Daily Devotions

Posts tagged “Cindy Jacobs

Fixated on How it Will Happen

MELISSA—It came to me that to actually trust God meant to actually let go of needing to know the process of getting to an answer. I’ve never functioned like that. Unfortunately my M.O. has been to ask and believe for a God-outcome while all along fixating on my logic’s only conclusion as to how that could happen. That, my friends, will WEAR. YOU. OUT. In that moment it felt good, it felt right to let go, and something in me took a deep breath for the first time.  


Broader Concept of Prayer

Kathy Gabler — While the most common understanding of prayer is an appeal or petition, I think The Lord’s Prayer illustrates a broader concept of prayer.  I see it as a prayer of alignment with God’s Word and will and character, or a declaration of agreement with God’s order and principles and intent.  If I viewed The Lord’s Prayer only as a petition, it would seem to be a formal format of how to properly ask for basic necessities.   While there is nothing wrong with that, I think there is more life in it and more relationship demonstrated in His model prayer.  This prayer takes on more dimension when it comes from a motive and priority to pray as sons/daughters who know and reflect their Father.


To Him Who Sits on the Throne

As the people of God assemble today may they consider Yeshua Whose name is above all names and Who is seated enthroned above all, and glorify Him as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.”  7  “I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. 8 ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession. (Ps.2:6-8, NASB)


Save us From Things That Deplete

May the Lord save us from the things that deplete who we are supposed to be and what we are supposed to effectively and fully accomplish.
“I will cry to God Most High, Who accomplishes all things on my behalf [for He completes my purpose in His plan].” (Ps.57:2, Amp)


Dumping Fear-Thoughts

MELISSA—We meditate on God’s will, His original intent for this earth.  We stop fixating on the enemy’s war around us by realizing his war has intensified because he is feeling the pressure of this never-ending Kingdom in Luke 1.  We turn our thoughts toward that powerful fact.  We engage in power, love, and a sound mind by dumping fear-thoughts that have wreaked havoc (2 Timothy 1:7).  This is all possible in our lifetime! “Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up. You’re not the only one plunged into these hard times. It’s the same with Christians all over the world. So 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.” (1 Peter 5:8-11, The Message)


Derailing God’s Participants

KATHY—If your enemy has sniffed out the purpose and call of God in you, he will go after it. Technically, the devil can’t decide to touch God’s plan and purpose, he is just not big enough.  His only hope is to derail God’s participants from it through evil devices like injustice, deception, false accusation, etc.  He will use anything he can to limit or stop you or your passion.  Stopping you from being who you were born to be and doing what you were born to do is his only way of hindering the GLORY of GOD in the earth.  Jesus said in John 17:4  “I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.”   So your purpose and potential to bring God glory can draw unique fire as the devil consistently tries to rob, kill or destroy the glory of God. 


Revealed in the Middle of Chaos

MARTY—In Rom.8:19 it says, “…the eagerly awaiting creation waits”. It is not likely that we will find anywhere in the Bible where creation wishes the sons and daughters of God were not here. Creation is waiting. Creation is waiting for every son/daughter of Almighty God Jehovah to be revealed in this present world just as Jesus was revealed some 2,000 years ago in the midst of Israel’s chaos.


Carry Heaven

Melissa — It’s time for Change-Agents to wake up and be Heaven on earth.  WE can do this because it’s “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.” (Zechariah 4:6) What is a heavenly Change-Agent? It’s one who makes a difference wherever they are because they carry Heaven in them.  When I say Heaven, I mean one who carries the original intent of God wherever they go.  What is God’s original intent? Heaven on earth, a Kingdom without end (Luke 1:31-33).  The difference between our Change-Agents and the ones making the news right now is that we cause life, healing, peace, hope, restoration—not death and destruction!


What Used to Be

KATHY–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 (Rom.8:19) communities and regions will reel with the supernatural results and exponential harvest that He has planned.


