Daily Devotions

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Relationship and Being Proven

Have you ever noticed that there is a tendency in many people to want to advance beyond others, to advance in the exercise of authority whether they have been approved or not?  In 2Sam.15, David’s son Absalom pushed for and expected to be able to take authority in areas where he hadn’t been proven. We find the scriptural principle of the process of being proven in 1Tim.3:10.  Biblical principal tends to follow this pattern:  (1) Process while walking out relationship;  (2) Process leads to being proven;  (3)  Process and being proven leads to a track record that follows the principal of Lk.16:10– “faithful in little can be trusted in much”.  We are praying you discover daily that you are staying in relationship long enough to be proven so you can be trusted with much.  (Marty’s Daily Discovery as heard on TEXAS PRAISE RADIO at the bottom of the hour 24hrs/day.) TEXAS PRAISE RADIO

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Click on video below to hear Marty: “Eye Has Not Seen” (2 min.)
Eye Not Seen Pic for blog
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The Setting of a Dream

When considering a dream or vision, note the setting.  See if it is a reference to an event, season, relationship, pattern, timing, etc.  For example, if the setting is Grandma’s house, the dream message is likely dealing with family history or something from your childhood. The setting of this lady’s dream (in my 11-24-17 post) was a time and place of  birthing or a time and place of new responsibility, a new beginning and a new focus. That was a clue to understanding the reason for this dream, especially since her baby, (literally her youngest daughter), was in a time and place of just such new responsibility.  (Ninth excerpt from Kathy’s article “Considering Dreams and Visions”.)

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Home Safe Haven

By end of day, have you felt that you were in an environment that had no understanding of your beliefs and values? Did it press on you like a heavy weight that seemed to preoccupy your mind? You and each of your family members need a place that is familiar, a place that is a sanctuary from cynicism and expressions of hopelessness. May your home be a place of faith where you are edified and the Name of the Lord is spoken and His blessings are enjoyed.  (Prov.24:3, Amp) “Through skillful and godly Wisdom is a house (a life, a home, a family) built, and by understanding it is established [on a sound and good foundation],”  We are praying you discover daily that you are making your home into a safe haven of faith and love.  (Marty’s Daily Discovery as heard on TEXAS PRAISE RADIO at the bottom of the hour 24hrs/day.)

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Watch for Symbolism in a Dream

When considering a dream or vision, watch for symbolism.  Symbolism is an object, person or action or event that represents something other than itself.  If cats are talking or dogs are driving your car, you’re “not in Kansas anymore” and you’re not talking “literal.”  Thankfully, we do not have to be experts on symbolism to discover what something symbolizes.  We can find out what a symbol represents through prayerfully brainstorming it or researching it until we find an option that bears witness concerning the dream.  (By the way, when you do get understanding about a symbol, record it.  It is likely to become part of your dream language or dream vocabulary and it will usually have the same significance in future dreams.)  (Eighth excerpt from Kathy’s article “Considering Dreams and Visions”.)

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Look to the Hills

As the people of God assemble today, may they “look to the hills from whence comes their help”. (Ps.121:1) May they look to the place where God’s presence is welcomed and enthroned. May they look to the place from whence come the messengers of peace whose feet are beautiful as they “bring good news, good news of good things and who announce salvation and who say, ‘Your God reigns’”. (Isa.52:7)

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What a Day Can Hold

From the spontaneous song Melissa Gabler sang Sunday morning:
You don’t understand what a day can hold. With each breath you take things can change.  You don’t understand what this day can hold.  With the next breath you take life can change. With each step you take won’t you expect the impossible? Won’t you expect the answer? Don’t you understand that a day sits in the palm of His hand? With each breath you take life can change.  So, won’t you get ready for the impossible at your door? Because each day sits in the palm of His hand and there’s nothing outside of His grasp, nothing too far for His eyes to see. 

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Extreme and Strange Dreams

A good friend of mine had a strange dream and could not stop thinking about it.  She said, “I’ve been asking the Lord what He’s saying, but I don’t have an interpretation.” In her dream she was in a hospital maternity ward.  There was an infant she did not know but she felt concern and responsibility for the baby.  When she went to change the baby’s diaper, she realized this baby was pregnant and about to give birth.  She frantically sought out help but the nurse was too busy with other patients.  She woke up with a sense of frantic concern and urgency that lingered for days and she desperately sought the Lord to understand what He was saying.

Extreme and strange dreams sometimes seem so far out of our control that it is easy to conclude they are not natural and therefore must be SUPER-natural in source.  We then assume God is the one that is saying something but don’t realize His silence is saying something, “It is not me talking.”  The frustration gets thicker because we cannot imagine how such a strange dream experience could come up from within us!  It is a good thing at this point to look at the dream again and dissect it.  (Seventh excerpt from Kathy’s article “Considering Dreams and Visions”. More on this subject in coming posts on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.)

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Give Thanks is a Good Thing

It is a good thing to be reminded on one special day of the year that it is our full time occupation every day (while going out, while being out and while coming in) to give thanks to the LORD for goodness is not just an attribute, it is what God is and He can be nothing else. Let there be giving of thanks (in both speaking and singing) to Jahveh, who is most gracious.   “It is a good and delightful thing to give thanks to the Lord, To sing praises to Your name, O Most High” (Ps.92:1, Amp)

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Can You Hear Thanksgiving in Your Memory?

A while back I walked into the kitchen and I said to Kathy, “That smells like Thanksgiving!”. As I walked in, I experienced a wide range of sensory connections with Thanksgiving. The smell of spices and basting meat and the odors of baking coming out of the oven filled my senses. But I also began to hear things. As memories of Thanksgivings-come-and-gone stirred in my mind, I could hear the sounds of those gatherings, those loved ones, those children, those songs, that worship—in my memory. Kathy couldn’t hear any of it but I could hear many things all at once. I had to just stand there for a minute or two, not focusing on anything in the room but looking with my memory into those sights and sounds that had been cherished and stored away in valuable files of my heart. Then, even as I write now, hot tears filled my eyes and my heart raced up at the peace and joy and delight all those sounds and people in my memory brought to me. I didn’t even realize that I had tucked those precious memories away so many years ago. But the loving atmosphere, the loving people, the lovely ambiance and delicious foods all impacted my senses then for a delightful, sensory and welcome release now. No camera could have accomplished what those pleasant experiences wrought, for they were drawn up out of the well of cherished ones and cherished things in my heart. And for a brief time they were all there, all real and all so lovely once again. I am so thankful for a rich heritage, deeply meaningful relationships and for cherished memories that still impact me today. May this Thanksgiving bring to you sights and sounds and smells that pleasantly soothe you and heal you, and may they all bring you to a fresh place of rest in our Lord.  (Prov.10:7a, Amp) ”The memory of the righteous [person] is a blessing,”.

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