Devotionals Archives

December 6, 2020May 28, 2021

The Good With The Bad

²⁸Peter began to say to Him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” ²⁹Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, ³⁰who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.” ~ Mark 10:28-31

Often times, we, as a Church, only like to focus on the positive things that come with Christianity. And by no means am I saying that they won’t happen, but as Job said, “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” Will we only accept the positive that comes with Christianity and not the negative? Jesus never said that each day would be sunflowers and roses; instead, He said that He would give us the good, but we also have to accept the bad. Just like a rose garden has both the mud and beautiful roses, so does life. Life isn’t easy, but it’s worth it because, in the end, Jesus promises that we shall inherit eternal life.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Accept The Good With The Bad.

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Continue The Good Fight

“¹⁹We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, ²⁰where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” ~ Hebrews 6:19-20

We have this hope that Jesus, our LORD and Savior, went ahead on our behalf to make a way for us. He not only paid for our sins on the cross, but He continues to bring us hope by bringing petitions on our behalf before the Father. He intercedes on our behalf, bringing us this hope that our prayers are being heard. Don’t give up hope when you feel like the road is getting too hard or overwhelming; Jesus is praying for you.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Continue The Good Fight.

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Seek With Your Whole Heart

“⁸She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore. ⁹Because she took her whoredom lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree. ¹⁰Yet for all this, her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the Lord.” ~ Jeremiah 3:8-10

The LORD is speaking of the nations of Israel and Judah. He separated Himself from Israel after she worshiped other gods, placing up high-places for them and worshiping there. Once Judah saw what happened to Israel, the LORD expected Judah to learn from Israel’s mistakes, but they didn’t. Judah sinned, in the same way Israel did. When Israel was separated from the LORD, He expected them to repent, but they didn’t. They continued in their idolatry.

Sometimes we are like Israel. We are drawn away by other gods; while God is waiting for us to return, we continue in our sins and ignore the lack of His voice. The lack of His presence. The lack of Him. Yet the longer we stay in idolatry, the less we care. The more we fall spiritually asleep. We care less and less what is right and what is wrong, just what feels good, what feels right. What satisfies our desires until we are no longer asleep but spiritually dead.

And sometimes, we are like Judah. We see others go down a dangerous road. We see the repercussions. The hardships. The emptiness. Sometimes, we even witness their own death, yet we still follow in their footsteps. We still seek after the same things. We still walk away from God, who is life and gives life, to false gods, who are death and bring death. Somehow we don’t seem to learn from the mistakes of those before us because we believe we’ll be the one to get away with it. We don’t even realize that with every step we take away from God, we take towards our spiritual death.

Don’t be like Israel or Judah. Don’t seek pleasure in unrighteous acts or follow in weak footsteps. Look to God for everything, and He will provide it. He will answer you when you call. You will find Him when you seek Him with your whole heart. Don’t do as Judah did when they sought the LORD. They simply looked for a way to escape their judgment, not for a relationship. Not for repentance. But with a false mask of humility and remorse so that they could escape judgment without having to change.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Seek With Your Whole Heart.

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Seek Him

“⁶Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near; ⁷let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” ~ Isaiah 55:6-7

We often believe that God will forever show us grace. No matter what we do. No matter what we say, God will always be there, but is that true? Will God always be there? Isaiah tells us to seek the LORD while He may be found. We expect God to always be there, just waiting for us to give Him a little of our attention. But God says to seek Him while He can be found. Today is the day of salvation; tomorrow is promised to no man. Seek the LORD before it’s too late. Before time runs out and you can no longer find Him. Wake from your Spiritual Slumber.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Seek Him.

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The Struggle For Humility

“Now Jehoshaphat had great riches and honor, and he made a marriage alliance with Ahab. Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting on their thrones, arrayed in their robes. And they were sitting at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying before them.” ~ 2 Chronicles 18:1

This is a prime example of when we think we are adequate in making decisions for ourselves because everything in our life is running smoothly and life is good. We think that we are now capable, and we no longer inquire of God upfront, asking for wisdom concerning alliances, relationships, or commitments we make with family, friends, co-workers, or business partners. Instead, we make the commitments, alliances, relationships first, then we inquire of God afterward, wanting His approval and His blessing.

