by Dona Hake

Isaiah 9:6

“…and his name shall be called Wonderful…”

I encourage you today to  tell of His wonderful works when people ask why you  carry such joy.  I encourage you to ponder the many testimonies that you have witnessed in your life, and just take time to give thanks to God !

Psalm 40:5 (ERV)

by Dona Hake

I  remember very well when my life seemed to be empty and without hope.  On that day that I surrendered my all I can remember feeling the weight of the world drop off of me.  It seemed like all of the sudden I just saw everything differently.    Jesus the Light came into my heart and from that day forward He has illuminated my every path!

Psalm 36:9   

“The life-giving fountain
belongs to you,
and your light gives light

I am so thankful that His light abides within me. Today let us think about how our life, words and actions show forth the Light which is our loving Savior Jesus Christ!  My friends, God desires that we be a light to this world that we may bring hope to the hopeless.   Look for opportunities today to live and speak from that well within you in Jesus Name!

by Dona Hake

When I think about a sanctuary, I think about a place of refuge.  I think of quietness and peace…a place that cannot be touched by turmoil, stress and circumstances that try to bring  my soul down. Have you ever had times where there may be confusion and stress all about you and you wish you could just escape it?   I know we have all been in those situations yet as a believer we can humbly bow our hearts in prayer, and escape to that place that He has prepared for us to abide in. We do not have to run away from problems, we can be in the midst of them and maintain complete peace.  Today let us meditate upon our Lord being our Sanctuary.

Many times people wait until they are so stressed out and their body has become worn down physically before they decide to seek God’s direction and comfort. I believe that God desires for us to be on top of things and He desires that we desire to live in a constant state of peace and serenity.  He desires that we abide in Him and His place of total rest…He is our Sanctuary!

Throughout your day I encourage you to stay aware of His precious presence. I believe that the place He has provided for us is a place of perfect peace and no matter what goes on about you that peace need not be disrupted.  Thank You Lord for providing a place of refuge that we can dwell all the days of our live.

Isaiah 8:14 (KJ21)

“And He shall be for you a sanctuary…”

by Dona Hake

Isaiah 9:6

“…and his name shall be called…Counsellor.”

I love knowing that the Lord totally understands any problem we face and anything that we are walking through.  He understands how we think and He knows our strengths and weaknesses.    Just think about it, the One that created Heaven and Earth formed you in your mother’s womb.  He created you for a special purpose.  He is well able to counsel you in His purposes.

Today let us reflect on Jesus our Counsellor.  He is always there to listen and as you speak to Him be mindful to also be silent that He can speak tenderly to you.  His loving hand is well able to lead and guide you throughout this day!

by Dona Hake

Psalm 150:2  KJV

“Praise him for his mighty acts: praise

him according to his excellent greatness.”

Yes! His works are great and many are the mighty acts of our Living God!   When doubts and fears try to make us shrink back in our faith, let us call to mind that with man it may seem impossible but with God ALL things are possible.  The Hand that created and called into existence the Heaven and Earth waits for you to turn to Him in your time of trouble.  He desires to do mighty acts in your life according to His excellent greatness!  Today let us meditate upon how our Lord desires that we meditate and consider all of His mighty deeds.   May we ponder and recall the wonderful things He has done for us from the smallest of details to the grandest of miracles that we have witnessed!

Psalm 77:12

“I will meditate also upon all Your

works and consider all Your [mighty] deeds.”

 His Name is called mighty and there is nothing too big for Him.  Yes Lord! Your Name is mighty and we praise You today for the mighty works You do!

“Now to Him who is ABLE to do above and beyond all you dare ask or think…exceeding your highest hopes and dreams.”

Ephesians 3:20

Devotional for Tuesday, May 2, 2017

“The Snare of Perfection”

by Dona Hake

As a very young believer I can remember having conversations with my Father about his spiritual condition.  He did not know the Lord and his first and biggest reason was he felt he did too much wrong in his past, and God would never accept him in light of his many failures.  Over and over I would try to tell him that God is forgiving and He was able to wash his past clean and give him a fresh start.

You see my Father was  a perfectionist.  Everything had to be exact and perfect.  He was a very  intelligent man yet the perfectionist thing became his snare.  The Lord had showed me many times that because of this snare, his conversion to Christ would be on his death bed,  and sure enough it was.  Sitting beside him in his final hours of life he laid motionless and very unresponsive.  I was growing weary and hopelessness was beginning to try to grip my heart.   I thought how can I communicate with him now since he is almost in a non responsive state of mind and his body was not moving.  Quietly I whispered in his ear, “This is it Daddy, you have very little time…you are going to die…if you want me to pray with you…do something…flutter your eyes…just give me some way of knowing you want me to pray”    Many moments passed and then I was stunned as I saw him slowly moving his hand toward me to embrace mine.  It was his way of communicating that he wanted me to pray.

