Daily Devotions

Archive for November, 2016

Resurrection Out Of Contradiction

In this year of “resurrection out of contradiction,” I look at our nation’s situation and cannot ignore the need to take action and participate with God overhearconversationin this resurrection. Pinpointing contradictions is probably the first challenge. In the course of a day, we can hear a statement in passing that threatens our whole nation or run into the panic of a fast-moving virus or get caught up in economic predictions that smother hope or we might witness an incident that robs us of peace and security. The list is endless and unique to each of us, yet the bombardment is common to all of us. If we fail to disagree through word or deed when evil or malice is exposed, we tolerate a non-God influence in the atmosphere instead of taking it down.
(This is the second excerpt from Kathy Gabler’s article “Contradicting Contradictions“. More excerpts will be posted Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.)


 


Home is Important

Your home is an important place. It is a place of great redemptive possibilities. The home is the place of nurturing and safety for children. It is a place of love and hugs and words of acceptance. May your home be a place where your children are confident that they have a sanctuary away from the faithless hustle of the world. May they have a family that genuinely expresses and lives out the awe and fear of Almighty God and may that family stand together, unshakable and unmovable upon God’s Word. (Prov.14:26, Msg)  “The Fear-of-God builds up confidence, and makes a world safe for your children.” We are praying you discover daily that your home is a sanctuary you look forward to reaching at the end of the day.
(Marty’s Daily Discovery as heard on TEXAS PRAISE RADIO at the bottom of the hour 24 hours/day. www.txpraise.com)


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Contradicting Contradictions

A spirit of division in men or minions will target race, gender, religion, authority, business, government, nations, institutions, families and anything divisionelse that can be divided. Though the target list is complex, the intent is simple: divide to cause a fall, divide to conquer. There are many obvious attempts and still more behind-the-scenes agendas working to carve up the heart and strength of our country in this election year. No matter what the motive, be it jealousy or hatred or greed or malice or treachery, the bottom line is that attempts to divide this “One nation, under God, indivisible,” is a contradiction to God’s plan and purpose in our nation.
(This is the first excerpt from Kathy Gabler’s article “Contradicting Contradictions“. More excerpts will be posted Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.)


 


God Has Elected Us

shepherdsheepwolf
As the people of God assemble today, may they realize that they have been elected to an unlimited term of office. May they rejoice in God their Savior Who has elected them to be defended and to provide justice in their behalf.  “And will not [our just] God defend and avenge His elect [His chosen ones] who cry out to Him day and night? Will He delay [in providing justice] on their behalf?” (Lk.18:7, Amp)


 


Endure and Accomplish

Discouragement is not a daily diet requisite. You were not born to just barely get through each day. So, I pray that you maintain your confidence in racewinningGod and His will for you as you face every trial and discouragement. May the risen Christ help you endure and accomplish all He has designed for you to walk in. (Heb.10:35-36, Amp)  “Do not, therefore, fling away your fearless confidence, for it carries a great and glorious compensation of reward. For you have need of steadfast patience and endurance, so that you may perform and fully accomplish the will of God, and thus receive and carry away [and enjoy to the full] what is promised.” We are praying you discover daily that you are walking more and more in that for which you were born.
(Marty’s Daily Discovery as heard on TEXAS PRAISE RADIO at the bottom of the hour 24 hours/day. www.txpraise.com. On the right side click on Listen in Stereo/High Bitrate.)


 


What’s Going On, On God’s Side?

What’s Going On, On God’s Side? When Joshua saw the man with the sword in his hand he asked, “Are you for us or for our adversaries?” (Josh 5:13) The man said, “No.” Joshua met someone who was not evil that was not on his side. He had to stop and think. We are so concerned about our causes, handgrippingropeour comfort and our interests that we seldom stop to find out what God’s causes and interests are in a region or in a season. Many are asking, “What is going on?” I think God is asking, “Who is on my side?” “Who truly has my interests at heart?” What is going on? What is going on is that what can be shaken is being shaken until all that is left standing is an unshakeable Kingdom (Heb.12:27). “Occupy till” . . . sounds like: don’t stop doing anything I have ordained you to do with any less faith, dedication, or enthusiasm. Heb 3:14  “If we can only keep our grip on the sure thing we started out with, we’re in this with Christ for the long haul.” (The Message)
(This is the last excerpt from Marty Gabler’s article “What is Going On?“. More excerpts will be posted Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.)


