Daily Devotions

Archive for December, 2024

Prayer or Kicking and Screaming?

Marty Gabler—Have there been times when “prayer” was pretty much just kicking and screaming until you were worn out, then lying in a puddle of tears hoping God, in bountiful pity, put all the puzzle pieces in place just as you prefer them? Was “rest” just a foreign word? The word “rest” is a delightful word. Our rest is (2Tim.1:12) “I know (have knowledge of, and am acquainted with) Him Whom I have believed (adhered to and trusted in and relied on), and I am [positively] persuaded that He is able to guard and keep that which has been entrusted to me and which I have committed [to Him] until that day.” In God we trust. We are praying you discover daily our Lord’s invitation, “Come to me and I will give you rest”.


Life Meant to be Epic

MELISSA— It’s our time to be who God intended us to be.  First things first, however. Let me clarify.  A prophetic lifestyle does not mean you have to be a prophet. The office of prophet is designated by God and recognized by the 5 fold ministry.  We are all capable of living a prophetic lifestyle without being a prophet. This really is an epic life we are meant to live. Don’t ignore it. This life is meant to be epic!


Prompting of Holy Spirit

KATHY GABLER—Our biggest challenge may be learning how the Spirit prompts us to participate and cooperate with God in the supernatural.  I remember when Melissa was a teen and a prophetic sound would stir in her.  She would feel like she was about to throw up.  Finally instead of getting to such a drastic extreme, she learned that she had something to release when she first heard a phrase or saw a picture.  Job 33, tells us that some people hear instruction in dreams and visions. William Branham had a lifetime full of signs and wonders.  He learned to hear God and get instruction through detailed visions. These visions set the stage for miracles:  A woman sent him a request to come and pray for her daughter who was crippled.  He would not go to any of these requests unless the Lord gave him a vision of it. In this case he saw the girl lying on a bed in the corner of the room and her father standing by the bed.  He also saw a man sitting by the front window looking outside and her mother was standing by the doorway next to the girl.  An old woman was sitting in a rocking chair next to the mother.  Then he prayed for the girl and she was healed.  When he and his friend arrived at the house, everything was just as it was in the vision except the old woman was not in the rocking chair and no one was seated by the window looking out. So Branham said, “It is not right yet. We will wait.” In the meantime, his friend sat down by the front window and was looking out, and an old woman came from next door and sat in the rocking chair.  Then Branham said to bring the girl, and the father picked her up and brought her.  Branham laid hands on her and she was completely healed.

One last consideration is the principle of “some plant and some water, but God gives the increase” (1Co3:6-8). ”The Kingdom of God is not a matter of talk, but of power! (1Co 4:20) We are born into this Kingdom to participate in that power and the miracles, signs and wonders will follow.


Possible to Fulfill God’s Plan

Marty Gabler—It is possible for an individual to fulfill God’s plan for his/her life (2Tim.4:7). There are some very basic factors about our makeup, and the makeup of others around us, that we can come to understand that will be of great value in continuing upon the path to that goal. Learning what that makeup looks like, accepting it and releasing ourselves to express it freely and fully, while recognizing and relating to others who have a different makeup, is key to success. When we begin to take notice of how God has “wired” us (or, simply, how God has made us) we can stay quite close to the trajectory our Lord has for His expression in our life’s walk. Then, not only are we more efficiently and obviously bringing glory to God but we are more fulfilled and satisfied and at peace in our lives.


Overreaching Demands

Melissa Gabler—We are dealing with evil on center stage trying to control the narrative, our lives and pave the future. This is literally the kind of stuff sci-fi and horror movies are made of. The control factor for this evil is fear produced from propaganda and the rules of engagement are simply: do what we say, don’t defy us and you won’t be a horrible person and you won’t die. Those are the rules of engagement from the evil spirit of the age.  Excuse me?  It’s obvious by the shape society and the church are in that we have abided by those rules for a very, very long time. I don’t think we’ve realized what was going on until now.  It has taken this awakening to expose how subjected we are to society’s rules and demands. These rules and demands have overreached in the areas such as what aging looks like, how to deal with disease, relationships, what love is, how the church should look to keep up, what to do to be happy (because that’s the goal), etc.  Those rules have made God look like a weak humanist, which has been the end game all along.  So, how do the rules of engagement change?  The heirs of the Kingdom actually awaken to who they are and stop playing by these rules.  This is all part of the ongoing awakening that we are experiencing.


Speaking of Expectancy

Kathy Gabler—When speaking of expectancy, I’m not talking about false fantasies constructed in moments of distraction, but genuine anticipation that comes from hours, weeks and years of effort and pressing on.  After enduring twenty years of  Philistine oppression, Israel hit the threshold of expectancy and tasted the beginning of deliverance through Samson.  After twenty years of enduring his father-in-law’s manipulations, Jacob finally breathed in the fragrance of expectancy and took possession of his wives, his property and his future.  Twenty is the biblical number of expectancy, the kind of expectancy that comes after a long wait, a finally, an expected end.  Biblical expectancy is the point when preparation  brings results, the point when process yields fruit, the point when equipping fits its purpose.  Expectancy isn’t a luxury, it is a necessity because it is both fuel for the journey and the light at the end of the tunnel.


The Saving Power of Jesus Christ

Marty Gabler—As the people of God assemble today may people be saved, healed and delivered by the saving power of Jesus Christ and His shed blood at Calvary.  “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes…” (Rom.1:16a, NKJV)