Daily Devotions

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You are a Placeholder

placeholderIn your daily faithfulness to God, you might just be a placeholder for someone else. You may be standing between someone and their destruction and, were you not there, they might just move into that thing or that relationship or that distress that prevents their getting to destiny. Moses was a placeholder for Joshua. Elijah was a placeholder for Elisha and Paul was a placeholder for Timothy. It is like being the shoulders that someone else gets to stand on and start out on. Our ceiling is their floor. You are a placeholder for your children and very possibly even for others. 1Cor.16:13 ”Be alert, stand firm in the faith, be brave, be strong.” We are praying you discover daily that you are standing firm in the faith so that others may stand in their place of purpose. (Marty’s Daily Discovery as heard on TEXAS PRAISE RADIO at the bottom of the hour 24 hours/day. www.txpraise.com)


 

It’s Your Choice

choosing(Melissa G.) Could Arthritis – Heart Disease – Osteoporosis – Alzheimer’s – Diabetes – Cataracts – etc. come from: bitterness, unforgiveness, stress, hatred, an orphan spirit, self-hatred, fear of abandonment, anger, rage, resentment, envy, double mindedness, doubt and unbelief, oppression, heaviness, fear of rejection, rebellion, guilt , etc.? Another side note regarding family genetics.  Genetics are not a definite.  You are simply pre-disposed to them. It’s your choice whether it becomes a part of your identity or not. (Dr. Caroline Leaf) These things just might be the root of what we are dealing with rather than just an unlucky recipient of the after effects of free radicals, or bad blood.  Also, let me say this right here, the devil can only play with what’s already at play.
(This is the fifth excerpt from Melissa Gabler’s article “Due Diligence Fear“. More excerpts will be posted Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.)


 

Mutual Care for one Another

prayforeachother1As the people of God assemble today may there be people who discover that the people of God care about them and what they are going through. May there be assurances that each is standing with the other to get to the other side of the lake in spite of the storm.

“So that there should be no division or discord or lack of adaptation [of the parts of the body to each other], but the members all alike should have a mutual interest in and care for one another.” (1Cor.12:25, Amp)


 

Power in the Name of Jesus

jesusnameIn the next few days and weeks I believe you will find the name of Jesus to be very powerful in your life and your environment — if you will call upon His name, “Jesus”, see Him heal, watch as He delivers others out of impossible strongholds of bondage and fear. Say His name and see how marvelously He delivers you from the threat of harm, even from bullies. The children’s ministers at our church have taught them to say, “The name of Jesus is my super power”. In Acts 3:16 Peter declared: ”And on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man…” (Acts 3:16, Amp) We are praying you discover daily more of the power of the name of Jesus in your life.  (Marty’s Daily Discovery as heard on TEXAS PRAISE RADIO at the bottom of the hour 24 hours/day. www.txpraise.com)


 

Get rid of the Fear

oldladieslaughing
(Melissa G.) Side note regarding age:  Could age related disease and dysfunction be the product of issues that are not dealt with, therefore we have allowed them to become a part of our life (through fearful agreement) to the point that they manifest? If we don’t get rid of the fear, we are in agreement with it!

(This is the fourth excerpt from Melissa Gabler’s article “Due Diligence Fear“. More excerpts will be posted Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.)


“What A Day Can Hold”
Melissa Gabler singing a spontaneous song in
worship at Grace International Church.
(Best enjoyed with headphones or earbuds)
http://martygabler.podomatic.com/entry/2015-05-11T22_38_33-07_00

God’s Goodness Where we Live

Ps.33:5 informs us “the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.”  The earth IS full of the feedinghungrypeoplegoodness of the LORD, so it IS possible for each of us to discover His works, His truth and His goodness where  we live and move about,  and it is possible to join with it in spreading it, being instruments of it, giving opportunity for the LORD’s goodness to impact our environment. “For the Word of the Lord is right; and all His works are done in truth. He loveth righteousness and judgment; the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.” (Ps.33:4-5, KJV) You and I are the instruments of the goodness of the Lord in the earth today. We are praying you discover daily God’s goodness in and through your life.
(Marty’s Daily Discovery as heard on TEXAS PRAISE RADIO at the bottom of the hour 24 hours/day.   www.txpraise.com)


 

TO VOTE OR NOT TO VOTE

by Jim Hodges

According to some recent research by George Barna, fewer evangelicals will vote in this presidential election than in 2012. Many citizens, including Christians, are disgruntled with the two candidates seeking the highest office in the land. Christians especially feel let down since there were several candidates running this election cycle who shared their values (for example: Huckabee, Walker, Carson, Cruz, Fiorina). The projection is many Christians will sit this one out and stay home on November 8.

votingboothWith respect to those who claim that voting this time would be a violation of their conscience, I offer a perspective for their consideration. First of all, in most elections, our choice is to select the “lesser of two evils.” There are no perfect candidates. It seems there are few if any candidates in both political parties who put America first and their careers second.

