Daily Devotions

Posts tagged “happy

Know How to Begin and End

MARTY GABLER—Many feel that they do not know how to walk out the remainder of the year because the last couple of years and months have proven to be matters and circumstances that we have never had to walk out before. Solomon prayed: 1Kings 3:7,AMPC—“Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king instead of David my father, and I am but a lad [in wisdom and experience]; I know not how to go out (begin) or come in (finish).” Proclaiming not knowing how to begin or end a thing shouldn’t be an excuse but rather an acknowledgement of WHO does. Then, if we know Who DOES know how to begin and end a thing (Isa.46:10), we can yield to Him and His principles of enablement for and completing mandates and making necessary adjustments in preferences, appetites and emotions.


Extracted From Captivity

MELISSA GABLER—First, I would like to warn you of the graphic nature of this article.  It may cause unpleasant pictures in your head while reading.  So, read at your own risk! What has the beginning of this year been about? We are in a Drawing Salve season. The reason drawing salve works is that it softens the skin around the splinter, or whatever else is in there, and this then enables the body to more easily eject the foreign object.  This is something that the body does naturally anyway, but by moisturizing the area and using anti-inflammatory agents you simply encourage this to work more quickly before the wound closes over it. At the same time it can encourage blood flow which will also help to create pus and as the pus is ejected from the body so too will the foreign object.  That stuff has to come out! This year of extraction also includes our being extracted from captivity with all the bells and whistles God installed!


Prayer Will Bear Fruit

KATHY GABLER—PRAYING is OBEYING, and prayer will clearly bear fruit in this year as His Kingdom comes and His will is done in earth.  On January 4th, six days after Marty made the declarations (mentioned in my last post), I was reading Psalm 81.  Verse 13,  How I wish my people would listen to me; how I wish they would obey me, seemed to echo in my mind as I leaned my head back on my chair.  As I slipped into sleep, I began dreaming, but then I heard someone speaking.  I opened my eyes, wondering if I was awake or asleep as I tried to listen to what was being said.  It is sometimes a challenge to transfer words and concepts to paper, but this is the gist of what I heard:  “I am bringing changes to the Church’s mode of operation.”  My first thought was that I must pray that those who faithfully sit on the church bench be able to handle God-changes rather than hold to traditions or walk away in judgment.  I took hope in what I heard next:  “The prospering that comes from these changes will cause the differences to be embraced and welcomed by many.  Even the economics of the Church will prosper like harvests hidden in history.”  I had no knowledge of  “harvests hidden in history.”  I was a bit stunned at hearing such details. I thought, ‘Lord, hearing these things seems strangely beyond my usual reach and responsibility.  This is the kind of stuff that Marty hears, so why am I hearing these things?’  Immediately, I heard, “So you can invest prayer toward these changes in My Church.”  I have to admit that I felt too inexperienced for such an assignment, and that momentary feeling of being unequipped made me doubt my hearing.  But I could not shrug this off to dreaming.  I wonder how many of us have disqualified ourselves and forsaken an assignment through a reaction like mine.  The soul (the mind and logic and will) is often quick to take the wheel and drive us into a ditch of doubt instead of down the path of obedience.  It’s not that our soul cannot be part of obedience, in fact, it must.  However, the soul simply cannot be the driver-dictator-controller.  Being led of the Spirit is the means and method of walking out an obedience and getting to God-outcomes (in prayer or any other obedience).


Upside Down to Right Side Up

MARTY GABLER—As the people of God assemble today may they edify each other and encourage one another that where their lives have been turned upside down that they will be turned right side up again and functioning in the purposes of Father God Who delights in the victory of His people. Ps.50:15,Amp—Call on Me in the day of trouble; I will rescue you, and you shall honor and glorify Me.””


So That His Life Might be Invaded by Heaven

MARTY GABLER—When heaven invaded Jericho Road, the man was called “Blind” Bartimaeus. Bartimaeus was told to be quiet by those who held to conventional norms but he cried out directly to Jesus so that his life might be invaded by heaven (Mk10:47). He pushed beyond what was normally acceptable and defied religious limitations and barriers. What are people calling you? How much longer will you accept that? Well… heaven is invading your road by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Acts10:38)


Ain’t it Been Something so Far?

MELISSA GABLER—Well, it’s been something so far! There is most definitely a different atmosphere so far this year. I have noticed that while people are seemingly being pounded by illness and circumstances, there are “finallies” busting wide open! What?! It makes sense, however, in the light of multiple words in the last couple of years about things getting tougher and tougher and then… THEN a breakthrough!