I will never forget how precious he was as I looked into his eyes and I asked him if he knew Christ.  I held a picture of Jesus in front of his face and said, “Do you know Him now?”  My father nodded and indeed my heart was full of joy to know that when he took his final breath that he went to be with Jesus.   Did he leave a perfect life behind?  Absolutely not.  Did he leave forgiven?  Absolutely yes!!! His thoughts of thinking his life had to be perfect robbed him of his life on earth.  I encourage you today to know that God is not looking for you to be perfect.  He is looking for the heart that knows that it has need of Him and His forgiveness!

Psalm 103:12 (CEB) 
As far as east is from west—

by Dona Hake

Hebrews 6:18-20  (ERV)

Devotional for Sunday, April 30, 2017

“The God of All Mercy”

by Dona Hake

Matthew 5:7 (TLB)

“Happy are the kind and merciful, for they shall be shown mercy.”

The Lord has so freely shown us His mercy.  Even before we knew Him, even before we realized we needed Him, He was desiring to forgive us and redeem us to Himself.  As we look to Him and behold how beautiful His love is, and how merciful His heart is , we will come to realize the beauty of being merciful to others.  Today let us meditate upon how our sweet Lord desires to show His mercy through us.  As we walk justly and humbly before God and man we will want to love people with His love and be merciful to them even in those times we may feel they do not deserve mercy.   Let us read this scripture in Micah.

Micah 6:8 (GNV)

requireth of thee: surely to do justly, and to love mercy,

and to humble thyself, to walk with thy God.

As a little girl I can remember learning this golden rule…  “Do onto others as you would have them do onto you.”  Deep down we could all admit that we want to be treated fairly especially by those that we think really care about us.  Yet we know there are times that people will mess up.  People can really hurt us, and sometimes that may not even have a clue how much our heart hurts as a result of their words or actions. I love this quote because it reminds me that there will be times that I will mess up and in those times I hope that those around me will forgive me and I can be reconciled if I have hurt them.     It makes me think twice before I react to those around me if I feel they are wrong.  It reminds me that I need to be quick to forgive and forget, and extend the mercy of the Lord to them.

Lord, help us all to be merciful and see those around us the way You see them.  Help us to realize that we cannot forgive in our own ability but only with Your help and strength.  Help us to walk humbly before You, do justly to those around us,  and to love your mercy.  Amen.

 Devotional for Saturday, April 29, 2017

“The God of the Abundant Life”

Today let us praise the One that has promised to bless us with a life of abundance!  John 10:10 “I have come that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”  Forty one years ago today, at nineteen years of age  I surrendered my life to Jesus.  I was a stubborn person and I could argue with any Christian till they were blue in the face.  Nothing seemed to convince me because all I seemed to encounter was Christians that were full of hypocrisy and I hated it!  Then finally I saw some real genuine believers that walked out what they spoke and believed.  I finally allowed the Lord to take hold of me.  It was the most important decision I ever made, and I will never forget the joy that flooded my heart that spring evening of April 1973!

Has every day of my life been victorious and has everything gone perfectly?  Absolutely not!  My skin crawls when I see or hear anyone of faith that tries to portray that life is a bed of roses  just because they have become a Christian.  Jesus told us that in this life WE WILL have trials.  In the book of Romans 8:31 it says:

“What, then, shall we say in response to these things?  If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare his own Son, but gave Him up for us all- how will not also, along with him, graciously give us all things.”

God has made it possible to fill our cup to the full!  May we realize that He desires to  fill us to the full in order that we have Him to draw upon in our times of test, trials, pain and suffering.  The life of abundance is that of always having His all sufficiency to draw upon, and NOTHING can separate us from Him.  Do not forget that He desires that the full and abundant life that we have been blessed with should spill out to those around us!  We praise You Lord for this full and abundant life, and we are so thankful that nothing can separate us from Your love!

Romans 8:39

“…neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation,

will be able to separate us from the

love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Devotional for Friday, April 28, 2017

“He Preserves Our Life”

by Dona Hake

Psalm 119:36-40   (NIV)

“Turn my heart toward your statutes
and not toward selfish gain.
 Turn my eyes away from worthless things;