Peace in His Presence
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him… Psalm 37:7, ESV
While on our trip to Italy, we ran into so many different circumstances that brought us into complete reliance on God. I realized I kept getting the same message over and over, “Be patient and wait on the Lord.” Listen, we know God hears us: “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him” (1 John 5:14-15, ESV). While we know this to be true, in almost every situation where we had the opportunity to be patient, we reacted instead of waiting for God’s amazing answers to arrive.
My husband and I were in Italy during a taxi strike, which meant we had to find other means of transportation to get to the airport from the train station. I had read somewhere that there was a tram you could take to get there.
When we arrived in Florence, there was massive confusion. Travelers were left stranded, not knowing what to do. We asked several employees where we could find the train to the airport. I don’t think our Italian was good enough to get the information we needed because we kept hearing that there was no train to the airport. After much frustration we realized it was not called a train but a tram. When we finally did get the right information we headed to catch the tram and everyone was there. Due to the taxi strike, the tram was full. The line was extremely long and people were a bit impatient.
We waited for about thirty minutes and finally the tram came. There was a mad rush of people trying to get on. I headed toward the doors with two suitcases and my husband had the other two with him. When I looked back to check on him, he had stopped to look for our tickets. He couldn't remember where he had put them. While he was searching his pockets, the tram took off. I could feel my spirit saying “Stay calm, he does not need you to react right now!”
At least this time we were at the front of the line and knew exactly where to stand. Three different trams came by as we waited, but none of them were headed to the airport. While waiting it started to lightly rain but it was warm outside, so we were okay. Soon the rain became very heavy. The wind started blowing and we were getting soaked. We ran for shelter and bought a cheap umbrella from someone who was selling them on the street. At this point, we had waited over ninety minutes since the first tram that we missed. We started hearing that something had happened on the tracks and there would be no more trams to the airport that day. We prayed and asked God for direction.
My husband called the car rental place to see if they could pick us up, but they could not. He then spoke to a police officer who said that a tram to the airport was on its way. We waited another twenty minutes and a new tram came, but it was not going to the airport. We asked the driver if there was going to be another tram to the airport and she said no. She said her tram was the last one and that we should get on. She said we could take it to her last stop for the day and catch the bus to the airport from there, so we did. When we arrived at the bus stop there was a long line.
After waiting about ten minutes an officer came by and said that a tram to the airport was on its way. We all abandoned the line for the bus and moved quickly back to the tram stop to catch it. The tram finally came, just like the Officer said, but now it was full of all the people we left at the first stop! We pushed our luggage on and stood for most of the trip. Had we listened, we would have been sitting in a comfortable seat. We finally made it to the airport three hours after arriving in Florence.
In hindsight, God showed me that we had prayed for direction, and we were right where we needed to be the entire time. We had received the answer from an authority we could trust but we doubted when presented with another option. Had we just been patient and listened to the one with authority, we could have avoided so much headache.
Sometimes it is hard to know when to move and when to stay still when things are out of our immediate control. We prayed and asked God for direction but we were still trying to find an answer on our own. If we can take a deep breath and just wait for peace, the Holy Spirit will guide us in the way we should go. Satan is very good at prompting us to move in the direction of our feelings when things are chaotic. We often can’t tell through the fog of emotions if we are moving in ourselves or moving with God.
When we accepted Christ as our savior we received the gift of peace, the peace that passes all understanding. We have to allow the Holy Spirit to move us to that Jehovah Shalom peace. Then we will know the right path to take.
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
You can also follow me at JCCMinistriestv:
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My recently published book Life’s Journey is now available at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08VYJKJ9K/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_6Z95ANB487AMDF3VTDP9
Keep Moving
It is through many tribulations and hardships that we must enter the kingdom of God.
Acts 14:22, AMP
My husband is a history buff and enjoys watching history movies, especially those on war. One evening he asked if I would join him for one. Now I am not a fan of blood and gore but I sat next to him anyway and began to watch. It was about the battle of the Narvik in World War II that took place in the country of Norway. What I found interesting was that Norway had declared itself neutral during the battle. They did not want to be a part of this war.
Germany however, invaded Narvik, wanting to seize its port to guarantee the delivery of iron ore. Everyone knew that Norway was neutral but the war came to them anyway, and they had to protect themselves.
In this movie the young men of Narvik were deathly afraid! They did not want to go up against their German opposition. But they had a very strong leader who would not let them stop moving. He reminded them of their goal: get back home to see their families. At one point they were sailing towards a mountain that they needed to overtake. But their opponents were using guns and tanks to attack them from the other side. When they got off the boats they were running straight into the opposition. Some soldiers died but many were successful and were able to take out the tanks to secure the area.
Just like Norway, most of us desire to stay out of trouble. We like things in our lives to run ever so smoothly. We want to avoid the war and just enjoy life’s journey. But scripture teaches that “…through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22, ESV). We should not be surprised when hardships arise but keep moving, knowing that we already have the victory. This is how we enter the Kingdom of God.
