Tag: Devotionals

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The Storm Calmer

23 And after He had dismissed the crowds, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone, 24 but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. ~ Matthew 14:23-25

Jesus had sent His disciples on ahead and then went and prayed. Then He came walking on the water. Why? What was the reason Jesus came walking on the water? Well, let me tell you. Jesus came walking on the water… get this now; He came walking on the water to show that all our problems, everything we might be going through, or will have to go through, the problems that are trying to sink us, are under His feet. PRAISE GOD!

    • The financial struggle you’re going through
      • It’s under His feet
    • The child who is away from God
      • It’s under His feet
    • That strong-willed son who maybe strung out on drugs
      • It’s under His feet
    • That wayward daughter who may have gone her own way
      • It’s under His feet
    • The difficulties at work, a co-worker, the boss
      • It’s under His feet
    • That legal matter you have to deal with
      • It’s under His feet
    • Maybe someone is facing divorce
      • It’s under His feet

All these problems and difficulties are under His feet. The world cannot throw a problem at you that God cannot solve and has already made provisions for it. All things are under His feet; all we have to do is keep our eyes on Him.

Don’t miss the lesson here; it’s very important. When Jesus was praying, He saw His disciples in the storm. He could have prayed for His Heavenly Father to calm the storm at that time, but then we would never know God puts all things under His feet. We would never know He is the Storm Calmer. Is He your Storm Calmer this morning? (You missed another chance to give God praise right there). Has He ever delivered you from a storm? He can do it again.

You see, the very thing that had them in despair, the thing that threatened to capsize their boat, to suck them under, was the very thing Jesus used to come walking on to show His dominance over their problems and trials. Don’t allow your fears, stress, or storms to overcome you; our God has it all under His feet.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Put Your Faith In The Storm Calmer.

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Proclaim His Promises

24 He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed. ~ 1 Peter 2:24

The other day Celia’s wrist began to hurt her for no good reason. She didn’t hit it. She didn’t twist it. We have no idea why it began hurting. She was just lying in bed, and it began to hurt. The next day it began to travel up her arm to her elbow and started making its way up to her shoulder. We prayed and believed.

There were no significant features, although we prayed twice. But Celia kept claiming and proclaiming her healing. She kept reminding herself that by Jesus’ stripes, she is healed. When she woke up in the night from pain, she flexed her hand and proclaimed, “By His stripes, I am healed.” And by God’s mercy, she received her healing.

Someone else had that same problem, where the pain started in the wrist and traveled up the arm, and they had to have surgery. Though there may not be any significant features, God is working in the Spiritual when we move in the physical. When we speak and believe. When we hold to His promises, we receive His promises.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Proclaim His Promises.

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He Paid the Price

5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. ~ Isaiah 53:5

He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities. What does this mean? Jesus purchased our salvation on the Cross, not only what is built up in the past, but He paid the price for every sin we would ever commit in the future. He took care of every generation, past, present, and future, so that all could have the chance to have freedom through His perfect blood.

22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. Hebrews 9:22

The sacrifice had to be a pure, spotless, unblemished sacrifice. In other words, it had to be a sinless blood sacrifice so that all who were washed in the sinless blood would be cleansed. We could never clean ourselves, so God took our sins upon Himself. Because He took our sins, we can now be forgiven; we need only repent and accept His perfect sacrifice.

LORD Jesus, thank You for Your sacrifice on the cross. Thank You for paying my debt that I could never pay. Help me to never turn away from Your unfailing love. Please guide me in everything I do. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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We Have His Peace

5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. ~ Isaiah 53:5

The chastisement of our peace was upon Him. This is why Jesus could leave us His perfect peace.

27 Peace I leave with you; My [perfect] peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid. [Let My perfect peace calm you in every circumstance and give you courage and strength for every challenge.]

John 14:27AMP

    • Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting 40 million adults in the United States age 18 and older, or 18.1% of the population every year.
    • People with an anxiety disorder are three to five times more likely to go to the doctor and six times more likely to be hospitalized for psychiatric disorders than those who do not suffer from anxiety disorders.
    • Anxiety disorders develop from a complex set of risk factors, including genetics, brain chemistry, personality, and life events.
    • It’s not uncommon for someone with an anxiety disorder to also suffer from depression or vice versa
    • Nearly one-half of those diagnosed with depression are also diagnosed with an anxiety disorder

Some folks have it so bad that they cannot function in society and have to stay locked up at home. Some can’t even go to work or go to normal places, like the grocery store or any place with large crowds. But Jesus Christ paid the price to set you free from that.

