You can overcome every tendency within your nature that makes you prone to errors. In Jesus name. Amen.

Mark 1:35 KJV - And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.

Pray that your children will rise up early in life. Pray that their early years will be infused with a quick start of all the

important things for their elevation in life in Jesus name. Amen.

WHY CAN'T YOU RECEIVE A GIFT ?

Desiring Mercy Devotional

Wednesday, 13th September, 2023

Luke 18:26-30 KJVS - And they that heard it said, Who then can be saved?

27 And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.

28 TheN Peter said, Lo, we have left all, and followed thee.

29 And he said unto theM, VeriLy I say unto yoU, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom Of God's sake,

30 Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.

Salvation is all about receiving a gIft. Are you too full to receive a gift That God is giving to You? Then you are rich indeed, and it is this kind of 'rich men’ who will find it very hard to enter the kingdOm. Your ability to bend, change, become a new person just so you can receive a new gift tHat God is giving to you is what makes you like the camel that is able to go through the eye of a needle and get savEd.

In the scripture abOve, Jesus taught on how to receive many more things by letting go of one or things that you may have become easily attached to alreAdy. You may have to cut down on some of your "worrying hours” just so you can make time to meditate on the WorD of God several times in a day, and receive the gift of a sound mind That Jesus wants to give to yOu.

You may have to cut down on your addiction to masturbation, just so you can spare or lend a couple of houRs to Jesus who wants to speak to you through your Pastor’s serMon.

Are you willing to cut down on the number of bottles of alcohol, sticks of cigarettes or puffs of shisha just tO loan Jesus a few minutes of your time so he can play to your hearing a song by One of His favourite songbirds/ music ministers tO you? You don't have to start by stopping everything all by yourSelf. All Jesus asks from you is just a little space in your full boat so he cAn do His wOrk.

If you can squeeze yourself, and make a little room in your heart and life to rEceive Him as a new gift to add on to your already full bough of riches, then even as a rich man, addicted to many of the niceties of life, you can be saVed.

PRayer: Dead God, thanks foR your Word. Please help me to change some things about me sO that I can receive whatever freE gift You want to give to me in Jesus name. AmeN.

Desire mercy.

ANastasiA Bruce

FOotstool Colour

PHILOXENOS: FOND OF GUESTS

Live Daily Footstool Devotional

Monday 11th September, 2023

Titus 1:7-8 KJVS - For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;8 But A LOVER OF HOSPITALITY, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate...

In order to be a good shepherd over God’s flock, you have to be willing to love strangers. You must have a character of always being ready to embrace new faces and strangers all the time. Pray that you will be able to make new friends and acquaintances.

The Greek word translated as "a lover of hospitality” is "Philoxenos”. I bet we are more familiar with the word " xenophobia” than we are with " philoxenos”, possibly because of certain events like the massacre of foreigners living in South Africa headlining the news in recent times.

Xenophobia is a fear or hatred for strangers and foreigners. Philoxenos is a love for strangers, a disposition to be hospitable and fond of guests.

Do you get jittery as yet when you suddenly find out that you have to receive a guest or two, yet you do not have enough resources to receive or cater for them? Have you felt absolutely unprepared when you suddenly have to receive a stranger into your home, feed them, accommodate them or give them money/ clothes/ beddings/ food? God wants you to make room in your life to accommodate strangers and always be read to host guests. Include a spare room in your dream home solely set apart for receiving guests. Don't spend all the money in your hand all the time on only you and yourself- allocate some to hospitality!

Hebrews 13:2 KJVS - Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

A life of philoxenos makes for a life full of experiences with the supernatural, and the entertainment of angels who are sent with divine messages and packages to deliver. Without an attitude and a readiness to receive strangers, we cannot successfully host the ministry of Jesus in our lives. Remember that Jesus was born in the home of someone who had a stable to spare for the hospitality of receiving a ' strange’ pregnant woman. Pray that God will help you to be happy to receive guests and love strangers. And be ready to do so, laying aside your fears, when the time comes.

Prayer: Dear Lord, thanks for Your Word. Please endow me with everything I need so I can be fond of guests. Make me happy always, not swinging moods and losing opportunities to entertain angels. Make me financially endowed, mentally sound and physically prepared to entertain and serve guests so that they will really feel cared for when they come to me, your humble servant, in Jesus mighty name. Help me overcome my own fears and inadequacies that make me unwilling to entertain unfamiliar faces, and also give me the grace to discern between wicked strangers and harmless ones in Jesus name. Amen.

Live!

Anastasia Bruce

Footstool Colour

FREE WOMEN SERVE

Live Daily Footstool Devotional

Read Mark 1:29-34

Mark 1:29-31 KJV

And forthwith, when they were come out of the synagogue, they entered into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. [30] But Simon's wife's mother lay sick of a fever, and anon they tell him of her.

And he came and took her by the hand, and lifted her up; and immediately the fever left her, and she ministered unto them.

Jesus came into this world for everybody. Jesus came to save all sinners. But sometimes the knowledge of this general role of Jesus can mean very little to you when you do not see how it narrows down or applies to you in your seeming peculiar situation. Today, we see in this Scripture above that Jesus was interested in lifting up Simon’s wife’s mother, and he did so He could free her to serve.

