Saturday, December 16, 2017
Devotional for Saturday, December 16, 2017
“No Matter What It Is…”
by Dona Hake
Today we are meditating on Colossians 3:17 . Amplified Version
It says “…whatever you do (no matter what it is)
in word or deed, do everything in the Name
of the Lord Jesus (and independence on Him)
giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”
The Expanded Version says
“Everything you
do or say should be done ·to obey
[or as a representative of;
L in the name of] the Lord Jesus.”
I want us to look very closely at five words in the first scripture translation from the Amplified version. They are… “No matter what it is… “. those five words should be the “sieve” in which we run every word and deed through. The Word of God and the witness of the Holy Spirit is that sieve or safety net in which we can keep ourselves in check. It is that compass that will keep us on the right path. If our every word and deed is not honoring our Lord, then we need to stop and evaluate our words and actions.
God is calling us to a place in which we are to be pure and holy, and pursuing to walk in godliness in every area of our life. May we be a people that He can shine His loving and glorious light through in Jesus Name. Today, NO MATTER WHAT IT IS…Do it all in the Name of Jesus!
Thursday, December 14, 2017
Devotional for Thursday, December 14, 2017
“Let His Word Dwell In You Richly”
by Dona Hake
Today I am continuing with the portion of scripture from Colossians chapter 3. The Amplified translation for verse 16 says
“… Let the spoken word of Christ have its home within you dwelling in your heart and mind – permeating every aspect of your being… “
The Voice translation says it like this…
“Let the word of the anointed one richly in habit your lives.”
…and the Message Translation…
“Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house.”
Colossians 3:15
Colossians 3:15
I love searching the Scriptures and seeing how different translations bring the Word to our hearts, therefore giving us deeper understanding.
Today I would like to encourage your heart to let the spoken Word of our Lord have it’s home in you…”the run of the house.” Let it live richly that it would enrich your life. This IS the abundant life our Lord spoke of! As we look at the Word of God having its home in us let us see it permeating every aspect of our being.
When I ponder this I think about a fragrance that is coming from something that is being cooked or baked in a home. Oh that sweet aroma of cookies or a pie that is baking. It smells so delicious, and the longer it bakes the more the fragrance travels to every part of the house, and the smell is in every corner of every room. May God‘s Word dwell in us richly and permeate every part of our being spirit, soul, and mind in Jesus name! Oh that we would bring the fragrance of Christ to a lost and dying world as we abide in Him and His Word abides in us.
Wednesday, December 13, 2017
Devotional for Wednesday, December 13, 2017
“Maintaining a Thankful Heart”
by Dona Hake
Colossians 3:15-17 Amplified
“Let the peace of Christ [the inner calm of one who walks daily with Him] be the controlling factor in your hearts [deciding and settling questions that arise]. To this peace indeed you were called as members in one body [of believers].
And be thankful [to God always].
Let the [spoken] word of Christ have its home within you [dwelling in your heart and mind—permeating every aspect of your being] as you teach [spiritual things] and admonish and train one another with all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do [no matter what it is] in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus [and in dependence on Him], giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”
Yesterday we meditated upon God’s peace ruling our hearts and minds. This scripture proceeds to tell us that we are to be thankful to God always. When you maintain a thankful heart and attitude, this is evidence that the peace of God is ruling in your heart, and mind as well. When one begins to dwell upon negative things rather than holding fast to his peace they will begin to entertain the thoughts that contribute to a negative, defeated and critical attitude, I guarantee you…if you do not maintain a thankful heart, you will find that your faith will begin to weaken.
“…in every situation [no matter what the circumstances] be thankful and continually give thanks to God; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench [subdue, or be unresponsive to the working and guidance of] the [Holy] Spirit.”
1 Thessalonians 5:18-19
No matter what circumstance we will ever face, we are to remain thankful. Ponder all the blessings that the Lord has given you. Whether large or small, they are worthy to be thankful for . The Scripture reveals that if we have an unthankful heart that we will quench the working and guidance of the Holy Spirit in our life. I believe when the Lord is instructing us to be thankful no matter what circumstance is going on around us, that He will be true to His Word, and He will perform a good thing in the midst of our battle. Look to Him today, and at all times with a thankful heart.
