Daily Devotional 02-25-2019

What a beautiful morning! I pray that the Holy Spirit fills your heart with song and joy.

This morning, I read Revelations 5. It is too long to put in this message, but I do want us to meditate on this.

Revelations 5:9-10:

… and they sang a new song, “You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals; because you were slaughtered; at the cost of blood you ransomed for God persons from every tribe, language, people and nation. You made them into a kingdom for God to rule, kings and priests to serve him; and they will rule over the earth.”

This is sung to Jesus, the Lamb of God, by the hosts of Heaven. I encourage us all to read the whole of chapter 5. Meditate and see what the Lord has done. Praise Him and Glorify Him today. We can do no less.

May the joy of Christ flow out of us today. May we honor Him by our words and actions. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

-A brother in Jesus

Daily Devotional 02-22-2019

Happy Friday! It has been a very long week. But God is good and He has carried me through.

Galatians 6:9 is one of my favorite verses:

So let us not grow weary of doing what is good; for if we don’t give up, we will in due time reap the harvest.

So, today, be strong, keep pushing and don't give up. This applies to the physical as well as the spiritual. Keep walking in the path God shows, and He will bring about bountiful results.

May we rest in the Lord, Adonai, today. May His peace flood our hearts and minds and His strength fill our bodies and spirits today. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

-A brother in Jesus

Daily Devotional 02-21-2019

Good morning! A wonderful, productive, and restful Thursday is made for us today.

I saw a sign on the way to work yesterday that said, "Prayer is the key to the locked door. Faith unlocks it."

I kind of agree with that statement, but there is so much more to it than that. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:7, "For we live by faith, not by sight."

Faith is our action taken in response to belief in God. Jesus says that if we pray and have faith the size of a mustard seed, great things will happen. I am not discounting prayer with faith. I am pointing out that faith is the core of who we are as Children of God.

Who of us has seen God or Jesus? Yet we have faith that He is true to His Word and has cleansed us from ALL unrighteousness. Our salvation cannot happen without faith in Jesus.

However, as we grow in Jesus, our faith should grow as well. Wouldn't it be awesome if we had the faith to walk into a hospital room and tell the sick person to be healed and the person is immediately healed? That is the faith that we should have. That is the faith the Apostles had. And that is the faith that changed the world. The fact that we have thousands of churches and little change in this world is a testament to the lack of faith we, as a whole, have.

If we struggle with faith, let us be like the disciples who asked Jesus, "help us with our unbelief." Where we grow from here is our choice.

May our faith grow and never stop. May the works we do glorify Jesus, and our faith allow Him to work mightily. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

-A brother in Jesus

Daily Devotional 02-19-2019

Happy Tuesday Morning! Bless the Lord all His Saints. Give Him thanks and praise for all He has done for us.

Today's passage is 1 John 2:15-16:

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.

Yesterday, we heard that God judges our actions by our heart (motivation). Today, what is the source of our motivation? Are we so wrapped up in our daily lives that we ignore God, or are we so wrapped up in God, that our love for God shines through in everything we do?

However, if we are working towards loving God more, let us not be discouraged if we fail at times. God provided grace and removed all condemnation for those of us who are saved through Jesus.

May we grow in love towards God and others today. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

-A brother in Jesus

Daily Devotional 02-18-2019

Good Morning! It will be a good Monday.

This morning's verse is from Jeremiah 17:10:

I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.

Sometimes, we need to be reminded that why we do things is just as important as what we do. Are our actions done to honor God and others, or are they done solely out of selfishness?

Today, whatever we do, let us do it out of love for God, and not out of love for ourselves. In doing that, our light will shine and glorify God. We will be blessed beyond our wildest dreams, but first and foremost, we will bring Joy and Honor to God.

May we hear His voice and share His love with everyone we meet today. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

-A brother in Jesus

Daily Devotional 02-15-2019

Happy Friday! The weekend is here and we can rest from this past week. It was a grueling week for me, but the Lord is good and helped me through it.

I Timothy 1:12 says:

And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry,

This is an important verse for all who wish to serve our Father in Heaven. It shows us what is needed in order to be that good and faithful servant.

First, note that Jesus is the one who does the decision making. He is the one who gives us our gifts, our ability to do His work, He determines if we are faithful, and He puts us where He wants us.

But, there is another lesson to be learned. Jesus only puts us where He wants us, when we have been faithful. He can only open doors for us if we are faithful in the things we are given to do now.  We can look back and see the times we have been really faithful, and then dropped the ball, or got tired, or lazy. God still loves us and blesses us with what we need, but until we are faithful in the small things He has given us, He can't bless us with the grand life He has planned for us to do. We can't bless others in the way He wants us to.

This is not a message of condemnation, but one of encouragement. Let us work to be faithful in the small things so that Jesus can use us to our full potential, which He has give us the talent for.

