Daily Devotions

Posts tagged “what is next

Persevering for Purpose

As the people of God assemble today, may they join hearts and minds and prayer and persevere for the purposes of God in our nation. May they lift their voices together and cry out for a turning to righteousness and the healing of this land. ”If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” (2Chron.7:14, KJV)


The Coming Week and the Coming Year

As the people of God assemble today, may they hear and experience the powerful Word of God that propels them forward and may they go into the coming week stronger than the week before and into the coming year more expectant than before..”The righteous shall move onward and forward; those with pure hearts shall become stronger and stronger.” (Job 17:9, Living Bible)


The First Step

Father’s strength and wisdom are available for weary people to take the first step after not moving against things that have defeated them in the last year. The time of not doing something about defeating-factors is over. The first step will be admitting there is a problem and wanting the answer, even if it means we have to put forth some effort and make some changes. The first step will be to not wait for others and not wait for those circumstances to change, but begin the change in us.  Ps.37:23— “The steps of a [good] man are directed and established by the Lord when He delights in his way [and He busies Himself with his every step].” (Amp)


An Important Piece of the Year

MELISSA–I want to talk about one piece that is absolute necessity in the year to come. That piece is self awareness. This may sound like a simple thing you would think comes naturally, but that is not so. We have become so self-focused that we tend to confuse the two. They are not the same. Self-focus is the Band-Aid that falls off with every raging flood. Self awareness connects the dots, and raises a standard against the flood (Isa. 59:19). Let’s look at the literal definitions of the two words. Awareness means informed, alert, knowledgeable, sophisticated. (dictionary com) Focus means a central point, as of attraction, attention, or activity. As a geological term, focus means the point of origin of an earthquake. Focus is narrow, where as awareness is broad. I particularly love how focus is the point of origin of an earthquake. Well, if that doesn’t just say it! Self-focus leads to personal earthquakes, and self awareness keeps us from them.


Conditions or Truth

Kathy — If we just talk about what we sense or what is going on, that is like laying a ticking bomb in the laps of others instead of diffusing it! Anything that is contradictory to God’s will should be confronted with God’s Truth. The Truth is Jesus. The truth is His Word and character and purpose in earth as in heaven, and we can speak it and release it as a counterforce to contradictions, and it will make a difference. As believers and sons of God we cannot be more focused on conditions than the Truth. If we intend to pray in faith, we must think according to His Word and principles and character, instead of falling into being upset over circumstances.


Opportunities Require Decisions

In His wisdom Father has placed opportunities & choices before us (Deut.30:19; Matt.7:13). Whether or not we go through the many divinely-ordained opened doors God has put before us this year will depend upon how we make decisions this year. There are many doors open before you. They are not just barely cracked open but wide open for His Kingdom purposes, for His Name’s sake.


What’s in the Warp and Woof of Your Life?

MELISSA–Set your mind to it and watch how aware you become of fear in your life. It’s amazing how interwoven it is in the warp and woof of life. But when you become aware, you can do something about it. You can take your rightful place in the driver’s seat by forcing fear out. Ask the Holy Spirit to point it out, then you replace it with truth. You replace fear with God’s original intent for your life, thoughts of peace to give you an expected end (Jer. 29:11). This is not necessarily an overnight change, it takes time. It’s a process well worth it, but you can still be an agent of change in the middle of your process. How? By listening to the Father and doing/saying what He tells you (John 5:19).


Upheaval of Norms

KATHY—Judah was upset as their idolatrous and corrupt lifestyle was shattered, but they faced an even greater threat from another direction at the same time. A cunning enemy, an Assyrian Commander who fully intended to take them captive, used their upheaval of norms as the moment to undermine their confidence in their king Hezekiah and more importantly, their God!  He taunted them saying, “You obviously have no hope of divine help!” And they couldn’t argue with that since King Hezekiah had already cleared out their collection of gods, proving all their gods were powerless and disposable (2Kings 18)! Sennacherib reminded them that the Assyrians had taken over country after country and none of their gods had done them any good.  Added to that, any hope they might have had of Jehovah God’s help took a nose dive with the fall of the “SNAKE on a STICK!” Judah was shaking in their boots. Taking advantage of that moment, the crafty Assyrian put them to the question: What justifies your confidence that you can beat us?  


Compassionate Prayer


Picking up Prayers

In coming days (and in the coming year) we will be allowing Holy Spirit to stir our memory, our compassion, our passion, our stewardship. The stirring of Holy Spirit will challenge us and direct us to pick up prayers from the past that we have laid down and no longer pray. The various reasons, the discouragements and impatience that have caused us to just lay them down will begin to fade like the morning mist and we will again sense the burden/urgency, love and compassion we once did. 1Thess.5:17—“pray without ceasing”. 1Pe.3:12,TPT—“For the eyes of the Lord Yahweh rest upon the godly, and his heart responds to their prayers. But he turns his back on those who practice evil.” Acts 17:16, KJV—“Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.”


A Prison of Offense

KATHY–Blame and self-pity are big signals that anger is in residence.  BLAME builds a prison of offense and/or condemnation around you.  Forgiveness is the ONLY key to that prison.  We must watch for BLAME in our thinking and our conversations.  “Self-Pity” is a big signal that anger is unresolved:  “I was hurt,” usually justifies anger rather than resolves it.  Just like a person who justifies their actions has not repented of them, rehearsing the hurts is refusing to let go of offense.  It is blocking the CHANGE needed.  Being “hurt” is “tails” and “BLAME”  is “heads” of the same coin.  We can start with “heads” and describe the action of the offender; or cut to the result, “tails,” and describe the offense taken.


