Daily Devotions

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God Almighty has Provided a Savior

As the people of God assemble today may they open their hearts and mouths and sing joyous praises to their God because He has provided a Savior. “Joy to the world the Lord is come.”  “Yes, they shall sing of the ways of the Lord and joyfully celebrate His mighty acts, for great is the glory of the Lord.” (Ps.138:5, Amp)

Start Recording a new History for Your Family

When faced with unexpected adversity in Numbers 21, unbelief spread throughout the Israelite camp like an epidemic and that resulted in fear, weeping and complaining. Giants and the terrible inhabitants of Canaan seemed too foreboding to resist. The land of milk and honey was no longer inviting to them. For the last 19 or 20 generations, Israel only had a physical history of slavery and were willing to walk back into that slavery if it meant they would have to part ways with the known and familiar. Start your own spiritual history no matter what your family history has been. Physical lack and/or physical infirmity may be all the history some families have to date. You be the one who refuses to walk back and embrace that old history. You be the one to break the cycle. Isa.43:18-19,Amp—“Do not remember the former things, Or ponder the things of the past.  19  “Listen carefully, I am about to do a new thing, Now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it? I will even put a road in the wilderness, Rivers in the desert.

The Currents of Life and Adjusting

MELISSA — I don’t know of anyone who is not going through something right now. Whether it be physical chaos, doors shutting, relational tensions, or the currents of life, there seems to be something of a strained nature going on everywhere you look (I won’t even list the nation’s woes). There is such a vast array of things happening but each thing is very personal to the one facing it. A couple of months ago the Lord told me I had been stationed in a particular place as a watchman but that season was almost over. Hmm, OK. What does that mean? Then about a month later, as clear as can be, I heard Him say, “Your life is about to change drastically.” After I heard this I got so excited deep down in my core but my soul, not so much! My soul went a little crazy, “WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!!!!” I had to calm myself down knowing that God is not the type to give you a mysterious clue that your life is about to fall apart and I had to stand firmly on Psalm 37:23—“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way.”

Get Trouble off the Porch

Kathy Gabler—Condemnation will make it almost impossible for us to be corrected. Correction requires trusting someone else’s decision or opinion. Correction requires being willing to change where necessary. Trust in God will get trouble off the porch.(Ps.37:39) Trust is a guard against condemnation.(Jn.5:24) Trust will overcome your past.(Ps.34:2) Trust is a weapon that defeats condemnation.

Next Stage, Next Phase

In speaking of Getting Ready for the Next Level it would behoove us to consider some basic meaning in that title. NEXT LEVEL: next step, next move, following step, what follows, next on the list, next stage, next phase, what comes next, follow-up, further action, future action, next in order. Getting Ready: Faith, stepping out, moving toward (not satisfied with status quo, with where we are, with just letting things bump along as is), not the same old attitude; not staying in the same rut. Ex.14:13-16,Amp—“Moses told the people, Fear not; stand still (firm, confident, undismayed) and see the salvation of the Lord which He will work for you today. For the Egyptians you have seen today you shall never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace and remain at rest. 15 The Lord said to Moses, Why do you cry to Me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward!”  The time is ripe for going forward to the next level, to that which beckons us onward to victory.

Shedding of Cycles

MELISSA—In giving some thought to 2023, we might do well to think about the intense nature of the end of this year not being a foretelling of hardship to come in 2024, but rather the shedding of the things that have kept us bound to cycles of failure.

Upheaval of Norms

KATHY—Judah was upset as their idolatrous and corrupt lifestyle was shattered, but they faced an even greater threat from another direction at the same time. A cunning enemy, an Assyrian Commander who fully intended to take them captive, used their upheaval of norms as the moment to undermine their confidence in their king Hezekiah and more importantly, their God!  He taunted them saying, “You obviously have no hope of divine help!” And they couldn’t argue with that since King Hezekiah had already cleared out their collection of gods, proving all their gods were powerless and disposable (2Kings 18)! Sennacherib reminded them that the Assyrians had taken over country after country and none of their gods had done them any good.  Added to that, any hope they might have had of Jehovah God’s help took a nose dive with the fall of the “SNAKE on a STICK!” Judah was shaking in their boots. Taking advantage of that moment, the crafty Assyrian put them to the question: What justifies your confidence that you can beat us?  

Compassionate Prayer

Picking up Prayers

In coming days (and in the coming year) we will be allowing Holy Spirit to stir our memory, our compassion, our passion, our stewardship. The stirring of Holy Spirit will challenge us and direct us to pick up prayers from the past that we have laid down and no longer pray. The various reasons, the discouragements and impatience that have caused us to just lay them down will begin to fade like the morning mist and we will again sense the burden/urgency, love and compassion we once did. 1Thess.5:17—“pray without ceasing”. 1Pe.3:12,TPT—“For the eyes of the Lord Yahweh rest upon the godly, and his heart responds to their prayers. But he turns his back on those who practice evil.” Acts 17:16, KJV—“Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.”

Exciting Time

MELISSA — It really is an exciting time, even though it may not look like it, because we have entered a new era. Let’s look a little closer at what this means.  Merriam Webster defines “era” as: “a memorable or important date or event, especially one that begins a new period in the history of a person or thing, a stage in development.”  When I read this definition, that last part jumped off the screen, “a stage in development”.  So, I looked up “development“: “1. An unfolding; the discovering of something secret or withheld from the knowledge of others; 2. The unraveling of a plot.” Oh my! We have been in the midst of an “unraveling plot” our entire lives! I am basing the time span of the past era on the life of Dr. Billy Graham.  There were several words out there that the death of Dr. Graham would mark significant change, and that is when I knew we were truly in a new era.  So, for most of us we have been in this “stage of development” all of our lives.  God has been developing the Kingdom here on earth throughout the past era and we are about to see what He has been doing.