Devotionals Archives

February 3, 2023February 3, 2023

Celebrate The Goodness of The LORD

¹¹Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart! ~ Psalms 32:11

Equilibrium is the state of balance or the adjustment of conflicting desires. In other words, when your inside does not match your outside, you have an imbalance in your equilibrium. Your body will then work to adjust the one with the other, and usually, the one with the strongest emotion, or the one you push the hardest, will be the dominant one.

For example. Suppose you are feeling good inside, but you pretend to be upset, and your face shows it; your words tell of it, and you act like you are upset. Soon your inside will begin to match your outside since it’s your dominant emotion, the one you are pushing the hardest, and you will begin to feel angry or upset, and you won’t even know why.

That is your equilibrium adjusting to balance the two; your inward and your outward. That is why God commanded them to be glad, or in other words, to begin celebrating with song and with clapping of hands. With shouts of elation and with whatever other outward expression of celebratory joy there maybe. Even before they begin to feel it inwardly.

Express it outwardly, and in due time, the inward will match the outward, and you will begin feeling the joy of the LORD, and the heart will rejoice and be thankful and grateful for all the LORD has done because His goodness is forever.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Celebrate The Goodness of The LORD.

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Seek and Desire God

¹⁸Moses said, “Please show me Your glory.” ¹⁹And He said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. ²⁰But,” He said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” ²¹And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, ²²and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. ²³Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.” ~ Exodus 33:18–23

Moses had just seen miracles upon miracles, yet he still pleaded with God to see His glory. God was already sitting down with Moses and talking with him like a man talking with his friend, face to face. Moses wasn’t satisfied. He had a strong desire for the LORD, as David described in the Psalms. Moses was like a deer panting for streams of water.

This is how God wants all of us to be. He wants us to know more. He wants to show us who He is. And just as God granted Moses his request and placed him in the cleft of the rock and then caused all of His goodness to pass by Moses, so will God grant our requests to see His glory and know Him better.

We don’t serve a distant, far-off God. Our God is close and personal. He dwells with us, in us, and through us. God desires us to seek Him with all that’s within us. Jesus describes seeking out mankind like a shepherd who leaves the 99 to find the 1 lost sheep. This is the same kind of love that God desires us to have for Him.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Seek and Desire God.

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Watch For Coming The Night

¹¹The oracle concerning Dumah. One is calling to me from Seir, “Watchman, what time of the night? Watchman, what time of the night?” ~ Isaiah 21:11

Today we are living in a time of trepidation—a time of perplexity. Fear is weaponized, and the people cower from it. Panic is on every side. One word, whether it’s real or not real, sends the population into a frenzy, causing lines upon lines. For them, the modus operandi is “create a crisis. Bring the solution. Enjoy your desired outcome.” It’s like enjoying the spoils of war.

Fear is like a liquid toxin that saturates the people and causes them to think irrationally. It is like Stockholm Syndrome sets in. The victims are forced to compromise their lives and the lives of their loved ones, yet they sincerely believe the perpetrators are looking out for their best interests. It’s their coping mechanism for survival.

If anyone tries to explain the flaws in their way of thinking, they will fly into a rage and defend the perpetrators even though it is plain they mean them great harm. They never actually get around to asking the right questions or hearing the right answers.

Watchman, what time of the night?
Watchman, what time of the night?

There is a question we all need to ask at this hour in our history of time, for there is an appointed time—a time appointed by God Himself when He will judge all the earth. There is a time of night that is coming. Do you see the sun setting? Do you notice the times? Are you preparing for those times? Now isn’t the time to allow fear to control you and cause you to come to a halt or to hide your head in the sand. Now is the time to prepare. Now is the time to store up food in your storehouses. Strengthen your foundation and build on the sturdy, unshakeable Rock. We are each called to be watchmen. We are each expected to know the season and recognize the signs. Don’t let the panic and hysteria of the world grab hold of you. You aren’t a part of this world. You don’t belong to this world, so don’t be bound by the strongholds of this world. Stand on the Rock.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Watch For Coming The Night.