We can take confidence in knowing that according to scripture, “The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged” (Deuteronomy 31:8, NIV). At times it may feel like we are so far away from victory but know that Christ has already overcome the world. He gives us this confidence in His word: ”I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world” (John 16:33, NIV).
As ambassadors and soldiers of Christ, there will be something coming against us every step of the way. Circumstances come to stop and distract us, moving us off course from the mountains God wants us to conquer. But be encouraged and don’t stop moving - for the battle is not ours, it is God’s. We have the victory in Him! Amen!
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
You can also follow me at JCCMinistriestv:
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Identification 2
Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, “If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, ‘He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.’” Jesus said unto him, “It is written again, ‘Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.’” Matthew 4:5-7, KJV
Identity
noun
1. the fact of being who or what a person or thing is. “he knows the identity of the bomber”
the characteristics determining who or what a person or thing is. synonyms: individuality, selfhood, ego, character, personality, originality, distinctiveness, distinction, singularity, peculiarity, uniqueness, differentness
I started this devotional with the definition of “identity” because I believe it is so important that we understand what this word means. So many people get caught up in chasing after titles, positions and things to gain the respect of others because they don’t know who they are. Our identification comes from God. “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over [a]all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:26-27). We are a spirit, we have a soul and we live in a body. We were born into sin and because of that, a haze forms over our identity, giving us the illusion that we don’t know who we are.
You can see it all over the world - the insecurity about who we are has caused sin to flourish and trouble to reign for all mankind. Fear comes from not knowing our identity and the result of fear is sin. This breeds racism, hatred, jealousy, envy, selfishness… the list goes on. We must study the word of God so we are not deceived into believing that our identity comes from anything else but God. Our position at work, church or any other organization is what we do; it is not who we are. “So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, ‘Come back to God!’ For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:20-21, NLT).
We are God’s ambassadors put here to do His good works. When Satan goes to Jesus the second time, he is still after His identity. If Jesus does not know that He is the son of God sent to save the world, we are lost in sin and Satan wins. As you saw in the scripture, Jesus does not even address His identity with Satan. Satan comes at Jesus by trying to twist the word of God, but Jesus responds with the word in truth.
Father,
Thank you for revealing to us how important it is to know our identity. It does not matter the channel we came through or the last name we have - our identity comes from you. We ask that as you continue to reveal to us the path that we should walk, remind us how to fire back with the word of God. Let us do this in complete confidence and authority of what you have proclaimed. Our desire is to be just like our brother Jesus and never be fooled to believe we are anything other than the sons and daughters of the most high God. Amen!
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
You can also follow me at JCCMinistriestv:
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Identification
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ Matthew 4:1-4, NKJV
I had prayed and asked God to help me move in His plan for the year and not my own. I opened my Bible I and was headed in another direction when the pages fell open to this chapter. The above scriptures were the readings that came to me. As I began to read, I knew this was God’s direction.
In this chapter, Mathew is writing about the account of Jesus during his forty day fast and Satan’s attempt at tempting Him. Jesus had been introduced to the world as God’s Son and He was moving into His earthly ministry. That is just how it happens with us - God drops in our spirit His vision for us and before we can even move in that direction, Satan has put all kinds of doubt in our heart as to why God’s vision cannot come to maturation. Jesus was led by the Spirit of God into the desert to be tempted by the devil. Notice scripture says the devil came to Jesus after He had completed his forty days and forty nights of fasting, expecting Him to be weak because His flesh was hungry.
In the first temptation recorded Satan questions Jesus’ identity. “If you be the Son of God, turn these stones into bread.” Jesus never answered Satan’s question about His identity, He responded with the Word of God. This is the same attack Satan uses with us. He is always after our identity. If we don’t know who we are in Christ, we can be misled and never accomplish the call on our lives.
Attacking identity is the same formula Satan used to deceive Adam and Eve. “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:1-5, ESV).
Satan deceived Eve into believing that how God had made her was not enough. He put doubt in her mind about the wisdom, knowledge and understanding God had given her. Eve did not take a bite of the fruit because she was hungry for food but because she believed she needed more knowledge. Eve forgot that she was made in the perfect image of God. “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27, NIV). We must remember that we are equipped with all that we need to do the work of Christ. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart…” (Jeremiah 1:5, NIV).
Satan is always roaming the earth going back and forth in it seeking an individual to devour. He has no authority to make us do anything, so instead he plants doubt and temptations in our heart to get us to move in a direction away from God. We must remember that we have a choice. Adam and Eve taught us what happens when we doubt our self-worth. Jesus taught us a valuable lesson about Satan’s tactics - He reminded us that we have all the authority and power in the Word of God and that we should never question our identity.
