Daily Devotions

Posts tagged “Joseph

All Ye Faithful Come

Free Church SnowAs the people of God assemble today may “all ye faithful” come, assemble today (whether with family or in a church building or a prison or in some place non-typical) and be joyful and triumphant as we adore Him: CHRIST THE LORD, JESUS, KING OF THE JEWS, SON OF THE MOST HIGH, THE HOLY CHILD, SON OF GOD, GOD MY SAVIOR. (Luke Chapter One) We will be joyful in considering His names and titles and all their implications for Israel, for us and for the nations as were Gabriel and Mary. Let us give voice to those names and titles today with expressions of hope.


Team Gabler – Christmas Thoughts

Team Gabler will be live Christmas morning at 9:00 Central. on Marty Gabler’s Facebook page.
Theme: “Christmas Thoughts”
(Click on picture below to go to view video.)

Christmas Thoughts Gablers


Contradict the Threat Before it Takes Place

After a series of very uncomfortable events, Joseph ends up in Pharaoh’s court. National and international disaster of famine threatened on the horizon but he BarnSilo.jpgconfronted it and contradicted it with preparation. Not only was Pharaoh’s nation saved but Joseph’s as well. In this case, the threat was contradicted before it took place. Preparation and supply contradict lack. Heb.11:7, Msg — “By faith, Noah built a ship in the middle of dry land. He was warned about something he couldn’t see, and acted on what he was told. The result? His family was saved. His act of faith drew a sharp line between the evil of the unbelieving world and the rightness of the believing world. As a result, Noah became intimate with God.”


Father Will Never Change His Mind

ShoulderHandCare.jpgIn this season of history, Jesus is still Immanuel, God with us.  Just as He was with Mary, Joseph, Zachariah and Elizabeth to intricately fulfill His CALL, in His TIME, on their lives, so He is with us, guarding and facilitating His intricate plans to fulfill His call on our lives.  He will never change His mind about what we were born to be and born to do, for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Rom. 11:29 (NKJ)  —Kathy
(Kathy will be speaking at Kingdom Congress Mar.6 at 10a.m.)
CLICK HERE for information for Kingdom Congress.  No Fee to attend.


Timing and Plans Confirmed

God graciously confirmed His plans and His timing to both Zachariah and Mary.  An angel showing up in the temple could have been a powerful and private confirmation to Zachariah that the messenger brought a telegram from God Almighty, but Zachariah had years of crusty unbelief to hinder his reception.  So, being mute until he held the promise was his additional confirmation and was both public and humbling.  When Mary asked for confirmation, several things PrayWomanSunset.jpghappened.  She was told she would undergo a physical experience of the Holy Spirit overshadowing her to conceive.  She was given a word of knowledge that her older, barren cousin, Elizabeth, was six months pregnant!  Then Gabriel reassured her with the proclamation: “For with God nothing will be impossible.”  After that, Mary arrived at Elizabeth’s door and she became a second witness: “When Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! “But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?  “Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.”  Mary’s call was confirmed even more when her bethrothed, Joseph, was convinced in a dream that his wife-to-be would indeed experience a “virgin birth” and bring forth Jesus, the Savior of the world. —Kathy


Kathy will be teaching and ministering prophetically at Kingdom Congress which is March 4-6, 2020.  There is no fee to attend.
Bring your laptop and coffee mug for the morning meetings.
Join Melissa and the Grace Worship Team for worship encounters each evening.
CLICK HERE for all information for KC2020.


Pursuing Wisdom

Genesis 40:8 says, “It is God who gives the ability to interpret dreams.”  I grew up BibleHandsPraythinking that interpreting dreams was a specialized gift and a calling that God only gave to certain people, but the scripture doesn’t really say that.  When we consider Daniel and Joseph, they pursued wisdom.  They knew that God had answers and they were confident they could go to God to enlighten them, (and they both said as much.)  We too can go to God and ask for wisdom and understanding, and we know that God can release a gift of His Spirit that opens understanding with a word of wisdom or a word of knowledge or discernment or prophecy, etc. –Kathy Gabler


Kathy will be speaking at KINGDOM CONGRESS 2020 MARCH 4-6.
KC2020 Flyer.jpg


Accelerating Understanding

Thankfully, there will also be times that Father accelerates our understanding with JetAfterBurner.jpga gift of the Spirit, (e.g., a word of wisdom – 1Cor 12), and the symbols and the meaning of the dream just become clear!  That’s exactly what happened the first time I interpreted a dream.  It happened at the  breakfast table when I suddenly understood Marty’s dream.  I had no idea that was a “word of wisdom” in operation.  All I knew was that God had finally answered my years of prayer to be like Joseph, Daniel and my Great Grandpa who were able to interpret dreams.  —Kathy Gabler


