Devotionals Archives

January 5, 2022January 5, 2022

Examine Yourselves

⁵Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! ⁶I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test. ~ 2 Corinthians 13:5-6

Paul encouraged the Corinthian believers to examine themselves. We don’t often do this in our society today. We push sayings like, ‘accept me for me,’ ‘don’t change for anyone,’ ‘this is just the way I am,’ and in doing so, we never grow. I’m not saying that we should become a completely different person so someone will like us, but we must become completely different from our sinful nature so that we may become one with Christ.

Every New Year, we set goals and resolutions that we want to reach in the New Year, so why not take the time this New Year to spiritually evaluate yourselves as Paul encouraged the Corinthian believers to do so long ago.

Take some time to evaluate and reevaluate your life and who you have become. Do some soul searching to see if who you are matches who God originally created you to be. Evaluate your reaction to things and situations. Do an honest self-examination every other day or at least once a week to see if you are growing. Compare your life and your decisions to the Biblical standard God has raised for each and every one of us.

Ask yourself honest questions:

How do you deal with stressful situations?
How are you handling tense situations?
Have you let go of the past?
Are you holding any grudges?
Do you return an eye for an eye?
Did you react with a Christ-like attitude?

You won’t magically change overnight, but by the grace of God, you will change by the constant renewal of your mind. Make a conscious effort to not allow the things that angered you last year to anger you this year. Believe that the things that flustered you last year, you have now overcome and conquered this year. For the God that has all things under His feet resides in you.

LORD God, help me to strengthen my weak points. Help me to guard my thoughts and words so that my actions may be pleasing and acceptable to You. Help me to always remember that I have become the Temple of the Living God the day that I accepted You, LORD Jesus, as LORD of my life. Help me to move forward in this New Year and to grow spiritually, emotionally, and physically in You. In the name of Jesus, I pray, Amen.

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Have Faith In Your God

²⁷And He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” ²⁸But she answered Him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” ²⁹And He said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” ³⁰And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone. ~

A lot of times, we believe that we should receive an answer as soon as we make our request known, but God doesn’t always work that way. Sometimes He wants you to press in deeper. Sometimes He’s trying to push you in a different direction that is better for you. Sometimes He wants you to learn something before you receive what you’re asking for.

So, don’t be discouraged; no doesn’t always mean no. Sometimes you have to keep asking. Sometimes you have to hold on to hope and stand in faith that the LORD will answer your prayer. You have to remind yourself of all the promises the LORD has given you, claim them, continue to ask and stand in faith that your request will be made known to the LORD and fulfilled.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Have Faith In Your God.

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Water the Seed

²¹His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ ~ Matthew 25:21

God doesn’t start us off with more than we can handle. He prepares us little by little. He plants a tiny mustard seed of faith and waters it until it grows into a full tree. God isn’t a merciless tyrant throwing rocks at us, hoping to overcome us. God is our Heavenly Father who seeks only to build us up and make us new so that one day He may say to us, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant.’

This is the desire that God has for each of us. Take each moment that God gives you and use it to build your faith. Without faith, you cannot be saved, for no man can please God without faith. But don’t be discouraged or dismayed, for you have been filled with the Spirit of God Himself that is doing a good work in you.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Water the Seed.

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Put On The New

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

This is the time many people are making their New Year’s Resolution and making New Year’s plans and promises. Well, we have a New Year promise from Jesus.

The old has passed away and behold, the new has come.

I would encourage you to put that on your New Year’s resolution list. I will put off the old and put on the new. I will not let those things that tripped me up last year, to trip me up this year.

I will not stumble over the same things that I’ve been stumbling over in the past. I will not let anger, grief, lust, etc., get the best of me, for the old has passed away, and the new has come.

Thank you, Father, for giving me a new start. Help me to walk the path of righteousness this year. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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Don’t Dwell On The Hurt

¹⁸ Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. ¹⁹ Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. ~ Isaiah 43:18-19

Today is New Year’s Day. Last night we symbolically laid the Old Year to rest. Today is a fresh and new opportunity to correct the errors and make right the wrongs.

God admonished us through the prophet Isaiah not to remember the former things anymore. Don’t dwell on the hurt. Don’t dwell on the missed opportunities, neither dwell on the heartaches and pain of the past. For God, our God is doing a new thing.

He will make a way where, just last year, did not seem to be a way. When you walk through the dry and arid desert, where no water is, God will bring forth streams of water to quench your thirst.

When you are feeling lonely, lo, He will be right beside you. Never will He leave you, and never will He forsake you. But He will take your hand to strengthen you.

Reach out to Him in the spiritual right now. Let Him lead and guide you to places you’ve never been and to heights you’ve never soared before. This is your year. Keep on trusting. Keep on hoping in the LORD, and He will deliver you, and set your feet on the King’s Highway!

