Tag: Devotionals

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Awaken Remorse

23 So if you are offering your gift on the altar, and there you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled with your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. ~ Matthew 5:23-24CSB

Jesus tells us that if we’re bringing an offering to God and we’ve wronged our brother or sister, we must first go to the person we’ve wronged and make things right. So, does this then mean that we have the right to hold our brother or sister up for a wrong that they have committed against us? My flesh would love to say yes, but no. We have no right to do so.

Throughout Jesus’ earthly ministry, He stressed the importance and necessity of forgiving. Not for the other person’s sake but for our own. He made it clear that if we don’t forgive, then we won’t be forgiven. So, what is Jesus saying here? When we wrong our brother or sister in Christ, it’s not them we have to worry about, but God.

Throughout Scripture, God makes it clear that vengeance belongs to Him. That He will defend, protect, and fight for His people. Therefore, if you have wronged one of God’s people, one of His children, then it isn’t the person not forgiving you that you have to worry about; God will deal with them, and it is God you have to worry about. It is God coming to the defense of that person and seeking justice on their behalf. Why?

Because God is a just judge. Therefore, He will vindicate His people. When we allow our eyes to be blind and our hearts to grow hardened, we begin to become narcissistically blinded to the feelings, needs, and boundaries of those around us.
This leads us into a spiritual slumber that will cause our love to grow cold. When our love grows cold, our prayers stop getting answered. Our offerings stop being accepted. Our communication with God becomes halted.

Therefore, pray for love. Seek the LORD to give You His heart, His eyes, and His arms so that you might know when you’ve hurt someone, as well as the humility to ask for forgiveness and make it right with them again.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Awaken Remorse.

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Seek Regardless

10 I mourned and fasted, but it brought me insults. 11 I wore sackcloth as my clothing, and I was a joke to them. 12 Those who sit at the city gate talk about me, and drunkards make up songs about me. 13 But as for me, Lord, my prayer to you is for a time of favor. In your abundant, faithful love, God, answer me with your sure salvation. ~ Psalms 69:10-13CSB

When we pray, we expect immediate results. We expect to see the answers to our prayers within hours or days (if we’re more patient), but the majority of prayers aren’t answered this way. The majority of prayers take true fighting to attain the answers we seek.

David described fasting and earnestly seeking but not seeing it, making him a laughing stock to his enemies and those around him. David could have easily thrown in the towel and gave up. He could have easily gotten revenge on his mockers, but instead, David sought the LORD even more earnestly. His motto truly was
I will become even more undignified than this.

David was a man after God’s own heart, not because he was perfect, but because He sought the heart of God above all else. He didn’t care how he looked to the world as long as God saw him and heard him. As long as God was for him, it didn’t matter who was against him. He kept seeking the LORD until he received his answer.

Now, I don’t want you to be confused when I say he didn’t care what others thought of him; I don’t mean it didn’t bother him. It did. We know it did because he brought it to God in prayer. In desperate, earnest prayer. So, it’s not that it didn’t bother him, but that He refused to allow it to stop him. He took that pain and rejection he felt inside and laid it at the feet of the LORD. Then he continued seeking, regardless of whether or not the ridicule, rejection, and mockery stopped. David didn’t let anything keep him from God, and neither should you.

Live as David lived, seeking the LORD and His righteousness regardless of what others may think or say, regardless of whether or not we see an answer immediately. Keep fighting. Fight through the pain, hurt, and attacks of the enemy. Fight for your prayers to be answered.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Seek Regardless.

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Be On Guard

3 How long will you threaten a man? Will all of you attack as if he were a leaning wall or a tottering fence? 4 They only plan to bring him down from his high position. They take pleasure in lying; they bless with their mouths, but they curse inwardly. Selah ~ Psalms 62:3-4CSB

Sometimes, those around you filling your ears with flattering words and compliments aren’t always for you. Sometimes, they are your greatest enemy in disguise. See, the Devil doesn’t always show himself as evil. Sometimes, the Devil disguises himself as an angel of light. Someone on your side. Someone defending you. Excusing your flaws. Saying kind words to you to your face, but little do you realize inwardly, they are speaking evil to you and on you.

Here’s the thing. They may not always know they’re doing this. They may be blinded by society’s corrupt version of love. They may be deceived by the enemy and believe they’re doing the right thing. This is why you have to be on your guard. You have to be spiritually aware so that when someone comes into your life, you are well aware of who brought them and their purpose in your life.

Remember, the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. And the Devil is the father of lies. When you put these two attributes together, you get a deadly enemy.

Therefore, be on guard always. Don’t allow sweet words and seemingly innocent compliments to lull your spirit-man to sleep. Wake him up. Put him on high alert through prayer, worship, reading your Bible, and fasting. That way, when the enemy sends someone into your life with the intent of destruction, you will be able to spot them before they can cause damage to you and/or your loved ones.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be On Guard.

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Cast Your Cares

7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. ~ 1 Peter 5:7

God loves us. Jesus loves us and invites us to cast all of our cares, concerns, and worries on Him, for He is able to bear it all. He is able to keep that which we have committed unto Him against that day.

Worries and concerns stem from a place of mistrust and will always give root to doubt, but the Scriptures say to

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

Proverbs 3:5-6

The LORD is good, His mercies are everlasting, and He will never mislead you, nor do you wrong, for His love endures forever. Therefore, put your trust in the LORD. He will guide you. He will uphold you with His righteous right hand.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Cast Your Cares.

