Daily Devotions

Posts tagged “faith

A Defensive Position

MELISSA GABLER—The initial hit from the enemy might require you to go on the defense, but you never stay there.  I will explain this in a tactical way.  I took self-defense classes for a number years. One of my instructors said, “We teach you to defend yourself one time.  We will never teach you to stay in a defensive position.  You must counter, control, and finish the fight.”  Well, my goodness.  What strategy!  After you defend yourself one time from your enemy’s attack you then strike back with the weapons and skill God has given you.  You can’t stay just in the defensive position.  You propel forward because He already set up your countermeasures and you are well armed and able!  What are your countermeasures?  Number one: Scripture. Number two: your Holy Spirit-breathed prophetic words.  Other than that, whatever God has personally set up for you.  Ask Him to show you and open your eyes to see!  Don’t get bogged down in the fear of it.  Look for His provision because it is already there.  Isaiah 54:17-“no weapon formed against you shall prosper” is not an afterthought.  It is solid forethought!


An Inner Yearning

KATHY GABLER—That  “BID  me  COME  to  You  on  the  water,” was a cry of DESTINY coming up from Peter’s spirit . . .  An inner YEARNING to do what  JESUS was doing. An inner KNOWING he was born to walk on water.  That “BID me COME”  is in the heart of all of us. It’s  DEEP calling unto DEEP.  It’s  in  our  spiritual  DNA  because . . .  God created us to be SONS that walk in Dominion.
There is no need for us to live a watered-down version of what God had in mind for our lifetime. The only way we  will  leave a wimpy or skimpy heritage, is if we ignore or suppress that which is inside us . . .  “LORD,  BID me COME to You on the water, ”  I’m obviously no 20-something, so why am I talking about taking dominion at  my age . . Because “BID me COME” will  trump age. “BID me COME” will  trump sickness & disease. “BID me COME” will  trump past failures & defeats. And every disorder we bring into Heaven’s order is the Kingdom of God advancing in the earth.
We were born to walk in the authority that trumps all things. “You don’t understand what I am up against.”    No, I don’t, but I know His “COME ON”  is bigger . . . Besides, when you’re walking on water, it doesn’t matter if it’s 2ft. deep  or 20ft. deep.


Is the Water 3 Feet Deep or 300 Feet Deep?

MARTY GABLER—When Jesus came walking on the water (ruling over the very circumstances plaguing them), “they screamed out with fright” (v.26, Amp) They could not conceive, in this condition, the possibility of Jesus being the one walking on the water. There isn’t even any evidence that they are attempting to bale water out of the boat. They are now operating on fore-gone conclusions and it has left them in nonproductive panic.
The miracle of provision they had just witnessed (feeding of 5,000+ with 12 baskets of leftovers) was forgotten with their focus on the present negative factors. Their hearts are very troubled and they are very unproductive. Is it more difficult for Jesus to calm wind and waves than it is to multiply a little boy’s lunch to feed 5,000+? Is it more difficult to walk on 300-foot-deep water than to walk on 3-foot-deep water? Has He stopped working miracles because “this is now and that was then”? The same authority and power applied to loaves and fishes gets the same results when applied to wind and waves!


The Power of Accusation

MELISSA GABLER—This is where the power of accusation comes from: Proverbs 18:21 “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.” Proverbs 11:9 “An hypocrite with his mouth destroyeth his neighbor” Prov. 15:4 (MSG) “Kind words heal and help; cutting words wound and maim.” It is the epitome of “using your powers for good and not evil”.  There is power in our words because God intended it that way so we can make a difference when we speak. The problem is that we tend to forget that it goes both ways.


Thy Will be Done

KATHY GABLER—“Thy will be done on earth as in heaven” . . . A son can choose to agree with His Father’s will whether he knows it specifically or not in any situation because he knows his Father and trusts his Father’s wisdom.  A son can also pray this prayer of agreement because he understands the “givens,” those conditions, designs and circumstances that reflect His Father’s will. 


Effectiveness and Authority

MARTY GABLER—As the people of God assemble today may they realize the authority and the effectiveness they have in the earth as the ekklesia of God (Matt.16:18, TPT — “I give you the name Peter, a stone. And this rock will be the bedrock foundation on which I will build my church [ekklesia]—my legislative assembly, and the power of death will not be able to overpower it”.  May they pray for and speak the purposes of Jehovah God over our nation so that the fear of the Lord may come upon all His enemies, so that our nation may be saved from those who seek to destroy it. 2Chron.20:29, Amp — “And the fear of God came on all the kingdoms of those countries when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel.


He Presented Himself Alive

MARTY GABLER—“To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.” (Acts 1:3, NASB)  After Jesus spoke to His disciples of things concerning the Kingdom of God, in the Book of Acts, we have 28 Chapters of demonstration. The government of God, the rule, the authority of God is what we earnestly pray for to come, firstly in the “earth” (Mt.6:10) that we experience it individually and also in the “earth” that contains nations or people groups.


