Devotionals Archives

January 13, 2022January 10, 2022

Rejoice in Our Great Hope

⁸ We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; ⁹ persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; ~ 2 Corinthians 4:8-9

The world is a way different place today than it was yesterday. Things are changing daily. Our money is being devalued daily, causing prices to skyrocket. Christians are being persecuted around the world. Pastors and Christians are facing possible jail sentences for preaching the word of God that does not line up with the pushed narrative.

Life, in general, is getting harder and harder. It feels like we are being hard-pressed and forced into a corner. Well, I’m here to tell you that you might feel that way, but Jesus will not allow you to be crushed. He said He will never leave us and that He’s given us the hope of Him coming back for us. Therefore, we do not despair.

And the best of all, He will not let our enemies destroy us. They may persecute us. They may throw us in jail. They may confiscate our property. They may even kill us, but God will not let them destroy us. So, rejoice, for we have a great hope in the LORD.

LORD God, help me to rejoice in all situations. Help me to see the good in the bad, the joy in the despair, the light in the darkness. Help me to focus on Your plan for my life and not on the world or the things of the world. Strengthen me in my weakness, oh LORD God, and fill me with Your precious Holy Spirit that I might be able to stand on Your promises and in Your truth. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Keep an Eye on the Future

¹⁷Then Abraham bowed down to the ground, but he laughed to himself in disbelief. “How could I become a father at the age of 100?” he thought. “And how can Sarah have a baby when she is ninety years old?” ¹⁸So Abraham said to God, “May Ishmael live under your special blessing!” ¹⁹But God replied, “No—Sarah, your wife, will give birth to a son for you. You will name him Isaac, and I will confirm my covenant with him and his descendants as an everlasting covenant.” ~ Genesis 17:17-19

The LORD told Abraham that Sarah would give birth to a son, but Abraham laughed to himself in disbelief. Immediately after, God tells Abraham the name of his son, Isaac. Isaac apparently means ‘He laughs.’ And if we think about it, Isaac didn’t really seem to do much… sure, he’s one of the forefathers of the faith, but he didn’t do all that Abraham did or even what Jacob did. Isaac almost feels like a blur… I wonder if Abraham hadn’t have laughed but believed wholeheartedly, Isaac would have received a different name with a more purposeful role as a forefather of the faith.

The sins of the father may not rest on the children, meaning that the child will not die on behalf of the father’s sins, but the father’s sins will, without doubt, affect the children. This is why we have so many generational curses because what we do today affects those who live tomorrow.

Let’s take a quick look at Isaac again. He made the same exact mistakes of his father, Abraham, in regards to lying about his wife. He didn’t learn from his father’s mistakes. Isaac loved Esau most, and he didn’t see that the call was for Jacob. Even in his old age, Isaac was easily tricked by his wife and son, Jacob. A lot of what he did, or what he is remembered for, seems to be laughable, but even in all of that, you can still the mighty hand of God upon him.

God was with him when he had a problem with Abimelech and his people. God was with him when he married Rebekah and when he needed comforting after his mother’s death. God was without a doubt with Isaac, and this is because of Abraham’s relationship with God. Abraham’s relationship with God was so close and true that God continued that relationship with Isaac.

What we do and how we react to our circumstances will impact and affect our children, even if we don’t think it will. So, make a conscious effort to always have the future in mind as we live in the present.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Keep an Eye on the Future.

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Follow Behind The LORD

⁵The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. ⁶The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, ⁷keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” ~ Exodus 34:5-7

When the LORD called Moses, He didn’t call him, tell him what to do, then send him out alone unprotected with no help. No, instead, the LORD God Himself got off of His throne and went before Moses, declaring His name and character. God didn’t just leave Moses alone; He went before him, clearing the way. And our God does not change. Therefore, if He went before Moses, He will go before each and every one of us.

We don’t fight the good fight alone. Jesus already fought the fight and won. He overcame so that we can also overcome through Him. The LORD has gone before us, declaring His name and all He has done for us. That doesn’t mean that we don’t have to fight anymore; Moses still had to go behind the LORD and do all that the LORD commanded him. Therefore, we still have to work and run the race until Jesus comes back for us but be encouraged for the LORD Himself dwells with us and in us. He is the one who helps us fight our battles. We are not alone.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Follow Behind the LORD.

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Inspect The Work

⁴²So the people of Israel followed all of the LORD’s instructions to Moses. ⁴³Then Moses inspected all their work. When he found it had been done just as the Lord had commanded him, he blessed them. ~ Exodus 39:42-43

Moses didn’t just take the people’s word for it; he went and inspected all they had done to make sure that it met the standards the LORD God had set for them. He didn’t let anything be subpar, or make excuses for the people of Israel, so why do we today? We make so many excuses for fellow Christians that don’t reach the standards of God Almighty.

We’ve become so afraid to offend the world that we’ve lulled ourselves into a spiritual sleep that we can’t even differentiate between good and evil anymore. We no longer even know what the instructions of the LORD God are. We’ve lost sight of who God created us to be. We’ve lost sight of the mark that He has set for us to reach.

