Daily Devotionals

August 07

Sober Up!

Gloria Copeland
Follow...holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.

Jesus is coming soon! I know some people scoff at that idea. (That’s no surprise; the Bible says they would.) But I don’t care what those people say. The signs are clear. We are at the end of the end!

The final outpourings of the Holy Spirit have already begun. Reports of miracles, signs and wonders, dreams and visions like those prophesied in Acts 2 are coming in from around the world. And we are going to see more of the power of God, more signs, more wonders and more Glory than anyone has ever seen before. God is going to manifest Himself among us in marvelous ways!

Actually, our situation today is much like the one the Israelites found themselves in after Moses led them out of Egypt. When they reached the foot of Mount Sinai, God spoke and told them He was about to manifest Himself in their midst (Exodus 19:9-11). Right now, God is saying much the same thing to us, Get ready! I’m about to manifest Myself in your midst! He’s telling us to sanctify ourselves, to get our lives cleaned up.

We need our robes of righteousness bright and spotless. When His power comes in its fullness, it will bring life to what’s good and death to what’s bad. It’s time we realize that when God manifests Himself in great measure among us, His Glory will destroy sin in a moment’s time. So those who are clinging to sin will be in trouble.

“Now wait a minute, that sounds like Old Testament theology to me.”

No, it isn’t. Do you remember what happened to Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5? As far as I know, they were members in good standing of the New Testament Church. But they conspired together to lie to the Holy Ghost and, as a result, they both died in church on the same day!

We haven’t seen anything like that in recent times, because the power of God hasn’t been in manifestation as powerfully among us as it was in the early Church. When there’s just a little power being manifested, then people get away with more. But when there’s a lot of the power of God being manifested, people get away with things for a shorter period of time.

Sin was dealt with quickly in Ananias and Sapphira that day. Of course, it didn’t have to be dealt with in that way. They could have repented on the spot. They could have said, “I was wrong. Forgive me!” But they didn’t. They clung to their sin. So when the power of God extinguished that sin, their lives were extinguished too.

I realize that’s a sobering thought. But the Bible instructs us to be sober in these last days. It says we should be serious about sanctifying ourselves. So examine your heart and sober up! Jesus is coming soon.

Speak the Word

I follow holiness so that I shall see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14)

Scripture Study: 1 Peter 1:13-16


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