Daily Devotions

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The Cure Inside of Us

Melissa—There is a tendency in each of us to get tunnel visioned, and self-focused. Actually, it is somewhat of a plague in our western culture. There are plenty of seemingly good reasons to get this way: the down spiral of society, diseases with no names or cures, economic decline, etc. With such looming danger it is easy to see why our scope narrows to personal and family survival. The problem is this, “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” (2 Peter 1:3-4) He provided the cure for all of the above mentioned epidemics, and that cure is inside of us according to 2 Peter. There are pieces obviously missing in our lives if we are living by apocalyptic survival strategies daily. There are dots not connected if we are investing in Band-Aids while the cure dwells inside of us.

When Prophecy Disappoints

A big name ministry guy with a very large following on social media made a video sometime back after a couple of prophecies “didn’t come to pass” (at least in the manner and timing he thought they should have). He was making a very upset face and speaking to everyone like they were errant children while letting Christians know how embarrassed he was at the behavior of those still declaring the verity of said prophecies. He said that everyone should “just get over it and face the fact” that those prophecies weren’t true and those things weren’t going to happen.”  That gentleman might should just go ahead and follow his philosophical train of thought and apply it to Abraham and Sarah. He might want to use his present agitated rule of thumb and tell them that they just need to suck it up and admit that they are barren and just get on with life and have some more Ishmaels that will complicate matters for the world and complicate nationhood for Israel even more completely. Then that videoing gentleman could march right over into the New Testament and tell Mary and Martha to just admit that Lazarus is dead, dead, dead and they just need to get on with their life because if Jesus was going to resurrect him, it would have already been done by now and certainly not on the fourth day when he is stinking. Then his point of view/opinion would most certainly instruct them to stop embarrassing the local rabbis and synagogues and just go ahead and seal up the smelly tomb so it doesn’t offend the community. In Jn.11:37 the people there were trying to tell Mary and Martha that if Jesus didn’t act within a timeframe and a manner which met their local approval that Jesus was false. However, if God doesn’t show Himself to be One who speaks and acts beyond our capacities to understand Him and all aspects of all circumstances, then He is too small and too weak to deliver His people. If every mouthy religious pundit and every verbose political pundit that comes along can know all the plans and timing of Almighty God and demand that He stick unwaveringly to them, then we will be of all people most miserable. 2Pe.3:8-9,Amp—“Nevertheless, do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like one day.  9  The Lord does not delay [as though He were unable to act] and is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is [extraordinarily] patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”

The Kingdom — The Realm of God

Marty, Kathy and Melissa Gabler, Dr. Greg Crawford, Dr. Don Crum, Jim Hodges, Larry Burden.  No fee to attend.
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More Than “Heaven Someday”

(Kathy Gabler)—Can the Church, after this many centuries of preaching and teaching and experiencing God still have mis-beliefs and mis-understandings about Him and His Word? We don’t want to say, “Amen,” but we can say, “Evidently.”  However, the good news is that as long as we are not stubbornly or fearfully determined to stop and camp out on a “someday” or “no way” or “never now”, God who is faithful intends to open our understanding of “Thy Kingdom come”.  Just like yeast spreading, our understanding should be continually increasing and more and more folks should be realizing that “THY KINGDOM COME” means more than heaven “someday”.  It means more than Thy Salvation come or Thy Religion come.  It means more than Thy Tradition come and even more than Thy Church come!  It might hit a holy nerve to realize that the Kingdom is more than the Church and that it actually encompasses the Church!  The Church can be a touchy subject with us Christians because the Church cradles our concepts of  Christianity.  “Churchianity” provides the platform for our worship and represents God to a community.  Churchianity usually defines our expectations upon God and His Word.  Even so, when we pray, “Thy Kingdom come”, it can rattle Churchianity and initiate changes.  In fact, we need to be aware that “Thy Kingdom come” is going to cause more radical rattles this year, both personally and corporately, because there are some NEW  NORMS in the making.

Timing and Connections

Melissa—The prophetic lifestyle opens opportunities, timing, and connections.  Opportunities: having the ears to hear to be at the right place at the right time for yourself and others. Timing: none of us understand the timing of God because He is working on so many levels.  It takes a prophetic lifestyle to see beyond the limited vision of our normal dimensions. It can keep you sane where timing is concerned. Connection: Brings lives together for God team-ups, projects, events, etc.  We were never meant to do life alone (1 Corinthians 12:20-21). 

Who Can Argue With Him?

As the people of God assemble today may Holy Spirit speak to His people through their worship and the spoken Word and convince them of the surety and strong Rock they have in the unfailing Word of God. May they be encouraged and strengthened by the promises of Holy Scripture that assure them that, no matter what opposes at present, Yahweh who has kept Israel against insurmountable odds has an unbeatable plan to bring His sons/daughters through the present season and fulfill HIS design for their lives. Job 23:13-14,Msg—“But He is singular and sovereign. Who can argue with him? He does what He wants, when He wants to. He’ll complete in detail what He’s decided about me, and whatever else He determines to do.”