We should never look at a blessed, smooth going life as one that we are in control of or one that is the result of our own wisdom. But instead with great humility at all times, and before moving forward on anything, seek Him for wisdom regardless of how trivial it may seem. Always acknowledging we are blessed because we continuously seek Him in prayer, receiving wisdom, mercy, love, and blessings.

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Live Your God-Given Dream

“So Joshua said to the people of Israel, ‘How long will you put off going in to take possession of the land, which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you?’” ~ Joshua 18:3

Seven of the tribes had become complacent even though they had God’s promise. Has God given you a promise or spoken to you about something, maybe a ministry or a business? If God has promised, He will deliver. Don’t just sit on a wealth of potential and be satisfied with someone else’s spoils.

It looks daunting, and giants are in the land but get up and go take possession of YOUR promise, live the dream God has given you.

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Be Like Flowing Water

“Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.” ~ Proverbs 25:26

Often times, we as Christians will give in to the pressures of the world and allow sin to be prominent in our nation. When we do that, we become like a muddy spring or a polluted fountain. In other words, we are Spiritually Asleep. We stop working the way the Holy Spirit recreated us to. When we fall spiritually asleep our soul becomes at risk for spiritual death.

We begin to make excuses for sin because we don’t want to offend anyone or “force our faith on others.” We want to be liked by all, but Jesus told us something fundamental, “if you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” We are not of the world, so why do we destroy our righteousness to become accepted by the world? Is it really worth it to become like stagnant water before the LORD?

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be Like Running Water.

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The Spirit of Stress

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” ~ Philippians 4:8

How do we renew our minds? By following this simple instruction. Don’t let anger get the best of you. I know that overlooking other drivers can be challenging, but the results are a health hazard. It releases chemicals in your bloodstream that has adverse effects on your body. So does stress and unforgiveness. Your Health, both spiritual and physical, is not worth those negative emotions.

I pray for each one this morning, O LORD, that we will learn to control our minds, reactions, and emotions. Help us to overlook and forgive, that we too may be forgiven. Help us to think good thoughts and meditate on what is noble, and admirable, and kind; that we might live peaceful and low-stress lives. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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His Favor

“For His anger endures but a moment; in His favor is life: weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning.” ~ Psalm 30:5

If God loves you, He will discipline you; but it’s only for a short time because He loves you. Therefore, His favor lasts a lifetime. His favor will open doors that were once closed; it brings that promotion that was out of reach. It protects that wayward child and restores that broken relationship. His love is the reason why weeping will only last a night, but when the sun comes up, it brings joy, new hope, renewed mercies, and fresh blessings. Be blessed today, be joyful today, be hopeful today and be optimistic today; God loves you and cares for you.

Father, we, Your children, come and humble ourselves before You. We thank You for Your love, but as we are only human, LORD, we ask that You help our faith, our understanding, and our patience. For LORD, we do not understand all that You do, but we know that all that You do is for our best interest. Help us, today, LORD, to understand only a loving parent disciplines their child.

In the precious and Holy Name of Jesus, we pray, Amen.

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The Blessings of His People

“Because of your father’s God, who helps you, because of the Almighty, who blesses you with blessings of the skies above, blessings of the deep springs below, blessings of the breast and womb.” ~ Genesis 49:25

You are blessed indeed. For the blessings of Almighty God are all around you. Reach up, reach out, and take hold of the blessings He has reserved just for you. Speak them over your children, and pronounce them over your family. For the blessings of God are greater than the blessings of ancient mountains, or the bounty of age-old Hills.

Heavenly Father, please bless Your people today. Encourage the discouraged, bind up the brokenhearted, and teach us Your ways so that we may know You and receive blessings from Your hand. Help us to recognize and appreciate all the blessings you’ve blessed us with. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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