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Be Of The Light

4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. ~ James 4:4

What you do not hate, you will defend. What you defend, you will support. What you support will consume you. What consumes you will define who you are. This is the way it has been from the very beginning. Sin is always crouching at your door, desiring to be a god to you, but you must rule over it (Genesis 4:7).

Oftentimes, hating sin is difficult, especially when it involves a friend, loved one, or ourselves. We want to justify instead of correct. We want to make excuses instead of making changes. Why? Because we love our flesh. We love the darkness instead of the light. We don’t want to offend anybody or make anyone feel like they are living in sin.

But this isn’t the way God intended us to be. There are no grey areas with God. Everything is in black and white. It’s either right or it’s wrong. And all wrongdoing is sin. And all sin we must abstain from. We must shun the very appearance of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:22). Why? Because there cannot be unrighteousness with God. There cannot be evil with God. There cannot be unholiness with God. So we have to consecrate ourselves. We have to stay away from sin and reject it. We cannot make excuses for ourselves or anyone else. We have to be children of the Light (1 Thessalonians 5:5).

Don’t allow any form of darkness to separate you from the love of God. For it promises you and those around you happiness, but happiness is relative and conditional. It’s not stable but wavers from day to day. Only True joy is unshakeable and our strength. And true joy can only be attained in Christ Jesus.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be Of The Light.

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Have Faith In Him

6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him. ~ Hebrews 11:6

Trust is the foundation on which all relationships are built. It is impossible to share true intimacy with someone that you do not trust. The author of the book of Hebrews tells us that we cannot please God without faith. Faith and trust go hand in hand.

Think about it, a lack of faith and a lack of trust amount to the same thing with the same results, a distrust of God. Faith believes that God can do all things, and trust believes that He will do it for us. It means that you believe that if He did it in the past, He will do it now.

This is the foundation of our relationship with God. Without faith and trust, we can never grow close to God. We have to believe it’s possible, that He is real, and that He loves us if we want Him to hear us when we call.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Have Faith In Him.

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Allow Christ To Redeem

10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. ~ Romans 5:10

We were NOT all good people. We have all gone astray. We have all done some horrible and awful things against our God.

  • We have betrayed Him
  • We have let Him down
  • We’ve forsaken Him
  • And we have committed spiritual adultery against Him

But He chose to overlook all of our faults and all of our transgressions against Him, and He chose to honor us by dying for us, and now He expects us to do the same to others.

He could have said, “It is too much; I refuse to pay the price for them; let them die for themselves.”

Then what would we do? We would not have a leg to stand on, so to speak. There would be no hope for us at all. Absolutely none!

Paul looked at who he was formally, and what he saw was not a pretty sight. So, he stopped looking at himself and looked to Christ. It is only Christ that can change us. It is only Christ that can redeem us, save us from our sin, and redeem us from our past.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Allow Christ To Redeem.

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Lay It All Down

6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ~ Philippians 4:6

We cannot add one inch to our stature, nor can we add one more minute or even one second to our lives by worrying. Worry and concern profit us nothing.

Statistics tell us that 91% of all worries never come true. Therefore, it causes more damage to our immune system than it is worth.

You cannot add one second to your life, but you can subtract years from your life through worrying and fretting.
This saying is true because we are so important to the Father; He will ensure that we are provided for.

Therefore, we need not be anxious about anything but take it all to God in prayer and supplication. That is the only way we will find His peace.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Lay It All Down.

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Worship The LORD

14 Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him. 15 And Saul’s servants said to him, “Behold now, a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you. 16 Let our lord now command your servants who are before you to seek out a man who is skillful in playing the lyre, and when the harmful spirit from God is upon you, he will play it, and you will be well.” ~ 1 Samuel 16:14-16

Notice that the Spirit of the LORD had to depart from Saul before the harmful spirit could torment him. That means the Spirit of the LORD no longer protected him. Saul was now left spiritually vulnerable. Now notice, It had to be his choice to do something about it. Saul had to command his servants to seek a man who was skillful at playing the lyre. They could not just assume to have the authority, they had to be commanded to seek the worshiper on Saul’s behalf.

Understand that they were not just looking for any old lyre-player; they were looking for a worshiper of Yahweh, the LORD God. Because demons and tormenting spirits must flee when we worship the LORD. It is our choice, it is our decision, no one can make it for us, we have to decide, and when we do, the LORD will show up. The servants of Saul understood these things.

They went out and found a worshipper, the shepherd boy David. He was skilled at playing and writing music and hymns that we now call the Psalms. They brought him to King Saul, and whenever the tormenting spirit came upon Saul, David played and sang, and the spirit had to depart.

I would encourage you today to put on some worship music and begin to worship the LORD God and see how much better you feel. Not just listen but actively participate in the worship. Raise your hands, turn your face to heaven, and worship. Remember, God will never leave us nor forsake us, but He is enthroned on the praises of His people. So, when God is lifted up in our hearts, He will come, and He will make His home with us, and nothing or no one can pluck us out of His hands. We are His.

Father, deliver us from evil. Rebuke the devourer on our behalf, and cause us to worship the One True God, You, O LORD God Almighty. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Shift

6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ~ Philippians 4:6

Anxiousness is overcome by trust and faith. Trust and faith are both built through a prayerful relationship with Jesus and keeping in His Word. Why? We have to know what God’s promises are before we can believe them and have faith that He will fulfill them.

We have to read His Word in order to get to know Him and trust Him. God isn’t a far-off, distant God. He is a close God. He desires a relationship with His people. We truly understand that we’ll shift our faith from being in whatever our anxiety is screaming at us to the many good promises of God.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Shift.

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