Tag Archives: devotions

April 12, 2016 · 5:30 AM

The Body In Harmony

  
I recently attended United Cry in Washington, DC. It was a multi-generational, multi-denominational, and multi-cultural group of Christian ministers who gathered together to join in prayer and repentance for our nation. It was a beautiful thing to see the Body of Christ working together. There were no discussions of doctrinal differences or jokes being made at the other’s expense. There were charismatics, liturgicals, blacks, whites, Asians, non-denominationals, small churches, and mega churches joined together in harmony with a single purpose: to pray for repentance and revival.

It reminded me of the church I worked at in Cairo, Egypt. There were over 15 denominations represented and more nationalities than that in one church. It was called a microcosm of Heaven. It was incredible to be on staff and watch as people from various backgrounds, denominations, and nationalities worked together to further the Kingdom. The Body of Christ can function as one and these two prove it.

Psalm 133:1 says, “How wonderful and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony!” (NLT) It is possible for us as believers to focus on what we have in common, instead of what divides us, and to live in harmony. I Corinthians 13:13 says, “But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.” We do have differences, but so does a hand and a foot. They have different functions, but are apart of the same body. It’s time that we as believers started to live in harmony and work together to win this world for Jesus. It will take all of us doing our part to handle the coming harvest. Will you be one who differentiates body parts or will you be one working in harmony?

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March 11, 2016 · 5:30 AM

Get Some Rest

  
With Spring Break coming up, the vacation season will begin. Vacations are meant to be a time of rest and recharging, but how many times do we come back from vacation tired? We typically say, “I need a vacation after my vacation.” It’s good to do things on vacation, but not at the expense of giving your body and mind the rest it needs to recharge. There has to be some balance. We weren’t made to go, go, go 24/7/365.

Even God took a day of rest after creating the universe and everything in it. He understands the importance of rest. In fact, He mandated that we take time to rest. It’s in the Ten Commandments after all. Throughout the Bible, we are encouraged to find rest. God knows we are unable to fulfill our calling and our responsibilities when we are burned out.

To help remind us to get some rest, here are some verses in the Bible concerning it.

1. God has told his people, “Here is a place of rest; let the weary rest here. This is a place of quiet rest.” But they would not listen.

Isaiah 28:12 NLT

2. Work six days and rest the seventh. Stop working even during plowing and harvesting.

Exodus 34:21 MSG

3. Now, God has offered us the promise that we may receive that rest he spoke about. Let us take care, then, that none of you will be found to have failed to receive that promised rest.

Hebrews 4:1 GNT

4. Return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.

Psalm 116:7 AMP

5. The LORD is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name.

Psalms 23:1-3 NLT

6. There were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his disciples didn’t even have time to eat. So he said to them, “Let us go off by ourselves to some place where we will be alone and you can rest a while.”

Mark 6:31 GNT

7. It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to his loved ones.

Psalms 127:2 NLT

8. Be still and rest in the Lord; wait for Him and patiently lean yourself upon Him; fret not yourself because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked devices to pass.

Psalm 37:7 AMP

9. As it is, however, there still remains for God’s people a rest like God’s resting on the seventh day.

Hebrews 4:9 GNT

10. Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.

Matthew 11:28-30 MSG

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February 4, 2016 · 5:48 AM

The Sides Of God

  
One of the most fascinating things about God is that once you think you have Him figured out, you find out you don’t. There are so many sides to God that we will never be able to know them all. I find it interesting that He chooses to reveal Himself in different ways to us. In the Bible, He did the same thing. That’s why there are so many names in there to try to describe Him. To Hagar, He was the God who sees me. To Abraham, He was the God who provides. Throughout the Bible, and today, He continues to reveal Himself to us.

In Exodus 6:3 God told Moses, “I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty [El-Shaddai], but by My name the Lord [Yahweh–the redemptive name of God] I did not make Myself known to them [in acts and great miracles]” (AMP). God was telling Moses, “There’s more to me than you will ever know. I’m not only powerful, but I redeem my people as well. Now you’re going to see me reveal myself through signs and wonders.”

The plagues that were brought on Egypt weren’t done for Egypt’s sake. They were done to show Israel how powerful their God really was and that Moses was the man He had chosen. Before the plagues, they wouldn’t listen to Him. Even after the first several plagues, he didn’t get much respect because the Egyptian magicians could copy what God was doing through Moses. Then God started showing off. The plagues began to only affect Egyptians and not the children of Israel. God does the same thing for us today. He tries to reveal Himself to us in our situations.