 


Give Thanks

givingthanks
Give thanks with a grateful heart

Give thanks to the Holy One
Give thanks because He’s given Jesus Christ, His Son
And now let the weak say, “I am strong”
Let the poor say, “I am rich
Because of what the Lord has done for us”
Give Thanks. (Don Moen, “Give Thanks”)


Endure Sound Doctrine and Think

Too many Christians decide to start praying only a few weeks before national elections and way too many decide not to vote or to vote for candidates that openly speak promises contrary to biblical principles. One pastor friend of ours was told by his city’s pastor group that there are issues in this biblestudythinkelection that are more important than abortion and the Supreme Court. More important? What is going on? Dear Christian pastor group, this election is deciding (1) what percentage of the future generation will have the opportunity to exit the womb alive (abortion has killed over 50 million babies—not fetuses—to date in this “Christian nation” of ours) and (2) appointments of those who will decide the legalities of future generations for possibly the next 30-40 years. As Dutch Sheets pointed out at an FMCI Conference, a sure fire way nations brought the judgment of God upon themselves was the shedding of innocent blood. He went so far as to say that abortion, the shedding of innocent blood, is blood sacrifice that empowers demons. (Here is a short list of scriptures speaking to the severity of the shedding of innocent blood Deut. 19:10, 13; 21:8-9; Ps. 106:38; Prov. 6:16-17; Jer. 7:6; 19:3-4) When the people of a nation are voting their personal values and consciences rather than the foundations and principles of God and His Word, it begins to look like 2Tim 4:3  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires. (NASB) If a person feels that they just simply cannot vote for a particular candidate, my suggestion would be to vote for the platform that comes closest to biblical worldview. To not vote IS to vote. Voting is just basic stewardship.
(This is the seventh excerpt from Marty Gabler’s article “What is Going On?“. More excerpts will be posted Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.)


 


The Lord Will Not Abandon You

holdinggodshandMay hope arise within the hearts of weary ones and may dreams be revived in the lives of discouraged ones, and may they lift their hands and declare on clear voices that our God does not forget His covenant or His mercies to a thousand generations. May the Lord do a redeeming work in you that He may bring forth through your life what He intended from the beginning. May He redeem and restore everything that the enemy has tried to destroy in you.
(Deut.4:31, GW)  “The LORD your God is a merciful God. He will not abandon you, destroy you, or forget the promise to your ancestors that he swore he would keep.” We are praying you discover daily that merciful God has not abandoned you.


 


Preserve a Posterity

We have been taught by pop-theology to use faith for immediate relief, not long-term endurance, not long-term results (Heb.11:13 does not figure into Beautiful Young AdultsEsau’s demands for immediate relief).  The Esau mindset of blowing off the coming generations and spending what you’ve got on relief for the present generation flies well in today’s skies. Joseph did not get immediate results (or relief) after his prophetic dream and prophetic pronouncement. He (and Daniel and Esther) was sent ahead to “preserve a posterity,” “continue a remnant” and “save lives.” (Gen.45:7 Amplified) He stood and stood and took ground “until the Word of the Lord proved him” and he was not proven to guarantee him plenty of airtime and notoriety but for the survival of a nation (Ps.105:18). He was not dealt the luxurious right of faith for immediate relief or escape. But the result was the salvation of a nation and its being propelled into the future of its destiny for Jehovah’s Name’s sake.
(This is the sixth excerpt from Marty Gabler’s article “What is Going On?“. More excerpts will be posted Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.)

 


Hearts, Hands and Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving1As the people of God assemble today, may they lift their voices, their hearts and hands and sing thanksgiving unto the Lord God for all His beneficent blessings toward us. For God is good and greatly to be praised.  “[ A Song of Praise ] Come, let us praise the Lord! Let us sing for joy to God, who protects us! Let us come before him with thanksgiving and sing joyful songs of praise.” (Ps.95:1-2, GNT)


 


God is Unstoppable

Babies cannot defend themselves. Yet, a powerful king could not destroy the baby Jesus. (Matt.2:16). This world system could not touch even one tiny ResurrectionTombbaby Who was the embodiment of the Kingdom of God in this earth (compare Mk.2:12). Rome had conquered the world but it didn’t know what to do with a carpenter from Nazareth (Lk.23:4). Demons opposed Jesus yet He walked about freely demonstrating the Kingdom of God (Lk.11:20). When crucified, they set a guard on His tomb but could not prevent the power of the rule of God over death. The rule and authority of God to finish what He started is unstoppable. We are praying you discover daily that the power of God is finishing what He started in your life.


 


Short Term or Long Term

Short Term or Long Term—As long as there are a people who feel they have their “ticket stamped” to go to a “much better place,” there will be no reform of what they deem to be merely an exit platform. If the departure platform is somewhat rickety, people will just try to stand still and hope the trainpassengerstrain out of there arrives soon. With such a view, no one reforms or rebuilds the platform; they simply grip what is available to grip and hope to be off of it as soon as possible. The emphasis today upon the sudden coming of the Lord isn’t about Him, it is about us. The religious pundits pounding their pulpits exclaiming the quick return of our Lord are getting hearty (and well financed) “Amens!” in response to their promises of sudden escape from recent disappointments and prognostication. With that consideration, the interesting irony is that we literally cheer our Old Testament heroes who stood to the last man for the saving of a God-ordained nation.
(This is the fifth excerpt from Marty Gabler’s article “What is Going On?“. More excerpts will be posted Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.)


