Daily Devotions

Posts tagged “happy

Shortages and Scarce Supply

Kathy—Days of Elijah were times of shortages and scarce supply.  The God-backed stand we take must pivot on obedience to God’s will and directions. After Elijah confronted the king, the Lord told him to leave and go hide near Cherith Creek.  He was to drink water from the creek, and eat the food God told the ravens to bring him. Elijah obeyed the LORD and ravens brought him bread and meat twice a day.  He drank water from the creek, but after a while, it dried up because there was no rain.  The drought lasted over three years and everyone was affected.  The shortages even reached Elijah, but so did God’s detailed plans and supernatural provisions. After the airmail deliveries stopped, the Lord told Elijah to go to Zarephath where a widow would give him food.  At first the widow adamantly told him she couldn’t feed him because she was also in scarcity and lack. In fact, she was planning her last meal before dying, but there was Divine connection between Elijah’s lack and the widow’s shortage of supplies. That connection not only brought provision for both of them, it also revealed a supernatural resource for both of them. We too shall come through days of Elijah having experienced the miraculous of our God and His planned connections.


Bullies be Shut Down

May the Lord step in and save our children from bullies in this school year, whether on campus or off campus. May the bullies be shut down and learn that they cannot abuse others.  “My God, free me from the grip of Wicked, from the clutch of Bad and Bully. You keep me going when times are tough— my bedrock, God, since my childhood.” (Ps.71:4-5, Msg) 


Confronting Powers That Be

Rain on PuddleKathy—Days of Elijah were times of confronting governmental powers that be.  Elijah showed up in 1 Kings 17 to confront the puppet king of Israel with a proclamation:  “I’m a servant of the living LORD, the God of Israel. And I swear in his name that it won’t rain until I say so.  There won’t even be any dew on the ground.”  Beyond the forecast of a drought, it had to unnerve King Ahab that a man would get in his face and tell him, “I have the say so over your domain and over the weather warfare of your storm god, because I represent the higher government of God Almighty.”  In these days of Elijah, whether we are dealing with dark forces at work against our home or community or region or nation or other realms, we can take a stand when we are convinced and confident that Almighty God is backing us.  


Confronting Powers That Be

Kathy–Days of Elijah were times of confronting governmental powers that be.  Elijah showed up in 1 Kings 17 to confront the puppet king of Israel with a proclamation:  “I’m a servant of the living LORD, the God of Israel. And I swear in his name that it won’t rain until I say so.  There won’t even be any dew on the ground.”  Beyond the forecast of a drought, it had to unnerve King Ahab that a man would get in his face and tell him, “I have the say so over your domain and over the weather warfare of your storm god, because I represent the higher government of God Almighty.”  In these days of Elijah, whether we are dealing with dark forces at work against our home or community or region or nation or other realms, we can take a stand when we are convinced and confident that Almighty God is backing us.  


God is Working on Your Future

As the people of God assemble today may they look to Him Who has plans and a future for each of them. May they clearly see and understand that just because they may have a history of defeat and never-ending need, that the future Jehovah God is working on is one of hope and security in Him. Rom.15:4—“Whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction so that we could have hope through endurance and through the encouragement of the scriptures.”  Heb.10:23—“Let’s hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, because the one who made the promises is reliable.”


Hope Beyond Present Reality

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)


Not Bowing to Impossibilities

Melissa—The Holy Spirit presented this to me awhile back, “Either you are bowing your knee in awe and reverence to Me or you are bowing your knee in tolerance and submission to everything else.” How can we see miracles when we are bowing our knee to the impossibilities mounted against us? How can we leave a winning legacy when we count ourselves among the doomed statistics of disease and age and depletion and debt? It’s really starting to make sense why we have only seen glimpses of effectualness.  So many have been under the control of the enemy who planted subtle deposits of fear for years through platforms to which we’ve given our trust and they didn’t work.  But now it’s our time. We get to be alive for this! We get to be alive for the awakening and to bring the Kingdom to earth in ways we’ve never seen before.  