Something Big This Year

MELISSA GABLER — “You crown the year with your bounty, and your paths overflow.” (Ps. 65:11 AMP) “Crown” here is the Hebrew word “atar”. It means to encircle for protection. So, we really are tiptoeing into something big this year and we are protected as we approach our reveal. And let’s just top it off, “Your paths overflow” says this year is marked with abundance. The biggest fight we have at this point is truly believing our God is as good as He really is!


When the Enemy Strikes Suddenly

KATHY GABLER—No wonder the enemy strikes out suddenly and from every direction, trying to overwhelm us with circumstances, hoping we cannot see the source point where we or someone else (even another generation) unintentionally or unknowingly agreed or failed to agree. The enemy bombards us, banging on the door, demanding access, implying it is inevitable, stressing that we deserve it and emphasizing these things are common to all men; therefore we cannot argue and must agree that we are merely “man” and cannot win! He will never factor in Christ, and hopes we will not either. Our godly Dominion and Destiny in the Kingdom of God require re-engineering or re-establishing godly access routes through our lives. There is only One Way. Jesus Christ, the Word, the Truth, the Life, the Way, the Anointed One and His Anointing living in us empowers us to know the Truth and enables us to align or come to agreement with Truth. That agreement opens doors and floodgates, allowing the awesome flow of Life, Goodness, Mercy, Favor, Blessing, Peace, Joy, Strength and Provision into our lives. At the same time, His awesome flow overpowers and deflects any other force that is inundating our lives attempting to keep us from our Kingdom purpose.


Your New Language This Year

MARTY GABLER—People of God will learn new language this year that will serve them to be profitable to themselves and others. They will learn the language of finance, politics, technology and diplomacy. The sons of Issachaar knew what Israel ought to do for the times (1Chr 12:32). They knew the language of finance, politics and science. They were, therefore, profitable to their family, tribe and nation in the midst of what Israel was up against. There is an Issachaar enabling for God’s people in this time of history.


Trust

Melissa Gabler—As of late my meditation topic has been Trust.  You know: “reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence.”   It should be a natural byproduct of being a believer. I thought so until God asked me if I trusted Him.  Of course… wait, do I?! That’s an answer I thought was sure at this point in my life.  The amazing thing is in that moment, trust made sense for the first time.  All of a sudden there was a relief in my core that I’m not sure I have ever felt.  Without Him saying a word, there was an understanding that actually trusting God meant to actually let go of needing to know the process of getting to an answer. 


God is Present Tense and Awesome

KATHY GABLER—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.


Be Window-Makers

MARTY GABLER–As the people of God assemble today, may they be window-makers in 2026. Many people have walls of impossibility and walls of hopelessness in front of them. They cannot see the future or their ability to have any productive part in it. But people with the Word of God in them and with words of wisdom will build windows in those walls by bringing knowledge and a way out of circumstances. People will see hope, clarity and solutions because our relationship with them, our words to them, opened what was shut to them before. (Ps 24:7)


Influence Extended Into the Future

MARTY GABLER–Through our children, our influence is extended into the future even after we have passed this life. Our children are a message that we send into the future. It is so very important for us, therefore, to be cognizantly, purposefully working on the legacy that we will leave; not just monetarily but theologically and philosophically (Prov 17:6). Our children will carry into the future the volume or lack (compare 2K 17:41) of our value and belief system into the culture that they will function and have influence in. The degree of influence they have and the type of influence they have will be largely dependent upon our deposit in them.
“So these nations feared the Lord, yet served their carved images; also their children and their children’s children have continued doing as their fathers did, even to this day.” (2K.17:41)

What Are You in Agreement With?

MELISSA GABLER—Here is an example of how the Holy Spirit began to reveal how I had been in agreement with certain things in my life. He showed me that my fear and unbelief was rooted in a demon doctrine I was acquainted with years and years ago, and that is the belief that everything will be better when we get to heaven. Now, that is not something that I keep in my conscious mind at this point in my life. I made a decision a while back not to dwell on going to heaven but rather to spend the rest of my life being focused on what He has me on this earth to do. However, the teaching of things having to get worse so we can get to heaven for things to be better created a filter in me that resulted in unbelief and fear when faced with challenges. It even filtered the way I read the Bible. It made me look at most of the Bible as poetry or metaphor and I realize now there is very little of that and a whole lot of literal. For instance. I didn’t realize that I was navigating current challenges in my life and body through that filter. I was falling into the demon doctrines of aging and what that looks like until I started reading passages like this WITHOUT THAT FILTER: Philippians 3:20-21 “But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself.” Before the filter got dealt with I would have seen this scripture as saying ‘we are citizens of heaven so we’re expecting the Savior, WHEN HE RETURNS, to transform our bodies.’ Here’s how I see it now: Our citizenship is in heaven RIGHT NOW because this scripture says it out right in a present tense not a future tense and Ephesians 2:6 says “and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus:” This is not poetry it’s a literal, right now statement.


