Sonlight Devotional

God, the Number One in Your Life

November 27, 2025 by Admin

Scripture reading: Mark 12:30

God says in John 14:15, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”

This is the first rule we were given, the first law: Love God. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy strength.” (Mark 12:30) In order to love God, you must love Him as number one in your life; that is what He means. In other words, God is not saying that you have a mighty capacity to love like God loves. Your love might be like a little thimble in comparison to a big ocean, but if you put God first, if God is number one in your life, then you love God as much as God wants you to love Him. Do you understand? God is not asking you to do any impossible tasks. All He is asking you to do is to love Him as number one.

A little girl once said, “I love you, I love you way up in the sky.” Amen. She knew above her head was Number One. God wants you to have Him as number one.

Brethren, let us think about “number one” for a while. Many times God takes second place in our lives because we have other things that we count more important. The reason why you come to the meetings is not because you didn’t have anything else to do. Many of us have many other things to do and we could do them, we could enjoy these other things, but because we have a priority upon one thing, then we use the time to do that one thing. Sometimes you are tired; sometimes you are upset; sometimes you are in no condition to come to service, but to you it is important and so you sweep everything away and put it as number one. But there are other times when number one is something else for us. We are temper-mental – sometimes God is number one in our lives and sometimes He is not. We need to have a steady understanding. I would encourage you to take the Bible and read the law of the firstfruits. God has placed this law in the Bible because through it He is telling you that He should be number one. So whereas the Israelites would have firstfruits once a year, or in case of animals several times a year when the animals had their offspring, you have it every day. Your firstfruit is an everyday thing that God is giving you.

Every morning you say, “God…” When you go to bed at night you say, “God…” At midday it is, “God…” It is “God…” all through the day. If you notice the scripture says in Daniel that Daniel used to pray every morning, every midday and every evening. The Jews were taught to pray in the morning and at sunset. You are in a different order; you are called to something entirely different. God said, “Pray without ceasing.” It means that when you are going to do so and so, you say, “God…be with me.” You start to think about something and you say, “God…” Even in your dreams you will dream God first because it is ingrained, it is marked, it is carved in you like a carving on a chair. It is cut in, carved into your consciousness and your soul will come out with the brand of Jesus first. That is, if you continue to practice God first.

(Excerpt from “Led of the Spirit”, Foundational Teachings #077)

Thought for today: In order to love God, you must love Him as number one in your life.

Posted in Christian Walk | Tagged Loving God, Mark 12:30 | Leave a Comment »

The Jawbone of an Ass

November 26, 2025 by Admin

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Scripture reading: Judges 15:9-17

Let us look at the following story today: Samson, after destroying the corn fields of the Philistines, went into a rock Etam, stayed there and the Philistines came to arrest him. I trust you understand that I am not talking about Samson. What am I talking about then? I am talking about the church hiding in the rock. And I am talking about the brethren of the church who give up the others. Some of us give up the others. Some of us are weak, afraid of the enemy. The Israelites went up, arrested Samson and delivered him to the Philistines; the church delivering up church.

So the Israelites bound Samson with new cords, took him down and delivered him over to the Philistines so that the Philistines would not hurt them. The church system is about ready to deliver those who are different from them, who won’t conform to their ways. Deliver them up to the world to be destroyed.

Samson went down bound before the Philistines. The Philistines began to celebrate their victory and God said, “They shouted against Samson and against God.” I want you to understand that a shout symbolizes a certain going forth of energy in whatever you are doing. They were praising their god for giving them Samson. Now remember that I am not talking about Samson. They shouted against him and the Bible recorded that when they shouted, God came upon him. In other words, Samson needed a move of God to move. God is saying that we need the move and when we feel the move, we must move. When this move hit Samson, the Bible said that the ropes were burned as if by fire. The fire of the Holy Ghost is going to lose your bands and set you free. And when your bands are loosed, you must know what to do; you must do the right thing. The first thing Samson did was to look around for a weapon, something to fight with. There was an old dead jackass. His bones were bleached white, bleached dry bones, and there was his jawbone.

Let us look at the spiritual meanings of all this: Samson means the body of Christ; the rope is the bondage that they have put upon us; His brethren are the other Christians who don’t like us. So what is the jawbone of an ass?

Your Bible is a beautiful, marvelous book. There is no book like it in the world. When you read your Bible, you know it could not be written by a man. Moreover, there were several men that God used to write it and there was no way those men could have gotten together to discuss it, because they lived in different ages of time. Go in your Bible and read about the jackass. The first reference I can think of is in the law – the firstfruits belong to God. You must take the firstfruits of your field and carry them to God. You must take the first animal you have from the doe, or she-ass, or anything else and it belongs to God. But God doesn’t want a jackass to be offered up as a sacrifice. So what do you do with the jackass? You redeem it with a lamb. If you don’t redeem the ass, then you must break its neck, because it belongs to the Lord.

When you take that right along, you will see that the ass is referring to you. We are the ass and God says that “out of the mouth of babes and suckling He hath ordained strength” (Psalm 8:2). In the end time, God shows a picture of a sharp two-edged sword coming out of the mouth of the church and destroying his enemy. In Revelation 11 we see the two witnesses and the fire, the word of their mouth, was coming out to destroy their enemies. So you want to know now what the jawbone of a jackass is? God is talking about our mouth! Oh, yes! Samson said, “With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men.” (Jg 15:16) The ass is redeemed. The ass was bleached dry bone, but it was redeemed by Samson picking it up in the name of the Lord. And he slew 1,000 men with the jawbone of an ass.