Days of Elijah

Kathy—Over a two week period I kept hearing, “These are the days of Elijah.”  It wasn’t a song echoing within me but a declaration. I later discovered several other folks were hearing this also. Since I know we hear in part, I figured it was likely that each of us was hearing a different emphasis in the Days of Elijah. Setting out to embrace my part, I searched out significance in the Days of Elijah.  I was amazed how vividly the conditions he faced were the same we are facing in our days of history. 

Days of Elijah were crucial times under wicked leadership.  Ahab was the king, but the true ruler was his witchy wife, Jezebel.  Her influence had infiltrated the nation and led Israel into idol worship as they bowed the knee to her Phoenician god, Baal.  Baal was considered the sun god and the storm god, and worshiping him involved sensuality, ritualistic prostitution and human sacrifice. (Who would have imagined such would ever be the case in America?!) The evil forces behind Jezebel and her puppet king were the cause of Israel’s troubled state.  Elijah came at the peak of their arrogance and atrocities to warn them God had had enough.  Like the days of Elijah, we too stand at just such a precipice to confront the wicked arrogance and atrocities of this day because God is saying enough is enough.    
(This is the first excerpt from Kathy’a article “Days of Elijah”)


God, Keep our Children While at School

ASChool BooksMay the Lord God move by the power of His Word and His Spirit in schools across America in this school year. May He surround our children with His keeping power and may He raise up from them Daniels, Esthers, Deborahs, Josephs and Davids who impact their environment for the saving of many. “All your children will be disciples of the Lord— I will make peace abound for your children.” (Isa.54:13, CEB)


Controlling Fear

Melissa—We have been controlled by fear, instead of the true intention of God which is freedom from fear that comes through the fear of the Lord.  God is waking us up to what He intends for us. He is waking us up to freedom like we’ve never experienced in our nation or world.  This explains so much.  How can we live in the abundant life John 10:10 talks about if we have a knee bowed in fear of everything at our doorstep? Here’s how the Holy Spirit presented it to me awhile back, “Either you are bowing your knee in awe and reverence to Me or you are bowing your knee in tolerance and submission to everything else.”    
(Melissa will be speaking at DREAMS VISIONS PROPHECY. DVP2022 will be September 9-11, 2022 at Grace Church Willis,TX. For all information go to this link: martygabler.com/dvp2022/)


Counterfeit?

Kathy—Workers of darkness are counterfeiters, but counterfeit shouldn’t be mistaken to mean “NOT REAL.”  Counterfeit money is real and even spendable, but it is not authorized, NOT LEGAL!  Some workers of darkness are frauds practicing trickery to deceive people into believing they have supernatural powers at their disposal, like magicians who learn quick hand tricks or slip through panels to disappear.  Others can actually produce supernatural displays because they have tapped into the spirit realm and (knowingly or not) have agreed and connected their lives to spirit forces of wickedness. So, like Moses, we are not here to deny the power of darkness, we are here to de-fang it and defeat it.


Hearing a Word

As the people of God assemble today may they prepare their hearts to hear the voice of God Most High giving them wisdom to make decisions to live by. May they hear His written Word today and let it be their guideline by which they measure what they hear in days to come. Isa.30:21,Amp—“And your ears will hear a word behind you, saying, This is the way; walk in it, when you turn to the right hand and when you turn to the left.”


Heads-Up

The Lord shall give us many heads-up notices about what is “coming down the pike” in the days ahead. God is sending us help! May you be prepared at all levels by His leading, wisdom, impressions, inklings and words of knowledge. We should expect and be watching and listening for the knowledge and wisdom Father is giving.  Jer.33:3,NLT—“Ask me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come.” Prov.4:24-27,TheVoice—“Keep your head up, your eyes straight ahead, and your focus fixed on what is in front of you.  26  Take care you don’t stray from the straight path, the way of truth, and you will safely reach the end of your road.  27  Do not veer off course to the right or the left; step away from evil, and leave it behind.”


