Daily Devotions

Posts tagged “anticipation

Goliath was Born to Fall

I asked to understand why the power of the air could get to and maintain such a fierceness  of warfare in a particular region I had been praying over.  I heard the words, “10 layers” and then I realized  this power had been steadily gaining and reigning for decades, and the powers that be, those residing rulers of darkness in this region, have tenure.  The air has been repeatedly conditioned as men’s choices, acts and decisions have remained “under the influence.”  However, Goliath, no matter how big he grew was born to fall, and no matter how many opponents he fought on the way, the confrontation with David was his appointed demise.  God’s “due time” appointments involve the intersection of time, place, circumstances and specific people.  It is obviously due time for God’s order to prevail in the atmosphere of that region.  That explains why the warfare has peaked to a crisis turning point.  Decades of decisions and their results over that region are being set up like dominoes, poised for knocking down.  (Kathy Gabler)


It is Good to Give Thanks to the Lord

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)


Thanksgiving as a Lifestyle

Why not a LIFESTYLE of THANKSGIVING? This Thanksgiving, may our hearts and minds be so turned to awareness of our Lord and to the giving of thanks to our Lord, that if He were to send in among us “angels unawares” (Heb.13:2), they would witness people who know the righteous God that they know, in the way that they know Him and honor Him. May such messenger/observers witness our living out our thanks rather than vocalizing it occasionally. 

4 neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, BUT RATHER GIVING OF THANKS…  

6 Let no one deceive you with empty words… 

8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord…

10 finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. 

11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness…

15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 

18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, 

19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 

20 GIVING THANKS ALWAYS for all things to God the Father in the name of our LORD JESUS CHRIST… (EPH.5:4-20, NKJV) 


God Confirms His Word

God reveals Himself in truth. We are not only to recite truth but we are to experience truth. The truth is that GOD IS AWESOME, that He is great and greatly to be praised. What better way to praise ALMIGHTY GOD than to praise Him with our very lives – spirit, soul AND body.  What about the importance of the Word? He promised that He would confirm His Word with signs following (Mk.16:20). He didn’t just talk about the power of His Word. He showed what the power of His Word would do! “The things that distinguish a true apostle were performed among you with great perseverance—supernatural signs, startling wonders, and awesome miracles.” (2Cor.12:12,TPT)


Strength for Fulfilling Purpose

May the Lord keep us in His timing by giving us health and prosperity so that we may be everything we need to be for our families for as long as we need to be it. May there be physical strength and mental acuity for fulfilling our responsibilities to loved ones and those the Lord has connected us to for His Kingdom purposes. May the Lord keep us from illness and disease that we may walk in His timing without faltering or coming up short of fulfillment.  “Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eyesight was sharp; he still walked with a spring in his step.” (Deut.34:7, Msg)


Not Use Issues as a Screen

As the people of God assemble today, may the Lord enable them to step beyond issues that would otherwise hinder their hearing the truths of His Word. May issues not be considered or guarded as the Word of God is spoken. May those issues not be a screen that the Word has to get through before the Word can be considered for repentance and/or growth. May personal issues, and issues with others who are present in the meeting, take a back seat to the life and delivering power of the Word of God.  Psa 81:13 “Oh, that My people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways! 14 Speedily then I would subdue their enemies and turn My hand against their adversaries.” (Amp)


Whispers on the Wind

Recently, I asked the Lord for insight on what some pastor friends were dealing with. His answer was, “Whispers in the wind.” Caught up in the moment, I did not speak but used my hands to war (Psa 144:1). I thrust my hand in the air, snapping antennafrom an open palm to a pinching grip to silence the noise and shut up the foul breath.
I was confident that the “winds” were being confronted by counterforces of God and the outcome would be a halt to the lethal influences invading lives and business and government, especially in the church mountain of culture in that region. “Be still and know that I Am God” was the prevailing, activated directive as I watched the war in the air. I saw dark powers vying for positions like communication companies contending for key antennae placement. The powers of darkness were looking for effective perches for the most intense signal and dominating communication advantage to keep the atmosphere inundated with their whispers, but the sounds were muted.
(Excerpt from Kathy’s article “Mature Son Results”)


Need Reality

(Kathy Gabler) – People do not need rhetoric about God, they need the reality of God.  “My children, our love should not be just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action.” (1Jn.3:18, GNT)
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Good Common Sense

May the Lord God draw our attention beyond false presumption and cultural misinformation and the weakness of mere emotional reactions to train us in good common sense so that we may enjoy the fruit of living God’s way. “Train me in good common sense; I’m thoroughly committed to living your way.” (Ps.119:66, Msg)


