Devotionals Archives

October 30, 2020October 27, 2020

What Do You Want?

“The craving of a sluggard will be the death of him because his hands refuse to work.” – Proverbs 21:25 ^NIV

What do you want in life? Success? A spouse? A family? A job? To lose weight? Get in shape? Spiritual growth? Run a 10k? Get your degree? We all have desires. We all have dreams. There is something that all of us want, but not all of us get them. The majority of the time, our biggest problem is us. We allow laziness, procrastination, fear, lack of determination to overtake us. We’ll settle for less than because we don’t want to put in the work, or we’re too afraid to fail.

But what do you want? Because success won’t hunt you down, neither will a job, weight loss, a spouse, or anything you want in life. You have to go out and take it. You have to go out and fight for it. Work for it. It’s not enough to want it. It’s not enough to pray for it. Sure God will help you, but you have to do your part, get the ball rolling. Once you get the ball rolling, God will help His children. Don’t give up. Don’t give in. Do. Don’t wait for tomorrow to do what you can today because tomorrow may never come. Don’t wait for the perfect time because there is no such thing as perfect timing.

Whatever you do, do it to the best of your abilities. Give it everything you have. And as you go through your day, I pray this blessing over you, “Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!” (Psalms 90:17 ^ESV) Decide what you want in life. Get the ball rolling. Don’t wait for tomorrow. Do it today.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Get The Ball Rolling.

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Two Sons

“²⁸What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ ²⁹And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. ³⁰And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. ³¹Which of the two did the will of his father?” ~ Matthew 21:28-31a

The first son had no intention of working in the vineyard but changed his mind and did as his father asked. The second son, however, had all the intention in the world but either couldn’t spare the time or completely forgot because of distractions. Be very careful of distractions that cause you to neglect your promises, especially to God and to your family. Like the proverb says, “Good intentions pave the way to Hell.” Keep your promises even if it hurts, finish what you started, and stop putting off until tomorrow what you can do today because that tomorrow may never come.

Our Heavenly Father, please help us in this area. First, do not put off salvation, for today is the day of repentance; tomorrow is promised to no man. Second, not to put off telling someone else of the Good News so that they too may live and not die. Thirdly to keep all the promises we swore we would keep, for You take no pleasure in fools. Lastly, the plans and God-given creative ideas that formulate in our minds for businesses and new inventions and ministries that never get acted upon because of procrastination or fear of failure. Would you rebuke the spirit of procrastination and please help us to put these ideas into action. For we ask it all in Jesus’ name, amen.

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The Spirit of Procrastination

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” ~ Matthew 7:7-8

Jesus is saying here that if you want something, you must pursue it. It does no good to say, “I want a good college education, but never study or do homework.” Or to say you want this or that but never fill out the application for it. Likewise, you can’t have the full blessing of God if you never seek the face of God. Let us determine this year to ask, seek, and knock.

Heavenly Father, please rebuke the spirit of procrastination and grant us the determination to ask, seek, and knock. So that our prayers and requests will be heard and answered. In Jesus name, amen.

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No Significant Features

“Go and look toward the sea,” he told his servant. And he went up and looked. “There is nothing there,” he said. Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.” The seventh time the servant reported, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.” So Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘ Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.'” ~ 1 Kings 18: 43-44

There was a severe drought in Israel; God had shut up the heavens because of King Ahab and Jezebel’s idolatry. It had not rained for three and a half years. Elijah prayed earnestly seven times without doubting or giving up. Even before he saw the small speck of a cloud, he had told Ahab, “Go eat and drink for there is the sound of a heavy rain.”

Are you in a drought? Are you believing God for a mighty miracle? A complete change in your situation? Begin to pray earnestly and believe without doubting for your miracle. Proclaim it, there is the sound of abundance coming, even though there are no significant features, nothing is seeming to change, look toward the sea, there is a small cloud rising, it’s your miracle, your abundant rain.

Heavenly Father, hear us from heaven and touch our generation. Bring about the mighty miracles that your people need today. Bring healing, change finances, heal depression. LORD mend the situation in families and unite them again. Let love reign in our life, let forgiveness show through in all situations. Change circumstances in workplaces. LORD breathe on the economies of the world, jump-start the economic recovery, and provide the needed jobs. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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His Steadfast Love

“¹ Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. ²Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy,” ~ Psalms 107:1-2

We will be grateful to the LORD for all His blessings, and we will thank Him for His goodness toward us. We will not be intimidated or let others keep us silent, but as the redeemed of the LORD, we will say so. For the LORD is good, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and forgiveness. Things may not always be perfect, but we have this to be thankful for our God has redeemed us from the hand of the enemy. He has redeemed us from our past, from our mistakes, from our failures. We have been redeemed.