A God-Filled, God-Honoring Life

MARTY GABLER—May desire for our Lord’s character and the empowering of the Holy Spirit help us to turn our backs on a godless, indulgent life and help us to take on a God-filled, God-honoring life. May we shine forth with words and actions that can only be described as honoring the Word and will of Almighty God, so that the present culture and system of this age can never swallow us up and lay claim to our lives. May the cloak of His likeness display who we are, and whose we are, without the need for superficial display of physical marks, titles or pretension.


Pray and Stand and Hold

MELISSA GABLER—Sometime ago when the Lord said that we should pray so we can be prepared for the coming onslaught of evil, we did, and then His instruction came that we were to hold. What this instruction has shown me is “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’  says the Lord of Hosts.” (Zech. 4:6) This cannot be handled or fixed by our might or power. We are at the place where all of our self-help, strength, reasoning and logic have absolutely no power against this onslaught. What we are experiencing is what has been fueling the problems in lives and society and it has been hidden behind the scenes until now. This is a spiritual war and this is only the beginning. 


Marty & Kathy Gabler – The Crystalaires

From Melissa Gabler:  I love this photo of my folks. That’s my mom on the left and my dad with the guitar. If you were at my mom’s celebration of life and heard my dad talk about getting to see her run to Jesus… that’s what she looked like when He took her into His arms. ❤️
L.-R.: Kathy Buchanan, Marty Gabler, David Moore, Alice Gabler Ogilvie. The Crystalaires c1971


Carrying a God-Purpose

KATHY GABLER—Everyone breathing is carrying a God-purpose. We are living in this time 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.


More Than Mere Attenders

MARTY GABLER—As the people of God assemble today may people who have been no more than mere attenders realize that they are called to be an active participant in the local house and its expression in the community. May they realize that they are to become participants in the giving of their time, effort and resources.  “Take your stand with God’s loyal community and live. . .” (Prov.11:19a, Msg)


Your Sphere of Influence

MARTY GABLER—YOUR SPHERE OF INFLUENCE — You are not without influence (Gk.: “metron”- a sphere of influence). Each and every person, each and every entity (e.g., a church, an apostolic network, a training center) has some degree of influence with some number of people. God will, at some point, in some manner, begin to emphasize the sphere of influence of a person and of a local house (church).  He will begin to bring the type of influence and the degree of influence into our thinking and consideration so that He can enlarge that sphere for wider effectiveness. “Enlarge the place of your tent, And let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; Do not spare; Lengthen your cords, And strengthen your stakes. (Isa.54:2,NKJV) (also 1Chron.4:10)


NEW ERA

Melissa Gabler _ New Era (4min.)
Click on video below to hear encouragement about the New Era.


Nothing Less Than the Extraordinary of Heaven Will Do

MARTY GABLER—We are in an era of history when nothing less than the extraordinary of Heaven is required in the earth. We cannot and will not look for those things offered by mere religious sentiment that serve as nothing more than band-aids covering the unresolved issues and fruitless programs of western religion. We must lift up our heads from where we are and look to where there is transforming power and radical answers that change individuals and grip them with an insatiable vision for the Kingdom of Heaven in the earth. We must reach up and get hold of God’s extraordinary which is more than a span of revival meetings that gives us temporary relief from the mundane. The mundane must be invaded in such a way that we do not simply return to it after a brief respite and after things are trying to sink back into “business as usual”. 


On Track With Original Intent

MELISSA GABLER—Recently I was praying over a situation and all I heard loud and clear was the word “radical”. I could get behind that! Yes, radical change in this situation. I began to speak “radical” into my concern. It was one of those kind of things, however, that just kept rolling around and growing inside of me. It just felt like it meant more than I was currently grasping. It also felt like it was for more than just that particular situation. So, I looked the word up in the Websters 1828 Dictionary.
Check this out: Radical: 1. Pertaining to the root or origin; original; fundamental; as a radical truth or error; a radical evil; a radical difference of opinions or systems. 2. Implanted by nature; native; constitutional; as the radical moisture of a body. 3. Primitive; original; underived; uncompounded; as a radical word. 4. Serving to origination. 5. In botany, proceeding immediately from the root; as a radical leaf or peduncle.
Well, oh my! Radical is a much stronger word than I thought it was. Basically, what I see in these definitions is that radical means going back to God’s original intent. So, when the Holy Spirit says “radical” He fully intends to take the current situation and put that person, family, business, region, etc. back on track with His original intent.