It Ain’t Over

Occasionally someone says something or posts something disparaging toward prophets and the prophetic that had its origin in disappointment or eschatological misbelief. Does that preclude any ability of God Jehovah Almighty to turn this thing around? Except for Egyptian royalty adopting the Israelite deliverer, devoured conjured snakes, numerous plagues, a split sea and a drowned army, Israel would not have been delivered from Egypt. Those must-be factors were not listed in the original prophecy about the deliverance of Israel from Egypt. When God commissioned Moses at the burning bush (Ex.3), He warned Moses that opposition to his prophetic assignment would be powerfully opposed (v.22). So, any who may have been presuming the whole Egyptian deliverance to look like Moses would just walk in with a request and walk out after everyone had a day to pack with all the grateful, affectionate Israelites in tow were VERY upset and likely to call for an organized stoning. We don’t know all of God’s plans and workings behind the scenes as He works in people, circumstances and time. By the time He gets through, the events and the people may look far different from what we had imagined when we originally heard His word/plan. It ain’t over until God says it is over, no matter whose sensitivities are chafed.   Isa.14:24,TPT—“The Lord Yahweh, Commander of Angel Armies, makes this solemn decree: “Be sure of this: Just as I have planned, so it will be. Every purpose of my heart will surely come to pass.”

Learning Our Symbols in Dreams

Kathy—Symbols many times have a general or universal or common or typical meaning, and you can find such meanings in books, internet, etc.  The Bible is a good starting place.  Here’s an example, in general, snakes are not a good thing and basically symbolize a threat against the future, as did the serpent in the garden of Eden. That being established, then we pursue the specifics to know if the snake represents a person, a particular plot or plan, a deception, a devil, etc.  Often, when you discover the meaning of a symbol in your own dream, it will likely have that meaning if it shows up in another dream.  This is one way we learn the language of our dreams. There is no closed list on symbols because people have unique experiences in life to pull from.  A rainbow could represent a promise in general but mean something dark to people of certain cultures.  When Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams, God had spoken about the future in symbolic pictures.  The skinny cows pointed to a famine that was coming and the seven cows in his dream indicated it was coming in seven years.  However, if a farmer or rancher dreams of skinny cows, it may be a warning to re-vaccinate because Hoof and Mouth disease is in the area.  The number “7″ is not always going to be about years either.  If you are on a search about meanings in numbers, one good resource is E.W. Bullinger’s book Numbers in Scripture.  The number “7″ in his book indicates a God-completed thing. Since symbols can be specific to the setting or the message of a dream, you see why we need to develop an ear to hear the Holy Spirit’s wisdom, so we learn that Holy Spirit “click” that confirms an insight.

In This Next Season

Melissa—Now, what is our part in this next season? Awareness. We must remember, at all times: the Kingdom of God is invading this nation. Each one of us has a piece of the Kingdom that penetrates and affects the region around us. We are going to WIN this fight. Hey, it’s not going to be pretty in the months ahead, but no matter what you see, hear, or face, it has no effect on what God has set in motion. After all, He has the last word! If you feel worried, afraid, or uneasy that’s your clue you are plugged into the wrong advisors. You may need to turn the TV off during this season in order to stay plugged into God’s agenda. Make sure you keep the air cleared in your vicinity. One great way of doing that is upping your prayer in tongues. Talk about an air purifier! Speaking in tongues is a beautiful weapon from Heaven for such a time as this.


Added Weight

“Sanctify” means “separate yourself.” Get rid of the things that are extra, added weight. Get rid of the things that are not the image of Christ. Let go of attitudes that don’t fit Kingdom thinking. Elders, deacons, bishops and presbyters won’t be able to help you on this one because none of us have been this way before. (Cf. Josh 10:14 and there was no day like that before it or after it.) I heard a speaker say, “The Lord of life leaves enough mystery to be intrusive, disruptive and surprising in order that He might shatter our tendencies to predictability; and yes even boredom. Saints die of many things but to die of boredom is an insult to the God of an ever-expanding glory.” Though some of us desperately long for the routine of our lives to be radically changed, long for the condition of our nation to be totally changed, we are disturbed and consequently resistant when confronted with the acts of God’s power which are required to change them. (According to Jesus, Lazarus had to be in the tomb for four days for the purposes of God before he could be resurrected. Jn.11:4-7) In order for God to radically change the present state of our lives, we must allow Him to forcefully break in upon us. (Nahum 1:3) “…the Lord hath His way in the whirlwind”. That means that we will not escape the Whirlwind.