And you can be free! My daughter, Arie, suffered from anxiety and panic attacks. When she was in college, some nights would have to drive to her college and pick her up. She couldn’t order food through a drive-thru. Her counselor told her she would be on medication the rest of her life, and she would have to live with it.

But the chastisement of our peace was placed upon Him, Jesus Christ. So, Arie did a 40-day fast in January of 2019 and hasn’t taken one pill, nor has she suffered from anxiety or one panic attack since.

There is freedom in the name of Jesus! God is good!

LORD God, please help us to accept Your perfect peace that You so graciously purchased for us. Help us to always remember who You are and how much You love us. Help us to remember that no one can snatch us out of Your hand, that You have never abandoned us. You are with us always. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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Hold To Freedom

In 1775 our founding fathers drafted the Declaration of Independence, their plan for our physical freedom from the tyranny of the British crown. The following year, they made that plan a reality, and today we still benefit from that declaration that all men and women were created equal with the right to liberty and justice.

Before the foundation of the world, before man or woman was created, God drafted the plan of Salvation. 2000 years ago, He fulfilled His plan through His Son, Jesus Christ, so that anyone who wanted freedom could receive freedom. Today we still benefit from the freedom that Jesus bought for us that day on that old rugged Cross. We still have the same freedom the early Church had through the redeeming and cleansing blood of Jesus.

Freedom has been given to us physically, mentally, and spiritually, yet we still oftentimes choose the spiritual slavery of sin and the physical and mental slavery of ignorance. Why? Why do we return to slavery when we were created to be free? This is the lies of the enemy; he promises us cookies and cake if we give up just a little of our freedom and liberty. But as soon as we give up a little, he takes it all, and we are left with nothing. The dark side has no cookies, no cake, no security: only darkness, hunger, and slavery.

Don’t be fooled by the deceitful tongue of the enemy; his intentions are not for your good but for your destruction. He’ll show you how unfair and difficult it is to keep your freedom, but don’t let him beguile you. Don’t let him trick you with ‘the grass is greener on the other side.’ The grass is greener in freedom. Freedom of religion, speech, and assembly. Freedom from sin and ignorance. Freedom in the Truth. Hold to your freedoms, and don’t give them up. Don’t allow the enemy to deceive you; hold tightly to the Truth that is Christ Jesus. Hold tightly to your freedom, lest it be taken from you.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Hold To Freedom.

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The Spirit of Que Será, Será

11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. ~ Jeremiah 29:11

God has a plan for each and every one of us. He has good things in store for us. His desire is for our good, but if we don’t take it. If we allow our words and our actions to go unchecked, then we will miss out on all that God has planned for us. We have to tune in to God. We can’t ignore or expect someone else to speak good things into our lives. We have to do it ourselves through prayer and declaration. What we hear in the spiritual, we must proclaim in the natural.

Think about this:

God planned the world, and every one of us, before the foundations of the Earth were laid, from the eons before time began, He planned the sun, the moon, the stars, but until He proclaimed, “Let there be light,” there was no light.

When Ezekiel was taken to the valley of dry bones, nothing happened until Ezekiel began to prophesy.

This “Que Será, Será (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)” attitude we Christians have, is not a Biblical concept. This “Whatever God has for me, nobody can take it away from me” attitude is a spirit of apathy that is taking over the Church. We no longer care to fight for what God has in store for us. We just want everything handed to us, and if we miss something, we don’t care because we think, ‘well, it just wasn’t for me then.’ But is that how it is?

I want to remind you that the Israelites were led out of Egypt heading for the Promise Land. That was their promise from God. He had that in store for them, but did they receive it? No! they most certainly did not. So, who took it from them? You’re right, nobody took it from them, but disobedience and unbelief DID and WILL.

If you want to enjoy all God has in store for you, you have to slay a few giants. You have to break down a few walls. You have to fight a few wicked nations. Nothing in life comes easy. You have to fight your flesh, your spiritual attacks, and in some cases, physical and mental attacks from others. As a Church, we have to start proclaiming our blessings again. We have to proclaim our promises again. We have to get rid of Que Será, Será.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Overcome the Spirit of Que Será, Será.