Tuesday, December 12, 2017
Devotional for Tuesday, December 12, 2017
“God’s Peace the Controlling Factor”
by Dona Hake
Colossians 3:15-17 Amplified
“Let the peace of Christ [the inner calm of one who walks daily with Him] be the controlling factor in your hearts [deciding and settling questions that arise]. To this peace indeed you were called as members in one body [of believers]. And be thankful [to God always]. Let the [spoken] word of Christ have its home within you [dwelling in your heart and mind—permeating every aspect of your being] as you teach [spiritual things] and admonish and train one another with all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do [no matter what it is] in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus [and in dependence on Him], giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”
I would like to look at these scriptures over the next few days. Today I am wanting you to ponder closely what we are to allow God’s peace to do in our hearts and minds.
God’s peace will only rule and reign in us…IF we permit it to. The scripture instructs us to “Let the peace of Christ…” If it up to us to grant the occupancy of our Lord’s peace in our hearts and minds then we must watch over it, and guard it. It is a choice that we have, and no one can force us to maintain peace nor can they do it for us. We must guard our hearts and minds. Every good thing that we are blessed with, we must guard and cherish. I think of how easy it is to be preoccupied with things that are needful to do in a day, but if we do not guard our peace, anxious thoughts will try to come and take occupancy in our minds. Either we let God’s peace reign or we let things come and go that would take the place of God’s peace. Many times we may have concerns in our hearts about our loved ones or cares about our future. If we do not give those cares and concerns to our Lord, we will let those concerns begin to rule and rob our peace.
We have been given the perfect instruction on how to guard God’s peace. It is found in Philippian4:8-9
“Finally, [a]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.”
Today I encourage you to think about how you guard God’s peace in you. May we center our minds on these things and implant them in our hearts! Let His peace be the ruling thing within you that decides and settles every thing you face today, in Jesus Name!
Saturday, December 9, 2017
Devotional for Saturday, December 10, 2017
“Four Words”
by Dona Hake
Psalm 119:5 (AMP)
“Oh, that my ways were directed and established
to observe Your statutes
[hearing, receiving, loving, and obeying them]!”
There are so many books available to help us to succeed in any given area of our lives. Most of them have steps to follow, and if you follow through, these steps will help us attain our goal. In this Psalm the Psalmist prays…”Oh that my ways were directed and established to observe your statutes…” This too should be the cry and goal of our hearts every day that we awaken. It should be the cry of our heart as we move about our day until we lay our heads down to sleep. The secret words to success in this prayer is what I want you to meditate upon.
Hear
Receive
Love
Obey
As you go about your day, even though it may be busy …listen. Listen to hear His voice. I cannot begin to tell you the many times He has spoken to me about things I did not even think mattered, yet it mattered to Him to speak. I have been so touched and blessed the many times that my unspoken desires were noticed by my Lord. Make sure your heart and mind are quieted enough to hear Him. When you hear, look to receive what you have heard. Begin to embrace and love every word, and direction the Lord is giving your for the moment. Now for the one word that is so very important. Obey! What good is it to hear, receive, and love yet make the decision that you will not obey. Obey my friend! As we hear, receive, love, and obey Him and His Word….we will truly be blessed!
Lord, we thank you that You are our Faithful Friend that has promised to walk near to us all the days of our life. For that we are so thankful! Help us to discern when our minds have become so cluttered with the cares of this world that we cannot even hear Your sweet voice. May we walk in the conviction to hold fast and love every Word that your have spoken, and may we love Your written Word. Remind us by the help of Your Holy Spirit to hear, receive, love and obey you in Jesus Name! amen.
Friday, December 8, 2017
Devotional for Wednesday, December 8, 2017
“Seeking and Craving the Lord”
by Dona Hake
Psalm 105:4 (AMP)
“Seek, inquire of and for the Lord,
and crave Him and
His strength (His might and inflexibility
His strength (His might and inflexibility
to temptation);
seek and require His face and His presence
seek and require His face and His presence
[continually] evermore.”
I find this translation of this scripture very awesome, and it stirs my heart to seek and crave the Lord. In the natural we can have food cravings. We have all experienced it to the point that we thought we just had to have a particular food. There are certain commercials that are advertising about how yummy their food is at their restaurant. Some look so delicious you feel like you got to get in your car, and head right for their restaurant! What you saw in the advertisement stirred you appetite, and it made you hungry.
