Devotional for Thursday, May 31, 2018
Devotional for Thursday, May 31, 2018
“What Is Important…”
by Dona Hake
Jesus said, ” I will in no wise fail thee, neither will I in any wise forsake thee.” Oh the power of His unfailing love. He has promised to be with us no matter what.
“What is important is that you are
holding on,
that you have a grip on Christ and
He will not let your hand go.”
Mother Teresa
May we have a determination to hold a tight grip on our Lord because His strength never fails, He will not let go of us. The scripture I want to share with you today is from 2 Corinthians 4:7-11 from the Easy-to-Read Version.
“We have this treasure from God, but we are only like clay jars that hold the treasure. This is to show that the amazing power we have is from God, not from us. We have troubles all around us, but we are not defeated. We often don’t know what to do, but we don’t give up. We are persecuted, but God does not leave us. We are hurt sometimes, but we are not destroyed. So we constantly experience the death of Jesus in our own bodies, but this is so that the life of Jesus can also be seen in our bodies.”
…and praise God He will never ever let go of us! Today let us meditate upon how we have been molded for the use of the Master. We are as beautiful and fragile clay jars that hold the treasure which is to show His glory amazing and wonderful things to all around us. Let us not be discouraged by what our eyes see or do not see but rather let us determine that we will hold on to Jesus’ hand, for He and His unfailing love has promised to never let go! We are more than conquerors!
Tuesday, May 29, 2018
Devotional for Tuesday, May 29, 2018
“The Blessing of Fond Memories”
by Dona Hake
Today I am sharing one of my fondest memories of my first trip to Wales to visit Arthur Burt with Pastor Bill and some members of our congregation. I have been sharing many of his quotes that have blessed my heart in some of my most recent devotionals.
One morning we had just finished our breakfast, and we were heading out to do some sightseeing. Brother Arthur’s home was so quaint and beautiful! It was a perfect day… a crisp cool beautiful morning by the North Sea. I was excited for we were going to see a beautiful castle. We gathered out front of Arthur’s home waiting for all of the group to come together and leave. I happened to be standing alone, and Brother Arthur slowly moved toward me. He leaned up and whispered very quietly into my ear. “Sister I have to tell you something…”. “What Brother Arthur?” I said. He continued… “They keep following me, they follow me everywhere I go!“. At first I was not sure what he was talking about and what was going on. I said, “Brother Arthur …Who? Who is following you?“His precious face lit up with joy as he exclaimed “Goodness and mercy!!! They keep following me all the days of my life!” We giggled together and fellowshipped about the blessing of God’s goodness and mercy in our life. I just loved his sense of humor and wit, and even in fun he was proclaiming the Word of God!
Brother Arthur has since gone home to be with Jesus, and I will forever hold fast to that special memory. He followed the Lord all the days of his life. What a testimony that he left as he traveled the world in his old age and continued to share God’s Word, and the depth of God’s wisdom he carried in his heart. As we follow our Lord all the days of our life we too can exclaim His goodness and mercy are following us everywhere we go, and we can joyfully dwell in Him!
“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.”
Psalm 23:6 – KJV
Psalm 23:6 – KJV
“How great is Your goodness, Which You have stored up for those who [reverently] fear You, Which You have prepared for those who take refuge in You, Before the sons of man!”
Psalm 31:19 – AMP
Psalm 31:19 – AMP
“Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!”
Psalm 107:15 -KJV
Psalm 107:15 -KJV
Monday, May 28, 2018
Devotional for Monday, May 28, 2018
“Fill Me Lord”
by Dona Hake
“Finally, believers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable and worthy of respect, whatever is right and confirmed by God’s Word, whatever is pure and wholesome, whatever is lovely and brings peace, whatever is admirable and of good repute; if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think continually on these things [center your mind on them, and implant them in your heart]. The things which you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things [in daily life], and the God [who is the source] of peace and well-being will be with you.”
Philippians 4:8-9 – AMP
Philippians 4:8-9 – AMP
Today I am pondering the importance of challenging any thought or opinion that would try to rob me of my peace. Is that thought that crossed my mind pure and wholesome? Does it bring peace or cause me anxiety? Is it confirmed by God’s Word and His thoughts or is it my opinion? Have I made it a practice of my daily life to center my mind on that which is right and true? These few questions help me to take unworthy and impure thoughts captive that I may enjoy the peace and well being He desires for me. May we encourage one another to keep our minds guarded of anything that would rob our God given peace.
Paul exhorted us in the book of Philippians to center our minds on only good things and implant those good things in our hearts. Then we will experience the peace and well-being that our Lord desires for us. In addition to purposing to guard my thoughts, I leave you with two things that I try to pray over my heart as much as possible. I have these words written in my prayer journal, and they always minister to my heart. When we do what we are required to do to guard our hearts the Lord will be faithful to fill us with His strength and give us the peace that passes all understanding.
“Lord, Fill me with strength and quiet energy.
Keep my mind quiet that I may practice peaceful thinking.”