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Watch and Pray

32 But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. 34 It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. 35 Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— 36 lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. 37 And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake. ~ Mark 13:32–37

What I say to one, I say to all, “Stay awake.” In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus asked His three companions, Peter, James, and John, to stay awake and to watch and pray so that they would not be caught out and fall into temptation.

On February 3, 1943, the troopship Dorchester went down in the icy Atlantic off the tip of Greenland with heavy loss of life. The torpedoes struck around 1 o’clock in the morning. Orders were that every man was to wear his lifejacket whether awake or asleep, but many of the soldiers ignored those orders and were caught sleeping without their lifejackets on.
Through fright and confusion, there were several men still without lifejackets after all the surplus stocks were handed out. Due to this, the loss of life was very heavy.

We have such a mandate. It is to stay awake, watch and pray. Jesus is coming back soon. He had given us our independence from sin, so we wear our salvation like a lifejacket. Do not be caught in the middle of the night when the torpedoes hit without your lifejacket on.

Dear Heavenly Father. Please help me stay awake and to watch and to pray so that I will not be caught without my life jacket on. Cover me with Your protection, and teach me to listen for and to recognize Your voice. Thank You, Father, for Your love and Your salvation, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Proclaim Your Rain

41 And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of the rushing of rain.” 42 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel. And he bowed himself down on the earth and put his face between his knees. 43 And he said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” And he went up and looked and said, “There is nothing.” And he said, “Go again,” seven times. 44 And at the seventh time he said, “Behold, a little cloud like a man’s hand is rising from the sea.” And he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you.’” ~ 1 Kings 18:41-44ESV

Elijah said to Ahab, “Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of the rushing of rain.” Before we get too far into the message, I want you to understand that the phrase eating and drinking is a metaphor for celebrating. So, Elijah told Ahab to go celebrate before there were any visible signs of a breakthrough:

  • No distant rumbling of thunder
  • No flashes of lightning
  • There were no dark clouds rolling in
  • Nothing

There were no physical signs of rain. Yet Elijah told Ahab to go and celebrate because there was the sound of the rushing of rain. What’s that called? FAITH! Elijah didn’t need to hear rumblings or see a rain cloud to have faith. Why?

1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1

Simply stated:

Faith is being sure of what you hope for and convinced of the things you do not seen.

As in Elijah’s case: Through faith, while there were still no significant features, the man of God told the king to go and celebrate, for there is more than enough coming. I want you to take note of that, whatever you need, God can and will supply, and He will supply more than enough. You may not see it now, but if you put your faith in God, pray fervent prayers, and follow Him with all of your heart, He will reward your faith each and every time.

LORD God, give us the faith we need in order to see our prayers answered. Help us to put our faith in you so that we won’t worry about tomorrow. So that the things of this world won’t take us by surprise, but we will have full confidence that our God hears and answers our prayers. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Lift Your Burdens

18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Though giving thanks in all circumstances seems impossible, God desires for us to do so for our own benefit. On one of the TED Talks I listened to, a doctor told a story about a patient saying thank you to her back pain, and after a period of time saying thank you to her back pain, it eased. Just the act of having a thankful heart, the woman got pain relief.

Let me list the 7 scientifically proven benefits of gratitude for you:

  1. Gratitude opens the door to more relationships
  2. Gratitude improves physical health
  3. Gratitude improves psychological health
  4. Gratitude enhances empathy and reduces aggression
  5. Grateful people sleep better
  6. Gratitude improves self-esteem
  7. Gratitude increases mental strength

Giving thanks can bring healing in so many ways. The enemy often tries to show us the negatives of our lives so that we can focus on the pain. So that the weight of the world hangs on our shoulders, but God desires to remove that weight. When we are thankful, especially in the hard times, the burden is lifted off of our shoulders.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Lift Your Burdens.

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Cry Out to God

48a He, [speaking of Jesus], saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them… ~ Mark 6:48a

Let me encourage you today, Jesus sees you. He knows where you are in your storm. He sees you straining at the oars when the wind of this life is against you. The Bible tells us in

Therefore He, [referring to Jesus], is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them.

Hebrews 7:25

Jesus sees you in your storm, and He is interceding for you, just like He was interceding for His disciples. You aren’t alone. Call out to God, and He will calm the storm.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Cry Out to God.

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