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
You can also follow me at JCCMinistriestv:
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Hidden Truths
Did you know that the enemy is consistently sending you messages? God will whisper something in your ear and immediately the enemy comes to steal what God has given you. I remember when I was in high school and I wanted to write poetry. I had a book that I would write in and was trying to figure it all out. I remember one day reading what I had written and I heard Satan say, “Your writings are no good and no one is going to buy them. You will never make a living off of your writings.”
God had given me a gift in my spirit that I loved doing. Satan came to crush what was inside of me. I allowed myself to listen to his lie and it got me off track. He put doubt in my mind and I believed the doubt!
As a freshman in high school my writings may not have been ready for publishing. But had I continued in that field and taken the necessary classes to learn more about writing I would have become better and I would have been successful. There was a hidden truth inside me, a gift for writing, that I suppressed because of the lie of the enemy.
Praise God for the Holy Spirit who brings to our remembrance the things long forgotten! Our amazing God has put gifts and talents in each one of us that are a part of our DNA and He will never take them away! I am so excited that even if we miss it a hundred times, God is still there to guide us back on track - if we listen. I have been writing devotionals for many years now and God has blessed me to publish two books! I absolutely love writing!
Our dreams, gifts, and callings are sitting like hidden treasures waiting for us to tap into them. Once we take that leap of faith, they will bring us the joy that we can hardly imagine. I encourage you, dig deep under all the lies that Satan has put in your head and ask God to reveal the hidden truths about who you are! It is never too late to move! When God brings revelation, run towards it!
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
You can also follow me at JCCMinistriestv:
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Hear
I’m not always fond of looking up words, especially when I think I know the meaning. So when the Holy Spirit prompted me to look up the word “hear”, I was a little irritated. I find it strange that we ask God for more wisdom and knowledge, He tries to give us what we ask for but we do not want to do the work to receive the blessing. Because truthfully, my irritation came from just not wanting to do the work. (Father, thank you for that revelation and I ask for forgiveness for my sin). My God, help us! When I looked up the word I gained more understanding to the meaning of the intransitive verb:
Hear
Intransitive verb
to have the capacity of perceiving sound: to be able to become aware of sound
: to gain information
: to receive communication
: to entertain the idea—used in the negative
This definition, of course, goes right along with what the Holy Spirit put in my heart to write about. When we hear from God we do not hear Him with our ears. He speaks to us deep down where our spirit resides. When we listen with our spirit we have the capacity to perceive the voice of God. We can hear Him speaking and we gain wisdom and knowledge from Him. We hear Him speaking through our spirit, especially when we sit and read the Bible. God is Spirit, so He communicates to us through our spirit. We use our flesh to communicate with everyone else but not with God.
Now Satan is a spirit and he also communicates to us through our spirit. As much as we don’t want to listen to him, he consistently agrees with our fleshy ways and pounds at the door of our spirit, wanting us to have a dialogue with him.
But praise God that He sent the Holy Spirit who helps us hear God’s voice and to fight off attacks from the enemy. It is so imperative that we listen to and move with the Holy Spirit! Jesus told the disciples to wait for the Spirit to come upon them before they moved into the calling God had for their lives.
I have heard many people say that God does not speak to them, but I know those words are so far from the truth. God speaks to us all the time (Job 33:14), we are just not listening. When we try to hear God with our flesh we will miss Him because He speaks to us in the spirit.
If you want to hear God speak to you, find a quiet place to sit and invite Him in. He will be right there with you and you will hear His voice. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. Revelations 3:20, KJV
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
You can also follow me at JCCMinistriestv:
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Contagious - Are you contagious?
The dictionary defines contagious as (of a disease) spread from one person or organism to another by direct or indirect contact. (of an emotion, feeling or attitude) likely to spread to and affect others. This morning as I listened to Sunday service the minister who gave the message said, “Don’t get too close, I’m contagious!” I knew at that moment “contagious” would be the subject of this message.
Although the title of this writing asks a question, Are you contagious?, based on the definition I would say that we are all contagious. We affect people by our emotions, feelings or attitudes. If we take a moment to think about it, any social media is contagious. When we listen to the news, YouTube or read whatever pops up on our mobile phone we are contracting a disease. Based on what is said in the news or social media our emotions, feelings, or attitudes can run a muck. Many times we can be moved to behave in a certain way (good or bad) that we would not necessarily do if we had not experienced what was presented to us; we are reacting to the disease.
The other definition for contagious is a type of disease that can be spread from one person or organism to another by direct or indirect contact. When we hear of a disease that will impact our physical body and is contagious we make every effort to avoid the person that has the disease and we take whatever vaccine that is necessary to prevent us from contracting the ailment.
Scriptures teaches us that we are to…test everything; hold fast what is good.(1Thessalonians 5:21, ESV) However, we do not take the same precautions when it comes to what we put into our minds. The Bible says, Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.(Romans 12:2)
It is interesting that the Bible teaches us to guard our mind, but the world says to protect your body. Our mind is more at risk of contracting a deadly disease than our body ever will be. We should treat everything we hear, see or read as a contagious disease and be very cautious about what we let our spirits receive. We all should remember that we are contagious as well and we need to be very careful about what diseases we may be spreading.
Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as your self.’ Matthew 22:37-39, NIV We should all be spreading the disease of love!
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
You can also follow me at JCCMinistriestv:
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Blessed are The Forgiven
During my time of prayer with God I was seeking a word to feed my soul. As I was thinking about what to read, the Holy Spirit led me to a verse I had written in my journal…
How joyful is the person whose sins are forgiven, whose sin is covered (never seen). How joyful is the one who the Lord does not charge with iniquity and in whose spirit is no deceit. Psalm 32:1-2
As I thought about that scripture, I wanted to know the backstory of why David wrote this psalm. I found that as I read more of the psalm it explains David’s heart. He had not confessed the sins he had committed. He found that as long as he held on to it, it would eat away at him, and all of his strength would leave him. He says in v3-4…
For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.
When we continue in our sin and do not repent to God it will leave us heavy and broken. I remember when I was doing my own thing - sleeping around, running to parties, hanging out, trying to be cool. But when the next morning came there was this feeling of complete guilt. Though I knew right from wrong I wanted to live on my own terms. I can relate to David saying that day and night your hand was heavy on me. I would try and push away the promptings of conviction from God. He would not allow those convictions to go away (praise God!) which eventually led me to repentance. The hardest thing for me was asking for forgiveness, because I knew I was going against God’s word.
Satan tempts us into a life of sin, then lays a heavy guilt on us when we desire to turn to God for forgiveness. That is why David says pray to God immediately while He can be found. Because if we linger too long we will learn to ignore God’s promptings of convictions and will find ourselves washed away in the great flood of waters.
That is why David starts this psalms with how blessed are those whose sins are forgiven! There is no record of our sin when we ask for forgiveness. We are blameless. Satan can no longer eat at our hearts about our sin and cannot take it to God to condemn us! Hallelujah!!!
Father,
Thank you for just your unconditional love. Thank you for consistently moving our hearts toward change. We are ever grateful that you love us so much, and that even in our sin you work to draw us nearer to you. Hallelujah our King! To you be glory and praise!
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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Seek and You Shall Find
…but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it Joshua 1:8, ESV
The statement “seek and you shall find” is so true. No matter what we are looking for when we seek it with all of our heart, we find it. I could not find my earrings but I kept searching for them. I looked under the bed, in my dresser drawers and all the places that I normally put them but they were not there. I kept looking and in desperation I said “God can you show me where I put those earrings?” It was a couple of months later when I was packing for a trip I came across those earrings. I had put them in a jewelry holder in my suitcase from another trip and forgot to take them out.
God says that if we seek Him we will find Him (Matthew 7:7-8). I thought about how long I searched for those earrings. Every time I went into my room or went to put on another pair of earrings I was on the lookout for those earrings. They were always in the back of my mind. This brought to my mind this scripture about meditating on the word of God day and night: …but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it (Joshua 1:8). When I first heard that scripture I wondered, how can I meditate on the word of God day and night? Meditating is constantly pondering, thinking deeply about something. I was meditating on those earrings because I wanted to find them. In the same like manner if we want to find God we have to seek Him out and meditate on his word.
In everything we do, we should be seeking God. He should always be in our heart and in our soul. You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes (Deuteronomy 11:18, ESV). I used to think that seeking God required me to have all my study material out and sit with Him all day long. This is true, we do need to always have time for study, but God is saying daily let the word be in your heart. Let your thoughts be on how God wants to use you throughout your day. Be on the lookout for an opportunity to serve. Purposefully focus on a scripture or a verse of a song throughout the day. The other day God gave me this simple line of a song “atmosphere to shift now, chains be broken, break out, Holy Spirit come down heaven open, heaven open”. Just that simple line kept ringing in my head over and over. I found myself humming it all day. Then it led me into prayer.
That simple line does not seem like much but it is very powerful and it kept my mind focused on God. I found myself seeing people in hard situations and I would say “Holy Spirit, shift the atmosphere, break the chains, let your presence rain down on them. Yes, all day I was seeking God and meditating on His word. Seek me and you will find me. God wants to be found. He puts the desire in us to seek him!
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
You can also follow me at JCCMinistriestv:
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Liars
Did you know that Satan is the father of all lies? Did you know that his lying spirit is a part of human nature! It is true:
Liar: a person who tells lies, who does not tell the truth.
You are of your father the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44).
In the scripture above Jesus was speaking to the Jewish people about having a relationship with Him and believing that He is the son of God. But they argued with Him and basically said Jesus is not telling the truth. He tells them that if they do not accept and believe in Him they are from the devil. They get angry of course, but they hear the truth!
