Devotionals Archives

February 15, 2022February 10, 2022

Stick To God’s Plan

⁵God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure. ~ Ephesians 1:5

God’s salvation plan wasn’t last minute. It wasn’t something that He just pulled out of the air. He planned this from the very beginning. He prepared a way for us to return to Him before we even fell from grace. God hasn’t changed. Before we’re even tempted to sin, God created an escape plan for us.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Stick To God’s Plan.

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Know Your Worth

¹⁹It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. ²⁰God chose Him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days He has been revealed for your sake. ~ 1 Peter 1:19-20

Valentine’s Day is usually a day we think about our significant other, roses, chocolate, date night, love, and basically anything other than the ultimate act of love that took place 2,000 years ago. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross was the ultimate act of love that He didn’t have to do. He didn’t have to set aside His Throne or Godliness to save us, but He did. He gave up everything, including His very life, so that He could pay our debt and redeem us from our sin.

This Valentine’s Day, remember that ultimate act of love. Remember the love that you’re worth, and don’t settle for anything less. The God of everything we see and don’t see knows you by name and knows your worth. So, you should as well.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Know Your Worth.

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Hold To His Word

²⁸I weep with sorrow; encourage me by Your word. ~ Psalms 119:28

The Word of God isn’t a book of rules and laws. It’s a personal letter written to us by God for low days and high days. It’s not about dos and don’ts. It’s about God speaking to us through His Word. He wants to get to know us and us to get to know Him. His Word is the key to walking in the light instead of the darkness. So, when we’re depressed or overwhelmed, we can read His Word, and He will encourage us. We don’t have to remain depressed and in darkness; the light of God is right around the corner.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Hold To His Word.

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Go To God First

¹⁶ Turn to me and have mercy, for I am alone and in deep distress. ~ Psalms 25:16

When we’re in pain, the first thing we should do is turn to God. He’s our helper and defender. He heals the brokenhearted and gives strength to the weak. Our God is unlike any other god. He’s the God that wants to help you and heal you. He wants to make things better for you. He’s the best best-friend you could ever ask for. So, the next time you’re in distress, go to God first, and He will strengthen and help you.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Go To God First.

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See Jesus

¹⁹Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. ~ John 14:19

The world may not see God, but we do. We see Him in our everyday lives. Every little miracle comes from above. See, Jesus isn’t physically here, but He lives through us. We may not physically see Him or talk to Him, but we can spiritually communicate with Him. When we pray, we are seated in Heavenly places with the LORD. We aren’t alone, His Holy Spirit lives in us. He guides us so we don’t fall off the path. He prays for us because we don’t know how to pray for ourselves. We are not alone.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and See Jesus.

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Begin To Train Your Brain

²Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. ~ Colossians 3:2

So often, our focus is on the things of this world that won’t last. The things that are temporal, that often lead to death. These are the things that take up our time and separate us from God. These things only get in the way of our heavenly reward. So why do we constantly fall down over the same temporary things?

I guess it’s because it’s hard to focus on something that we can’t see or imagine. We can’t imagine what God has in store for those who love Him. We can’t imagine the great reward that awaits us, so we focus on what we can see and imagine. It comes with being human.

Don’t be discouraged. There’s hope. We can change with the help of the Holy Spirit. We start with the transformation of our mind, which starts with reading your bible and spending quiet time with the LORD. When we begin to train our brains, the Spirit of God begins to take hold of us, and He helps us to focus on the eternal instead of the temporal. We just have to make the first move.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Begin To Train Your Brain.

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Mold Your Heart

¹⁰The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for wisdom. ¹¹So God replied, “Because you have asked for wisdom in governing my people with justice and have not asked for a long life or wealth or the death of your enemies— ¹²I will give you what you asked for! I will give you a wise and understanding heart such as no one else has had or ever will have! ¹³And I will also give you what you did not ask for—riches and fame! No other king in all the world will be compared to you for the rest of your life! ¹⁴And if you follow me and obey my decrees and my commands as your father, David, did, I will give you a long life.” ~ 1 Kings 3:10-14

The LORD gave Solomon the opportunity to ask for whatever he wanted. When the LORD heard what Solomon asked for, He was pleased, and therefore He gave him what he requested. So many of us hear the words, ‘ask, and you shall receive,’ but we don’t fully grasp that God only gives us the desires of our heart when it matches the desires of His heart. Unless we are in sync with God, then He can’t grant us every request.