Killing Catalysts Through Rejection

KATHY GABLER—Killing God’s Catalysts through rejection:  In Acts 6, Stephen was openly demonstrating the Kingdom with signs, wonders and miracles among the people.  Rather than realizing that God was using this young man as a catalyst to continue the powerful changes that Jesus had begun, they were angered by this catalyst and decided to remove it.  May God help us not to reject the catalysts for change He is raising up in the remainder of this year.  
People who cannot connect the dots or those who intentionally reject God’s catalysts for change are dangerous.  The human soul that is determined to defy God and desperate to be right, comfortable and undisturbed can, in the extreme, go so far as to consider false accusation and murder as fair and the right thing to do.  Literally, the up-standing citizens that were upset with Stephen lied about him and then stoned him to death. 
Forget the miracles, this young whipper-snapper was speaking against their lifestyle and their sacred places.  He was threatening to tear it all down and CHANGE their institutions, customs and rituals that Moses had taught them.  Acts 6:11, So they bribed some men to say, “We heard him speaking against Moses and against God!”   He spoke against Moses, and oh yes, against God too!  Moses, the temple, their customs were obviously their primary concern.  Those things were ahead of God in their hearts and devotion.  Their habits were more important than relationship or truth.  Their habits were part of their comfort zone that they did not want it disturbed.  Their habits were part of their identity and self-image.  To change them evidently implied fault or weakness in both.
Moses means “draw out, rescue.”  They were determined to hold to the one they considered their historical agent of surviving, even when it was time to move on to the One who was their agent of thriving.  I submit that is a paradigm we need to be wary of in this year.  If we are not willing to change as the Holy Spirit directs, we will merely be surviving rather than thriving.  Surviving implies living with limitations and learning to be satisfied.  Thriving implies growth, increase and maturing.


A Mindset and a Vision

MARTY GABLER—In the fifth century a 16 year old boy by the name of Patrick lived in Britain. Irish pirates captured him and carried him to Ireland where he was forced into slavery for six years. He then managed to escape and returned to his family in Britain.
After a period of training, he returned to Ireland where he had been forced into slavery for six years. He returned because he believed that God could turn a nation around. When he arrived, Ireland was under the influence of the Druids and human sacrifice was the order of the day. Throughout the nation human sacrifice had become accepted as a way of life and was never questioned.
Patrick knew he had to simplify his message in order to reach the nation of Ireland. So, he left off heavy theological content and simply preached:  Jesus was the only sacrifice required and now there is no need for any sacrifice human or animal. A powerful move of God swept over Ireland and for the next 200 years it was a Christian nation and righteousness was the order of the day.
Patrick had a mindset that Ireland could be turned to God and become a righteous nation. With that mindset and vision working in him, he set about the task of turning a nation to God Almighty and did so without large amounts of money but with only word-of-mouth advertising which spoke of the righteous workings of the power of God rather than speaking of the things public relations experts deem required. Patrick did not look at present circumstances and long for a better-day-to-come but set heart and mind to getting the nation to God.


What Does Accusation Sound Like?

MELISSA GABLER—So, what does accusation sound like? Literal accusation is a claim that someone has done something wrong or illegal. Criticism is an opinion or judgment of what is wrong or bad about somebody. Slander is saying something false or malicious that damages somebody’s reputation; it is also gossip or rumors.  It is even words spoken out of skepticism, bitterness, resentment or offense.
Here’s how this works: It’s repetition that builds a force against someone.  It is when the issue is rehearsed and it’s rehearsed with multiple people, when there is continual mouthing of accusations day after day, week after week.  When it’s shared and rehearsed with others it builds a force.  Some things said might be true, but words compound the issue if they are not dealt with.  Again, this is the epitome of using your powers for good and not evil.  Our words are intended to make a difference and we tend to forget that it goes both ways.


Be Still and Know

KATHY GABLER—If I heeded the Scriptures, refraining from rehearsing my troubles would keep me from getting peace-depleted!  The second scripture that came to me was Psa. 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God.”  “Be still” there means “to loosen up or become less intense”, so that was the second positive step I needed to take.  The Message puts Psa. 46:10 this way,  “Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at me, your High God, above politics, above everything.”  Getting to stillness would involve focusing on Him instead of the unanswered prayers and nagging changelessness.  I was on the way to getting still, but staying still would prove to be another challenge.


Loosed From the Guilt of the Past

MARTY GABLER–As the people of God assemble today may they know that His Word looses them from the guilt of the past and propels them forward into the plans He will walk them through to fulfillment. Rom.8:1, Amp — “Therefore there is now no condemnation [no guilty verdict, no punishment] for those who are in Christ Jesus [who believe in Him as personal Lord and Savior]. 2Cor.5:17, Amp — “Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life].”


Where Did Everybody Go?

MARTY GABLER—Where Did Everybody Go?  God will not replenish what is not our God-given measure of rule and sphere of influence. The prodigal kept spending and spending, oblivious to the inevitable end when the bag would be empty. From the moment he stepped out from under his father’s weighing and measuring of him, from the moment he removed himself from the sphere his father had observed was best for him, that bag of gold began to diminish. When humans imagine and design the product of their own aspirations, the pleasure of walking in it for a season doesn’t allow them to consider financial, moral or emotional bankruptcy (Prov 14:12; Isa 47:8-9) nor how readily they use people to their own ends. Our zeal and energies can take us some distance but the tank will eventually run out. As Lk 15:16 proves, people will grow weary and find some place else to be.


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.