Under the Influence

Melissa—We have been under the influence of darkness for years, probably centuries, and it has caused a sleep to fall over God’s people. The enemy is trying to keep us asleep so we will not take our rightful place of dominion over his evil agenda.  We have to choose to either fear God and wake up or fear everything else and stay in a coma, and making the right choice will involve fighting and enduring.  Since this coma-causing darkness has been around way longer than any of us have been alive, it’s not giving up easily.  The battle for awakening is intense and nowhere near over.  You might as well batten down your hatches for at least the rest of the year, but you can be sure it will be worth it.


The Bible and the Works of Darkness

Kathy—God made no bones about how He feels concerning works of darkness.  He considers them an abomination or morally disgusting, and anyone who does such things is detestable to the LORD (Deut.18:12). These abominable works of darkness are spelled out in Deut. 18:10,11,MSG—“Don’t you dare sacrifice your son or daughter in the fire. Don’t practice divination, sorcery, fortunetelling, witchery, casting spells, holding seances, or channeling with the dead.” Yet, in this present darkness, these things are tolerated as part of our culture. Most of them are even in cartoons for children!  


Wisdom in What you Speak

Not everything that comes to mind has to be spoken. Some things that come to us are just for intercession. Find the good. Speak the good. Speak in alignment with the known will of God: The Bible. Look for, search after that which is positive and speak it. Try this: swallow before you respond or, perhaps, you might want to take a deep breath before you speak. In coming months, wisdom in what you speak will save you from what others are being defeated by.
Prov.13:3,Amp—“The one who guards his mouth [thinking before he speaks] protects his life; The one who opens his lips wide [and chatters without thinking] comes to ruin.”  Eph.4:29,Amp—“Do not let unwholesome [foul, profane, worthless, vulgar] words ever come out of your mouth, but only such speech as is good for building up others, according to the need and the occasion, so that it will be a blessing to those who hear [you speak].”


What’s Happening?

Melissa—Do you see what’s happening? The current bombardment we are experiencing is an undeniable wake-up call. We are being harassed with fears of everything from never being able to leave the house because of sickness, to kids never going to school again, to riots, to being fined for absurd restrictions, to being arrested for protecting ourselves.  These are fear tactics that are trying to back us into a corner God never intended us to occupy.  These fear tactics are driven by darkness and darkness uses fear as a means of control.  We have to choose to either fear God and wake up or fear everything else and stay in a coma.


Let Not Your Heart be Troubled

(Kathy) —The Bible doesn’t say “Let your heart be troubled only occasionally”. It says, “Let not your heart be troubled.” It’s not an option.  “Peace I leave with you; My [own] peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.]” (Jn.14:27, AMPC) 


Expectancy for the Future

As the people of God assemble today, may they build one another up in hope as they look to the future with expectancy for the purposes of God Almighty to be fulfilled in their lives and in their church family. ”So then, let us pursue [with enthusiasm] the things which make for peace and the building up of one another [things which lead to spiritual growth].” (Rom.14:19, Amp)


Call and I Will Answer

The army sergeant was summoned to the office in response to an irate mother. With raised voice, she proceeded to inform the sergeant that his treatment of her son would no longer be tolerated. Objections would be made to the highest office if necessary. The son had gotten to a payphone and, in tear-filled voice, told his mother how rough his life was and how he was ready to come home. It seemed that the focus of her son’s misery was on the sergeant because he was continually shouting out orders and dealing out punishment when they were not carried out per every detail of his instructions. However, when each complaint was responded to, it became apparent that the young man was choosing if and when to respond to orders based upon his opinion of the value of the order. What the boy and his mother did not understand was that the sergeant had good reason to give the orders he issued and was preparing the young man for circumstances he had never dealt with and the sergeant had the expertise to get him through. The sergeant asked the mother, “Which do you prefer, that I bring him back home from war alive or in a body bag?” Commands insure longevity.