Satan is the author of all lies. He is a spirit, he did not have a body of his own to operate in the earth, so he deceived Adam and Eve into disobeying God’s command which allowed sin to enter the world. Because Adam and Eve sinned we are all born into sin (Genesis 3).
This spirit of Satan lived within each of us because we were born in sin. Until we accept Jesus Christ as our savior we are just what the scripture above says: liars. We are freed from this bondage of sin when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Does that mean we will never lie? No, our flesh nature will always rise up to tempt us to go against God. However, because of Christ living inside of us, our hearts are convicted of this sin and we repent and seek forgiveness from God. Scripture says If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9, ESV).
Scriptures teach us to be alert and of a sober mind. Our enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). How does Satan devour us? By what we speak out of our mouth. Scripture says that life and death is in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21). Satan is constantly working to get us to speak against what God says about us. He wants us to lie! We must be aware of our tongue because when we lie or speak against the work of God, we give Satan access to devour our lives.
Example: I hear so many people say I can’t hear God! That is a flat out lie from the devil. God speaks to our spirit all the time. Satan prompts our spirit to say we can’t hear God. But we hear Him every day speaking to us. He prompts us to pray, He nudges our heart to do the right thing, He will suggest you hold the door open for the other person or speak to a stranger as you pass by. God is always speaking to our spirit. Now you may want to hear God in a deeper way. In order to do that, you have to sit with Him and spend more time with Him. I can say hi to a stranger and they hear me but I am not going to talk to them in a deeper way until I get to know them. It is the same way with Christ. To get to hear God in a deeper way you’ve got to sit with Him. Jesus also sent the Holy Spirit, our advocate who will teach us all things and will remind us of everything God has said to us.
So, to overcome that lying spirit, we have to accept Christ as our personal savior. And we can do that through a simple prayer. Romans 10:9-10 says if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
So simple! Let us pray. Father, thank you that you came to save us. We confess with our mouth and we believe in our heart that you are our Lord and you were raised from the dead so we can be saved. We thank you for saving our souls and removing that lying spirit. We understand that we are forgiven and that our flesh nature will attempt us to sin again. When that happens, we thank you for your prompting reminding us that this is not of you. We can confess our sin and you will forgive us. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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Set A Fire
Set a fire down in my soul that I can’t contain that I can’t control. I want more of you God. I want more of you, God.
In my prayer time, the words above came rushing to my heart as I sat praising God. I was quietly praying for all the women God had brought in my life near and far and the Holy Spirit lifted my spirit. While His joy overwhelmed me those words came out of my mouth. As I listened to myself repeat them from my heart I knew that is exactly what I wanted.
In California during the summer time, we have these raging fires that desecrate people’s homes, business, land and all that they hold dear to them. The fires are so destructive and raging that it can take weeks or even months to contain and get control of them. Once the fires are put out, the homeowner can go back to try and salvage what is left. Most cannot even recognize any of their belongings. Searching through the ashes, there is nothing left of value.
As I meditated on the words, I prayed that the fire of God would rage through me like the fires in California and destroy everything in me that is not of Him. Isn’t that what we want, this flesh of sin to be destroyed in us so we look and act just like our Father? We are here on assignment for Him. If you want that transformation in you, I invite you to pray these words, “Father, set a fire down in my soul that I can’t contain, that I can’t control. Please replace what is there with more of you” In Jesus’ name, Amen!
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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Rebellion
Rebellion: an act of violent or open resistance to an established government or ruler; the action or process of resisting authority, control, or convention.
For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? Hebrews 3:17-18
The Israelites always seem to find a way to rebel against God. It seems as if when God said “Don’t do it” they always would do it. Many times when I am reading the Bible I have often wonder why they did not just follow God’s instructions after all He had done for them. Even as I was thinking the thought, God brought to my mind how rebellious I was as a teen. If my parents told me not to do something, that seemed to be my license to go ahead and do it. I would always suffer the consequence for the behavior and I knew I would, but I did it anyway.
The scripture above makes it real clear that rebellion and disobedience will not bring us God’s rest or peace. God swore that they would not enter His rest! I wanted to know exactly what God meant when He said they would not enter His rest, so I looked up the word “rest” in the Greek. The word “rest” in this scripture means: in general statement, applicable to God and man. God’s rest is entered when the believer is confidently assured within and outwardly lives peaceable in the assurance of God’s daily provisions. God’s rest is His daily provisions, and eternal life Wow! But what does that look like? When we look around physically it seems that we have His provision. But when we look internally in our relationship with Him we will find ourselves in a desolate place. Obedience puts our spirit in a place of wholeness and peace.
I don’t think we realize how important it is to follow God’s commands. For many, it is truly not until something devastating happens in our lives that we take time to hear God’s instructions. God gives us simple commands, like love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and love your neighbor as yourself (Luke 10:27). He tells us to trust in him with all our heart and to lean not on our own understanding but in all our ways acknowledge him and he will direct our path (Proverbs 3:5-8).