God continues to try to get our attention. He is trying to make Himself known to us so we will trust Him in our lives. He is Jehovah Nissi, God who gives us victory. He is Jehovah Shammah, God who is there for you. He is Jehovah Rapha, God who heals you. He is Jehovah Shalom, God who gives you peace. Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble” (NLT). He is a God who is ready to help you in whatever you’re facing. Look for Him today to be who you need Him to be in your situation. 

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December 31, 2015 · 5:30 AM

The Voice In The Storm

  
We like to look at the end of a year as the end of a chapter in our lives. Each new year brings new hope, new opportunities, and a fresh start. For many of us, we roll out a welcome mat for those prospects. The passing year may have been one of the hardest ones you’ve had to endure. You may have felt like Job did with all his trials and tribulations. You may have questioned God in what He has allowed to happen to you and why you’ve had to endure everything you’ve gone through. I’ve been there too.

If you’ve read the book of Job, then you know most of it is Job and his friends conversing trying to figure out why all the bad things have happened to him. Some think God is punishing him for secret sins, some think God is making an example out of him, and his own wife thinks he should just curse God and die. After each person gives their reasons and Job defends himself, he began to question things. Finally, in chapter 38, God speaks to him from the middle of the storm.

God was rough on Job. He asked him where he was when the foundations of the earth were set. He asked Job questions that only God had the answers to. Then in chapter 40 God asked Job, “Are you going to haul me, the Mighty God, into court and press charges?” (MSG) Job wisely answered in verse 3-5, “I’m speechless, in awe—words fail me. I should never have opened my mouth! I’ve talked too much, way too much. I’m ready to shut up and listen.” Even then, God asked him, “Do you presume to tell me what I’m doing wrong?”

God was pointing out to Job that in all of his wisdom and understanding, he knew nothing compared to God. He wanted him to understand that the God who created all things and knows all things knows what He’s doing and never took His eye off of Job. God knew what He was doing with Job and He knows what He’s doing in your life. He may not answer you out of the storm like He did for Job, but you can rest assured He knows what He’s doing. He has a plan and a greater knowledge of you and your future than you can comprehend.

Job’s response to God should be ours. Job answered GOD: “I’m convinced: You can do anything and everything. Nothing and no one can upset your plans. You asked, ‘Who is this muddying the water, ignorantly confusing the issue, second-guessing my purposes?’ I admit it. I was the one. I babbled on about things far beyond me, made small talk about wonders way over my head.” We are not to confuse the issues or second guess God’s purposes. We are to endure and to stay faithful to God in the process. In the end, God rewards us for our faithfulness and restores what the locust stole. Hang in there, trust God, and listen for His voice in the storm.

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September 23, 2015 · 6:06 AM

Love All. Serve All. (Video)

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give His life as a ransom for many.

Matthew 20:28 (NLT)

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August 21, 2015 · 6:49 AM

Verses On Knowing God’s Will For Your Life

  
Most of us confuse God’s will for our lives with God’s direction for our lives. We wonder what His will is when really we’re asking for His direction for our individual life. If you’re wondering what God’s will is for your life, here are some verses to help you know it.

1. God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin.

1 Thessalonians 4:3 NLT

2. For such praying is good and right, and it is pleasing and acceptable to God our Savior, Who wishes all men to be saved and increasingly to perceive and recognize and discern and know precisely and correctly the divine Truth.

1 Timothy 2:3-4 AMP

3. Trust GOD from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for GOD ’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track. Don’t assume that you know it all. Run to GOD! Run from evil!

Proverbs 3:5-6 MSG

4. So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts. And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 5:15-20 NLT

5. But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do, what GOD is looking for in men and women. It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be compassionate and loyal in your love, And don’t take yourself too seriously— take God seriously.

Micah 6:8 MSG

6. Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [or be] fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs, but be transformed (changed) by the entire renewal of your mind by its new ideals and its new attitude, so that you may prove for yourselves what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect in His sight for you.