Let me share a scenario which may help us in deciding to vote or not. If you could remove the two candidates who are seeking the presidency and not replace them with any new candidates, you would then have only thing to vote for, i.e., the platform of both the Republicans and the Democrats. Which one would you prefer? To me, the answer is clear! If you do not want to vote for the person, vote the platform.

If you have not read it yet, I strongly recommend going to www.dutchsheets.org and reading his article, “What Should Christians Consider When Deciding Whom To Vote For?”

In Philippians 3:20, the apostle writes: “For our citizenship is in heaven… .” Paul was a citizen of heaven and a citizen of Rome. Both gave him rights and responsibilities. Our citizenship in heaven in no way dismisses us from our responsibilities as citizens of our beloved nation. The word, citizenship, can be translated as “commonwealth” or “colony.” The root word in the original language is polis. The full word is polituma. The rudimentary application of this verse is: Heaven has policies and earth’s policies should align with them! Followers of Christ are called to “colonize” the earth with the policies of the Kingdom of God.

Advancing together,
Jim Hodges, Founder and President
Federation of Ministers and Churches International 
www.fmci.org

Fear Deep in Subconscious

(Melissa G.) I’m going to break it down into some real life situations so you can see just how this DDF (Due Diligence Fear) sneaks in.  Here are some examples:
– “This is EXPECTED in this situation, this has to happen…  it’s just life!”
fearfullookfingers– AGE RELATED ISSUES/DISEASE: by “this age ___” you can expect “this” to go wrong.  
– FAMILY GENETICS: This disease is in our bloodline.
Breaking it down even more.  Due Diligence Fear says: 
– “It’s too good to be true” it’s better to err on the side of expecting nothing good to happen so that I won’t be disappointed when it never does.
DON’T LOOK AT IT – YOU’LL SPOOK IT!!! (please tell me I’m not the only one who has thought
this?!)
– “WHAT IF” this particular fear seems to keep you from getting hurt or dying.  I may as well act as IF this thing could happen so I can prevent it from happening. This one’s a real stinker!
DDF happens when something touches a fear buried in our subconscious, a fear never dealt with that lies dormant in the dark.  Once that fear is stimulated it prompts the DDF mode to try and keep that fear from manifesting.  It feels like something I MUST DO to survive!
One of the biggest issues with this kind of fear is thinking it is wisdom.  We must see the difference between wisdom and fear, and how do we do that? By first, and foremost, understanding GOD DOES NOT GIVE US THINGS TO FEAR! We must learn to realize that the issue is fear, and stop concentrating on what the fear is about.
(This is the third excerpt from Melissa Gabler’s article “Due Diligence Fear“. More excerpts will be posted Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.)


 

Things not Seen

LookingAheadLadder1Cor.2:9—“But as it is written, ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’” (NKJV)  This is not God hitting us over the head saying, “You haven’t seen or heard things, so here is a whack to show my displeasure.” Rather, this is God saying, “There are things that I want you to see and things I want you to hear.” This is a scripture that is meant to instill in us a desire for the things we haven’t seen and haven’t heard concerning the enabling graces of our beneficent Father. May you discover daily God’s truths that you have not discovered in the past.  (Marty’s Daily Discovery as heard on TEXAS PRAISE RADIO at the bottom of the hour 24 hours/day.)


 

Due Diligence Fear

PlanBMarkedOut(Melissa G.) Now that we have Plan A figured out, let’s talk about Plan B.  Plan B is anything that does not fit in God’s original intent for you, 2016, and beyond. There are multiple components of plan B, but I am only going to address one of them right now.  This particular component is no where near God’s original intent for us: Due Diligence Fear (DDF). Due Diligence in a broad sense refers to the level of judgment, care, prudence, determination, and activity that a person would reasonably be expected to do under particular circumstances. (uslegal.com) Due Diligence Fear [DDF] (my definition): is the level of judgment, care, prudence, determination, and activity that a person puts into particular circumstances in their life based off of fear and not wisdom or God’s provision.  It actually feels safer to live with this fear than to rely on what God said about the situation.  It feels like something I MUST do to survive.  It feels like the wise choice.
(This is the second excerpt from Melissa Gabler’s article “Due Diligence Fear“. More excerpts will be posted Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.)