Seek Also In The Valley

10 And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. 11 Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in his house. And they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him. And each of them gave him a piece of money and a ring of gold. 12 And the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. 13 He had also seven sons and three daughters. 14 And he called the name of the first daughter Jemimah, and the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-happuch. 15 And in all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job’s daughters. And their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. 16 And after this, Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons and sons’ sons, four generations. 17 And Job died, an old man, and full of days. ~ Job 42:10-17

Job was a man of righteousness and faithfulness to the LORD. Job even sacrificed on behalf of his children just in case they sinned against the LORD. So, when the testing of the Devil came upon him, Job knew it wasn’t punishment from the LORD. Job knew his relationship with God. And because Job knew his relationship with God, Job knew God’s heart. He understood that there had to be another reason why he, an innocent man, was under spiritual attack. And because he knew his God, Job didn’t sin or speak against God during his test.

Some of us are going through a season of testing. We’re under attack by the enemy. Everything is being taken away from us. Finances. Relationships. Blessings. Health. Everything. During these seasons, it’s difficult for us to keep our mouths closed and not speak out against God. This is where Job and the Church today differentiate. So many of us speak against God as Bildad and his friends did. Very few of us refuse to give up. Very few of us turn to God and seek Him in these times. The majority of us blame God and become angry with Him. But look at your actions. Is this a test from God? Or is this an attack of the enemy because you let your walls down? You’ll know the answer by the actions you’ve made prior to this season. Were you faithful? Were you having a true relationship with God? Were you spending time with Him every day?

If you are faithful to the LORD in this season, regardless of how you got there, the LORD will be faithful to you and see you through it. When God restored Job’s fortunes, it wasn’t just the fortunes he had previously lost. God gave Job more than he lost. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, was poured into Job’s lap. Why? Because Job remained faithful to God. He refused to curse God and die. He refused to betray the LORD. He withstood the test, and the LORD restored and rewarded Job’s faithfulness.

So, if you’re in this season of testing, or even if you’re in a season of attack because you opened the door to the enemy, don’t be discouraged. Repent, close the door, and seek the LORD for restoration.

LORD God, please show me the season that I’m in. Show me whether I have opened a door to a spiritual attack or whether I am being tested. LORD, I know that I have sinned because I know that I haven’t yet been fully perfected, so LORD God, forgive me for each sin I’ve committed. Help me to close any door I’ve opened that isn’t of You. Teach me to seek Your face in the valley and in the mountain. Teach me to have a true relationship with You and not just a superficial one. Help me to trust You and love You the way that You deserve. Please help me to never take You for granted, so that when you take me through this season the restoration might also be of my soul and spirit. Thank You for Your love, mercy, and grace. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Bring Your Appeals

1 Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Arise, and depart with your household, and sojourn wherever you can, for the Lord has called for a famine, and it will come upon the land for seven years.” So the woman arose and did according to the word of the man of God. She went with her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years. And at the end of the seven years, when the woman returned from the land of the Philistines, she went to appeal to the king for her house and her land. Now the king was talking with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, “Tell me all the great things that Elisha has done.” And while he was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and her land. And Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, here is the woman, and here is her son whom Elisha restored to life.” And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed an official for her, saying, “Restore all that was hers, together with all the produce of the fields from the day that she left the land until now.” ~ 2 Kings 8:1-6

Elisha, the prophet, warned the Shunammite woman that a famine was coming, but when she returned after the famine, her home and land were no longer hers. The Shunammite woman was a wealthy woman, so leaving all of her land and her home behind to become a sojourner in the land of the Philistines for seven years wasn’t easy, but she wholeheartedly trusted the man of God. Now that the seven years of famine were over and she returned home, her home and her land weren’t even hers anymore.

This is how it is with us sometimes. The LORD sends us a warning, so we try to react to this warning, but maybe we make a mistake, and when we return, all we have left is gone. Or maybe we do exactly as the LORD tells us, and all we have left is still gone. But don’t be discouraged. Look what the Shunammite woman did. She didn’t gripe. She didn’t get angry. She didn’t get discouraged. She went to the king of Israel to appeal for her land, and her land was restored to her as she left, plus the seven years of production from the land while she was gone.