 


Intense Exertion

In spite of the angle of descent of morals and values, in spite of what the state of the union looks like, we stand on the brink of a destiny that our exertionforefathers never imagined (Jer.33:3)—But it will require moving from being observers to acting, require shifting and transition:  it’s the “violent” action of Matt.11:12 which means “intense exertion.” It is not violent in the sense of doing persons harm but in the sense of putting forth “intense exertion” in opposition to things that oppose God’s purpose. We must oppose darkness like opposing a rattlesnake trying to crawl up in our bed. We must do it for the King of Kings and for a generation. We are praying you discover daily that your intense exertion is gaining ground against darkness. (Marty’s Daily Discovery as heard on TEXAS PRAISE RADIO at the bottom of the hour 24 hours/day. www.txpraise.com)


 


What, Where, Why, How, When

What, Where, Why, How, When — What we need more than better politicians is an awakening move of God. Where we need that move of God is in the Church. Why we need that move of God (perhaps it might better be labeled a reforming move of God) is because, having lost sight of our purpose in churchlightraysthe earth, the Church is bemoaning and reacting rather than decreeing and acting. How the move will come is determined by the resistance from those He is attempting to move upon, i.e., the types of circumstances in which they will be willing to hear from God. There are numerous creative circumstances in the Bible that were allowed to develop to awaken purpose in those who eventually became Sunday School story heroes. But then, their goal was not to get to heaven. It was to stop the giants and the systems that dared defy the Lord of Hosts. When God moves, we must be ready to yield to a paradigm that allows His government to reform us before we inadequately try transforming a nation. (1Pe.4:17 “judgment begins in the house of God”) After not preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom (the rule of God, not just a get-out-of-hell-free message; Matt.4:23; 9:35; 24:14) and Kingdom culture for 200 years, we are crying out in our nation for a political figure to legislate morality to produce a culture that doesn’t destroy itself and shed innocent blood. (Matt.5-6 is Kingdom culture)
(This is the fourth excerpt from Marty Gabler’s article “What is Going On?“. More excerpts will be posted Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.)


 


God’s Word in You

God’s Word is in you. It is a seed. A seed does not exist just to hide in the ground. A seed will sprout, push up out of the ground, grow a stalk and put out leaves and blooms so that it may produce fruit, and that fruit is meant to be of benefit to others. God’s Word is a seed in us and it is growing in us (Lk 8:11). A seed cannot stay as it is, it must increase (Jn 12:24). God’s Word is working in you to improve you and increase you to bring forth good fruit.  Col.1:29 “…His mighty power works in me.” (Col.1:29, GW) We are praying you discover daily the Word of God working powerfully in your life.
(Marty’s Daily Discovery as heard on TEXAS PRAISE RADIO at the bottom of the hour 24 hours/day. www.txpraise.com)


 


We Need More Than Politicians

What we need more than better politicians is an awakening move of God (at least)… in the Church, then the nation. God will never share, with mere political parties, the power He has designed to be exercised through the Church. “Politicians are not to be looked to for complete social reform… The politicalrallyposterChurch has been losing influence in America because it has been relying on politics to stop the moral and spiritual decay in society. Politics will not catalyze the change; it is simply a reflection of the environment. If the environment is rooted in Christian values, the politics of America will be rooted in Christian values… The spiritual revival and renewal of Christian faith needed in America will never originate from Washington. Once the spiritual climate changes, Washington will be changed. If the American Church thinks her salvation […] comes from Washington and a God-fearing president, then her hope is rooted in a counterfeit… God’s Church is not dependent on elections; it is dependent upon His Word, which declares, ‘… I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.’” (Matt 16:18) (Dennis Lindsey)  If we are not careful, we can just get to looking around and saying, “‘Such and such’ is what’s going on” and forget that God is at work.
(This is the third excerpt from Marty Gabler’s article “What is Going On?“. More excerpts will be posted Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.)