My Times are in His Hand

May the Lord cover us, rescue us and keep us from involving ourselves with those who are not intending to operate within the timing of Him who sets the times and works His plans accordingly.  May our Lord save us from those who do not desire HIS calendar and those who simply neglect concern over His times. My times are in His Hand and I will not put them in the hands of any other. We need HIM, our Shepherd, every hour. “My times are in your hand…” (Ps.31:15, NKJV)  “Desperate, I throw myself on you: you are my God!  Hour by hour I place my days in your hand, safe from the hands out to get me.” (Ps.31:14-15, Msg)


Free From What Has Been

A public school teacher from our home church was talking with one of her students. The boy said that since his father was in prison, he would likely be in prison. She simply told him that he did not have to be in prison just because his father was. His response was, “I never thought of that.” The teacher only had to speak something that you might think could be left unsaid because it should be obvious. But for a boy who lived in an environment without hope, a simple word of encouragement changed his whole outlook.  Just because something has been a reality, even for a long time, does not mean it is a given for the future. Through Christ our Lord, we are free from what has been and have hope for what shall be.  “Thus we have been set free to experience our rightful heritage. 7 . . .And if you are a child, you’re also an heir, with complete access to the inheritance.” (Gal.4:5,7 Msg)

 


Strength for the Remainder of the Year

As the people of God assemble today may those whose hearts are heavy from failures, defeats and grief so far in this year lift their heads, get a deep breath and realize that they are part of the family of God and that they have strength and fellowship through Christ our Lord and the family of God to go on to victories in the remainder of the year.  But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.  4  With my voice I cry to the Lord, and He hears and answers me out of His holy hill. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]! (Ps.3:3-4, Amp)

As the people of God assemble today may those whose hearts are heavy from failures, defeats and grief so far in this year lift their heads, get a deep breath and realize that they are part of the family of God and that they have strength and fellowship through Christ our Lord and the family of God to go on to victories in the remainder of the year.  But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.  4  With my voice I cry to the Lord, and He hears and answers me out of His holy hill. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]! (Ps.3:3-4, Amp)

 


The Hope God Put in Me

 

I will not allow any person nor any adverse circumstances to determine the lifespan of the hope God originally put in me.


Save From the Presumption of Others

May the Lord save you from the ignorance of others, the presumption of others and the carelessness of others.  “When you act with presumption, convinced that you’re right, don’t be surprised if you fall flat on your face! But walking in humility helps you to make wise decisions.” (Prov.11:2, TPT)


Redefining for the Next Generation

I knew of a pastor who spent his life building a great church in a large city.  Many lives were impacted by his faithfulness and the largeness of his vision.  However, there came a time to redefine his role and be repositioned for the effectualness of the vision to future generations.  The pride of being self-made gathered from the recesses of his years of experience.  Fear of losing his personal investment caused him to go back on promises to the next generation of leadership.  Pride, fear and self-determination kept him from synergizing with the potential of the future.  He held tightly to the heart of the church that he had built, and when he left, feet first, it went with him.  He started it and essentially ended it in one lifetime.  

“What used to be” is not the witness that will impact a community or a region for the Kingdom.   I AM is being misrepresented if He is not present-tense and awesome.  If we refuse to allow pride or fear to keep us from fresh and timely obedience, sons of God will be redefined and repositioned as needed and we will flow into a momentum that causes the good plans of God to manifest.  The groaning communities and regions will reel with the supernatural results and exponential harvest that He has planned. (Last excerpt from Kathy’s article “Fresh Obedience”)
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MARTY GABLER may be viewed on Beside Still Waters – an evening devotion.
All segments of Beside Still Waters are archived on YouTube.
CLICK HERE to view “He Heard My Cry”

 


God Who Breaks in Upon His Church

Our God is a self-disclosing God who reveals Himself in acts of power by forcefully breaking into our otherwise routine existence (cf.violent tempest blast”-Acts 2:2, Amp). He breaks in upon His Church (which most certainly is His privilege) with memorable moments that breathtakingly remind us of our destiny and which propel us out of comfortable routine into that destiny. Being conformed to the Image of Christ and ruling this universe with Him is our destiny. Day to day maintenance of mundane comfort zones does not allow propulsion into that destiny. Cf. “The Lord of life leaves enough mystery to be intrusive, disruptive and surprising in order that He might shatter our tendencies to predictability and, yes, even boredom. Saints die of many things, but to die of boredom is the ultimate insult to the God of an ever-expanding glory!” (quote from Mark Chironna)


November is for Collectively Moving Forward

The month of NOVEMBER IS FOR COLLECTIVELY MOVING FORWARD with each of us in our place so that the Body of Christ is stepping in a coordinated cadence into the coming season of challenges that oppose the righteousness of King Jesus. “…holding fast to the Head, from Whom the entire body, supplied and knit together by means of its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.” (Col.2:19, Amp)


