Daily Devotions

Posts tagged “Holy Spir-it

Seeing the Difference

 As the people of God assemble today may they praise from their hearts, give from their obedience and hear from true Biblical understanding so that they might arise with God’s power to meet the needs of the hurting and oppressed.  “I’m sending you off to open the eyes of the outsiders so they can see the difference between dark and light, and choose light, see the difference between Satan and God, and choose God. I’m sending you off to present my offer of sins forgiven, and a place in the family, inviting them into the company of those who begin real living by believing in me.” (Acts 28:17-18, Msg)


Dreams for Insight

KATHY–God uses dreams and visions to give insight into situations: My aunt dreamed she saw a car on a highway. The fog was so dense around it that she could barely see its headlights. She woke up abruptly, startled and concerned. Suddenly she remembered Marty and I were out of town in a meeting; so she began to pray. Later that night we made it home but crept along the last few miles, the alternator going out and our lights going dimmer by the mile. God woke her to usher in deliverance even before the alternator began to fail. Like a Word of Knowledge says God is intervening, giving supernatural insight because He is ready to act, likewise a dream or vision mandate, says He is ready to act; so mustering faith and praying is no problem!


Don’t Discount Resurrection Power

The word resurrection means “to stand up again.” The Philistines thought that Samson was down for the count just like the devil and the princes of this world thought Jesus was down for the count (1Co
2:7-8). But when resurrection power hit the body of Jesus, He stood up again. When resurrection power came upon Samson, he stood up again and the Philistines, what few were left, wished he never had. You may be down and out for the count as far as the enemy and some people are concerned. But don’t discount the resurrection power that comes from an encounter with God.


Jesus’ Prayer Model

KATHY — As we read Matthew 6 and Luke 10, we find Jesus teaching the disciples to pray.  The verses leading up to the actual prayer reveal firstly what prayer is not.  Prayer is not practicing your righteousness before men.  Prayer is not using surplus words trying to cover your bases.  Prayer is not from any motive that would manipulate God or man.  Then, Jesus gives directions to His disciples on how to communicate with the Father.  His instruction becomes a model for us known as “The Lords Prayer”.


Evil Structures Exposed

As the people of God assemble today may they know with assurance that the powers of darkness can hide for only just so long. May they rejoice that darkness is being exposed just like Pharaoh’s wizards’ serpents and agendas. And as Jehovah God is setting them up for a fall, we can do our part by praying that God will work in lives and bring truth and evidence to positioned people to expose and bring down evil structures. Eph.6:12–“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”


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)


Breakthrough Bringing Changes

Kathy–I went to bed with a sense of a storm gathering and I fell asleep praying.  I stirred once or twice with a definite awareness of war in the heavenlies.  A little after 3:00 A.M., I awoke to the sounds of battle, swords clashing and noisy chaos.  In a vision, I watched silhouettes in battle and knew I was seeing war in second heaven.  I thought of the archangel Michael warring to get the answer to Daniel’s prayer to him and I realized this war was getting God’s will to earth again. I did not have the pulse of what God was doing or what prayers He was answering, so I knelt on the bed and asked Him, “How do I pray?  What do I do?”  But His answer was surprising, “Just watch what I’m doing.”  So, I silently watched and waited for God’s outcome.  Lightning flashed and thunder crashed so loudly in the vision that it seemed to be a real storm inside the hotel room until 3:45 A.M. When the battle sounds subsided, I could only hear the sound of rain, heavy rain.  The vision continued.  I saw the sides of a river being torn away by the force of gushing flood waters.  I knew I was seeing a breakthrough that night that would bring changes as surely as the gushing waters were changing the course of that river.  I was reminded of 2Sam.5:20, and Baal-perazim, which means “the Lord of breakthroughs” or the “Owner of breakthroughs”.  I fell into a deep sleep, confident God was doing something awesome and had broken through opposition to get things from Heaven to earth.


God’s Promises Never Fail

As the people of God assemble today may they worship the name of the Most High God Yahweh because He is the same yesterday, today and forever. May they encourage one another to stand firm upon Him and His Word that cannot be shaken. May they gain courage and strength to face and overcome every storm that assails them. Josh.21:45, Amp–“There failed no part of any good thing which the Lord had promised to the house of Israel; all came to pass.”