Thursday, May 24, 2018
Devotional for Thursday, May 24, 2018
“Directed and Established in His Ways”
by Dona Hake
Over the past few days we have been meditating on reflecting the Son, and we looked at the work of our loving Refiner’s hand in our life. I love the prayer of the Psalmist in Psalm 119:5. I feel it goes well with the meditations of our past few days. This is taken from the Amplified Translation…
“Oh, that my ways were directed and established
to observe your statutes (hearing, receiving,
loving, and obeying them)!!”
Hearing, receiving, loving, and obeying God is all part of the refining process therefore reflecting it to those around us. Have you ever heard something, and it went in one ear and out the other? I am sure we have all been guilty of that one. May I mention that doing this is a choice…it does not just happen. So our Lord wants us to be very cautious that we never pick and choose when we are hearing the living Word of His truth. The Word of the living God should be revered and held at a standard above our thoughts and opinions. May we hear it, take hold of it, and receive it to be our very own revelation. As we hold fast to that Word, love it, and obey it, we will indeed reflect His degrees in the manner in which we live. Let us be faithful to read and study His Word, and as we meditate and reflect upon the Word it will grow within our hearts.
“I will study Your commandments and reflect on
Your ways.“ Psalm 119:15 New Living translation
May our prayer be that the Lord would help us to remember that as we are here on this earth, we would desire Him to live in and through us in a bright and glorious way! May we be vessels that He is able to flow freely without hindrances. Oh that we remain humble that He can always show us those things that would hinder us from reflecting Him in full capacity. Let us be a people that always desire to be directed in all of our ways!
“You are good and kind and do good; teach me your statutes.“
Psalms 119:68 Amplified version
Wednesday, May 23, 2018
Devotional for Wednesday, May 23, 2019
“Jesus- Our Refiner”
by Dona Hake
“Remove the worthless things from silver to make
it pure, and a worker can make something beautiful.”
Proverbs 25:4 (ERV)
As believers we are all in the process of change for the Refiner sees the beauty that is in us, He notices our great potential, and He also sees the things that are keeping us from our potential. He knows the things that have to be removed that He is able to refine His work in us. This is the refining and purification that is taking place in our hearts as we humble ourselves to the awesome hands of our Lord. Another version of Proverbs 25:4 speaks of us as vessels.
“Remove the impurities from the silver,
and the smith has material to make a vessel.”
The Lord our Refiner desires to bring our hearts to a fine or pure state; free from impurities. As our Purifier He will cause us to be free from anything that debases, pollutes, adulterates, or contaminates our hearts.
Many times the pressures and trials of this life will also be used to help us see the things that are in us that either need strengthened or those things that must go for they are our hindrances. Many testimonies are shared about how individuals go through pressures and hardships that they never walked through before. The victory they share is that they experienced God removing things from them that positioned them to be used in a greater way. It is those times of difficultly that can push us to do the soul searching we need for God to work further spiritual growth in us. Again, His refining fire is able to remove anything that would be impure or a hindrance to our spiritual walk.
As we keep our hearts humble before Him He will continue to refine and purify us that we can be vessels that are used by Him in greater ways for the greater work. Praise be to God who is the Refiner and Purifier of our hearts.
Tuesday, May 22, 2018
Devotional for Tuesday, May 22, 2018
“Reflecting the Son To Those Around Us”
by Dona Hake
“How do you reflect the Son?” I was driving by a church one day and these were the words on the sign in front of the church. As I read these words they exhorted and stirred my heart. I began to think about the song I used to sing as a little girl…”This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine…” The song went on …”Hide it under a bushel, NO! I gonna let it shine!” You know that God wants to use us to reflect the burning loving light of His love to a world that dwells in blinding darkness. This is not a little light but rather a great light that we possess in earthen vessels! This great light is His Son Jesus Christ!
I think the key word here in the song is ~Let~ it shine. Let defined is rather interesting and also thought provoking.
Let: let out, to divulge; make known.
to release from confinement, restraint.
How blessed and privileged we are to carry the light, life, and love of our Lord Jesus Christ within us. May we not be timid or feeling that the Lord cannot use us. Let us make His light known, and release it in our words and in our deeds. We are all lovingly and uniquely created and He uses us all in different ways as we permit Him to. Oh that we would ask for and seize the opportunities to be used by Him for the glory of His Kingdom! As we abide in Him, we can walk as He walked and conduct ourselves as Jesus did. This is how we will reflect the Son.
1 John 2: 6 Amplified Bible (AMP)
“Whoever says he abides in Him ought as a personal debt to walk and
conduct himself in the same way in which He walked and conducted
Himself.”
Saturday, May 19, 2018
Devotional for Saturday, May 19, 2018
“Capturing Every Thought”
by Dona Hake
“We are destroying sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought and purpose captive to the obedience of Christ…”
2 Corinthians 10:5 (Amplified Version)
2 Corinthians 10:5 (Amplified Version)
“…and every ·proud thing [pretension; exalted opinion; L high thing] that raises itself against the knowledge of God. We capture every thought and make it obey Christ.”