As we read and ponder the Word of our Lord it should cause us to hunger and crave Him, and all of His ways more and more each day. Today, I want to stir your thoughts and your heart about your cravings and desires for the things that the Lord wants us to have working in us. As we ponder the scripture from Psalm 105:4 we can see that as we truly seek the Lord in prayer, reading, and the hearing of His Word that there is much to be found. Even if you have read a scripture many times over, there is always freshness and newness of life that a scripture that can bring to your soul…if you allow it to. I can remember reading an interesting quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson, this is what he said,
“No man ever prayed without learning something.”
As we seek the Lord daily with a hungry heart it should be as normal as breathing….you should be desiring more of Him. He is your fresh Bread for the day, and you should not imagine trying to live without Him, and all that He has to give. As you enter into His presence and read His Word.
Today I encourage you to crave Him and all of His strength. The more we seek Him the more we will find ourselves needing to seek Him more. The more we experience HIS strength and HIS ability, the more we will crave to turn our face to Him and receive all that He is!
Oh my dear friends, taste and see that our Lord is so good! He desires to teach us continually and answer all the questions of our heart. Crave Him, step into His presence, and prepare yourself to learn and receive His portion for you today. God is good!
Jeremiah 33:3 (CJB)
“Call out to me,
and I will answer you —
I will tell you great things,
hidden things of which you are unaware.”
Thursday, December 7, 2017
Devotional for Thursday, December 7, 2017
“Lay Your Burden Down”
by Dona Hake
Matthew 11:28-29 (AMP)
“ Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls. Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls.”
Jesus said, “I will cause you to rest.” These words are truly refreshment for any weary soul. He will cause us to take rest if we are overburdened and heavy-laden. Cause defined is when something is brought about. I love that our Lord can bring about that which we need in our souls when we are lacking and weighted down. Today let us meditate upon the fact that the Lord desires to bring our souls to rest, and He desires our souls be kept at rest.
This scripture from Matthew 11 reveals how human tendency is to try to do things in our own ability. Think about this my friends…. our bodies were not created to worry, and bear the stress and anxiety it brings. Just think how easy it is for us to rely on our own ability and strength to accomplish things. We in turn are capable of overworking our minds and bodies in a way that we were never created to do. Let us live and move and have our being in Him just as He intended our life to be…in His rest, in His strength, and by His grace.
In verse twenty eight Jesus was giving an invitation to the overburdened and weary. He spoke of relieving and refreshing the weary soul. As I meditate upon this scripture I image Him softly speaking to me saying, “Come to me, give me all your care, anxieties and worries, and I promise to carry it all for you.” This reminds me of Psalm twenty three where the Psalmist said in the very beginning “He makes me to lay down in green pastures” and “He leads me beside the still waters.” The first step in the right direction when our soul is burdened down is to to go to Him. Yes, simply GO to Him. Do not turn to your own means of rest and peace. Just lay down and rest. Be still and know that He is the God of all strength.
Let us look a little closer at this word -yoke-. Farmers used to yoke the young ox with the old experienced ox to train them. The old ox would take the major load, and the young one would walk along and learn from him. If you read this verses in light of this, it brings so much light to the scripture. As we walk along side of Jesus, and learn of Him, things will go so much better for us. Our Lord knows the rugged paths that we will walk at times, and He will bear the burden of those journeys.
Jesus desires that we submit to His way and His Word. He desires to be our strength when we are weak and weary. If you are under any burden of sin, guilt, anxieties or worry please consider humbly giving your burden to Him. Walk with Him today, cast your care, and permit Him to bear your burden for He is the Burden Bearer.
Tuesday, December 5, 2017
Devotional for Tuesday, December 5, 2017
“Be Prayerful, Be Watchful…”
by Dona Hake
It is so important that we be watchful for the devil seeks ways to devour us. The only way he can do this is if we provide him opportunities. One of the ways to provide an opportunity for the devil to attack our life is to go to go to bed with anger and unresolved issues in our heart.
Ephesians 4:26-27
“Be angry without sinning. Don’t let the sun set on your anger.
Don’t provide an opportunity for the devil.”
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 therefore he watches for the perfect moment and opportunity to use whatever we give him to work with. Let us look a scripture now that will help deepen our revelation of this fact.