Faith, Prayers, Availability

As the Word of God says, “Everything that can be shaken will be shaken”. For 2,000 years the prayers of the saints have been going up to the throne of God in obedience to the instruction of our Lord when He taught His disciples to pray, “Thy Kingdom come.” God Almighty has not been deaf upon His throne. Just like rats scurrying to get out of a collapsing building, the powers and principalities in second heaven are feeling the pressure of Third Heaven coming into the earth (Mt.6:10). They are scurrying about the earth and our nation affecting everything and everyone that will allow it and they are attempting, through willing dupes, to dismantle everything they can. Throughout history, when a retreating army leaves an area, they burn and dismantle everything they can so that their enemy cannot use it to their advantage. We should not, at all, be surprised at the attempts to dismantle the Word of God and the institutions that uphold it and our constitution. Hence, our faith, prayers and unwavering availability must facilitate the coming of heaven into earth. 


Call Unto Me

Melissa–Let’s look at “Call to me and I will answer you” through a modern American paradigm: I call on the Lord and He will answer – I will tell Him what I need and He will give it to me because He is a loving God. You know, kind of like curbside grocery delivery. I took the time to get my list together and I took the time to call about this list. Now, it’s on Him to deliver!  I’m afraid we North Americans operate out of an entitled mindset not only in our relationship with earthlings, but also in our relationship with God. If I call on Him then ________ (insert pre-determined answer here). The problem with an entitled relationship with God is where the entitlement is rooted. If it is rooted in the Spirit, according to the covenant, then it will put you in a posture of dominion. If, however, it is rooted in the soul then it will hold you in a victimized defensive posture. The soul will keep you chained out of reach of God’s original intent which is indeed dominion. Or said another way, the soul will keep you from being heaven on earth. 


Justice Cannot Start With Lies

Kathy—America began its journey to be a self-governing and self-reliant nation with the goal of freedom and justice for all.  The spirit of division working against our nation right now also seeks to separate truth from justice, but we have to have truth to establish boundaries and principles that protect and guarantee moral rightness, decency and fairness.  Without truth-based justice, any citizen is susceptible to rampant injustice.  We have current event proofs that justice cannot start with lies, and we have God proof that truth will prevail. Certain justice will prevail with the Truth according to God’s Original Intent for this nation, and justice will include the conniving Hamans hanging on their own gallows. 


Division Seeks to Separate People

Kathy—Ultimately a spirit of division seeks to separate God’s creation from God’s Original Intent so that the plans of God fall in history and fail to come to pass. This spirit is stupid enough to set itself against Almighty God and tenacious enough to try anything.  Besides working to separate people and make relationships dysfunctional, it is working against our foundational values and beliefs.  One blatant example is how this spirit is actively attempting to divide freedom from truth.  John 8:32 tells us, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  There is an undeniable link between truth and freedom.  It’s not that truth automatically sets everyone free, it is when we KNOW the truth.  That means when we are aware of the truth, it will make us free.  Truth that we KNOW will liberate or deliver or exempt us from liability.  If people are unaware of truth they can live in total ignorance and live as captives of lies and erroneous beliefs and cunning deceit.  In recent times we have watched deluded people project freedom to be extremes of entitlement and destructive chaos.  Only a self-absorbed and warped mind believes freedom to be totally unrestrained, unaccountable and anything-goes behavior.  Only darkened minds believe they are free when they are captives to misbeliefs and lies. (Isa 44:20 says that a deluded mind cannot even question the lie in his own hand.) When the United States of America declared its independence, our forefathers declared we were no longer subject to the influence or control of another government’s tyranny or its oppressive injustice or its single ruler with absolute power.  The success of this nation’s launching was in the first four words of the Declaration of Independence:  “We hold these truths . . .”   They knew truth to be essential for genuine freedom, and we likewise know freedom  must be in continual covenant with truth.


The Right Questions

(Melissa Gabler) — We can ask the right kind of questions that lead down a path of deliverance, healing, and action.  When we ask the right questions we are able to hear the answers we need.  When we ask fear-based questions we have already come to the wrong, statistic-based, society-experienced conclusions.  These soulish conclusions make it really hard to hear a Spirit answer.  So, a good place to start asking the right question is to ask the Holy Spirit, “What questions should I be asking about this situation?” He will tell you, and most of the time these questions carry the answer in them.  The right questions are a key to unlock doors and chains.  The right questions give you the right perspective.


Premium Fear

Melissa–Many seem to be speaking about an awakening. This makes me ask, what are we awakening to? The thing that hits me the loudest is that we are being awakened to the fear of the Lord. I’ve heard from several places that the church has to return to the fear of the Lord, and as He sheds insight on this subject it makes more and more sense why we cannot live outside of it. Well, we have been living outside of it for the most part and that just isn’t working. If we are awakening to the fear of the Lord, what have we been in? We’ve been operating in fear, but it’s a substandard fear. A substandard fear is fear of lack, death, pain, trauma, loss, etc. We, however, are waking up to what we were meant to operate in, which is the premium fear of the Lord. In this premium fear we operate out of awe, reverence, trust, insight and understanding. This is a totally different way of living! Substandard fear is unclean fear, but premium fear of the Lord is clean fear. This obviously leads to totally different outcomes.    