So we see God doing something in our time. Samson couldn’t do anything unless the Lord came down on him. God had to give him a special anointing for every job he was going to do. Brethren, it is the same with you. If you think that you can get up and run out there and do your own thing, you are making a sad mistake. We must have that special anointing of God to do what we need to do, but we have to understand that He has certain rules by which the anointing is given and we must go by these rules.

(Excerpt from “Led of the Spirit”, Foundational Teachings #077)

Thought for today: God has certain rules by which the anointing is given and we must go by these rules.

Posted in Christian Walk | Tagged Jawbone of an Ass, Move of God, Samson | 1 Comment »

Rise up and Do

November 25, 2025 by Admin

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Scripture reading: Psalm 40:7-8

As the days go by, we find God changing the word that comes forth. This is one of the reasons we cannot preach “canned” sermons, because the “can” would be producing the same thing that it produced last year. But we find the word changing and the clarity of it is increasing. Even the same old word is coming more alive. I believe you are finding the same thing: that there is liveliness about the word of God that is coming forth in the body of Christ.

The body of Christ must be alive. The body must minister. God does not have a class of people called ministers. Did you know that? He does not have a class of people called ministers. God has set in the body apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers. But where is the ministry? The ministry is in the body. This means there is no one who can come and say, “God sent me to minister to you,” unless he is a functioning part of the body. We are only different parts of the body of Christ. The finger is as alive as the toe, but the finger cannot do what the toe does; neither can the toe do what the finger does; but it is just as much alive.

God is directing us to an even more detailed understanding of what the body of Christ really is. He wants us to begin to walk in the body and live in the body. That is, if you cannot live as a body member, you are not of the body. We have too many dead members. Or, let’s put it a little better: members that will not exercise their rights to move and to live and to do what God wants us to do. In other words, God is feeding us more energy now; more life is coming forth now into the body than there was before, because this is the time when we are going to have to rise up and do.

(Excerpt from “Led of the Spirit”, Foundational Teachings #F077)

Thought for today: This is the time when we are going to have to rise up and do what God wants us to do.

Posted in Body of Christ | Tagged Body of Christ, Five-Fold Ministry | Leave a Comment »

The Lord Waits on the Increase

November 24, 2025 by Admin

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By Mavis M. duCille

Scripture reading: Isaiah 5:1, 2, 7

In different cultures, and at different times in the history of the world, men have changed their basis of assessing value. For example, in the time of Job, riches were counted by the amount of cattle and servants one had. We, therefore, have the tendency to think that the things which are precious to us are also precious to God. But this is not true, unless we have the mind of Christ.

As man would now count gold in this modern age, even so does God count His people, and their increase SPIRITUALLY is a precious thing to His heart. Any other form of prosperity outside of spiritual prosperity means very little to God.

The picture which we see in Isaiah 5:1, 2 and 7 depicts the very heart of God, and the whole purpose for which He made man: “…the men of Judah, His pleasant plant.”

James 5:7b, “Behold the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.”

The fruit comes before the harvest. God’s intent and purpose from His first planting of Adam and Eve was to bring forth His glory in the earth. “Be fruitful and multiply” and have “dominion over the earth” – fruitful, bringing forth godliness, and dominion in righteousness and holiness, not worldly dominion. God tended His vineyard from Adam to Enoch, through the age of the Law and the Prophets: Moses and Elijah, to Jesus Christ.

What was lost in Adam was regained in Christ. He showed perfect and complete subjection to the will of the Father in all things. The first manifestation of this restoration and showing forth of the perfect will of the Father was seen on the mount in His three-phased temptation.

1. Making stone into bread – type of which was to satisfy the human nature.

2. “All this power will I give thee” – the craving after power.

3. “Cast thyself down” – self-exaltation and satisfying of ego – showmanship.

Jesus was put to the test, but stood on the authority of the Word and overcame in each case, as Satan could find nothing in Him. In Jesus’ dealing with people, His love and compassion, His care for the little children, He pleased the Father in all things. In Him, we see perfect fruit bearing which pleases God. There was no place that Jesus went where there was a lack of this showing forth of fruit unto God in His life.

As He was in the earth, so are we to be. Through the effectual working of the Spirit, fruit bearing takes on a new dimension wherein the soul of man is transformed from his vile nature and brought into conformity to the image of Christ.

Jesus Christ, our Lord, established a church built upon the apostles and prophets. He laid down all the necessary foundations for its continuation as a fruit bearing institution, but so many churches have been deceived, even in the concept of what fruit bearing is. One denomination believes it is winning souls, and another that it is the gifts of the Spirit. ABUNDANT FRUIT is abundantly exuding the life and character of Jesus Christ in our daily living.

The whole creation is waiting in pain for that manifestation of the church, of that abundance of life in Christ coming forth, but individuals have to be delivered from “the foxes” (little or big), the “caterpillars and cankerworms” which destroy the vine and retard the increase.

John 15:1-2, 4-5, 7-8:

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
Herein is my Father glorified, that YE BEAR MUCH FRUIT; so shall ye be my disciples.”

“The fruit of the Spirit is LOVE, JOY, PEACE, LONGSUFFERING, GENTLENESS, GOODNESS, FAITH, MEEKNESS, TEMPERANCE…” Galatians 5:22-23.

“For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth.” Ephesians 5:9.

(Excerpt from Nuggets for the Needy, pages 100-103)

Thought for today:The last two scriptures give us an insight into what the increase which God expects is, and how they are obtained – not in our good deeds for God or our imaginations, but in GOODNESS, RIGHTEOUSNESS AND TRUTH.

Posted in Christian Walk | Tagged Age of the Law, Age of the Prophets, Apostles and Prophets, Dominion over the Earth, Fruit of the Spirit, Image of Christ, John 15, Life in Christ, Righteousness and Holiness | 1 Comment »