Daily Devotions

Archive for July, 2019

Pierce the Atmosphere

Jesus demonstrated how to pierce an atmosphere. He did it when He acknowledged the woman with the issue of blood. His acknowledgment, without condemnation, pierce atmospherepierced the atmosphere of traditions that limit life and steal destiny. He pierced the atmosphere that was filled with the fear of death when He spoke to Jairus of his daughter saying, “Do not be afraid any longer; merely entrust this to Christ, and she will be made well.” Jesus’ words pierced the atmosphere and served as a heads-up to the prince of the power of the air over Jarius’ region. That atmosphere filled with unbelief was about to shatter. The stronghold of experience and natural limitations was crumbling, bowing to a Higher order. Jesus set the rules of engagement in Lk 8:51 “ When He came to the house, He did not allow anyone to enter with Him, except Peter and John and James, and the girl’s father and mother.” Then He pierced the powers-that-be again, “He said, “Stop weeping, for she has not died, but is asleep.” The first blow shook every power of darkness lurking in the smothering, toxic air, and then He delivered the second blow in verse 54, “He, however, took her by the hand and called, saying, “Child, arise!” –Kathy Gabler


As You Go

Business People Walking on Sidewalk, New York City, New York, USA“AS YOU GO” about your Father’s business today, this week and the remainder of this year, what you accomplish will far exceed your abilities and learned knowledge. You will have delightful discoveries that your Father’s hand is working beyond your immediate awareness. You will be involved in His workings without having to launch yourself for a particular mission. He will use you and you will accomplish matters for His Kingdom “AS YOU GO”. You will accomplish more “accidentally” than the enemy will accomplish on purpose. Matt 10:7  “And AS YOU GO, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand!”


God-Perspective That Equips

I have been seeing God’s hand moving behind a curtain on a stage.  That has kept handpullcurtainme anticipating the curtain rising in my understanding.  Little by little an expectation has grown in me that we are about to see many things the Holy Spirit has been adjusting, rearranging, developing, redeeming, restoring and maturing.  I don’t think there will be some colorful, feel good, fairy tale play behind those curtains, rather a stage set with details that bring clarity and a God-perspective that equips us, literally showing us another way to think and perceive and prevail.  I have a feeling the curtain will rise on insights that adjust our mode of operation and strategies and change our outcomes. –Kathy Gabler


His Intervention for His Beloved

ThroneSwordAs the people of God assemble today may they be confident of the fact that Jesus, Who was crucified, has risen from the dead and is seated at the right hand of Majesty on High. May they rejoice in His being on the throne and His intervention for His beloved.  “Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;” (Heb.8:1, KJV)


The Word of God Penetrates

If you know someone who is living outside the Kingdom of God but they have had the Word preached to them or they have been taught a scripture or two, take hope, Two Edged Swordfor that Word is alive and active. Once the Word is in them, it cannot be extracted. They may presently be yielding more and more to their soul drives than they do to the Word but the Word penetrates between soul and spirit and our job is to pray they will respond to the life of the Word at those moments when there is a cleaving between the soul and the spirit. Sins of the flesh, crime, even prison cannot nullify or extract that Word.  “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Heb.4:12, NKJV)


Character and the Heat of Trials

If we study the progression of Romans 5:4, (trials then perseverance then character then hope), we begin to understand the real issues. Threshold wars are waged when Blacksmiththe heat of trials gets our character to a red-hot blaze, like the point when metal can be changed and re-shaped. That is the point when the heat makes it tempting to quit and run to the nearest place of relief rather than complete the process by submitting to the Blacksmith’s hammer. So these wars are screaming the question while we’re in the heat of battle: “Will you do the right thing, let God change your heart and mind where necessary? Will you choose to respond to trials with wisdom and develop godly character; or will you remain the same person, refusing to be conformed to His image?” And our answer at this point will either propel us on to hope and toward promise, or cause us to fall short of hope and promise.