Romans 12:2 AMP

7. Be happy in your faith and rejoice and be glad-hearted continually (always); Be unceasing in prayer, praying perseveringly; Thank God in everything no matter what the circumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks, for this is the will of God for you who are in Christ Jesus the Revealer and Mediator of that will.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 AMP

8. So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.

Colossians 1:9-10 NLT

9. Do not forget or neglect to do kindness and good, to be generous and distribute and contribute to the needy of the church as embodiment and proof of fellowship, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

Hebrews 13:16 AMP

10. What I’m getting at, friends, is that you should simply keep on doing what you’ve done from the beginning. When I was living among you, you lived in responsive obedience. Now that I’m separated from you, keep it up. Better yet, redouble your efforts. Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God. That energy is God’s energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure.Do everything readily and cheerfully—no bickering, no second-guessing allowed! Go out into the world uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted society. Provide people with a glimpse of good living and of the living God. Carry the light-giving Message into the night so I’ll have good cause to be proud of you on the day that Christ returns. You’ll be living proof that I didn’t go to all this work for nothing.

Philippians 2:12-16 MSG

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August 18, 2015 · 5:30 AM

Finding New Strength

If you Google the word “exhausted,” you’ll get a definition that says, “Drained of one’s physical or mental resources; very tired.” Does that word describe you right now? Our bodies can be so physically drained that they refuse to get up in the mornings, to lift the heavy objects you want to move, or to get where you need to go. Our mind can get so stressed and drained that it’s hard to care about things or even make an effort in a relationship where one is needed. Exhausted is a dangerous state of being that we need to avoid.

God recognizes that you and I can get exhausted. In Isaiah 40:29 it says, “He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless” (NLT). The word power in its original context meant ability. The word weak translates as exhausted. So when you read it like that, God gives ability to those who are exhausted. God wants to help us when we’ve lost the ability to accomplish things because we are exhausted, especially the things He’s called us to do.

I can attest to the fact that the work God calls you and I to can be very exhausting mentally and physically. He knows that if we are exhausted, we won’t accomplish His will. The 31st verse tells us, “But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength” (NLT). We can’t go about the Father’s business in our own strength or mental fortitude if we want to be effective long term. We must trust that God will give us ability where we have none, strength where we are weak, and hope when we are in despair.

God asks us to do things that are beyond our ability so that we will trust Him. He’s interested more in your obedience and willingness than in your strength and intellect. He doesn’t need you in order to accomplish anything, yet He chooses to partner with you to enact His will. If you’re willing to step out in faith and to trust Him, He’s willing to give you the ability and strength you lack. You can be exhausted from doing all your other duties and still have the strength to do what God wants as long as you put your trust in Him.

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August 14, 2015 · 6:49 AM

10 Life Verses

I recently asked my friends on Facebook if they had a single verse in the Bible they consider their “Life Verse”. I got a lot of responses. Here are a 10 of them.

  
1. Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

Philippians 4:6-7 MSG

2.   But in your hearts set Christ apart as holy and acknowledge Him as Lord. Always be ready to give a logical defense to anyone who asks you to account for the hope that is in you, but do it courteously and respectfully.

1 Peter 3:15 AMP

3.   Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

Ephesians 6:10-12 NLT

4.   But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Matthew 6:33 ESV

5.   Remember that I have commanded you to be determined and confident! Don’t be afraid or discouraged, for I, the Lord your God, am with you wherever you go.

Joshua 1:9 GNB

6.   At the time, discipline isn’t much fun. It always feels like it’s going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off handsomely, for it’s the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God.

Hebrews 12:11 MSG

7.   “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

Jeremiah 29:11 NLT

8.   Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Never rely on what you think you know. Remember the Lord in everything you do, and he will show you the right way. Never let yourself think that you are wiser than you are; simply obey the Lord and refuse to do wrong.

Proverbs 3:5-7 GNB

9.   For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

Romans 8:18 ESV

10.   Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires; God will satisfy them fully!

Matthew 5:6 GNB

I hope you enjoyed these and possibly found a life verse for yourself if you didn’t have one. If you do have one and it’s not on this list, please share it in the comments.

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August 12, 2015 · 7:12 AM

Show Your Progress (Video)

Give your complete attention to these matters. Throw yourself into your tasks so that everyone will see your progress.
I Timothy 4:15 (NLT)

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August 5, 2015 · 5:15 AM

God’s Handiwork

The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
The skies display his craftsmanship.
Day after day they continue to speak;
night after night they make him known.

Psalm 19:1-2 (NLT)

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