything else alone. Literally put God first in your life.” Notes: - habits - ask forgiveness and make effort to transform, to change or deny those bad habits/sins This is a very ego-centric and self centered world. People are worried about how they will benefit. There are good people out there, but we are all lost without Jesus. Chambers talks about the responsibility to keep our spirits in agreements with His Spirit. This level of submission will lead and guide you. The works will be laid be...