Seeing the Need

As the people of God assemble today may we each see past first impressions and first appearances and see the need in others. May we be sensitive to what Holy Spirit has to say and has to show us about others so that we may edify them and be to them what they are needing in this season of their life. May we be part of the Christ-sent solution with love and power to set the captive free. 1Thess.5:11–“Therefore encourage (admonish, exhort) one another and edify (strengthen and build up) one another, just as you are doing.”

Getting Through to People

May the Lord enable us to effectively get through to people. May our attempts to say and do helpful things get through the fog of what people are dealing with and may those attempts be enhanced by the Word and the Holy Spirit to aid in those persons breaking through into victory. “But when the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener, Standby) comes, Whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth Who comes (proceeds) from the Father, He [Himself] will testify regarding Me.” (Jn.15:26, Amp)


Increase of His Government

Melissa–Sitting here I keep hearing, “Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end” [Isaiah 9:7] This is not only a beloved Christmas time chapter, it is also laying out original intent. Looking up the word ‘government’ leads to this, Of the increase of His ‘dominion’ there shall be no end. Ever-increasing dominion is quite a powerful force! When I look at Isaiah 9 like that I just don’t think the plan is to keep cycling back around to needing revivals like we’ve known them in our lifetime. I say this for anyone who may be struggling with the term “revival” like I have. It can’t be about a formula, it has to be about the King’s dominion increasing during our lifetime.
(Melissa is leading worship and speaking at Kingdom Congress 2022 on Mar.3 at 10am. You may view all information for KC2022 at martygabler.com/kc2022/)


True Rest

As the people of God assemble today may they find rest unto their souls. May they exchange tears and weariness for strength and joy. May they discover that true rest is responsibly acting in the authority they have been given by their Lord and Savior and not try to live a lifestyle driven by mere desire and obligation to people and causes not ordained by their Lord. “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.” (Matt.11:28) 


Battle and Heat

Kathy–Life’s battles do not intensify just because the devil gets mad or has a personal grudge.  No, the battle heats up by reason of the needed outcome.  As surely as heat can determine the strength of a weld, so does the intensity of battle establish the strength and longevity of the victory.  The vehemence of battle welds the outcome in undeniable purpose rather than just leaving us with fragmented memories of war. Heat is one of the components of long-term victory and intense battle yields intensely awesome results! 


Things Shaken

As the people of God assemble today may they look into and consider the Word of God which is the foundation of their individual lives and the role and order of the Ekklesia (the governing body of Christ). May we each realize our place in the body of Christ and work toward an orderly, essential, impacting function in this present culture and responsibly respond to the shaking of “all” things, including inadequacies and misconceptions in ourselves.  Heb.12:27,TPT,”Now this phrase “once and for all” clearly indicates the final removal of things that are shaking, that is, the old order, so only what is unshakable will remain.”


What is Going On?

A question I have heard asked repeatedly over the last few months is: “What is going on?” There is a sudden dawning upon people and nations that things are not the way they used to be while there is an underlying desire within the breast of the typical person for things to go back to the way they were in spite of the ever-present fear that they won’t. Even if you could get back to “the good old days” you would find them woefully inadequate in their revelation and application for today. Current events are not just the result of bad politics or bad politicians. They were not left in charge. An apostolic order for accommodating and advancing the Kingdom of God in the earth was the design when Jesus ascended to the right hand of Majesty on High (Acts 1:3). Things, therefore, must shake and adjust so that the church and the nations might come into correct order.


The Spirit of God Gripping Hearts

As the people of God assemble today may they not forget their godly heritage, the Word of God they were taught, nor their prayer times around altars stained with tears of conviction and repentance; the altars where life dedications were made and where the Spirit of Almighty God gripped their hearts and their family members’ hearts and their peers’ hearts. And may they lead coming generations to those experiences that have strengthened us and filled us with His Spirit, His faith, His hope and a righteous fear of Mighty God so that we all might keep standing and keep believing through whatever the times, the world throws at us. We are overcoming by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony.
Rev.2:3-5,Amp–“…you have left your first love [you have lost the depth of love that you first had for Me]. So remember the heights from which you have fallen, and repent [change your inner self—your old way of thinking, your sinful behavior—seek God’s will] and do the works you did at first [when you first knew Me]; otherwise, I will visit you and remove your lampstand (the church, its impact) from its place—unless you repent.”