2 Corinthians 10:5 – EXB Version
2 Corinthians 10:5 – EXB Version
We must hold fast to truth at all times, and at all costs! Our lives must exhibit that we are a people that will live uncompromisingly, and we stand strong and anchored in the midst of the strong currents of the evil of this world.
May we unashamedly hold fast to firm convictions, and judge and measure all things in our lives by the mighty, unmovable and unchanging Word of our Lord. When we rejoice in truth, and stand upon it firmly our hearts will be totally free. We will be wise and we will be bold in our faith. We will continue to grow in discernment because we have put truth above our opinions, our desires, our feelings, and emotions. See any untrue , poisonous thought and wrong emotion as an enemy to your soul, and take them as prisoners and subdue them into obedience of the Anointed One!
Friday, May 18, 2018
Devotional for Friday, May 18, 2018
“Wisdom For the Journey”
By Dona Hake
“Heavenly wisdom centers on purity, peace,
gentleness, deference, mercy, and other
good fruits untainted by hypocrisy.” James 3:17 (The Voice)
God‘s wisdom proceeds from His heart, and we are so blessed that He desires to generously give us this wisdom from above. It is a never ending well of many good fruits. All we have to do when we need wisdom is to humbly ask. May we desire to make wise godly decisions in the midst of difficult circumstances as well as simple decisions that are before us.
What a blessing it is to know that we never have to stumble around in the darkness when trials come, we can know exactly what to do for His wisdom is a light that will go before us.
“If you don’t have all the wisdom needed for this journey,
then all you have to do is ask God for it; and God will grant
all that you need. He gives lavishly and never scolds you for asking.”
James 1:5. (THE VOICE)
James 1:5. (THE VOICE)
Lord, we ask that you guide our choices and decisions by Your wisdom. We thank You that Your wisdom helps us to grow in the discernment and good judgement to live life’s journey.
Thursday, May 17, 2018
Devotional for Thursday, May 17, 2018
“Living By Faith”
by Dona Hake
“The path we walk is charted by faith,
not by what we see with our eyes.”
2 Corinthians 5:7 – the Voice
2 Corinthians 5:7 – the Voice
This is the course the Lord has set before us, we are to walk by faith and not by sight. Oh how tempting it is at times to be moved by what we see or do not see, and what we feel. One evening while we were visiting in North Wales with Brother Arthur Burt there was a precious blind couple that was present in the meeting. They shared a parable with us that evening, and it exhorted us all in our faith. This was the parable they shared:
“There was a guide dog leading a blind man. If he was to override the guidance of the seeing eye dog, and go off course, who takes the blame??? It is necessary for us to entrust our eyes to the eyes of the our dog. So it is, we need to be blind (or deny our senses in the natural) that the Holy Spirit can lead us as we totally yield to His eyes and direction.“
As I read this once again from the notes I took many years ago, I was reminded how easy it is to think that I am walking in faith yet I may be depending too much on my feelings and emotions. I pray this will encourage your heart to seek Him for an even deeper walk of faith as you totally yield to His eyes and direction.
Wednesday, May 16, 2018
DEVOTIONAL FOR WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 2018
“Do You Know What the Father Is Doing?”
by Dona Hake
“Jesus always knew what the Father was doing.
Do I know what the Father is doing in my life?“ Authur Burt
It is sad but sometimes we can be our own worst critics. While it is good to know our weaknesses, we must make sure we are giving those weaknesses to Him so He can continue to help us grow, and strengthen those areas of our life.
May we never grow weary with ourselves and just accept our faults, but rather let us press in, and go about the Father’s business and watch and see His wonderful hand at work in us.
As I share today’s quote, I am hoping to provoke your thoughts about what God is doing in your life. Has he spoken something to you, and you may not have given it the prayerful attention it has needed? Maybe you started something that He spoke for you to do, and you never finished it because you grew weary and disappointed in well doing.
Our Lord never grows weary nor does He ever get disappointed while He is at work within us. He is watching for you to keep your heart humble that His hand can continue to mold you. He is ready to give you His grace in exchange for your lack and inabilities.
My friend, let the Lord your God show you everything within you…the progress you have made, those areas that are weak and need attention, and the new paths He has paved ahead just for you! My prayer for you today….
“Now may the God of peace, who brought the great Shepherd of the sheep, our Lord Jesus, back from the dead through the blood of the new everlasting covenant, perfect you in every good work as you work God’s will. May God do in you only those things that are pleasing in His sight through Jesus the Anointed, our Liberating King, to whom we give glory always and forever. Amen.”
Hebrews 13:20-21 THE VOICE-
This is a good way of teaching the kids to forgive each other(Matt. 5:7). I like the power of this gentle scripture and lesson… Thanks!!
thank you Lisa for sharing. I am blessed that this was a blessing to you!
Ralph &I are really enjoying your devotional together.
So glad this is blessing you both!
Oh, what a wonderful reminder! I want to break the magnifing glass of worry and trust God for each step I take.
It is interesting Selena how the more we worry the bigger and more magnified things get in our minds. Oh how important it is to trust our God for the smallest of things! Thank you for sharing!