The Lord is Our Refuge

As the people of God assemble today may they not be afraid of the terror by night nor the arrow that flies by day and may they not rehearse those matters but rather encourage one another and say that the Lord is our Refuge, our Fortress, the One we lean on and confidently trust in. (Ps.91:2)


God’s Unusual and Incredible Work

“For the Lord will rise up as at Mount Perazim, He will be stirred up as in the Valley of Gibeon, To do His work, His unusual and incredible work, And to accomplish His work, His extraordinary work. (Isa.28:21, Amp)


Rightful Place in Driver’s Seat

MELISSA — It is amazing how interwoven fear can be in our thoughts and considerations. But when we become aware, we can do something about it. We can take our rightful place in the driver’s seat by forcing fear out. We can ask the Holy Spirit to point it out, then replace it with truth. We replace fear with God’s original intent for our life, thoughts of peace to give us an expected end (Jer. 29:11). This is not necessarily an overnight change, it takes time. It’s a process well worth it, but we can still be participants in the earth-changes/plans of God in the middle of our process. How? By listening to the Father and doing/saying what He tells us (John 5:19).


Carrying a God-Purpose

KATHY—Everyone breathing is carrying a God-purpose. We are in this time of history to be sons and daughters of God making history in the earth. Not one of us is insignificant or without a holy calling. Whether we realize it or not, our purpose is a piece of the bigger purpose that God is stewarding. You may be a school bus driver that God positioned in a sphere of protection over three children that the enemy’s trying to take out before they become a principal and mayor and police chief that they were born to be. Perhaps you are raising a child that will affect the medical world in twenty years. Maybe you are living in a particular county so that your taxes can help change it for a God-plan. Perhaps part of your purpose is being God’s expression of mercy in an office or for you to be the medicine of healing because you can make others laugh. Or maybe He placed your skills and personality as a connector to get people to solutions in a community. Most of the time we are not aware of how God is using the details of our daily lives as a part of His bigger intention, but God watches over you and who you were born to be. He also intends that you outlive anything that contradicts any facet of your multi-faceted purpose and fulfillment.


What You Were Born to Do

MELISSA — The beauty is you just live your personal Jeremiah 29:11 and watch God (Jer.29:11-“For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for prosperity and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope).  All you have to do is do what you were born to do, and stop allowing fear to guide your life.  You see, fear makes you think you don’t have anything specific to do, you missed it, you don’t deserve it.  God has an original intent for you personally that is absolutely connected to His original intent for this earth. 


Don’t Leave a Wimpy Heritage

KATHY—That “BID me COME” is in the heart of all of us.  It is deep calling unto deep and JESUS is saying to us too, “COME ON!”  There is no need for us to live a watered-down version of what God had in mind for our lifetime.  We don’t have to leave a wimpy, skimpy heritage.  Fear may hold us in the boat and tempt us to refuse the dominion mandate, but there is a stronger force at work in us.  There is a heart’s cry, “Lord, BID me COME.”  We may consider just stepping back from sonship and dominion because we have not seen it or lived it vividly yet, but dominion is not about being an experienced son, it is about being an obedient son.  There will be times in all of us that the cry of “BID me COME” stirs in our breast and we have a choice to respond to the Lord’s, “Come on.” 


To a New Level

As the people of God assemble today, may they be filled with the fullness of God and challenged to a new level in what our Lord has in His purposes for each member of the Body of Christ, as we stand for our families and as we confront the present climate of culture in our nation.  “May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;  19  And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.  20  Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,” (Eph.3:18-20, KJV)


Enable the Spring

MARTY—May good things and giftings, and words of encouragement and enabling spring up out of you in this season like a spring that is beginning to flow. May all the debris of uncertainty and past failures and criticisms blow completely away as the good things flow unhindered to bless others.  ”The good man, from his [inner] good treasure, brings out good things…” (Matt.12:35a, Amp)


Not Conformed to This World

Melissa G.—“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Romans 12:2) That’s a Change-Agent’s life right there.  We PROVE the good, acceptable and perfect will of God.  How? By changing our thought habits.  We meditate on God’s will, His original intent for this earth.  We stop fixating on the enemy’s war around us by realizing his war has intensified because he is feeling the pressure of this never-ending Kingdom in Luke 1:33.  We turn our thoughts toward that powerful fact.  We engage in power, love, and a sound mind by dumping fear-thoughts that have wreaked havoc (2 Timothy 1:7).  This is all possible in our lifetime!