See, because we don’t follow God’s instructions we walk in rebellion and we miss the rest of God. We miss all that God has ordained to give us. Grace and mercy still follows us everyday but the provisions that God had ordained especially for us we will forfeit because of our own behavior. I know many times as a teen because of my rebellion I had more chores which left me with less opportunities to enjoy the blessings of the day God had ordained for me.
Although we are born in sin and that is a part of our DNA, God has given us a way out so we can live in His rest. We can have that peace that passes all understanding and receive all He has ordained for us. His rest is always waiting for us to change, for scripture says …the promise of entering his rest still stands…(Hebrews 4:1).
Father,
It is not our desire to be rebellious or disobedient. We want to live in all that you have ordained for us. We repent of our sins and we praise you for the opportunity to enter into your rest. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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My Wilderness
Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:19, ESV
I had just finished writing a devotional about being in the wilderness. I was on the plane listening to the Bible in the book of Luke when the scripture spoke about John the Baptist getting the word in the wilderness. I remember being so excited. I searched professor Google on the word wilderness and wrote the devotional. As soon as I finished the devotional another one just came in my spirit so I wrote that one too and filed it away. I felt so good. I went back into my file to find the first one I had written and it was gone! I could not find it anywhere in my file.
I could feel myself going into this anxiousness (wilderness) experience. My husband was sitting next to me on the plane and he could see me getting worked up. He asked what was wrong and I shared with him what happened. He said just wait! It will show up. I immediately remembered what God had said to me in the devotional I had written earlier. So I prayed, “God help me to hear your word in this wilderness experience. Thank you for thinking of me and for giving me this experience”.
Although it was a small thing we can so easily embrace Satan’s attacks and not even know it. I say embrace because we have a choice, but most times we do not realize it. We just go with whatever comes to us. After prayer I made the choice to just wait. I moved from that worried, anxious, fretful place to a calm, peaceful place. I concluded that if God wanted me to have the devotional He would give it back to me. We have the choice in the wilderness and God is always there with us, we just have to surrender to Him.
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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Gift Giving
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17, ESV
Our church has a three-year campaign for individuals to pledge towards the giving purpose that has been established by the church. All members have been encouraged to make a pledge towards this campaign, which we have. This past Sunday our Senior Associate Pastor shared with us that when you are giving a gift, you have to speak specifically on what that seed is being sown for.
She shared this example: When you give money above your tithes (ten percent of your income) to the church it is considered a gift to God. According to the word, the giving of money is like sowing seeds into the ground. Whatever we sow into the ground that is what we shall reap.
“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life” (Galatians 6:7-8, NIV).
She shared that when sowing a seed above your tithes, you should say what type of seed you are sowing. If you plant apple seeds you should expect apples. That encouraged us to put a word on the gift we were sowing.
Later in the week her words dropped back into my spirit. I had some special gift money that had been given to me. I was saving the money to purchase something special, but had no idea how special it would be. I heard the Lord say, “Why don’t you sow this money as a seed to me?” My first reaction was “God, isn't this my special money to do what I want? Why are you suggesting I sow it to the church?”
As the thought settled in my spirit I began to wonder: what could I buy that would bring more of a profit than sowing the seed to God? I could not think of anything that would bring greater results. Still focused on what our Senior Associate Pastor said, I shifted my question: what kind of seed would I sow? Wow! I got excited as I came up with lots of material ideas. Then the Holy Spirit began to speak.
“How about sowing seeds to have a greater understanding of the Holy Spirit, to increase in the level of your faith, to have a better bible study life, to have a more powerful prayer life that impacts this world?” Those exact words were spoken in my spirit. They were what I had been praying to God about. I became so excited that I ran to grab an envelope from the church. I put the money in it so that it would be ready to give on Sunday morning.
It is amazing to me how fleshy we can be. We have an almighty God who loves us unconditionally and gave His life for us. When He provides us with HIS stuff we act selfishly. God does not need anything we have but He is trying to get us to look outside ourselves and become more like Him. To fulfill His purpose we have to be more willing to give than to receive. The amazing thing about giving is you receive more than you could ever ask for. For the word says, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 6:38
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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Love Capacity
And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
Colossians 3:14 ESV
What is your capacity to receive love and to give love to others? I kept hearing “love capacity'' in my thoughts and wondered what our love capacity is? How much can we truly love?
Capacity – 1. The maximum amount that something can contain. 2. The ability or power to do, experience, or understand something.
My first thought was that my love capacity ranged somewhere in the 50 – 95 percent range, depending on the situation (lol)! I think we choose to love based on the situation and based on how we are treated by others. But in truth, our love capacity is far greater than we could ever imagine. God is love and because we have Him inside of us (if you have accepted Christ as your personal Savior), our capacity is to be love in every situation.