Sometimes when we follow God, the LORD allows for the enemy to swoop in and collect our land. Collect our home. Collect our job. Collect our blessing while we are away, but when we go before Him and appeal, the LORD has mercy and grace. Why? Look at who introduced the Shunammite woman to the king, Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, the man of God. The king might not have given the woman such a favorable response to her request if it were not for Gehazi explaining who she was to him. And just as Gehazi went before the Shunammite woman and, in a sense, spoke on her behalf, an even better spokesman speaks on our behalf.

Jesus, God incarnate, went before us into the Holy of Holies in the Temple of Heaven and spoke on our behalf. He tells the King who we are. We aren’t just someone He healed; we are the very children of God adopted in through His precious blood and His Holy Spirit. So, how much more would the King of kings give to His children? The king gave the woman all she left and all that was produced while she was gone, and he only knew of her because of the word of Gehazi. The King of kings knows who we are because He died for us and washed us in His precious and Holy blood. So, again I ask, how much more would the King of kings give to His children?

When the enemy swoops in to take something from you, it’s only for a season. Don’t be discouraged. Don’t become angry. Take it straight to the LORD. What has the enemy stolen from you? Lay it at the feet of Jesus. Bring an appeal to the LORD. Don’t waste any time, for you are more than just a common person. You are a child of Almighty God.

LORD God, help me return to my promised land so I can see what the enemy has taken. Please restore to me all that the enemy has taken from me. Finances. Assets. Investments. Jobs. Blessings. Be with me, LORD God, as I return to my promised land. Defend me as I bring forth my appeals. Teach me how to never give up. Teach me to be like the Shunammite woman and never become discouraged by my circumstances but always seek after You. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Provide Your Claims

33 When a man opens a pit, or when a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, 34 the owner of the pit shall make restoration. He shall give money to its owner, and the dead beast shall be his. ~ Exodus 21:33-34

From the days of the Law of Moses, the LORD never allowed any wiggle room for the enemy to take away from His people without a way for restoration for His people. This wasn’t something as significant as a house, or land, or family member; this was just an animal. During a time that grace and mercy didn’t abound, God still made sure to put insurance, if you will, on His people and all that His people own. Why? Because God knows that the enemy is the most crafty of all, the Beast of the Field, and he will find a way to corrupt the children of God and/or take away their blessings from God. He’ll find any loophole he can, just as he did with Eve in the Garden of Eden.

If God believed it was important for His people to have restoration for an animal that fell into a pit, how much more will He make restoration for His people that fall into pits? The Devil sets out traps for us to fall into. And when we don’t stumble into those traps, he uses pits that our fellow neighbor dug that weren’t intended for us to fall into. He uses whatever he can get his hands on, but even if we have fallen into a pit or our children have fallen into a pit, it’s not too late. There is restoration for what we have lost. And what we have lost will no longer be counted as ours, but it will be counted as the enemy’s.

Take a moment and write down all that the enemy has stolen from you by trapping you in a pit.

Missed God-given dreams? Why? What was the pit? Was it fear? Was it laziness? Was it distractions?

Estranged Family? Why? What was the pit? Pride? Harsh words? Unforgiveness? Anger?

Whatever the enemy has taken from you and is seemingly killed in that pit, write it down, along with the pit, and bring it to the LORD in prayer. No one could get restoration unless they brought the claim to the judge. We have the chief Judge abiding in us. Don’t just assume that because it’s a promise, the LORD will fulfill it. Write the claim, bring it before the LORD, then claim the promise of restoration.

Don’t allow the pits to keep your dead animal; present that dead animal to the LORD along with the pit so that He might take the dead animal, give it to the enemy and give you restoration. When you receive restoration, take note of that pit so that you may never fall into it again.