Not Dependent on our Reach Alone

Have you ever been in a swimming pool and reached for a leaf only to have it move away from you because of the movement of the water under your hand, still out of reach towardreach? It seemed to be just beyond the reach of your fingers and only a small amount of effort would bring it into your grasp, yet it evaded you. I have also seen a parent holding a child and extending them forward so they might reach something otherwise unreachable. We are not dependent upon our reach alone. In Christ, in His purposes and plans, which include sons/daughters of the Most High, we are enabled to reach and shall reach what has been unreachable before now. Just as the parent held the child out so its little hand was able to grasp, our Lord wants us to grasp that which is within His Kingdom purposes.  “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear.” (Isa.59:1)


Persevering on the Path

Paul said we glory in tribulations. If we do not learn to glory in trials it is probably because we have not persevered down the whole path of Romans 5:4, from PathwaySunTreestribulation to perseverance to character to hope. For we learn to glory if we do not stop along the way and we reach godly hope that is steadfast and unshakeable. Admittedly that is not an easy lesson. There seems to be a crucial threshold, a line of demarcation drawn between character and hope. That threshold is where the enemy comes in like a flood. Wars flare up there, in that threshold of darkness just before dawn. Wars rage there, on the threshold of our deepest weariness. Standing on that threshold, one step away from godly hope that will get us to promise, we can be overwhelmed and exhausted and become so hopeless that we run or quit. That’s why the enemy wages war at this threshold, to drive us aside into hopelessness; for the hopeless will not persevere, will not pursue promise . . . no matter how close it is. —Kathy Gabler


The Word of God is Alive

The emphasis left us in Heb 4:12 is that the Word that is alive and the Word that is

double-edged-sword

indescribably sharp, will leave nothing in us alone. The Word of God cannot be anything but alive, active, operative and penetrating and addresses everything in us. That powerful Word is going to leave nothing alone in your life. The Word of God is going to get after sin. It’s not going to leave the destiny of Jesus that is in you alone. It’s not going to leave the prophecies that are in you by the laying on of hands alone. It’s not going to leave the songs alone that God inspired and brought to you in worship concerning His greatness to be and greatness to act.


Experience and the Future

Sometimes all the enemy has to do is remind us of old battles. It is easy to allow experience to decide our future, but it is not the will of our Father. Experiences God-thinkingshould mature us… not rule over us. If we allow experience to be the final authority and dominate our thinking, we forfeit hope. According to the Word, we must persevere through experiences to get to hope: Rom 5:3-4 “…but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope.” (KJV) It is interesting that several translations substitute the word “character” for “experience.” “Endurance produces character, and character produces hope,” (RSV). Experiences are meant to process and strengthen our character, not become a set of expectations that overshadow our future. —Kathy Gabler


Turned the World Upside Down

As the people of God assemble today may the order of the Lord Most High prevail over the order of religion. May He truly be able to take His liberty in spite of the Hands on worldagendas of the western mindset in order that we may know, experience and emulate Him who birthed, invaded and empowered the church in the upper room–the church that “turned the world upside down.” May our Lord’s version of “decently and in order” prevail as freely as it did in Acts 2 for the purposes of our Lord getting the results of Acts 2.  “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts 2:2-4, NKJV)


When Unity Increases

The “you” in “you shall chase your enemies” (Lev.26:7) is a plural you. Watch how Jehovah’s plan for unity and agreement works. While v.8 says that five of you shall run through2chase 100, it shows the unpredictable increase of 100 putting 10,000 to flight. This scripture shows us the principle that the supernatural kicks in and increases as unity increases. The enemy simply cannot predict that kind of outcome. When unity increases, you throw off the devil’s strategy; what he developed doesn’t work any more. Now, maybe we can see why he doesn’t want us having the same mind, moving in the same direction with the same heart.  “And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.” (Lev.26:7-8)


Obedience and the Much Bigger Matter

Standing on the steps of our state capitol in the place where inaugurations are held, the team sang, “I will remain confident in this, we will see the goodness of the fieldLORD.”  We were there to witness an inauguration, a startup of a new era that opened our government and politics and moral and legal standards to the goodness and purposes of God.  Suddenly, Melissa turned and pointed at the capitol building and prophesied in song, “You will not abort this time . . .”  The stirring within Melissa to prophesy those specific words to the legal and political heart of Texas were not random or coincidence.  While the prophecy was a general directive from the Lord for our government to not abort the will and purposes of God, it was also a specific directive to reverse legal history.  The worship team had been unknowingly set-up for this timely obedience that was in no way premeditated on their part.  Melissa had no awareness of the famous abortion case of Roe vs. Wade having its roots in Texas.  Nevertheless, her obedience was the appointment of God to release agreement with heaven to uproot and change its fruit.  The little “piece” she got and released was a part of a much bigger matter than they knew in both the state and the nation. 