Equipping to See Clearly

Kathy Gabler — Equipping for understanding and clarity was the theme for the Annual September Dreams, Visions and Prophecy conference.  The following is a summary of some of the notes from that meeting——
GetGlassesFitted.jpgI’m sure we have all wondered at times why everybody does not dream literal, plain dreams with clear communication and no search and discovery needed.  Joseph in the New Testament saw the angel in a dream and understood clearly that the instructions were to flee to Egypt with Baby Jesus and Mary.  Those were literal instructions that they could act on and they did.   However, if we consider other scriptural examples of how God communicated, He often communicated with the prophets of the Old Testament in symbolic language.  The dry bones in Ezekiel and the feet of iron and clay on the statue in Daniel were symbolic.  Even Jesus often spoke in parables instead of literal details, and you know He was communicating with the crowds that kept gathering.  Yet sometimes even the disciples had to ask Him for clarity later.  So, I suspect that having to pursue understanding is part of God’s plan and purpose, probably for reasons like, 1) seeking God for wisdom builds relationship with the Lord, and 2) pursuing understanding is how we develop an ear to hear, and 3) every time we pursue God’s wisdom and clarity, we always discover more than we went looking for.


Kathy will be speaking at Kingdom Congress 2020 which is Mar.4-6.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO ABOUT KC2020.


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Processing Stuff

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Processing and Cycles

Isa.55:10-11 show us that God’s Word goes through a cyclical process. That prophetic WaterCyclePrecipitation.jpgdream Joseph had did not scoop him up and simply whisk him away to Pharaoh’s palace and favor — it was all done through a process. There were pits, prisons, rejection and false accusation to go through before he would reach that place of favor and honor. All of that stuff was processing stuff in Joseph. Joseph managed to stay in the process and God did not let any of that shaping stuff go to waste in his life. Needless to say, Joseph was quite a different person when he got to Pharaoh’s palace than the fancy-dressed boy we first encounter in the story. All of that process squeezed Joseph through a mold which eventually squeezed him out in the form of a father to Pharaoh.


Honoring Commitments to Us

May the Lord bring to their remembrance the good promises others have made to us, no matter how long ago.  May they consider the commitments they made and set about honoring those promises. May they not try to follow through with only a “reasonable facsimile thereof” but provide the full measure of the original intention and may God bless it and multiply it beyond initial expectations.  Gen. 41:9–”Then the chief butler spoke to Pharaoh, saying: “I remember. . .”   v.12–”Now there was a young Hebrew man with us there. . .”   v.14–”Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph. . .”


Planning With the Coming Generation

I hold no sentiment whatsoever that Christians shouldn’t be involved in politics; in fact, I believe just the opposite. We know, and have ministered to, awesome men and women of God who are impacting politicians and legislation for the righteous purposes of God in this nation. Christians should be in leadership positions in every arena that molds the minds of society. We are presently living in the mire of the opposite view that has reigned in religious circles and is directly accountable for the fact that so few of the coming generation are supported (with encouragement, mentoring and finances) to take those fields of endeavor–while other religions and philosophies started preparing and strategically placing their coming generations 100 years ago. BUT the tide is turning. Joseph, Daniel, Esther arise, your forebears repent and synergistically run with you!


Daily Living and the Non-typical

Mary and Joseph never would have guessed their common, mundane lives were moving toward such eternal impact.  In fact, they probably never fully grasped the magnitude of their purpose while they lived on earth.  The issues and responsibilities of everyday life had to overshadow their thinking and senses at times.  Seven-year-old Jesus most likely took his father’s hammer and left it by the creek to rust, after he’d nailed a boat together using his mom’s best serving bowl.  At supper that night, I’m sure neither Joseph nor Mary sensed divine purpose at work in their lives or his!  The majority of the time they were simply rearing a son.  And they probably wondered if they were doing well.  After all, everyone remembered the time they had accidentally left him behind while traveling.  And you know they had typical friends and family watching their non-typical teenager with an opinionated glare.  (Eighth excerpt from Kathy’s article “Positioned for Purpose”.)


