Daily Devotions

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Remember Fervently the Promise

MARTY GABLER—As the people of God assemble today, may they recall and rehearse for one another the promises of faithful God and may they hope in them anew and afresh.   “Remember [fervently] the word and promise to Your servant, in which You have caused me to hope.  This is my comfort and consolation in my affliction: that Your word has revived me and given me life.” (Ps.119:49-50, Amp)

The Most Valuable Connection

MARTY GABLER—Jesus had the most valuable connection of all, connection with the Father and His desire was that we might experience that connection. The Father set things up in such a way that we may have connection with Him through Jesus so that we can do what Jesus did. Jn.17:21  “I pray that all of these people continue to have unity in the way that you, Father, are in me and I am in you.” (GW)  Then Jesus goes on to illustrate to us the flow of power and energy to the branches of the vine which produce the grapes. That flow and fruitfulness is a result of that connection. Jn 15:4  “Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with me. 5  “I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing.” (MSG)

It’s Fixable!

MELISSA GABLER—God Himself created the original warranty when Jesus took those stripes on His back (Isa. 53:5 & 1 Pe. 2:24). Yeah, that’s right, we have a never ending warranty on us, signed in blood. This warranty includes, “…all things that pertain unto life and godliness” (2 Pt. 1:3).  Whatever you are dealing with is covered in your “warranty”. It’s fixable!  The siege is over because the Lord has already lifted up a standard against it (Is. 59:19).  Our individual lives are about the greater good so go ahead and be healed right now! You are too important to be silenced by sickness, pain, or emotional turmoil.

Discernment and Wisdom in the Holy Ghost

KATHY GABLER—In Acts 13:9,  Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked him straight in the eye and said, “You are full of every form of deception and trickery, you son of the devil, you enemy of all that is right! You will never stop perverting the straight ways of the Lord, will you? But now you’ve come up against God himself, and your game is up. You’re about to go blind–no sunlight for you for a good long stretch. . . and he was plunged immediately into a shadowy mist and stumbled around, begging people to lead him by the hand.”  In our world right now with so many enemies of all that is right, blindness might sound like an effectual weapon to keep on hand!  However, we have to back up to the first line in this verse where it says Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit.  DISCERNMENT and WISDOM in the HOLY GHOST will authorize our weapons and our  assignments,  and at the same time keep us from taking on assignments that are NOT from God.

Great and Mighty Things

MARTY GABLER—You, O Mighty God, are not subject to political schemes, monetary declines or medical limitations. You are above all those limited strictures.  Father, by your awesome Spirit, speak into our lives where we have forgotten your desires and purposes and have concluded, like Abraham in Gen.15:3, that we will not have an heir, and certain things will be and other things will not be. Holy Spirit, come and breath upon the Word of God in our hearts that we may call upon Him so that He may show us great and mighty things. Come and witness to us today what shall be and what you shall grant by your power from your throne. We must know what we do not now know that the glory may be to Your Name.  Jer.33:3,Amp)—“Call to Me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things, fenced in and hidden, which you do not know (do not distinguish and recognize, have knowledge of and understand).”

They Didn’t Seem to Get It

KATHY GABLER—Jesus said,  “O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!” (Mark 9:19).  His frustration was obviously because He had been training the twelve to be sons who understood Kingdom Power, but they didn’t seem to “get it.”  Jesus then looked to the father and asked, “How long has this been happening to your son?”  The father answered, “From childhood. It has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. If You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!”  Jesus did not always ask a question like this.  His question caused the man to lay everything on the table, 1) his grief from the past, 2) his helplessness in the present and 3) his plea for the future.  Evidently, Jesus wanted the father to say it, so he could see his thinking because anticipation, or the realization of what can happen is only the beginning.  The father’s follow-through-thinking would be crucial to their future. 

Overcoming With the Compassion of Jesus

MARTIN GABLER—As the people of God assemble today, may they stand hand in hand facing the same goals with the same determination that the first century church had: to confront and overcome the oppressive powers of darkness in their nation with the compassion and resurrection power of their Lord and Savior, JESUS.  “For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the despotisms, against the powers, against [the master spirits who are] the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere.” (Eph.6:12, Amp)

Stir the Ashes

MP GABLER—The air was bone-chilling cold. The fire had gone out and it seemed useless to pick up the stick and stir the ashes which looked so lifeless. Yet, when I began to stir around in the ashes, sparks began to fly, embers were exposed to the air and they began to flame into life. The embers that came to life had not been apparent before I stirred up the ashes. I added some small twigs and in a short period of time, after feeding the fire with some larger pieces, I had a full-grown fire to warm myself.
Paul urged Timothy, “Stir up the gift of God within you (2Tim.1:6 KJV).” There was no impassioned plea for Timothy to sit quietly by until a holy stick-bearing angel came and stirred up the fire. Actually, the imperative is to do just the opposite: “[You] Fan into flame the gift of God.” This phrase was used in the common vernacular of the time to describe the rekindling of a fire that had been allowed to die down through neglect (W.E. Vine).

How do we Prepare For What’s Ahead?

MELISSA GABLER—How do we prepare for what’s ahead? You’ve been made ready in ways you haven’t put together yet, but it will come together as we head further into the year. Also, we need to realize it’s just time to BE the new creation Jesus exemplified. We need to pick up the Bible and rehearse the things Jesus set in motion. We typically call those “promises,” but in our modern culture that word tends to have only a future connotation. His promises are fully alive and available for application now and where we are headed. For instance, we read in the gospels about fish and bread being multiplied to feed thousands. We need to be ready to facilitate that new creation norm. Finally, remember this isn’t all about evil being exposed. Our focus needs to be on the increasing Kingdom that is going to be revealed in the midst of the mess. “I have told you these things in parables (veiled language, allegories, dark sayings); the hour is now coming when I shall no longer speak to you in figures of speech, but I shall tell you about the Father in plain words and openly (without reserve).” (John 16:25 Amplified) The reality and mysteries of God being uncovered will be the biggest mind-blower of all! The “brainwashed zombie” in each of us will try and hold on to old logic through the upheaval ahead, but the new creation we already are will bring us through to a victory that words can’t relay right now.