But it’s not too late to wake up. It’s not too late to aim for the mark. We can still wake up and run the race that has been set out before us. All you have to do is pray this prayer.

Dear LORD, please awaken the sleeping spirit within me. Replace my heart of stone with a heart of flesh that my heart might break for what breaks Yours. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit that I might be able to live a life holy and pleasing to You. Lead me in the path of righteousness for the sake of Your name, that all may see the change in me and give You glory and honor. Teach me, LORD, to love You the way You deserve. Teach me to love people the way You love me, that I might not fear the world, but that I might win souls for You. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Prophesy to the Breath

⁹Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” ¹⁰So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. ~ Ezekiel 37:9-10

Ezekiel had already prophesied to the dry bones. There was already flesh and tendons on the bones. There was an army. It looked good to the natural eye. They were once dry bones; now they’re an army. But they had no breath. They had the appearance of life, but they were dead.

A lot of times, this is when we stop praying. This is the time when things start to look good again, when things are going right, and we stop when we have the appearance of the army, not realizing that the army is useless without breath. We stop praying when things begin to change, and all seems to be going good. We don’t take it to the next level. We don’t take that next step and prophesy to the breath. Because we have the body, but what good is a body without breath?

When things begin to go good, don’t stop praying. That’s the time to press in even deeper because if we can continue praying in the good, then we can see the favor of God truly pour out on us and all that we prophesy and pray over. We declare the good things that God has promised us even when things are going our way so that when trials and tribulations come, we have a mighty army filled with breath to fight against the enemy, not just a dead army that looks the part but has no breath.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Prophesy to the Breath.

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Prepare For His Return

¹¹ I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. ~ Revelation 3:11

Jesus mentions the phrase, “I am coming soon,” four times in the book of Revelation. Apparently, the Number four (4) is used as a symbol of honesty and loyalty, which means that the words spoken by Jesus are trustworthy. You can depend on what He said.

There are many, many prophecies of the first coming of Jesus. It was fulfilled over 2000 years ago when Jesus was born in “Migdal Eder,” wrapped in swaddling cloths, and laid in the manger.

Now, Jesus, Himself is prophesying that He will return soon. He repeats the exact phrase 4 times; the number, as I said, is connected with honesty and loyalty. This can only mean one thing; we had better mark His words. We had better prepare for His second coming because if He came the first time to die, how much more will He come back for us to live?

So, wake up. Don’t be caught asleep when Jesus returns. Don’t be caught unaware or unprepared for Jesus’ return. Hold tightly to the crown that has been given to you and continue to spread the good news of Christ Jesus.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Prepare For His Return.

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Live As His Dear Children

¹ Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are His dear children. ² Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered Himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God. ~ Ephesians 5:1-2^NLT

Notice how Paul doesn’t say to imitate God in some things, or even in most things, but instead, he says to imitate God in everything?

I remember being in school (I went to a Christian school), and one of my teachers (he was also principal of the middle school) was basically saying that you can’t Christian organizations outside of things like churches and non-profits. I, being the opinionated child I was, protested and asked why not? He then proceeded to say, ‘so we should have Christian plumbers?’ I said, ‘Yes, why not?’ He then proceeded to mock me and laugh, saying, ‘What are they gonna do pray over the toilets?’ I didn’t back and said, ‘Sure. Why not?’ He just laughed and mocked a little more, then went back to his original statement and continued with his lesson. I say all of this because with the world we’re living in today, with the beginning of the persecution of the Church really starting to become prevalent, I wonder if he’s changed his mind.

We’re not meant to somehow stop doing things as Christians or for God just because the world tells us Christ has no place in our society and everyday lives. How can we truly call ourselves Christians if we can take off our Christ-like image whenever we want to fit into the world a little better? No matter what we do in life, it should be to the glory of God. It should be with a Christ-like attitude and a Christ-like behavior. We should try to look like the world or imitate the world, nor should we ever be ashamed to be a Christian.

I love the saying,

I want to be so full of Christ, that when a mosquito bites me, he flies away singing “There Is Power In The Blood”!

This is the sentiment each Christian should have. No matter the context, no matter the job, our relationship with Christ should be the center, and all who come in contact with us or our business, including its staff, should see the difference between us and the world because we are no longer of the world. We are now the body of Christ, children of God Most High. Peace. Love. Go Forth and Live As His Dear Children.

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Dwell in His Truth

⁵For the Lord is good, His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations. ~ Psalms 100:5^KJV

The LORD is a God of mercy, grace, love, and truth. He does not change, even though the world around Him does. The world will try to convince you that it is socially evolving and becoming more open-minded and less prejudiced. It will try to convince you that all change is progress in the right direction, but there are some things that don’t change for us. There are some things that remain a sin. There are some lines that we must not cross that remain a boundary for each and every generation because it is evil and destructive.

The world may try to convince you that it’s okay to indulge in whatever makes you feel good, but always remember that it’s not the world that has our best interest at heart; it’s God. For it was God who died for us so that we might be saved and freed from the restraints of the world, which lead to death and destruction. This New Year, examine who you have become and make sure it lines us with the truth that endures through each and every generation.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Dwell in His Truth.

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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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