LORD God, please open my eyes to the pits that have taken my dreams, goals, call, jobs, promotions, relationships, and blessings. Show me all that I’ve lost to these pits, not so that I can be caught up in the past, but so that I might present them to You for restoration. Teach me how to bring my claim before Your Holy Throne in the Courts of Heaven so that I might receive my promise of restoration. Help me to never accept the pits I fall into, but instead, help me get out of those pits and become aware of each pit that tries to entrap me so that I never fall into them again. Thank you for all that You’ve done and all that you are going to do in my life. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Do Not Keep Looking Behind

26 But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. ~ Genesis 19:26

Lot, along with his wife and two daughters, had made their home in a wicked and adulterous city. All the thoughts of their hearts were evil to the point that God had no option but to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. But Peter tells us that God saved Lot, who was greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked men living in the city. The account found in Genesis said that the angels told Lot to take his wife and his two daughters and leave quickly before they get swept away in the punishment of the city. But Lot lingered, and the angels had to take him and his family by the hand and lead them out. Then they instructed them, “Do Not Look Back! Do Not Stop.”

We Christians are not to linger in the world. We are not to look back or stop. We are to press forward toward the prize that is before us. This New Year, we must make a strong effort to focus on what God has for us and not linger, look back, or stop in the world. Lot’s wife looked back and lost all that God had for her. We are in a time of restoration. God is restoring to us all that the enemy has stolen from us.

Heavenly Father, we ask You to please help us to overcome so that You might restore to us all that was lost and all that was stolen. Please strengthen us that we might not yield to the temptation to look back or to stop but that we might continue pressing forward to gain the prize that You have set before us, in Jesus’ name, amen.

Scripture Reading

15 As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city.” 16 But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. 17 And as they brought them out, one said, “Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away.” 18 And Lot said to them, “Oh, no, my lords. 19 Behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life. But I cannot escape to the hills, lest the disaster overtake me and I die. 20 Behold, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there—is it not a little one?—and my life will be saved!” 21 He said to him, “Behold, I grant you this favor also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. 22 Escape there quickly, for I can do nothing till you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

23 The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. 24 Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven. 25 And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. 26 But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

Genesis 19: 15–26

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Be A Person of Faith and Action

8 Ishbosheth the son of Hachmon was the leader of the Three Warriors. In one battle, he killed eight hundred men with his spear. ~ 2 Samuel 23:8CEV

Ishbosheth killed eight hundred men in the same battle or in the same fight. Imagine with me this man, Ishbosheth, the son of Hachmon, was in a battle for his life against eight hundred battled-trained warriors. This was a very real event. A very real fight. The rest of the Israelite army had fled, but Ishobeth stayed and fought; he was fighting the whole Philistine army.

I believe the reason he only killed eight hundred men, all at the same time and in the same battle, was that when the other Philistines saw the death toll, they realized the odds were no longer stacked in their favor, and they ran away.

Most people would look at that situation and call it hopeless. They would look at it with their physical eyes. They would say, you better not try that; you’re bound to lose. Or, oh boy, you’re in a hopeless situation. Nothing can help you, and no one can save you now. Well, you fought a good fight, but now it’s all over. Why don’t you just give up now? You can’t win that one. The majority of people in Ishobeth’s situation would be discouraged and believe what the discouraging words others have told them, and in doing so, they would have missed making a great name for themselves. But that was not Ishobeth’s testimony.

He was like, the harder they come, the harder they fall. Why? Because he understood that it wasn’t he alone who was out there wielding that spear. He understood that greater was He that was in him than he that was with the 800. Ishobeth knew the LORD God whom he served. His faith was shaken. He was a man of faith and action. This now begs the question, are you?

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be A Person of Faith and Action.

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Remember and Recall

1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. ~ Psalms 137:1

This Psalm has been turned into a song. It’s sung as a happy and even joyous song. One tends to sing it without really thinking too much about it. But in actuality, this Psalm is very sad and heartbreaking. It was written probably somewhere around the Chebar River and the Euphrates River. The Jewish people had been forcibly taken from their homeland. They were as it was, in captivity, because of their idolatry. Everything they knew and loved was destroyed, crushed, broken, and burned, including their beloved Temple.