When we go to school for a certain occupation we never say we are going to work 50 percent of that occupation. We don’t say that the situation or how well we are treated will determine how well we perform. Our goal is to become the best in whatever occupation we choose. This should be our goal with love.
I love that capacity has two definitions listed in the dictionary. The first definition speaks to the amount that we can contain, which we now know our capacity for love is limitless when we operate with the Holy Spirit. The second definition focuses on our ability and the power that we have to operate in love. That power does not come from within ourselves. We could never be what love is without the help of the Holy Spirit. Just like we go to school for our occupation, we have to go sit with Jesus Christ to become the love that Christ has called us to be.
Our insignificant idea of love is just like thinking we understand a certain occupation. It is not until we go to school that we get the full understanding of what is involved in that position. In the same way, we need to study love. Jesus showed us love and gave us the definition of love in 1 Corinthians 13. If we view love as an occupation, we’ll understand that it requires us to be in school daily with the Holy Ghost.
If we have a thimble-worth of capacity and we are standing on the edge of a vast ocean, we have access to a lot of water, but we will not hold much because our capacity is so small. If we have a bucket we will get more than a thimble, but once the bucket is full the ocean can do us no good. Even if we have a barrel we will get more than a bucket but we will have only taken advantage of a minuscule part of the ocean. (Portion of my Daily Word reading)
We all have a limitless capacity to be love, however, it is up to us to choose how much love we are going to become.
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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Keep Your Conscience Clear
My conscience [enlightened and prompted] by the Holy Spirit bearing witness with me. Romans 9:1 AMPC
Paul writes: “My conscience [enlightened and prompted] by the Holy Spirit bearing witness with me” (Romans 9:1 AMPC). Note that when the Holy Spirit speaks to your conscience, two things happen. First, He illuminates your heart with truth. Second, He prompts you about what to do. Something may be “right” for others and be “wrong” for you. Why? Because God has a particular plan for your life and He doesn’t want you to be negatively influenced or even derailed. Read the following Scriptures and consider them prayerfully: “Therefore I always exercise and discipline myself [mortifying my body, deadening my carnal affections, bodily appetites, and worldly desires, endeavoring in all respects] to have a clear (unshaken, blameless) conscience, void of offense toward God and toward men” (Acts 24:16 AMPC). “Holding fast to faith (that learning of the entire human personality on God in absolute trust and confidence) and having a good (clear) conscience. By rejecting and thrusting from them [their conscience], some individuals have made shipwreck of their faith” (1 Timothy 1:19 AMPC).
Source: The Word For You Today
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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Sowing For A Harvest
I was up early one morning in my office sitting with God and writing when the sun came in. The way its light poured into my office highlighted the words on the two of the cards that I had in my bookcase. One said “seed and harvest” and the other said “believe”. I immediately felt like I needed to take a picture and use it in a devotional but I was not sure which one.
When I sat for a moment after taking the picture I thought, “This is exactly it!” There is always a time for sowing seeds and a time to harvest but we have to believe in the harvest. If we stop believing, we will stop doing the work. Even when the harvest is sitting right in our laps, we will never receive it because we stopped.
My husband has a friend that he worked with for many years and he always told my husband that he was in college to be a doctor. He is very knowledgeable about medical issues but he is not a doctor because somewhere along the way he stopped. He still has the harvest sitting in his lap but he stopped watering the plant, so the plant couldn’t produce the harvest. He talks about it because the substance of the plant is still in him.
The Bible says as long as the earth remains there will be seedtime and harvest time (Genesis 8:22). We can have confidence in this word because we can see it happening. Here is an example: no one has ever had to plant a weed because God divinely put weeds in the earth (Genesis 3:18). No matter what season, the weeds might die but their seeds always end up in the ground and they always produce a harvest!
Our job is to just continue to believe God in all that He has called us to do. I know that when we are working and not seeing any positive results it can be so easy to give up and lose hope! God never told us it would be easy, but He said He would never leave us. He promised the Israelites that He would bring them out of slavery and into a land flowing with milk and honey. God gave them exactly what He had promised but they had to work with Him and believe. Those individuals who left Egypt with Moses 20 years and older died before they could get the harvest because they did not believe. Even when we grow weary and start to doubt we can pray, “God help my unbelief so I can continue to work with you and see this harvest!” Amen!