1 Peter 5:8 (Amplified)
” Be sober [well balanced and self-disciplined],
be alert and cautious at all times.
That enemy of yours, the devil, prowls
around like a roaring lion [fiercely hungry],
seeking someone to devour.”
Today I encourage you to keep your heart guarded for when we are not watchful we are providing the perfect conditions for the devil to work in our lives. We do not want to give him open doors to devour our life, our time, our relationships, and God’s perfect will being accomplished in us. The devil loves nothing more than robbing us that we cannot move forward and live victoriously for the Lord. As we purpose to walk in God’s love, and hide His holy Word in our hearts, we will be wise and discerning.
Lord we ask that you would help us to live for You with pure hearts. Remind us by Your Holy Spirit to be fervent and diligent to watch over our hearts. Help us to never permit our hearts to be cluttered with anger, sin or anything that would create an opportunity for the devil to devour the life You have given us. We seek to serve you with our whole hearts that we may do Your will all the days of our lives. In Jesus Name, amen!
Monday, December 4, 2017
Devotional for Monday, December 4, 2017
“Pleasing Our Lord By Living a Transformed Life”
by Dona Hake
Romans 12:2 Amplified Version
And do not be conformed to this world [any longer with its superficial values and customs], but be transformed and progressively changed [as you mature spiritually] by the renewing of your mind [focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His plan and purpose for you].
I love how the Amplified expounds on what renewing of the mind is…”focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes.” I see this definition shows us how renewing our mind by His Word is the perfect compass for our souls, and it will cause us to mature spiritually.
As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ I believe each of us should know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are always in our Lord’s perfect will. This should be a goal that every believer strives for. As each of us have been fearfully and wonderfully made we can be assured that He has a very unique assignment for every day of our life as we are in pursuit of that perfect will. As we awaken to His faithfulness and tender mercies we can know that He has a special plan for our day. Let us continue to move toward being transformed that we can show forth His light and glory in this world of darkness.
Today I encourage your heart to desire that continual growth and change are taking place within us. This is only going to happen as we make it a practice to be habitually renewing our minds, and living by His Word. Renewing our minds is not going to happen by spending a few minutes reading the Word each day. Even as we go about the work of our life, we need to seek a place of constantly meditating upon His Words, fellowship with Him, and being in a place of readiness to obey His voice at all times.
Psalm 1:2 AMPC
“But his delight and desire are in the law of the Lord,
and on His law (the precepts, the instructions,
the teachings of God) he habitually meditates
(ponders and studies) by day and by night.”
Today I challenge you to continue acknowledging your need for transformation every time you spend time with Him, read His Word, or hear His Word when you attend church. Permit that Word to go into your heart, go into your mind and continue the transforming process by the hand of a loving and living God.
Friday, December 1, 2017
Devotional for Friday, December 1, 2017
“Adopt the Pace of God”
by Dona Hake
“Adopt the pace of God. His secret is patience.
There is no time lost in waiting if you are waiting on the Lord.
The road to success runs uphill, so don’t expect to break
any speed records. All great achievements require time.”
excerpt from John Mason’s book
“You Were Born An Original-Don’t Die a Copy”
I think these are some powerful words to think upon. God has a divine pace for each of us and we need to make sure we are in pace with Him. How many times have you tried to rush the plans of God? Let us remember that He knows all that is ahead of us, and He sees things that we are not even in a position to understand at times. As He steadies us at His pace He is at work in our hearts preparing us for what is ahead.
“There is no time lost in waiting if you are waiting on the Lord.” My first thoughts went toward the scripture in Isaiah 40:31.
Isaiah 40:31 AMP
“But those who wait for the
Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him]
Will gain new strength and renew their power;
They will lift up their wings [and rise up
close to God] like eagles [rising toward
the sun]; They will run and not become
weary, They will walk and not grow tired.”
The man or woman that possesses patience embraces something wonderful. The man or woman that understands waiting upon the Lord will gain in his or her strength and renew their power in Him. Oh for the ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay when we feel things are not moving as quickly as we planned. In our times of impatience let us call upon Him for His help. It is as we permit God’s patience to be perfected in us that we will be refreshed with His new empowering strength. While we are waiting we will rise up, we will run without weariness, and see that which we are waiting for come to pass in Jesus Name!
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!