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The Many Reasons To Rejoice

²³Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God, for He has given the early rain for your vindication; He has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the latter rain, as before. ~ Joel 2:23

Countenance is the outward showing of God’s love that is in you and in me, which is expressed on our faces through rejoicing. It is our way of expressing thankfulness to God our Father for His numerous blessings on us. It’s our offering to Him.

Rejoicing is directly related to the harvest. Every feast and every offering. Every harvest time and every sheep shearing time was to be accompanied with gladness and rejoicing. Rejoice! Because the Lord, your God, has made you glad and has blessed you with good things to enjoy. Rejoice and be glad because the LORD your God has dealt wondrously with you. Meaning, He has given you a bountiful blessing to enjoy; now show thanks. So, remove that frown. Get rid of that downcast face. Look up and rejoice because the LORD our God reigns.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Rejoice.

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Experience The Joy of The LORD

²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ~ Galatians 5:22-23

God doesn’t say be happy because happiness is based on your circumstances, whereas joy is what God gives, in good times and in bad. The problem with happiness is it can be fleeting or even misleading. What I mean is this. Sometimes people smile on the outside and even laugh, while all the while, they are troubled on the inside. They have thoughts of suicide, worries, concerns, and day-to-day fears and doubts.

While joy gives us God’s peace, even in the midst of the storm, joy will take us through tribulation. Joy surrounds us even in the face of death. Joy changes our attitude even when gloom is hanging over us. Joy gives us hope.

If you want to experience the Joy of the LORD, you must begin with celebrating even when there is nothing to celebrate or nothing to celebrate about. If you celebrate God, a spirit of thankfulness will overshadow you, and joy will enter your heart.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Experience The Joy of The LORD.

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Rejoice More

Why did God tell the Children of Zion to rejoice? Because He has poured down abundant rain. He gave them the early and the latter rain, as before. They hadn’t seen as yet, but it was already done for them, and God wanted them to act like it so as to usher it into being. All of that is already done whether they have seen it or not. Seeing is not believing because the just shall live by faith.

What does rain represent in Scripture? Here, rain represents God’s blessings and favor and provision and the ability to provide a great harvest. Now, notice that there are three different kinds of rain. The abundant rain. The early rain. And the latter rain. And all three of these rains are different.

The abundant rain speaks of the blessings of the LORD, which leads to overflow and abundance. It’s the present blessings of the LORD. The autumn rains represent the past blessings that you should have had but you missed because you were either in the wrong place, had the wrong attitude, or were acting in the wrong behavior. It’s the missed blessings that God sent you that you should have had if it was not for disobedience. The latter rains are the future blessings that God has in store for you that will come in season and out of season. The more you rejoice and be glad, the more the blessings will flow.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Rejoice More.

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Be Renewed Trough Him

³¹ but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.~ Isaiah 40:31

The strength of the Church is fleeting. We’re tired and weary. It feels like we’re fighting a pointless battle sometimes. Obstacle after obstacle tries to slow us down and bring our run to a halt. And sometimes, our cross just feels too heavy to carry anymore. But here’s the thing, we don’t have to run the race worn out, struggling with all of this stuff.

God promised that if we spend time in His presence, He would renew us. So many of us Church folks are dying of thirst and exhaustion on the race set before us because we’re trying to run in our own strength and stamina. We aren’t strong enough to successfully run this race. We have to rely on God. We have to rely on Christ Jesus. We have to rely on His Holy Spirit. There’s no doing this alone. We’re too weak, but the LORD God is our strength. He is our strong tower. He is our Rock. He is our breath. He is our everything. Spend time with Him, and you won’t be weary or tired in this race we call life.