Feeling Disqualified but Still Positioned

Do you think Mary was PREPARED for a conversation with an angel to end with her being pregnant with the Messiah?  Her girlish daydreams of romance and home and family had never played out like this, neither could these circumstances fit in any of her spiritual aspirations!  Nothing could have prepared her to feel so disqualified in her society yet be so divinely POSITIONED in the plans of God . . . in destiny . . . in purpose . . . in history! (Fifth excerpt from Kathy’s article “Positioned for Purpose”.)
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To be a Hero of the Faith

Do you think Joseph was PREPARED to find his fiancé pregnant with the Messiah?  The turn of events very likely made Joseph feel betrayed and a victim of injustice.  He could easily imagine his name being whispered in snide comments among his peers. His boyish dreams of heroism and purpose never looked like this, yet he was POSITIONED . . . in destiny . . . in purpose . . . in history . . . to be a hero of the faith. (Fourth excerpt from Kathy’s article “Positioned for Purpose”.)
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Positioned for Purpose

Growing up on Abraham Avenue, playing Hopscotch and Hide-and-go-seek, Zacharias, Elizabeth, Joseph and Mary had no idea how they would fit in the plans of God and the history of man.  Amid all their lessons in history and prophecy from the Torah, they had never pictured themselves as key players in the greatest story ever told.  However, their lives were divinely positioned for the plans of God. (First excerpt from Kathy’s article “Positioned for Purpose”.)
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Mary Did You Know — Sung by Melissa Gabler

“Mary Did You Know” full song in the Christmas Eve Candlelight Service at Grace International Church in Willix,TX. Melissa Gabler, Danielle Pope, Ellen Stallings, Erin Fenner, Jonathan Fenner, Zach Stallings, Matthew Traylor, Robert Pope, Gabri Mayorga, Ed Stallings, Don Pope.
Click on video below to watch.

 

 


Christmas, The Story of Hope

The Christmas story is the story of hope — hope in the face of all that is contrary. Christmas time is a great time to use for the purpose of remembering, memorializing the fact, that when God says, “I will….”, then God will. He will move mountains, seas and people. In Josh. 2:11 the fact and realization is that our God is able to move anything or anyone in heaven or in earth to accomplish His purposes. He is able to move in the life of an obscure girl who had no credentials or evident reason for expecting to be part of an earth-shaking, history-shaping event. Her qualities and integrity (evidenced in the writings of both Matthew and Doctor Luke) helped to place her in the middle of the road where an unprecedented moving of God was progressing like a steamroller and changing history as man had known it. That change was taking place through a small handful of individuals and not through some large and varied political or military movement. From all that we can find concerning this person called Mary, precious few people even knew of her qualities and integrity. It would seem that Jehovah was about the only One who saw and might very well have been the only One who noticed. And by the time she was discovered to be with child, she would have been disqualified by any who did happen to notice. Had it not been for dreams and angels intervening by Divine directive, her own husband would have done away with her.

When God promised Abraham a son it would appear that it was long deferred. Abraham most likely thought that the son which was promised was his immediate son. However, that promised Son was the One through whom the world would be blessed, the One who would be called the Christ. This Son of promise proved to be coming at the great distance of some 42 generations and about 2,000 years. Though it be long and arduous by our standards, God Jehovah is faithful in all and brings about detail for detail that which was foretold long before it was realized in this realm which we call reality. Delays do nothing to weaken the promise of God; for in what seem to us to be delays, our all-wise and provisional Father is preparing a people who will walk out His fulfillment rather than being caught unawares and overcome by His fulfillment. As we learn in the New Testament teaching of our Lord, the new wineskin must be prepared for the new wine or it shall burst and the wine and its value lost.

It is interesting to note Henry’s observation on this one point: “This son of David, and son of Abraham, who was to be the glory of his Father’s house, was born when the seed of Abraham was a despised people, recently become tributary to the Roman yoke, and when the house of David was buried in obscurity; for Christ was to be a root out of a dry ground.” From such a studious observation we could readily come to the conclusion that the performance and provision of our God comes when circumstances would place upon it the heaviest it has to offer. Ease and convenience are not the components or the ambiance of fulfillment. The Christmas story is the story of hope — hope in the face of all that is contrary.

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Qualifying for Inclusion in Divine Intentions

Among the details of the Advent are the orchestrated movements of the heavenly bodies and the timely placement of illustrious people. Mary was none of the above; and much like Mary, the great majority of us come from somewhat obscure backgrounds with reputations and merits that require Divine intervention if we are to be included in the well-designed purposes of Jehovah. It would seem, however, that most people qualify for inclusion in the Divine intentions of history simply because all the glory must go to God and not the participants. “For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble;” (1Co.25:26).