The Lord do a Work in You

(2Thess.1:11-12, Msg) May the Lord do a life-work in you before the end of this week. May it be a work that will settle something, that will loose something, that will open up something, that will thrill your soul and cause your spirit to soar. May it be a part of your present victories and your future accomplishments. “…we pray for you all the time—pray that our God will make you fit for what he’s called you to be, pray that he’ll fill your good ideas and acts of faith with his own energy so that it all amounts to something. If your life honors the name of Jesus, he will honor you. Grace is behind and through all of this, our God giving himself freely, the Master, Jesus Christ, giving himself freely.”


Hear Accurately for Resolve

KATHY speaking at New Song Church of Grove,OK.
KG Grove 9-23-23 FB


Trusting God in Spite of Impossibilities

As the people of God assemble today let them rejoice in His holy name and let them raise together their courage and determination to continue to trust God and His unfailing Word as they praise Almighty God confidently in spite of the entities and circumstances that seem to be bringing impossibilities against their destiny in the King’s purposes for them in their generation. Ps.27:3,Amp—“Though an army encamp against me, My heart will not fear; Though war arise against me, Even in this I am confident.”


Whatever you see the Father Doing

KATHY—Whether your part is praying, giving, teaching, rescuing, speaking out, building, tearing down, taking on a project, starting a business, infiltrating the government mountain or media mountain . . .  Whatever you see the Father doing . . .  GO for IT. Jn.5:19,AMP—“So Jesus answered them by saying, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself [of His own accord], unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever things the Father does, the Son [in His turn] also does in the same way.”


Wide Door for a Great Work

There is a door open before us and we are called to press through. 1Corinthians 16:9-10 “There is a wide-open door for a great work…”There is something worth pressing through to on the other side. It is a day-by-day pressing. The matter of walking with the Lord and trusting the Lord is day in and day out (Deut.5:33). We are pressing and shall press through because the pressing is leading to another level, to things in God and God’s Kingdom agenda that we have never seen or experienced.


Thoughts Abounding from God’s Truth

MELISSA — Truth and relationship with the Lord is about your meditations, thoughts, words, prayers. Are your thoughts and prayers abounding from God’s truth or the latest from Fox, CNN, Facebook, or Twitter? A safe and healthy place from which to operate your day is praying in tongues throughout. It’s the perfect prayer not swayed by national or family events. It’s the perfect prayer not swayed by the soul. In fact, don’t limit it to that. You may think you’re praying about what is concerning at the moment, but the Spirit prays what needs to be prayed at the moment whether it be for that particular situation or something completely different. Thank God that type of prayer cannot be touched by soulish fears and desires. That is exactly why it is perfect! God knew what He was doing when He gave us such a gift. Yes, I’d say it’s for today. My thought, the soul might say otherwise because it can’t control it. Ok, I’ll just leave that right there and wrap this up. It’s time to call on Him. It’s time to see great and mighty things. It’s time to be great and mighty things.


Obligation and Wisdom

KATHY—Obligation is the binding power of a promise, a vow, a contract or a law, but it is also the binding force of civility and kindness.  That makes obligation a strategic weapon against Christians.  I stood on the sidewalk waiting for Marty.  I had leftover donuts in a box under my arm.  A homeless woman was walking toward me.  Kindness immediately bid me to give them to her, yet I felt a check in my spirit.  I learned later that while it would have been a kindness, it would not have been wisdom.  There was a ministry for the homeless in that very block that met their needs on a daily basis. There were signs setting the order of how and when such ministry was appropriate.  The order was for protection of the homeless so they would not break city rules.  I would have been encouraging that woman to get out of the set order, which would eventually disqualify her for the ministry that sustained her there. We must be wise the remainder of this year and budget our efforts as diligently as our pocket books.


On the Basis of Faith in the Name of JESUS

As the people of God assemble today may they, in unified chorus, lift up their voices and praise and proclaim the name of JESUS. May they see the manifested Christ in salvations, healings and deliverances. May they be raised up in faith and hope to declare that Name for many, inside the building and outside the building, to be strengthened and restored spirit, soul and body. In Acts 3:16 Peter declared: ”And on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of JESUS which has strengthened this man…”


Power of the Name of Jesus

In the next few days and weeks I believe you will find the name of Jesus to be very powerful in your life and your environment — if you will call upon His name, “Jesus”, see Him heal, watch as He delivers others out of impossible strongholds of bondage and fear. Say His name and see how marvelously He delivers you from the threat of harm, even from bullies. The children’s ministers at our church have taught them to say, “The name of Jesus is my super power”. In Acts 3:16 Peter declared: ”And on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man…” (Acts 3:16, Amp) We are praying you discover daily more of the power of the name of Jesus in your life.


Soul-Perspective

MELISSA—Simply put, we don’t get to determine what the answer must be when we call on Jehovah. 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 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.


A Person Who Prays

KATHY—I knew an older gentleman who was called to be an intercessor and that calling was confirmed through a prophetic word.  He had not recognized the calling, nor could he receive the word, because of his definition of an intercessor.  His belief was that an intercessor was a person who prayed for many hours every day.  His experience indicated that was neither his lifestyle nor his desire; so, he could not believe he could ever be an intercessor.   After a conversation with a discerning friend, he discovered intercession is not bound to one particular lifestyle and he opened his heart to the call of God.  His misunderstanding had been keeping him from fulfillment and effectual purpose for years.  Discernment is about seeing a difference that will make a difference.  Discernment turns the light on so we can take action and make adjustments.  


Turned From Reviling Faith

May the people of God pray and may God Almighty redeem people who are working hard against the cause of Christ and turn them so that they preach Christ, and then promote and facilitate that which they once tried to  destroy.  ”…He who used to persecute us is now proclaiming the very faith he once reviled and which he set out to ruin and tried with all his might to destroy.” (Gal.1:23, Amp)


I Will Answer

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.