Father, thank You for new beginnings. Thank You for new opportunities. Thank You for all Your promises to me. Yours is the truth, and Yours is the way. Help me to keep trusting and let my faith not dwindle. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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Believe God For The Impossible

³⁵As they were emptying their sacks, there in each man’s sack was his pouch of silver! When they and their father saw the money pouches, they were frightened. ³⁶Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my children. Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more, and now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is against me!” ~ Genesis 42:35-36^NIV

The saying goes, ‘It’s always darkest just before the light.’ Jacob found himself in this very position. Everything that could go wrong, had gone wrong.

His favorite son, from his favorite wife, was dead, at least from his perspective. They were in a worldwide famine, and Egypt was the only country with grain. The ruler of Egypt was holding one of his sons, Simeon. And to make matters worse, he wanted Jacob’s youngest son by his now dead, favorite wife whom he really loved before he would sell them any more grain.

Jacob cried, ‘Everything is against me,’ as his head fell into his hands. ‘Everything is against me.’

But what he forgot was that God was for him. God was working everything out for him. God was planning on giving back double for his trouble. Not only would he see his dead son, Joseph, alive again, but he would see Joseph’s two sons as well. Something he never thought possible.

So, in this New Year, remember that God specializes in the impossible. Things that you thought were lost will be found. Things you thought were dead and burned will be raised up. God can do exceedingly, abundantly above that which we can ask or think.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Believe God for the impossible this New Year.

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Don’t Stop Them

“Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in Your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.” “Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us. Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward.” ~ Mark 9:38-41^NIV

Sometimes we see people doing things that we believe are only for us or that we believe are only for a certain person, so we try to stop them. We try to box them in. We try to keep them from accessing power that we don’t believe they deserve. It’s not even necessarily because we think that what they’re doing is wrong, but because we don’t think it’s right for them to do it.

We see this a lot in the Church today. We see Christians tearing down other Christians because of the gifts and calls that God has given them. But as Jesus Himself said, no one working in the power of God can, in the next moment or next breath, speak against Him. Therefore, even if they aren’t your denomination or you differ on minute issues, if they aren’t against your Jesus and what He stands for, then they are with you. Don’t let the Spirit of Religion get in the way of what God is trying to do.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Don’t Stop Them.

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Shine

¹⁶In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. ~ Matthew 5:16 ESV

We live in a very secular world, with different beliefs, different thoughts, and very different religious tolerance. Not everyone will accept our message. Not everyone will accept us. So don’t judge or make others feel like we’re condemning them.

Make sure you let your light shine so that they can see your good works because they are watching, evaluating, and making a mental note. If you show intolerance for their beliefs, they will show you likewise.

I always start with a question. What do you believe about…? Or what is your concept of this…? Or thoughts on such and such…? Don’t be afraid to engage people in a conversation. How will they hear if they are not told? And if not you, then who? So, do it now, don’t wait. If you wait, you won’t do it. And before you know it, you’ve lost the moment.

Remember, it’s not our job to save people because it’s not our blood that saves them, nor is it our Spirit that draws them to repentance. It is, however, our job to tell people. So don’t be afraid to have those conversations. Just be mindful, tactful, and sincere. Don’t let fear keep you from sharing the good news. Let God speak through you, just as He spoke through Peter on the day of Pentecost.

Father, give us boldness to proclaim Your word. Stretch forth Your mighty hand to save, heal, and restore. May You receive honor and glory, in Jesus’ name, amen.

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Eat of Its Fruit

⁵⁹So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, along with her nurse and Abraham’s servant and his men. ⁶⁰And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “Our sister, may you increase to thousands upon thousands; may your offspring possess the cities of their enemies.” ~ Genesis 24:59-60^NIV

Notice how even though they aren’t serving God Almighty, they still understand the weight of words, and they bless Rebekah? We who have the very Spirit of God dwelling in us, the very same power that raised Jesus from the dead living in us, don’t bless our children, siblings, family, and friends the way we should. Instead, we use saying like ‘That’ll kill you’ or ‘They’ll learn when they feel.’ Our words seem to have turned negative from positive.

Maybe it’s just because I grew up in a Caribbean household (that has the influence of Pessimistic England), but it seems our world has become more and more negative. We believe we’ll fail before we succeed. There’s more depression and suicide throughout all the world than in previous years. There’s more bullying and angry children. Where are the blessings and the hope? We have God dwelling with us. Something that the ancient world never experienced, so why don’t we take advantage of it? Why don’t we speak life over our families and friends? Why don’t we speak life over our jobs and our ventures? Why don’t we speak life period?

I challenge you every day to speak at least one positive thing over your family and friends, then pay attention to see how things begin to change. For life and death is in the power of the tongue, and those that love it shall eat of its fruits.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Eat of Its Fruit.

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