Whether the government of God alters the direction and details of history through a world-shaking miracle or incrementally through a series of events, our lives and obedience are meant to be instrumental in this ever increasing Kingdom.  —Kathy Gabler  (Last excerpt from “Ever Increasing”)


The Word is Alive

The Hebrew writer (Heb.4:12) is showing us that God’s Word is alive. This “alive” ManPraiseSunriseWord is Jesus as described in Jn 1:1-3. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The Word is not merely a thought or something that is vocalized; the Word is the divine Person. He has never not been alive. Even when His body was in the garden tomb for several days, the Bible says that hell was reeling and shaking because the Word which cannot ever be dead, was walking the corridors of hell collecting the keys to hell and the grave. (Rev 1:18) That earthly body was dead but the Word was still alive and active getting things accomplished regardless of, and not bound by, the lifeless body.


Interrupting Agendas of Darkness

Melissa and the Grace Worship Team had been asked to start the worship in the Awaken the Dawn  prayer and worship project in Texas.  Anticipation had been churchlightraysbuilding in me for three weeks that this assignment would be part of a God intersection in history at our state capitol in Austin.  I was confident there would be a sound released that pierced through opposition and spiritual darkness and interference.  I had seen a sound piercing through the heavens to open a portal, an access for God’s desire “as it is in heaven” into the earth, an opening for a God-flow into the politics of our state and nation.  From the first sound, God’s presence and anointing was infusing the atmosphere around the governmental heart of our state.  As we entered the iron gate we heard the sound, and friends coming down Congress Avenue by car heard the sound of Melissa’s voice declaring, “We set our hope on the One who is the EVERLASTING GOD.”  I stood in awe that that particular proclamation echoed over the grounds of the state capitol of Texas in 2018. 

             When I reached the sidewalk in front of the capitol, I was aware that angelic forces were at work ushering in changes in circumstances and filling the capitol building with light that would penetrate its recesses and resources.  A breeze literally swept across us signaling the winds of change were arriving that would leave no sabotaging evil untouched.  I perceived the Spirit of God was interrupting the pace of men and their agendas whether those agendas were public or private.  —Kathy Gabler  (Fifth excerpt from “Ever Increasing”)


Word and Power

It is apparent, and important to note, that “word” and “power” are related in the Bible. The two terms go together most purposefully. The Bible shows us clearly that wordswordthe Word of God is not just some ink on some paper and it is not just a thought that happened to get scribbled down that works well for inspirational reading. The Word of God is power; it is active, operative, energizing and effective. The Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword. That word “any” just can’t help but stand out. The Word is more effective than any cutting instrument, no matter how well made or refined. The Word cuts through layers better than any scalpel. The Word, in articles, books and posts like this, is being worked in you by the Holy Spirit and is building you up in your most holy faith (Jude 1:20). Your faith is holy. i.e., (1) It is uniquely set apart unto God and (2) it has value. The Word of God that your faith is based upon has value for your life and for your family and your nation. (Ps 19:7-11); (also Heb.4:12; Num.11:23; 1Cor.1:18; 1Thess.1:5; Heb.1:3)


Prevail Over Contradictions

Whatever God puts in motion, our part is obedience that completes His intent and gets the God-result in history.  I watched my daughter Melissa get set up for such an MSG_worship_GIC Sept2012obedience.  Every state had received a call to have an intercessory group go to their capitol and begin a Tent America worship and prayer vigil on the same day.  The focus was God’s will for both the state and the nation. The coordinator for Texas planned to start the project with worship.  Worship, like Judah, was going first because worship absorbs our focus in who God is and who is God.  Starting from that focus is essential if we are to get to God results. Worship is a priority in life’s warfare because it sets our footing for battle which is the truth of who He is and what He has designed and desired.  To prevail over contradictions and dispel darkness, we must start from Light and Truth, “if God be . . . then who or what can be against?”  Worship is a commitment to truth, starting the way we mean to go and declaring whose outcome we mean to agree with in earth as in heaven. —Kathy Gabler  (Fourth excerpt from “Ever Increasing”)


Awareness of More to Come

LookingForward

 

As the people of God assemble today may we step out of our mere human expectancies and step over into the awareness of the fact that there is more to come and, in order to meet the challenge of that which is coming, dedicate and prepare ourselves as though there is a tomorrow in which to advance the Kingdom of God in the earth.  “And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come…” (Lk.19:13)


Don’t Give Enemy Fodder

Don’t give your enemy fodder for his cannon. To say it differently, don’t give your enemy ammunition to shoot back at you. Don’t bring unnecessary grief upon CannonAndBallsyourself by saying something you could have left unsaid. Prevent the additional weight of extra burdens by not getting involved in something you didn’t have to get involved in. Give yourself time to consider a matter before giving an opinion or advice. “Take everything to the Lord in Prayer.”  Lk 11:53  “As He left there, the scribes and the Pharisees [followed Him closely, and they] began to be enraged and set themselves violently against Him and to draw Him out and provoke Him to speak of many things,  54  Secretly watching and plotting and lying in wait for Him, to seize upon something He might say [that they might accuse Him].”


