Daily Devotions

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Bolster the Prophetic Lifestyle

Melissa — How do we bolster the Prophetic Lifestyle? 1. Acknowledge there is an unseen realm and you were made for this because the One Who created you built the capacity in you for this lifestyle. 2. pray in tongues – Ephesians 3:16—“May He grant you out of the riches of His glory, to be strengthened and spiritually energized with power through His Spirit in your inner self, [indwelling your innermost being and personality].”  Praying in tongues strengthens your inner self/spirit so that you can decipher and see the unseen. 1 Corinthians 14:4a—“One who speaks in a tongue edifies himself.”  It takes edifying ourselves, by building up our spirit, to keep human nature from taking the driver’s seat.
  Here is the current relevance for this line of thought. In this year, we are currently dealing with the epic fail of human nature/soul in our nation.  The chaos is being fueled and driven by the unseen realm and human nature is completely ignorant of it. This current status tells me we are at the climax of a lifetime.  I’m not speaking of the return of Christ, I’m talking about the Bride of Christ becoming what God planned for her to be. God’s original intent is in effect. It takes an acquaintance with the unseen to know that and to be a part of it.

The Scary Unknown

Kathy — Sometimes a gate God builds is not a welcomed sight.  It looks like a risk to us or a scary unknown.  We feel like we have the option to decide to just stay safely within our fence and familiar boundaries. The problem is that if we ignore the gates, we are locking ourselves into tradition just like the Pharisees.  We rarely see ourselves as Pharisees, but we too build personal traditions of men through the way we personally process instruction or the way we establish our own priorities or the way we come to our personal conclusions.  Our thought processes and priorities and conclusions are filters that can literally keep us from hearing what God is saying and thereby keep us refusing to acknowledge the Holy Spirit’s direction in our daily life.  So, “you make the word of God of none effect through your tradition, (KJV).  And you ignore God’s commands in order to follow your own teaching. “(CEV) Mark 7:13 

Leeches Loosed

I saw people with several leeches attached to them and sucking life out of them. But the Great Physician (Mk.2:17), the Lord Jesus, is skillfully and surgically coming to remove those leeches by the ministry of His Spirit and His Word. There are people who have experienced the attaching of those “leeches” through the flooding and the flow of what is going on in culture and society and current events. There is a great deal of criticism in the atmosphere over our nation. It is spreading into every area and every kind of relationship. There are many battles and struggles between entities and interest groups in our nation. These “leeches” in the form of fear, doubt, concerns, and distress are sucking life and vitality and hope out of people. I declare that those “leeches” that have been sucking life from people, sucking enthusiasm, sucking energy and sucking hope will be removed. I declare that the great physician is skillfully removing those leeches from you. I declare that there won’t be any form of “septic reaction”, there aren’t going to be any wounds left to fester after the removal of those “leeches”. In place of those things, I speak to you life in Christ Jesus, I speak to you the life of His Word, I speak to you renewal, restoration. I want to declare over you that all of the negative stuff that has been going on for the last year and a half or so and that has been bombarding you, that which has been stolen from you, those things that have stolen peace, even stolen money, that which has stolen relationships, that which has stolen opportunities is being healed by the Great Physician as He administers His Spirit and His Word to your life. The Bible says that when the thief steals he is required to return seven times what he stole (Prov.6:31). May the Lord Jesus Christ minister to you deliverance, healing and seven times what the enemy has stolen from you.
(Marty will be speaking at DREAMS VISIONS PROPHECY September 10-12, 2021. Location: Grace Church Willis,TX  gracewillis.org.  No Fee to attend.)

The Soul and Sabotage

Melissa — Let’s look a little deeper at faith. Heb.11:1,Amp — “Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed):”   What is hoped for that is divinely guaranteed? Healing, a hope and a future, never being forsaken, His love, just to name a few.  BUT if human nature/soul is in the lead it can and probably will sabotage these in some way by needing to control. “…and the evidence {proof} of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses].”  Prophetic Lifestyle, through faith, acknowledges that the unseen realm is as real as the seen.  Human nature/soul has a problem with what cannot be seen and touched. 