Their homes had been ransacked; their husbands and sons were slain by the edge of the sword. Their young women were raped and beaten in the streets. Their precious memories, keepsakes, and heirlooms were all either stolen or destroyed. Not one stone was left on the top of the other. Their beautiful buildings, the city walls, and everything they cared about and valued, including the Temple articles used for worship, were taken from them and carried off to Babylon.

Their idolatrous king was captured, and his sons were murdered in front of him, and then his eyes were plucked out, and he too, was carried off to Babylon, where he died. His wives and his daughters were ravished, and everyone that did not starve to death or perish in the Babylonian invasion were all stripped and marched off to captivity.

Now to add salt to the wounds, their captives were requiring them to sing songs of joy. Songs they sang in Jerusalem. Songs of celebration. But they answered, “How can we sing the LORD’s songs in this place of captivity? It will be like forgetting Jerusalem. Forgetting our former way of life and our freedom, we cannot sing songs of joy in this foreign land.”

They remembered not only their homeland and their way of life but they remembered that they had a promise from God. A promise through the prophet Jeremiah. The same Jeremiah they persecuted and thrown into a cistern where he sunk down into the mud because of his prophecies of destruction for turning away from the LORD their God.

The next time you are feeling low. The next time someone taunts you because of your Christian stance. The next time they laugh at you and call your Christian faith an outdated and antiquated religion, just let it roll off your back like water on a duck’s back. Instead of giving in to their taunts, sneers, jesting, and laughing, choose to focus on the promises of God. Choose to remember and recall the promises that God will bless you. You are the head and not the tail. You are the chosen ones, and God is for you, even if it doesn’t look like it now.

Remember, most of all, Jesus’ promise to come back and get us. He will not leave us destitute, nor will He forget us here. But He will come back for us, bringing His rewards for us with Him and His recompense for those who hate Him and who have persecuted us. So, encourage yourselves with these words; Jesus loves me and has made a way for me to live with Him forever in peace and everlasting blessings.

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your great and marvelous promises. Thank You for the gift of life. And when life begins to get me down, and times begin to get hard and difficult, help me to remember that You are for me. Help me to remember that Jesus is coming back to deliver me out of the hands of evil men. Strengthen my resolve now; in Jesus’ Name, I pray, amen.

Scripture Reading

1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, When we remembered Zion. 2 We hanged our harps Upon the willows in the midst thereof. 3 For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; And they that wasted us required of us mirth, Saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the Lord’s song In a strange land? If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, Let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; If I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy. Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; Who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof. 8 O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; Happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee As thou hast served us. 9 Happy shall he be, that taketh And dasheth thy little ones against the stones.

Psalms 137:1-9

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Look Out for Others

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. ~ Philippians 2:3–4

Looking out for others’ interests over our own interests is easier said than done. We see people as selfish and self-pleasing, trampling on us to get what they want with no remorse or apologies. So, it’s difficult to value those types of people above our own selves. After all, they don’t value us at all. It’s not fair.

Well, it was not fair that Jesus had to come and die such a horrific death in order to save us. It is not about being fair; as someone once said, “Life is not fair.” We do not do it to be fair. We do it because we are commanded to, and if we are obedient, we will gain a great reward. Why suffer for all eternity because we refuse to humble ourselves when if we humble now, we will be free for all eternity? The tradeoff is no comparison.

Is it easy? No, but if we make this a matter of priority and a matter of prayer, it will become easy and will become second nature. As Confucius once said, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” Take it one step at a time. Take it one person at a time, but take the first step and not look back, but pray for strength.

Do not just read devotionals like these or listen to messages like this and think, “Ah, that was good,” but not put it into action. If you would only put things like this into action, you would grow in Christ.

