Friday, November 3, 2017
Thursday, November 2, 2017
Wednesday, November 1, 2017
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged—
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful,
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness;
Take it to the Lord in prayer.”
James 1:2-5The Voice (VOICE)
“Don’t run from tests and hardships, brothers and sisters. As difficult as they are, you will ultimately find joy in them; if you embrace them, your faith will blossom under pressure and teach you true patience as you endure. And true patience brought on by endurance will equip you to complete the long journey and cross the finish line—mature, complete, and wanting nothing. 5 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.”
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
Philippians 4:13 (CEB)
” I can endure all these things through
the power of the one who gives me strength.”
John 10:10 (AMP)
and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy
life, and have it in abundance
Let us look to One that came that we might win in this life. Let us look to Jesus, the One that has given us all the sufficient strength, wisdom, and everything that we need. It is Him that desires that we enjoy life and live it to the full till it overflows and spills out to those around us!
Sunday, October 29, 2017
by Dona Hake
Elijah knew that the sound of a gentle whisper was God’s voice. He understood that God did not just reveal Himself in the big and the powerful, but in the sound of stillness. The Lord is often found in the gentle whisper in the quietness of a meek spirit. It is there that He is able to whisper the secrets of His perfect will and purposes for our life.
Today let us purpose in knowing that our hearts are quieted before Him. I believe even in the midst of the demands of our lives that we can maintain our hearts and keep them at peace that we can hear His voice no matter what is going on around us. Today let us listen for that sound of gentle stillness…a still, small voice of the Living God.
“Let us be silent that we may hear the whisper of God.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Saturday, October 28, 2017
by Dona Hake
There is so much torment in feeling guilty. It kind of feels like a prison because of how you feel inside. Guilt can bring memories and thoughts of the wrong you may have done and this guilt seems to have a voice. It is capable of haunting and reminding you of what you have been convinced is irreparable. As believers we do not have to live with guilt any more for we have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus, we can partake of His wonderful forgiveness. There is not one thing that our Lord is unable to repair and restore. Nothing can separate us from His love and forgiveness!
Let us treasure within us how wonderful it is that the Lord will forgive us when we mess up for He has promised to always cleanse our hearts when we humble ourselves and seek forgiveness and restoration. Oh the blessing of humbling ourselves to Him admitting our wrongs and shortcomings for He is desires to bring us back to that place of feeling clean again. Our Lord is all about restoration! What a glorious gift we have to partake of as believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let us look at David in the Psalms. His plea to God was for restoration of his heart in a time in which he majorly messed up, and his heart was heavy with guilt and anguish.
Psalm 51:7, 8, 10
“Remove my sin and make me pure.”
Wash me until I am whiter than snow!
Let me hear sounds of joy and happiness again.
God, create a pure heart in me,
and make my spirit strong again.”
Today let us treasure the power of forgiveness from the One who is able to cleanse. I love how verse eight says “Let me hear sounds of joy and happiness again.” This is what restoration is about. When we experience freedom from guilt we are able to experience the joy and happiness that was robbed by our sin and guilt. Only God is able to create within us a pure heart, pick us back up, and cause us to continue on in His will. Thank God for the power of forgiveness! We are cleansed by the power of His love and blood!
Friday, October 27, 2017
Matthew 5:14-16 ( Amplified
“You are the light of the world. A city set
on a hill cannot be hidden.
Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a
peck measure, but on a lampstand, and
it gives light to all in the house.
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Ephesians 4:26-27
“Be angry without sinning. Don’t let the sun set on your anger.
Today we are meditating upon guarding ourselves that we do not give the devil any opportunities to work against us. Let us look closer at what the word opportunity means. The dictionary defines it as:
Let us understand that the devil desires to destroy us…that is his goal. One of the ways to provide an opportunity for the devil to attack our life is to go to bed with anger in our heart. The following scripture from First Peter tells us that the devil roams about like a lion seeking a way to devour us. The devil is driven by a fierce hunger to destroy us, and he desires to “eat up” the life of God that we have been so abundantly blessed with. He seeks to rob all good things from us, so he watches for those opportunities. Let us look at a scripture now that will help deepen our revelation of this fact.
Sunday, October 22, 2017
I encourage you today to ask God to examine your heart and mind as to any habits of thinking that may be wrong within you. If you do this I encourage you to take action to rid yourself of those bad habits that could be hindering your walk with the Lord. From there we must purpose ourselves to set God’s Word as the standard for how we think. We must make it the goal for ourselves to think as God desires for us to think. I leave you with this translation from The Message Bible of Philippians 4:8-9. This is a wonderful portion of scripture to meditate upon to help us in continuing to conform our thoughts to the way God desires for us to think.
Philippians 4:8-9 The Message
“Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things
true,
noble,
reputable,
authentic,
compelling,
gracious—the best, not the worst;
the beautiful, not the ugly;
things to praise, not things to curse.
Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.”
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!