God Gives a Gate

Kathy — God builds gates through a new thought, a new opportunity or a word of counsel.  After wearing a path around your fence lines looking for answers, a new gate is a welcomed sight.  One of my usual methods is to confront problems head-on until they are resolved.  One day I distinctly heard the Holy Spirit say, “Kathy, confrontation is not always the best method for resolve.”  That was not a  “traditional thought” for me, and it gave me new direction.  I could suddenly see the wisdom of not approaching a friend of mine and laying everything out verbally. Due to my friend’s temperament and personality, confrontation would be gas on their fire rather than water. That word from God became a gate into a whole new set of tools for resolving problems. 

Looking Beyond, Around and Over

As the people of God assemble today may they look beyond, around, over and right through the threatening hindrances that seem to be screaming out their determined obstinance to the fulfillment of God’s Kingdom purposes in their lives. May they lift up their heads and see their King of kings high and lifted up and authoritatively above all opposing factors and persons. Rom.8:28,Amp—“And we know [with great confidence] that God [who is deeply concerned about us] causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose.”

Goliath-Sized

When a Goliath-sized obstacle rears its head and begins to proclaim to us all the many pieces it is going to rip us into, rather than trying to remember if our insurance premiums are paid, we should try to remember God’s Word over our life. Rather than predicting the picture of desolation this monster will leave us the subject of, we best begin to proclaim the purposes and prophecies of God for us and our seed. Heb.10:23,Amp—“Let us seize and hold tightly the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is reliable and trustworthy and faithful [to His word];”

Evidence of Things not Seen

Melissa — Speaking of faith, faith is unseen.  Human nature has a hard time with faith because of this. Why wait on some unseen force when I can make something happen now? This passage of scripture on faith is basically the handbook on the Prophetic Lifestyle: “Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses]. 2 For by this [kind of] faith the men of old gained [divine] approval. 3 By faith [that is, with an inherent trust and enduring confidence in the power, wisdom and goodness of God] we understand that the worlds (universe, ages) were framed and created [formed, put in order, and equipped for their intended purpose] by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.” Hebrews 11:1-3 AMP

Stand Firm on the Word

We must stand firm and solid upon the Word of God for we have been given a Kingdom that cannot be shaken. Heb.12:28, Amp — “Let us therefore, receiving a kingdom that is firm and stable and cannot be shaken, offer to God pleasing service and acceptable worship, with modesty and pious care and godly fear and awe;”  We must (1) pray every opportunity that arises; (2) call ourselves and others into alignment with the written Word of God and with prophecy (we mustn’t speak out disagreement with the Word and what we have prayed and declared); (3) speak the opposite of what we see. Back when the mask emphasis was being so stressed a woman left the service at Grace and went to a store. A man was not standing right on the tape square for social distancing and the woman behind him began screaming at him and he began screaming back at her. The whole atmosphere was in an uproar. The lady from Grace just began to quietly declare the peace of Jesus and the whole thing quieted down and everyone went through the line without any further disturbance. Ps.4:8, Amp — “In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for You, Lord, alone make me dwell in safety and confident trust. Isa.33:22, TPT—”The Lord Yahweh is our judge, our Lawgiver, and our King; He will save us completely!”

A Grievous Pang of Body

Kathy — As I considered the prayer of David in Ps.139:23, I noticed the definition of “wicked” even included: “a grievous pang of body.”  Many people are distracted or diverted from their destiny by physical distress.  I believe this prayer could be the catalyst for change in our physical bodies as well.  I pray, “Lord, reveal any sorrow or offense that is the root of disease or dysfunction in my body.  Don’t let me hold to any issue or belief that hinders my soul or body.  Let neither soul nor body distract me or defeat me as I follow your lead in the ordained path you have for me.  I am confident that with your answer will come the grace to make any changes necessary and remove mountains WITHIN in the remainder of this year.”  Amen.