Not Easy Being Green

“It’s not easy being green”. The truth is that even if redefinition does reveal a right motive, a right heart, being repositioned is still a horse of a different color.  At that point, Fear usually steps up to filibuster, talking incessantly to delay action and cooperation, like a child wanting to learn to swim but staying on the side of the pool in indecision, talking fast about everything that comes to mind, asking a thousand questions to delay the process. No, it’s just “not easy being green”, especially after you have already ripened in another place.  The truth is however, that repositioning and redefinition into a new place does not mean we are “green” or the “new kid on the block.”  A new place does not make a diligent man of destiny a novice starting over.  On the contrary, God moves us to new opportunities because He knows we are prepared for it.  (Twelfth excerpt from Kathy’s article “Fresh Obedience”)


No Lesser Version

As the people of God assemble today, may they realize there is no reason for us to live a lesser version of what God intended us to be. Let each of us provoke others to be what they were born to be.   “….keep a firm grip on the faith. The suffering won’t last forever. It won’t be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ—eternal and glorious plans they are!—will have you put together and on your feet for good. He gets the last word; yes, he does.” (1Pe.5:9b-11, Msg)


You Haven’t Seen Everything

Sometime back we were battling with considerable financial and physical matters. Every solution I could think of was blocked and I couldn’t see any resolve, even on the horizon. Through the course of those days it seemed that a sense of panic would creep up in my gut. Honestly, I had come to the conclusion that we were in a pit that was hopeless.

After wrestling with this insurmountable dilemma for about two weeks, and arriving at certain negative conclusions (trying to choke back panic and hopelessness), I dreamed that I was standing in a huge, wide-open warehouse. I noticed a man walking toward me. When he got right in front of me he stopped and looked me right in the eye. He raised his hand, pointed at me and, matter-of-factly said, “You haven’t seen everything.” Then I woke up.

My foregone conclusions had me convinced that I had exhausted all possibilities because I felt I had seen everything (in all my musings and mental exercises) that might be brought to bear on the difficulties, and those things just simply were not available to us as a solution.

A trembling began down deep inside as I realized that the word in the dream was absolutely correct. I had not seen everything. Within 72 hours the whole thing turned around! Please understand that you have not seen everything. Not only have you not seen everything, but there are things that have not yet been formed in your behalf. (Compare Job 26:12-14; Isa.48:6-7; 1Cor.2:9) The cloud “the size of a man’s hand” did not begin to form until Elijah’s servant walked down to the sea and looked the seventh time (1K.18:44). Because the Kingdom is advancing and bringing with it facilitation for purpose “some of the best days of your life haven’t happened yet.” The Kingdom is advancing and, as you are in the Kingdom, it is advancing you with it.


I Can Run Through a Troop

Beside Still Waters – An evening devotion of reading the Word and prayer.
This segment is titled “I Can Run Through a Troop”
Click on the arrow below to watch.


Available for New Experiences

For God to get something transitioned from His heart into the earth, He must find someone or several someones to cooperate. In order to cooperate, those someones must be willing to add to their present experiences. They must be courageous enough, hungry enough to accept new experiences from God! Some people have nailed down the lid on their “experience box”. Others have closed the file on further experiences from with God. Some have closed the books to any more entries. Jesus commanded 500 of His followers, “Tarry in Jerusalem until….” Yet only 120 went to Jerusalem and “waited until”. Why should 380 people who have the attitude “Been there, done it, got a T-shirt” “wait until”? The Promise of the Father came. A group of people still received power from heaven. But the point is: 380 people didn’t get over their bewilderment and receive. 380 people ended up merely reading about what happened to 120!
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Beside Still Waters with Marty Gabler
An evening devotion of reading the Word and prayer.
CLICK HERE to watch “I Can Run Through a Troop”


Reformation Day

We are celebrating Reformation Day! On October 31, 1517 Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-five Theses to the Wittenberg Church door in Germany. What had been covered over by centuries of profitable and manipulative tradition, was exposed and the truth of God’s Word, the Gospel of salvation by grace (Eph.2:8), was made known. There is ONE Mediator between God and man, not a Mediator plus someone or some religious/ecclesiastical system (Heb.10:10). That Mediator, JESUS, alone was appointed by God to make atonement for the sins of men by His death. His atonement alone gives only Him authorization to be our Intercessor with God in our behalf. All persons (no matter race or creed) are to go directly to that Intercessor JESUS (Heb.7:25) and trust only in this Mediator alone. “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1Tim.2:5).


Not Experience

God wants the passion of His character released into the Body of Christ. God’s passion is NOT our human experience. The people who will know God will know passions that they have never known in themselves alone. They will know extents of emotions that they would never know within the bounds of culturally acceptable bounds. Our human experience wants limitations on all things and wants to control all things…. including God! One preacher put it this way, “The ways of God must be inscrutable beyond understanding. If they were not, they would be surrendered to man’s mind. And if to man’s mind, then ultimately to man’s control.” Cf. Isa 55:8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. 9 As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”