May we bring joy to others and to our Father today. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

-A brother in Jesus

Daily Devotional 02-13-2019

What a wonderful Wednesday it is! Another sunny day, and the Lord is with us.

Jeremiah 17:7 says,

Blessed is the man who trusts in Adonai, my Lord; Adonai will be his security.

Has God ever failed anyone who has ever trusted in Him? No! It may seem, at times, that God isn't coming through for us. However, when we look in hindsight, we can see He has always done what we let Him do, as well as what is best for us.

Let us think back over our lives. When we have had struggles, was it the result of us trusting ourselves, or trusting God? I guarantee it was because we followed our own wisdom (or our earthly friends' wisdom), and not God's. When we do that, we restrict God's ability to work. We don't put our trust in Him.

Let us follow the wisdom of God and trust in Him today.

-A brother in Jesus

Daily Devotional 02-12-2019

Good morning! Happy Tuesday. We are supposed to see some clear skies today. It will be a beautiful day!

1 John 3:18 says,

My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

We have all heard the phrases, "talk is cheap," or, "all bark and no bite," and, "actions speak louder than words." God is telling us the same thing in this verse. Are we showing we are Disciples of Christ, or are we just sounding like we follow Christ?

Let us not be full of hot air, but instead let our actions speak for us. May we act on our love for God today.

In Jesus' Name, Amen.

-A brother in Christ 

Daily Devotional 02-11-2019

Happy rainy Monday! Apparently a good storm blew through last night, and I slept right through it.

Today's verse is Ephesians 2:10:

For we are of God’s making, created in union with the Messiah, Jesus, for a life of good actions already prepared by God for us to do.

A lot of people would take comfort that God has a plan for us, work for us to do. I want to look at this a different way. I want us to look past the first layer. God has planned work for us to do, but He has also provided the means to do that work. We often forget that God provides the means and tools to do the work He has planned for us.

But God is asking us today, "Why do you keep asking (for provision and guidance), and not doing (what you know to do)? I have already provided everything you need. Step out in faith and watch the miracles happen."

Today, let us step out in faith in obedience. We know what God is asking of us. We just resist it because we are either afraid or we don't want to give up control.

Joshua 1:9 says, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

May the Lord bless you and keep you.

In Jesus' Name, Amen.

- A brother in Jesus

The Name Above All Names

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus 
There's just something about that name 
Jesus Jesus Jesus 
Let all Heaven and earth proclaim 
Kings and kingdoms shall all pass away 
But there's something about that name.

Acts 2:21 states. “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  

Note that this scripture doesn't say "if the unbeliever", or "the sinner call",it states. .. "whoever calls". 
Also note, that it is not specifically stated what the person is saved from.  It could be death, it could be from a temptation, it could be an abusive partner/spouse/relationship.  It could be any number of things.   Granted, this scripture mainly refers to being saved from sin and death, however it also includes everyone else and every problem we need saving from. 

Remember that if you struggle today, call on Jesus' name. Just say it in your hearts, or even out loud if you want. But He will hear His name, understand what you need, and will show up at the most opportune time. 

May we all feel His love towards us today. May we keep our eyes and hearts on Him. May we bring glory and honor to Him. Amen

Help my unbelief

Good Evening!

I trust you had a great weekend and are rested and ready for the coming week. Don't forget to keep your eyes on Jesus. 

Mark 9:23-24 says “Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.” 

One of my first Wednesday night sermons was on this verse, and it came back up in my devotions recently.

Do we truly believe that God can do anything that we ask?

Do we truly believe God WILL do when we ask of Him?

 If we look at the difference between these two questions, that difference is our unbelief. I admit it, there are a lot of things I doubt He will do if I ask. Sometimes, I even wonder if He is listening or cares enough to listen 
I know in my head, that He is, but that little bit of doubt sometimes raises its ugly head.   

I believe that if we are honest with ourselves, We will find that we don't believe in God as much as we say we do, or even as much as we want to. I want the level of belief (the faith) of the apostles in the book of Acts where they look at a crippled man and tell Him, out loud to get up and walk, in front of crowds. That's faith that God won't leave the apostles hanging and looking like a bunch fools. I want that kind of faith. 

We should ALL have faith that is strong like that. Jesus says that if we have faith the size of a mustard seed, that we can tell a mountain to be cast into the sea, and it will be so. Did Jesus mean that literally? I believe so. It gets interpreted in a spiritual lesson most times, but remember, God SPOKE this world into existence. He can do it. How do we get that level of belief or faith? Through Christ. 

Father, help our unbelief. Forgive our unbelief. If we look back over our lives, we can start to see the God has ALWAYS been faithful to us and has proven that we can believe in Him. The interesting thing, I find, is that the more belief we have, the more we can truly rest and abide in Him. 

May our belief in Him grow today. May we keep our eyes on Him and rest in Him today. May His favor ever be upon us today. Amen