So, this New Year, make it your resolution to grow in Christ. Grow in the things of God, and draw closer to Him every day, so that we will build up treasure in heaven.

Heavenly Father, strengthen us and give us the desire to draw close to You, even if it means we are humiliated because we value others higher than ourselves, even those who place no value on us at all. Help us to bear hardships and trials with the hope of spending eternity with You. In Jesus’ Name, amen.

Scripture Reading

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage; rather, He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!

Philippians 2:3–8

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Dying to Self

24 Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ~ Matthew 16:24

The phrase “dying to self” may not actually be explicitly mentioned in the Scriptures, but it is without a doubt alluded to as a theme throughout the New Testament. It is splashed across the pages printed in both Red Ink and in Black Ink. It is this very thing Jesus was speaking of when He said to deny yourself and pick up your cross and follow Him.

It is not a very popular theme because it does very little to generate shouts and amens and does even less to fill the church coffers. It is a hard teaching to implement when we live in a me, me, me generation. From ads to even the churches promote that sort of thinking. There was a time when the Church almost fell into error with the name it and claim it gospel. Now, please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not against the prosperity teaching. I believe God wants us to prosper and be in good health, but it’s only as our souls prosper.

God is more concerned about our souls prospering than for us to be rolling in the dough. Jesus, Himself did not shrink from self-denial, for He Himself took up His cross and was obedient even unto death. If you are going to see great miracles, you must die to self. Meaning you no longer do what pleases you but what pleases God.

It is not that miracles have ended when the last Apostle died, but rather, self-denial ended when the last Apostle died. Christians no longer pray through the night. They no longer pray, period, because they have become way too busy. There is work. There is family life. And then there is, of course, football, basketball, and hockey. We can’t do without our sports. We are a sports family, and Jesus would never want me to miss the big game.

Jesus is, in fact, saying, “Deny yourself, pick up your cross, and follow me. Because I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one comes to Father except by Me.” Now, with that said, how can we not but implement this dying-to-self concept into our lives? We must stop doing what is self-pleasing because it is self-pleasing and be God pleasers because it pleases God, whom we must all stand before, and who will either pardon or condemn.

Father, please help us to be self-deniers and to pick up our cross and follow You. Give us the strength to do want pleasers You and shrink from what is self-pleasing. In Jesus’ name, we pray, amen.

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In The Beginning God

1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. ~ Genesis 1:1–2

In the beginning, there was God. There was no earth, no skies, no heaven, no hell. There was nothing except God. God was from the very beginning, and from the very beginning, the concept of a triune God was introduced. In the beginning God…And the Spirit of God was hovering…

We do not serve three different Gods, but there is only one God, one LORD, and one Holy Spirit. As the Scriptures declare, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4).

We are to worship God as one God because, after all, that is who He is, One. Yet we give honor and acknowledgment to each member for who they are as individuals. It’s a concept that is not easily explained, nor is it easily understood.

But in this New Year, let’s make an effort to understand who God is, and the base to start is “The LORD our God is One.” Get to know each member of the Trinity and accept what each member has to offer in terms of support and growth. Remember, we serve One God, three individuals, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, yet one.

Father, give us the understanding to comprehend that You are a Triune God, yet You are One. Just because our minds are finite helps us not to discard the truth of our foundational beliefs. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Scripture Reading

John 1:1–18

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him. 12 But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John bore witness about Him, and cried out, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because He was before me.’ ”) 16 For from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, He has made Him known.

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Make This Year Better Than The Last

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. ~ 2 Corinthians 5:17b

At midnight we rang in a new year. 2023 has begun, and our slate has been wiped clean. With each year, we are given another chance, a new opportunity to follow through on our plans, goals, and resolutions. Another opportunity to right wrongs and rebuild bridges that we’ve previously lost. Today is the beginning of a new life. We don’t have to continue in our old ways walking around the mountain day after day and year after year. Not everyone gets to see a new year. Don’t waste the blessing God has bestowed upon you.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Make This Year Better Than The Last.

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