 


Peace and Riots

worldgodhandsAs the people of God assemble today, may they be assured of God’s peace that passes all understanding and seeks to dwell in their hearts by the power of the risen Christ. May they realize and embrace the unity of the Body of Christ and the strength of oneness in our Lord as they boldly make prayers unto God for the salvation of our nation.  “Confuse the speech of my enemies, O Lord! I see violence and riots in the city,” (Ps.55:9, GNT)  “Felix, who knew Christians didn’t go around starting riots…” (Acts 24:22a, Living Bible)


 


Rejoicing for the Nation

rejoicingpeople1“This is the day which the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Ps.118:24)  On this passage Clarke basically says that since the Lord has called us to triumph, this is the day He has appointed for that purpose. He seems to be claiming it for himself, as should we—this time period, this season, even this very day is the day of our triumphing in Christ. This is rejoicing for what the Lord had done for the nation. V.23 “This is the Lord’s doing.” Now, as then, mere man does not have the answers for our nation. Let us lift our voices to the throne of God that we may rejoice in what Jehovah has done in our nation. Rejoice and be glad!


 


Not Shrink Back

Hopefully, we will not shrink back and think we can opt out of choosing to respond to our Lord’s “Come on” (Matt.14:29). If we refuse to cooperate shrinkawayfromwith God’s intent stirring within us, there will be repercussions. For one, not moving forward in God’s direction can leave us to simply become a victim of our present circumstances instead of changing them.  For another, we get cheated out of destiny and fulfillment that would make our lifetime bring glory to God.  For another, we suffer the consequences of disobedience, (which are too varied and numerous to list here.)  Believe it or not, just like it was hard for Jonah to fight cooperating with God, it is not easy for a son to ignore or defy the cry of a son’s heart.
(This excerpt is from the article “Bid Me Come” written by Kathy Gabler.)


 


Part of Something Bigger

firebucketwaterYou are part of something that is bigger than you are and it is still standing and it is still advancing. (1) The wall is still standing. You and I may only be small pebbles in its makeup but we are part of that wall. (2) You and I may not be Gideon but we are part of that which does not consider the odds. We consider Him who has called us.  (3) You and I may not be the whole bucket of water that is being thrown on the fire but we are drops that are putting out flames. (Heb.12:3, GW) “Think about Jesus, who endured opposition from sinners, so that you don’t become tired and give up.”  We are praying you discover daily that you are part of something bigger than you are. (Marty’s Daily Discovery as heard on TEXAS PRAISE RADIO at the bottom of the hour 24 hours/day.)


 


Prayers and Partnership for the Nation

As you consider your musings throughout the day, as you hear news broadcasts and partake in discussions about current events, may the Lord usagodshandsencourage you for the future of our nation and your vital part in assuring that future. May you be encouraged that your prayers and partnership are significant in His workings in America. May you receive His assurance that you shall not be moved out of purpose nor off the foundation of God Almighty. Let’s claim (Ps.46:5) “God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved:  God shall help her, and that right early.” Also (Ps.62:6) “He only is my rock and my salvation: He is my defense; I shall not be moved.” We are praying you discover daily that God is your defense.   (Marty’s Daily Discovery as heard on TEXAS PRAISE RADIO at the bottom of the hour 24 hours/day. www.txpraise.com)


 


USA at a Tipping Point

The people of God already have a King and Redeemer and no politician can replace Him. Jesus Christ the Son of the Living God is our redeemer and Messiah. “We have had conservative presidents but not one has called the nation to a fast. Conservativism will not replace godliness.” (D. Gentry) worldtippingpointAnd while mentioning conservativism, consider a poignant measure on the future of the matter: “The weakened Republican Party will not be successful in opposing important policy shifts. It will be engaged in an internal ideological struggle. Its main question will be the extent to which it can continue to accommodate the ideas of its religious faction and yet expand its base to appeal to a broad coalition who sees the religious right as the albatross around the neck of the party.” (S.Soleyn) We are standing at a tipping point in this nation that we have not quite approached to date and, for the most part, are not even aware of. The Church was never meant to place itself or its hope in the hands of political parties, candidates or governing or judicial entities created by men. The Church will only function the way it was created and ordained to function, standing on the foundation of the rule of God, that is, Kingdom principles. When the king of Sodom opened his arms wide to include Abraham in the economy of his own kingdom, Abraham quickly re- sponded: Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have sworn to the LORD God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, 23 that I will not take a thread or a sandal thong or anything that is yours, for fear you would say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ (Gen.14:22-23) You become a lackey for the one who fills your pocket and they never let you forget they are the one that did it. (Excerpt from Marty’s article “What is Going On?”)


 


Harassment Cut Off

holdinghanddownI had three more promptings to pray, “Hands off,” in the weeks that followed.  On one occasion, I had a vision as I prayed and I actually saw hands falling off at the wrist.  I quickly said, “Lord, I was not thinking so viciously.  That’s not my fault!”  However, the vision was not about any person being maimed, it was simply assurance that not only was the interference and harassment being stopped, but the ability to continue to interfere and harass was being cut off in that matter also.  Thank you, Father.
(This is the eleventh excerpt from Kathy Gabler’s article “Hands Off!“. More excerpts will be posted Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.)