You can also follow me at JCCMinistriestv:
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My recently published book Life’s Journey is now available at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08VYJKJ9K/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_6Z95ANB487AMDF3VTDP9Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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For Such A Time As This
“You were made…for just such a time as this.” Esther 4:14, NLT
The story of Esther teaches us two important truths: (1) You need mentors to guide you. Because she was willing to listen to Mordecai, Esther discovered that her calling wasn’t just to be a queen but a deliverer of her people. So, who is your Mordecai? Who knows you well enough to clarify and confirm your calling in life? Who loves you enough to challenge you when you get off track or strengthen and encourage you when you want to quit and run? Where we have blind spots, we need people with 20/20 vision to speak into our lives. Joshua listened to Moses. Timothy listened to Paul. Ruth listened to Naomi. Who are you listening to? (2) You need to know you’re in the place God wants you to be. Mordecai, Esther’s cousin, challenged her and changed her life by saying, “Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?” Esther didn’t set out to be queen. But once she was, she had to decide between her comfort and her calling. It’s a choice you must make too. You say, “What’s my calling?” It could involve your job, your marriage, your tasks as a parent, your friendships. It could involve the neighborhood where you live or volunteering at your church. One thing is certain: When God calls, it’s your “time.” You may be tempted to think you’re just treading water right now, waiting for some other time or more important opportunity. No, you don’t get to choose your time; God does that! The psalmist said, “My times are in thy hand” (Ps 31:15)
Source: The Word For You Today
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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Foolishness
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing… 1 Corinthians 1:18, ESV
The word of God is foolishness to those who are perishing. The Word of God has no meaning to those who are walking in darkness. God’s word does not minister to those who are lost. If you are a believer in Christ these words should command our soul.
Foolishness: lack of good sense or judgment; stupidity
Perishing: suffer death, typically in a violent, sudden, or untimely way; suffer complete ruin or destruction
We as believers have been given the anointed blessing to understand and comprehend who God is and His word. We have been chosen by Him, hand picked to share the gospel with the world. Our friends, neighbors, co-workers, and even some family members who do not know Christ are perishing. I don’t care what they have or how their lives look to us. The Bible says they are headed to complete ruin and destruction because the word is foolishness to them.
If the word of God is foolish to the world, then how do we share the word? We share God’s word by how we live our lives for Christ. We are His ambassadors and He lives in us. I don’t know about you, but I did not receive Christ by others beating the Word of God over my head. I actually ran from those kinds of people and I was a preacher’s kid! What drew me was watching those around me grow closer to God. It was never them beating me over the head with the Bible, but me just watching how they lived. I watched how some cried when they talked to God. I’d watch how some would read their Bible and I’d listen to how others would tell me what God did for them. Most never spoke a scripture; they lived the scripture. The Bible is for believers to read. It is our road map to living in a way that will draw others to Christ.
Many individuals will never go into a church or want to be a part of any religion because of the negative messages they have seen or heard. But we as believers and knowers of God are not spreading religion, we are living out the relationship we have with God. We are spreading the good news of the relationship that anyone can have with God. He did not ask any of us to change our ways when we came to Him. He just asked us to believe that He is God and He sent His son to die for us. Confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord and you shall be saved. The relationship begins.
Father,
Your word says that the Word of God is foolish to the world. But you told us we are to produce fruit. Help us to live a life so that our friends, family, neighbors, co-workers and even strangers will come to know you. This we pray in Jesus name amen!
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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Suppress
But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. Romans 2:5, ESV
While reading the first chapter of Romans, my spirit landed on this scripture: The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what maybe now about God is plain to them because God has made it plan to them. Romans 1:18, NIV
This verse just kept lingering in my heart. As I tried to gather more understanding, I heard the Holy Spirit say, “God has made plain to us the truth”. Paul was writing to the church in Rome and his words are true for us today. Even if we have not accepted Jesus Christ as our personal savior, we know right from wrong. God has made plain His truth in our hearts.
Scripture says we suppress the truth so that we can do what we want. I am reminded of my youth when I would make a decision to do something that I knew was wrong because I wanted to do whatever was before me. There was always this voice in my head that said you should not do this because it is wrong, but I would reason those thoughts away so I could do what I wanted. I remember that I would even do an analysis in my head to see whether my parents would find out. If I could avoid them knowing, then I would go for it.
This is exactly what the scripture is speaking to above. We know the truth. It has been set in our hearts, but we suppress it because of our sinful desires. Paul warns that God's wrath is being revealed from heaven against all godlessness and wickedness because the truth has been made plan to us. We cannot say that we did not know our behaviors were wrong or that we were not living according to the righteousness of Christ. Jesus Christ died so that we can have eternal life and have the ability to live a righteous life. As we follow the truths in our heart, they lead us to the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
Punishment is coming for all sinful behavior. We may sometimes get away with doing things that are not right because we have outsmarted the authority over us. But know that God sees it all. It may look like everyone is getting away with evil but God’s wrath is sitting on all men who do not repent. But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. Romans 2:5, ESV
It can sometimes be very hard to see people get away with doing wrong, but God sees all the wickedness and He will punish everyone for their sin. We are called to repent for our unrighteousness and pray for those who are in sin so they will turn and come into the righteousness of God.
Father,
We thank you that truth has been placed in our hearts. We ask for forgiveness for the times we did not obey this truth. We intercede for those who have chosen the wicked path. As your word teaches, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven,” (Matthew 5:43-45, NIV) so we pray for their salvation in Jesus name, Amen.
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
You can also follow me at JCCMinistriestv:
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