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God Working Behind the Scenes

handpullcurtainWaiting on God involves continuing to do what we were born to do instead of deciding to be still and silent in a puddle of disappointment. For the record, I did get past my disinclination to encourage people like Marty had asked me to that Sunday morning and, before midnight, I got two phone calls with reports of undeniable supernatural interventions.  I did not hear about them before Christmas like I had prayed, but both had happened the week before Christmas!  One was financial and one was a granddaughter coming to an incredible God-turn in her life.  I remembered the word of wisdom that started the financial miracle and I knew about that grandmother’s prayer vigil for that particular granddaughter.  So, I realized  before either miracle, there had been a “working of miracles” behind the scenes before anyone saw the actual miracle.
(This is the eighth excerpt from Kathy Gabler’s article “Christmas Miracles“ taken from Volume 20 Issue 6 of SEEC Magazine.)


 

 


Miracles Can Require Process

Miracles can require process, like Lazarus.  Dying was part of the process of his miracle!  In John 11, Some thought  “Jesus wept” because He was lazarusraisedgrieving over His friend, but I believe Jesus was weeping over their pain that misunderstanding caused during the process they were experiencing.  He had already said that the result of Lazarus’ sickness would not be death (vs. 4).  When Jesus got to the tomb, He got angry.  Again, I believe He was upset because they were not AWARE that a PROCESS means God is working on a much bigger project than just the lightening moment we need.  They did not know that the resurrection of Lazarus was a demonstration to convince hearts that Jesus was the Christ sent by God as well as a prophetic sign of His own resurrection to come.  Step by step, the resurrection of Lazarus was a crucial miracle that fulfilled a much bigger purpose than the personal need.
(This is the fifth excerpt from Kathy Gabler’s article “Christmas Miracles“ taken from Volume 20 Issue 6 of SEEC Magazine.)


 


Someone Else’s Christmas Miracles

Last December, Marty was preparing to speak on Sunday.  Saturday night, he walked out of his office and said, “Before I start tomorrow, why don’t you encourage the people along the lines of how you have been praying for miracles in this Christmas season.”  I nodded like a sweet, obliging shepherdsstarhelpmate, not wanting to infect him with any “badditude” during his preparation.  One of the ways I sometimes demonstrate mercy is by not saying everything I’m thinking.  (Some folks reading this article can probably appreciate that more than others.)  As he walked back to his office, I continued thinking, “I’m not caught up in a forward momentum over that particular prayer this day after Christmas!”  Yes, it was still the season, but God had missed my deadlines for those prayers.  I wasn’t in a throw-down fit over that, but I was in a sit-down, back to the drawing board discouragement.  I mumbled to the Lord that I hadn’t seen a miracle in the Christmas season in any of the targets in my scope.  I even added, “But Lord, I’m still willing to rejoice over anybody’s miracle, my Church of Christ friend’s or my Lutheran friend’s or even a Democrat’s!  
(This is the first excerpt from Kathy Gabler’s article “Christmas Miracles“. More excerpts will be posted Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.)


 


Blocking the Blocker

handblockingIt’s not over. I pray today that people or entities that have tried to create some type of negative interference or to do some type of harm will not be successful. Let’s pray that our Lord interfere with the interference. Just as the Lord God intervened when entities were trying to keep King David from the throne, may God block those attempts that are trying to prevent you from arriving where and when God has ordained you to be. When men had tried to prevent Joseph from getting to destiny he told them in Gen.50:20 “what you meant for evil, God meant for good for the saving of many.” May that which is blocking you be blocked. It’s not over. We are praying you discover daily that God’s intervention is causing interference with those things trying to block your righteous advance.
(Marty’s Daily Discovery as heard on TEXAS PRAISE RADIO at the bottom of the hour 24 hours/day.)


 


Wisdom out of Dark Hours

It appeared on more than one occasion that Joseph would not finish his course.  Power-people seemed to step in his way around every other corner.  ManPraiseSunriseYet, being sold for a slave was one of the steps that assured Joseph would get where he was supposed to be, when he was supposed to be there. (Gen.50:20)  The trying worked out some things in Joseph that he couldn’t take with him to the palace. In the dark hours and the obscure places, he gained godly wisdom that would soon be in demand.  (Jer.15:11a) “I will make you strong in these trying times to accomplish My good.” We are praying you discover daily God’s timing keeping you on course in your life to accomplish His good.
(A Daily Discovery as heard on TEXAS PRAISE RADIO at the bottom of the hour 24 hours/day. To listen CLICK HERE: http://176.31.118.194:11028/listen.pls)