A God-Deposit

At a Divine intersection where Father has brought us into position for intercession, a God-deposit can manifest in the earth.  That is quite literally the Kingdom PlantSeed.jpgcoming.  Every God-change that judges the agendas of evil or alters the agendas of ignorance in the earth is God answering the prayer He told us to pray, “Thy Kingdom come.”  So, we dare not consider “our tiny part” insignificant or of no consequence.  God’s will being done in earth is not about our significance anyway, it is about our obedience.  We act upon the glimpse we have and Jer.11 (MSG) tells us that “obedience seals the deal”.  Whatever God puts in motion, our part is obedience that completes His intent and gets the God-result in history.  We can pray and proclaim and follow through from the piece we have even if we have no awareness of its ultimate significance or ripple effect. —Kathy Gabler  (Third excerpt from “Ever Increasing”)


See the Bigger Picture

Prayer & Declare — All-Powerful Lord, I pray that we might be able to see what is beyond our limited sight and understand that which is beyond our confined MountainManLookcomprehension that we may see the bigger picture which You have in mind and function more effectively, not being held back by our small paradigms. May we no longer prefer our petty paradigms but deny them their limiting hold on us while looking to see your expansive possibilities.  I declare that we will lift up our eyes from the din of what we hear and see and will look to You and Your Word and Your Power that are able to perform that which You have promised and that which You intend according to Your great wisdom.   “And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward;” (Gen.13:14, NKJV)   “I will lift up my eyes to the hills—From whence comes my help?  2  My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.” (Ps.121:1-2, NKJV)


Increase in Intensity

I can’t help but think that there has to be a greater degree of the will of God Increase-man-arrowactivated in this current generation than any previous just because the Kingdom is ever-increasing (Isa. 9:7).  An increase in the intensity and extremes of evil do not change that truth, in fact they testify to darkness getting more obvious because of the Light.  When we consider the hugeness of matters such as the Kingdom coming and God’s will being done in the earth and the ever unstoppable, increasing government of God, we may be tempted to step back and think that all sounds out of reach for little ole me. Yet, if a tiny glimpse of what God wants to do in the life of a cashier in Walmart or a piece of understanding concerning God’s will about the President of the United States brings me to a prayer of agreement, that moment is a touch-point between heaven and earth.


Ever Increasing

While we cannot fathom how many voices have come before God praying, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as in heaven,” neither can we doubt the kingdomofheavenfaithfulness of our Father to answer that prayer.  The continual incoming and continually increasing government of God is a force in the earth that cannot be measured or predicted or controlled by the plans of men.  Men cannot pre-guess the effects and changes the government of God brings to any day or decade, and neither can mankind dismiss or ignore Kingdom effects.  There are definite patterns of evil in the earth that are recorded in history, and this often causes people to believe that history repeating itself is an unchangeable absolute, but that is not the case.  That thinking can lead to hopelessness and hinder our participation in bringing change if we allow it, but the truth is that cycles and patterns are not all-powerful or unbeatable dictators of the future. (Kathy Gabler – First excerpt from “Ever Increasing”)


Is This the End?

Is this the end? It is for some very old wickedness.  It has mocked God and is getting harvestcrushed to oblivion.  We have to remember this when the battle is this intense.  Hey, if those who have sown to the flesh are reaping destruction, then the other side of that coin is heaven on earth! “But the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Let us not grow weary or become discouraged in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap, if we do not give in.” (Gal. 6:8-9 AMP) Don’t push this promise off to someday when you die. God’s original intent is for us to be heaven-on-earth during our lifetime. Heaven is invading earth right now.  This harvest is here for both sides of this coin! While the corrupt are meeting their corruption the just are receiving their promises. This is a beautiful time to be alive.  We get to see the justice and goodness of a God that will never be mocked.  You can be assured of that!  Angels, attend to the harvest! —Melissa Gabler