We praise You Father and give You thanks, probably not as much as we should. But let Your praises persistently be on our tongues and Your thanks perpetually on our lips. Let the words of adoration continuously fill our mouths. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Go Witness

“In the third year of his reign Jehoshaphat sent his officials to teach in all the towns of Judah. These officials included Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah. They took copies of the Book of the Law of the Lord and traveled around through all the towns of Judah, teaching the people.” ~ 2 Chronicles 17:7, 9

Jehoshaphat sent his officials to all the towns of Judah to teach the word of God to all his subjects. Why do you suppose he did that? I believe it was for two reasons:

1.) He loved the LORD
2.) He loved his people

You cannot have a close relationship with the Almighty and not love what He loves. And what He loves most is people. More specifically, He loves their souls that will spend eternity in one of two places. Either in paradise with God or in the lake of fire without Him. But most Christians go through their Christian walk, and no one even knows they are Christian. They never witness; therefore, they never win souls. But if you continue to read the passage, it says that “the fear of the Lord fell over all the surrounding kingdoms so that none of them wanted to declare war on Jehoshaphat. Some of the Philistines brought him gifts and silver as tribute, and the Arabs brought 7,700 rams and 7,700 male goats” (vv10-11).

Not only did Jehoshaphat receive spiritual and physical blessings, but he received a financial blessing as well. Jehoshaphat reaped the benefits of obedience. You can too, it all begins with your testimony. Tell them how much God has done for you.

Father give us the boldness and confidence we need to witness to the lost, that they may hear the Good News and believe. Soften their hearts as we witness. In Jesus’ name, we pray, Amen.

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Our Everyday Lives

“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” ~ Matthew 6:33-34

As we go through our everyday lives, let us make that a priority – to seek God’s kingdom first. Prayer and worship. Spending time in the Presence of God. Secondly, let us not worry and get stressed out about things that are in God’s hands. Worry is the opposite of faith. Even though we may not see it this way, we are saying that we don’t trust God to do the right thing for us. In what do you put your trust in? What you worry about will tell you.

Heavenly Father, please give us the peace we need to stay calm and stress-free. LORD help us not to worry, but to learn to leave everything in Your hands and to depend on Your best judgment for us. Bless us in our day to day lives. Remind us that our life is in the hands of our Heavenly Father. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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His Grace

“And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” ~ 1 Corinthians 6:11

Some people will try to hold on to the past, and they will try to use it to define you. But that was who you were, not who you are now! You are not that person anymore. You are a new creation. So hold your head high, rejoice in the LORD for He is good. No weapon formed against you will prosper. And those words of condemnation…you will be able to refute every one, no one will be able to stand against you if the LORD is your shield.

My Heavenly Father, please restore a sense of pride in Your people who have been trampled down. Confirm Your grace to those who are constantly reminded of their past, and to those who are told lies that they are worthless, let them feel Your love and fill them with self-worth because of Your grace. Bless Your people today, in Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

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The Heartbroken

“Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” ~ Psalms 30:5

Needless to say, heartache is a part of life. It is inevitable, and especially when you have loved ones, because life does not last forever. Someone today may have their heartbroken for whatever reason. Maybe it’s the death of a loved one or the death of your innocence. Maybe it’s words that have cut through your very soul. I’m here today to let you know it’s not the end of the world. It is not the end of your dreams.

I know it hurts now, but God has promised: “Joy will come in the morning.” So hold on, hold tight, don’t lose sight of where you’re going. The LORD is your very great reward. Begin to put this into practice bit by bit daily, and you will receive the joy of the LORD, which will be your strength. Be encouraged today for the pain you feel now won’t last forever, for you have been promised the joy of the LORD.

Heavenly Father, please bring Your peace to troubled lives, bring comfort to the brokenhearted. And as hard as it seems to us, help us to forgive others who have hurt us needlessly. Restore relationships, put the broken pieces of shattered lives back together, and bring Your overwhelming peace into our fragile lives. I ask this all in Jesus’ name, amen.

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Your God-Given Mission

“³¹He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. ³²He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ³³But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. ‘Get behind me, Satan!’ He said. ‘You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.’” ~ Mark 8:31-33

Jesus was on a mission, and when He shared His mission, it was different than what Peter had in mind. So what does Peter do? Peter rebukes Jesus in an attempt to discourage Him from His God-given purpose. Now, what does Jesus do? Let’s look at verse 33, Jesus turns and looks at His disciples. He was refocusing, reevaluating His mission, and when He saw His disciples, He was reminded why He had come. He had come to die for these lost souls and, indeed, all the lost souls of the world. If you are ever discouraged, turn, look, reevaluate your mission, and never ever let anyone, no matter how close, talk you out of your God-given purpose, for it is for the Glory of God.

Heavenly Father, we know the enemy is stomping around like a roaring lion seeking someone or some ministry to destroy. We realize he will use anyone or any situation to achieve this. LORD our God, we ask you to rebuke the devourer today on our behalf and to deliver us from discouragement. Send someone along today to encourage your people because You love us and care so much for us that You shed Your blood to redeem us. Thank You, Father, in Jesus name I pray, amen.

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