COMMAND AND AGREEMENT

In a voice of command, the Lord God spoke to Jeremiah and required that he “call unto” Him. Calling unto God has a purpose. It was not a religious exercise that God wanted to observe Jeremiah busy with.  God said, “Call unto me AND…. I will answer.” It would be in agreement with what God fully intended to do in the earth. God must agree with Himself and with His Word, His will, His plan. God is not without purpose, not without a plan; but there are times when God has been without someone to stand in the gap calling upon Him to move power and authority from heaven into the earth. Eze 22:30  “I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one. Ezekiel does not say that a large company is required but, in v.30, ONE will do. Luk 18:1  ALSO [Jesus] told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not to turn coward (faint, lose heart, and give up). (Amp)  1Ti 2:8  I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting. Calling unto God in alignment with His plan and purpose brings restoration. (See Jer.33:6-14)


Awakening and the Fear of the Lord

MSG Grace5Melissa—I believe the awakening we have heard about for a decade, and are currently experiencing, is an awakening to the fear of the Lord.  We are indeed headed into not only understanding but living in the fear of the Lord.  I grew up hearing that the fear of the Lord is awe, reverence and respect for God, and it is, but there is still more.  Here’s how the Holy Spirit presented it to me awhile back, “Either you are bowing your knee in awe and reverence to Me or you are bowing your knee in tolerance and submission to everything else.”  

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Melissa is leading worship and speaking at
Clicke Here: DREAMS VISIONS PROPHECY CONFERENCE 2022
September 9-11,2022   Grace Church Willis,TX  936-856-2455


Reason for Going to War

Kathy—I’ve always thought the only reason to go to war is to win, but I’m beginning to realize there are other reasons for warfare.  Some battles are a matter of training our soul (our mind and will and emotions) to stand and develop muscle to be able to stand no matter what.  Eph. 6:13 puts it this way:  “And when you have done everything you could, you will be able to stand firm.”  The goal of warfare can also be to take ground incrementally in Divine timing. There are many maneuvers needed to pull down strongholds in this present darkness.  It is a bigger war than we can wage from one battlefield.  This present darkness is a matter of world rulers that are spirit forces of wickedness in the spirit realm.  These forces gather to form strongholds, and there they influence and manipulate people like puppets for their evil intents to kill, steal and destroy.  That’s why Eph 6:12 tells us “we are not wrestling with flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the despotisms, against the powers, against [the master spirits who are] the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere.”  These forces must be dismantled strategically and incrementally along with the workers of darkness they deploy into this present darkness.


LEAVE OUT THE COP-OUTS

LEAVE OUT THE COP-OUTS—If you spend any time around little children, you will realize that they are champions at excuses for not obeying or completing tasks. If allowed to carry that fall-back into their future without being expected to fulfill requirements put upon them it will result in their failure in tasks and in the proper development of their character.

MPG GraceIt is good to realize our utter dependence upon God as long as we don’t shift it from humble recognition to excuse. (1Ki 3:7)  “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).” (Amp)  That is an expression stating that he had not done what he is now being called upon to do – that he has no experience or knowledge of the matters awaiting him.

Many feel that they do not know how to walk out the remainder of 2022 because the last couple of years have proven to be matters and circumstances that we have never had to walk out before.

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.

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Marty will be speaking and prophesying at DREAMS VISIONS PROPHECY 2022
September 9-11,2022  at Grace Church Willis,TX   NO FEE


Calling for the Answer

Melissa — When we are calling on Almighty God, we don’t get to determine what the answer must be. That kind of determination is a prescription for indigestion. Why? Because we are working from a very limited soul-perspective of the situation with even more limited soul-solutions. This kind of limitation focuses on the impossible rather than the God of the impossible. He not only sees the problem, but where it came from (possibly from entitlement mindsets passed on through the bloodline?) and He sees the best solution for the complete fix. That right there is the kind of “great and mighty” answer we are truly looking for.