Why? Because if our heart isn’t in sync with His, then our heart’s desires will be wicked and evil. We have to spiritually grow closer to God so that our hearts may begin to shape and form into a heart like God’s. When our heart matches His, then He will begin to give us the desires of our heart, lest we be able to hurt ourselves and/or others with our wicked desires. So, seek God that your heart may be molded and your desires mold with it as well.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Mold Your Heart.

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Be Sure of Your Conviction

²³And after he had eaten bread and drunk, he saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back. ²⁴And as he went away a lion met him on the road and killed him. And his body was thrown in the road, and the donkey stood beside it; the lion also stood beside the body. ~ 1 Kings 13:23-24

Here’s a little back story for you. A man of God heard from the LORD that he was not to eat with King Jeroboam or eat anyone, for that matter, in that place. In fact, this man of God was filled with such conviction that he told King Jeroboam that even if he gave him half of his house, he still wouldn’t go home and eat with the king. After this, the man of God left. He was feeling confident in the word he heard from the LORD. He was on his way back home, then out of nowhere, an older prophet came after him and told him that he heard from an angel that he had to bring the man of God home with him. Because of this, the man of God left with him and ate at his home with the old prophet. This is where we pick up our story. The man of God was killed because of his disobedience to God.

So many of us have heard a word from the LORD. We heard a direct call from the LORD to do something or not to do something. When we first hear the word, we’re confident. We’re sure. In fact, when people we know don’t hear from God, don’t believe in the word you heard, it doesn’t bother you. But as soon as someone you know is a man or woman of God and they contradict or doubt the word that you’ve heard, then you begin to doubt as well. That’s what happened to the man of God. He was confident until the other man of God, who was older, contradicted what he knew God had told him.

When we hear a word from God, we have to have confidence in the word we heard. We have to have faith, regardless of what other people say they heard. Because if we don’t, we could completely miss our call, and in doing so, spiritual die. Why? Because Jesus said that it’s not just calling Jesus LORD that matters, it’s those who do the will of the Father in Heaven. Doing the will of the Father is what will get us into Heaven (Matthew 7:21). So, if we don’t follow the will of the Father, then we spiritually die and are separated from the LORD. So, have faith in what you have heard. Do the will of the Father.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be Sure of Your Conviction.

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Hate Evil

^10a O you who love the Lord, hate evil! ~ Psalms 97:10a

Over the years, we, the Church, moved from hating the sinner to loving the sin. Neither one was God’s intention for how we are to live our lives. We’re supposed to love the sinner but hate the sin. When you love somebody, you correct them with love and compassion.

Remember that at one point, we were all sinners. The only difference between the Church and the world is that the Church has been redeemed. We’re no better than anyone else; we just have the Holy Spirit guiding us and interceding on our behalf. But who does the world have? This is how we love them. We correct, lead by example, and intercede on their behalf.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Hate Evil.

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Don’t Give Into Fear

¹ The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion. ~ Proverbs 28:1

We are the righteous children of God, so why do we fear? Jesus came down from heaven to earth to die on the cross and rise again so that we would no longer be slaves to anything. We are no longer slaves to sin, our past transgressions and mistakes, neither are we slaves to fear. So, why are we so afraid? For fear has to do with punishment, and we are now redeemed from punishment. We are the chosen children of God.

The Almighty lives in you, and He is doing a great work in you, so don’t be afraid to follow Him and His plan for your life. Don’t be afraid to try or to live. You are free. Always remember fear only works if you’re afraid. Unless you give into fear, there is nothing that fear can do to you. It has no control over you unless you give into it. So, stand strong in confidence and the authority of Jesus Christ, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Don’t Give Into Fear.

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