Dream Symbols

KATHY—Symbols many times have a general or universal or common or typical meaning, and you can find such meanings in books, internet, etc.  The Bible is a good starting place.  Here’s an example, in general, snakes are not a good thing and basically symbolize a threat against the future, as did the serpent in the garden of Eden.  That being established, then we pursue the specifics to know if the snake represents a person, a particular plot or plan, a deception, a devil, etc.  Often, when you discover the meaning of a symbol in your own dream, it will likely have that meaning if it shows up in another dream.  This is one way we learn the language of our dreams. There is no closed list on symbols because people have unique experiences in life to pull from.  A rainbow could represent a promise in general but mean something dark to people of certain cultures.  When Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams, God had spoken about the future in symbolic pictures.  The skinny cows pointed to a famine that was coming and the seven cows in his dream indicated it was coming in seven years.  However, if a farmer or rancher dreams of skinny cows, it may be a warning to re-vaccinate because Hoof and Mouth disease is in the area.  The number “7″ is not always going to be about years either.  If you are on a search about meanings in numbers, one good resource is E.W. Bullinger’s book Numbers in Scripture.  The number “7″ in his book indicates a God-completed thing.  Since symbols can be specific to the setting or the message of a dream, you see why we need to develop an ear to hear the Holy Spirit’s wisdom, so we learn that Holy Spirit “click” that confirms an insight.


Sin and Pain

What happens when people are in chaos? What happens when people are in pain? One time I hurt my lower back very badly. I was lying there in the bed crying and groaning because I was in such tremendous pain. Emotional pain as well as physical pain can cause great agony in someone’s life. In Rom.8:19,22 the Bible talks about the earth groaning, creation groaning because creation is suffering from the pain of sin. In sin is that which is outside the order of God. When God gave us the Ten Commandments, He didn’t give us the Ten Commandments so He could be a mean old Father. Some people see Him just yelling “Thou shall not do this. Thou shall not do that. Thou shalt sit still and do nothing”. That’s not why God gave us the Ten Commandments. Why do you think God said, “Thou shall not commit adultery”? There would be no sexual disease if there were no adultery or fornication. Marriages and whole families would not be destroyed. If we stay inside God’s order, if we stay inside the safe boundaries that God sets there is righteousness, peace and joy. When we get outside of the lines and the boundaries, there is pain.


One Who Makes a Difference

MELISSA—What is a heavenly Change-Agent? It’s one who makes a difference wherever they are because they carry Heaven in them.  When I say Heaven, I mean one who carries the original intent of God wherever they go.  What is God’s original intent? Heaven on earth, a Kingdom without end (Luke 1:31-33).  The difference between our Change-Agents and the ones making the news right now is that we cause life, healing, peace, hope, restoration—not death and destruction!  


How do You Narrow Down a Symbol

KATHY—How do we know if a dream is symbolic?  Sometimes, it is definitely obvious right up front that a dream is not literal, like if your cat is driving your car.  (And no matter how smart your cat is, cats can’t get a driver’s license!)  On a side note, symbols may be personal because of how they fit in your experiences and frame of reference.  Case in point, if I dreamed a cat was driving my car, that would be a clear telegram for me that I am being soul-led rather than Spirit-led because a strong mindset is driving my thinking and behavior.  I would know that because in my symbols discoveries through the years, cats represent strong mindsets, preset opinions and intense attitudes.  However, a cat can represent something completely different to other people, like cats may represent companionship or home security because they kill mice, etc.  So symbolism begs the question: ‘How do you narrow down what a symbol means in a dream?’  The answer is that you develop an ear to hear a Holy Spirit “click” that turns the light on in your understanding and confirms the correct thinking.


Pentecost – Power to BE and DO

As the people of God assemble today may they yield to the baptizing presence and power of Holy Spirit so that He might be upon them because He has anointed them to preach the good news to the poor, He has sent them to announce release (pardon, forgiveness) to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed (downtrodden, bruised, crushed by tragedy), to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord [the day when salvation and the favor of God abound greatly]. (Lk.4:18-19) It was at least the equivalent of a Boeing 747 landing in the middle of downtown Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost at 9:00 in the morning. And since they had no point of reference for such a “tempest blast” they became quite perplexed (unable to grasp something clearly or to think logically and decisively about something), cf.Acts 2:6,7,12. There was no warning that a Mighty manifestation would blast them suddenly into the miraculous church age where signs and wonders would “follow them that believe” (Mk.16:17). Believers were PRAYING like their Lord had commanded them in the PLACE He had commanded them to RECEIVE what He had commanded them (Lk.24:49) so that they could DO what He had commanded them.


Rejoice and be Increased

This is the day the Lord has made so… I will rejoice and be increased in it. Ps.115:14,Amp—”May the Lord give you [great] increase, You and your children.”