LORD God, please help me to desire to want to spend time with You. Help me to love You the way You deserve. Help me to be like David, who knew how to come in and go out. Please give me a heart of worship and praise. Teach me how to be renewed in You, LORD, so that I might hear, well done my good and faithful servant with whom I am well pleased, at the end of my race. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Rejoice in the LORD

⁴You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way. ⁵But you shall seek the place that the Lord your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name and make his habitation there. There you shall go, ⁶and there you shall bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution that you present, your vow offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock. ⁷And there you shall eat before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your households, in all that you undertake, in which the Lord your God has blessed you. ~ Deuteronomy 12:4-7

God instructs Israel to rejoice in all situations because rejoicing can be considered an offering to the LORD that is connected to the love of God. God does not want us to walk around with our faces made up and our countenance fallen. He wants us to express and show His love because He is a God of love, and He wants and expects us to abide in His love. You cannot abide in God’s love without rejoicing, for He is a good good Father who gives a million little miracles to each and every one of us. All good things come down from the Father of Lights. Rejoice in the LORD, and He will strengthen you because you no longer lean on yourself but on Him.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Rejoice in the LORD.

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Seek His Joy

⁷If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁹As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. ¹¹These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. ~ John 15:7, 9, 11

It’s all about RELATIONSHIP. Jesus said if you abide in me and my words in you, that is relationship. Now listen to me. You cannot maintain a good and proper relationship without communication. Meaning: You have to actively pray and seek the LORD. You have to actively praise and worship the LORD. You have to regularly read and study your Bible so that Jesus can speak to you.

Now benefits: You can ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you, and then Jesus reiterates the requirement: Abide in my love. It’s imperative, essential, and critical that we establish, nurture, and maintain that relationship if you want the benefits, that is.

Therefore, if we meet the requirement, then we can have the benefit. The benefit is: Ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for us. This word “wish” is a strong desire or too long for eagerly.

Now, I want you to understand that this is not a Christmas list that you hand over to God. Oh LORD, You know how I’ve been longing for a Lamborghini, and voila, it’s parked off in the driveway the very next morning. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way at all. I wish it did. I have a few things on my wish list that I wouldn’t mind asking for and getting. But it’s not like that.

The next benefit is this: That His joy may be in us, and our joy might be full; that is: to make complete. It’s joy unspeakable and full of glory. Joy that the world cannot give, nor can it take it away. The kind of joy that the heathen does not recognize, nor can he comprehend it. It’s joy in times of trouble. Joy in times of persecution. Joy in times of hardship. Joy in the good times. And joy in the bad times. Your joy is complete.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Seek His Joy.

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Don’t Live In Yesterday

¹ I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. ²Every branch in me that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. ³Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. ⁴Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. ⁵I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. ~ John 15:1-5

The bottom in Jesus’ discourse is to abide and “Bear Fruit.” Jesus said that He, Himself was the Vine, and we are the branches. Jesus doesn’t just use any old frivolous analogy here to describe His relationship with us, and ours with Him, and the Father’s obligations in the whole plan of fruit-bearing.

Let me describe the vine for you. The grapevine has a trunk that comes up out of the ground, and then there are two arms of the vine stretching out on each side called canes—a perfect picture of the Crucified Messiah.

Now from the two arms, several shoots grow vertically. Those shoots are the branches that are us, the Christians, the Body of Christ. The growing upwards is a perfect picture of our relationship that we have with Jesus. Our relationship with Him is a vertical one. Our prayers, our intercessions, our requests, they all go upward to Jesus. We even raise our hands upward in worship.

Leaves and grapes only grow from new shoots each year. Therefore, all of the old shoots are cut off and thrown away. This a very good example of the lesson that we cannot live in yesterday’s glory or survive on yesterday’s miracles. We have to keep seeking more. Jesus encouraged His disciples (and us) by telling them that they would do greater things than even He did. Time is so short we can’t afford to dwell in past miracles as if God has stopped working. God is the God of new things. His desire is to continuously do new things in your life until you have become perfected in Christ Jesus.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Seek New Miracles.

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