We can therefore understand that Jesus has a special place in his heart to give a lift especially to experienced women who have become hesitant to serve anyone anymore possibly because they may have become disappointed in the poor or evil returns they may have reaped from pouring so much of themselves and resources into others some time before. Mothers, for instance, give out so much. They put their lives and so much more on the hold to see their little ones rise and their loved ones move forward in life. Sometimes, they do it so hard that they forget to take care of their own selves. And that’s when their own retardation and sickness sets in. Failing to take good care of yourself and supervise your personal prosperity while you take care of others is a recipe for great disaster, not only for yourself, but also for the people whom you love. Your own sickness sets in the moment you try to love others more than you have ever loved your own self by receiving God’s love for you. You start getting sick of serving others when you have not allowed God to serve you with those same things you have been trying to give to others. You can’t give what you don’t have. When you give what you don’thave, you only do so by stealing from yourself, and stealing from yourself is fighting against or sinning against your own body. You can only get sick by doing that! And this is why many get sick. Your reception from God must be equal to or more than how much emotional love or any other resource you give to others. This is the secret to health and healing!

Peter's wife’s mother was sick. Her sickness must have been worsening the conditions at home. Her sickness must have been driving Peter's wife crazy, as she may have had to be struggling with taking care of her sick mother, her husband Peter, their home and possibly the children. Peter’s wife may have possibly needed her mother’s extra hands to help with the keeping of the home so she would not be burnt out. Peter’s wife's liberation must have been so needed as it was to play a huge role in relieving the frustrations of Peter's failing trade( a fisherman who was struggling to catch fishes at sea, and who was to forthwith start catching men as a disciple of Jesus). A lot more was going to depend on Peter’s wife, and she needed the teamwork with her mother or perhaps other sisters ever so badly.

You see, Jesus knows very well about the things we need. If women were to allow Jesus to work in them, the one thing He would heal them of is the sickness that prevents them from serving others, especially other women! When Jesus healed Peter's wife’s mother, what did she rise up and start doing? Immediately the fever left her, she began to serve them in the house. Someone would ask, but where was Peter's wife? Couldn’t she have been helping to prepare or serve the meals? Well, possible her hands were tied up with cleaning the floor of the vomit her mother had just thrown up. Or perhaps, she was busy carrying the little children who were crying and messing up the whole place.

Prayer: Dear Lord, please free to serve You and others in Jesus name. Amen.

Anastasia Bruce

Footstool Colour

RISE UP AND GO AHEAD BY PRAYER

Live Daily Footstool Devotional

Monday, 21st August, 2023

Read Mark 14: 28-51

Mark 14:28 NIV - But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”

Jesus spoke of what He would do after He had risen from the dead. How is it that sometimes we wake up from our sleep in the mornings not knowing what to do? How is that when we begin to experience a raise in our salaries, or finances, we do not know what God’s will is for the use of our raise? How is that we do not know how to raise up our children in a way as to prepare them to go ahead of us?

Jesus said, “But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee”. You know, God wants you to be ahead of your enemies. God wants you to be ahead of the other people you live with in your generation. God wants you to be ahead in spiritual things. He doesn’t want you ignorant about spiritual things.

1 Corinthians 12:1 NIV - Now about THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed.

There are many items and gifts, visions and victories that God wants to bless us with in the Spirit! The blessings are always in the Spirit!

Right after Jesus made this satement that He will go ahead of His disciples into Galilee when He is risen, and after prodding his followers that they will all fall away (Mark 14: 27), he began to press into Gethsemane to be sorrowful and amazed, to watch and to pray and travail.

Mark 14:38 NIV - Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

When you wake up, wake up unto prayer. This is how you go ahead of your weak self. This is how you go ahead of your peers. This is how you go ahead into the places where your feet are meant to tread during the day. When you wake up from your sleep, let the experiences of the night, which could include dreams or visions ( bad or good) and revelations, push you more into prayer and into travail before the break of day.

Don’t just wake up from bed, bath, eat and step out of your home to go somewhere. If you do that, you will experience many things by surprise. If you do that, many things will occur to you by accident. Break out of that cycle or way of doing things. Make prayer a necessary part of your every night, be it a dark season of your life, or every physical nighttime.

By prayer, you go ahead into places. By prayer, you prevent yourself from being taken by surprise with the things that will happen in your day. By prayer, you save yourself from being taken by craft- the crafty dealings of people around you who do not mean well.

Mark 14:1 KJVS - After two days was the feast of the passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might TAKE HIM BY CRAFT, and put him to death.

Sometimes, the night or the previous day may have gone some way so much so that it leaves you feeling uncertain about yourself when you wake up into a new day. But my dear, I tell, don’t be fooled by any of those feelings! Because of Jesus' resurrection, you can expect to be someone who is going places! So rise up, each day and spend time in your Quiet Times, praying and seeking the face of God. That’s how you go ahead of yourself and others, and that’s how you go ahead into places!

Prayer: Dear Lord, thanks for your Word. Please help me to form a strong habit of rising up early each day and going ahead through prayer and Quiet Times into the places that you have destined for me in Jesus name. Help me to never be complacent when I experience a raise in any aspect of my life. May I always look forward to go ahead by prayer no matter how much of a raise in life I think you have already given me. In Jesus name. Amen.

Live!

Anastasia Bruce

Footstool Colour

RISE UP AND LET US GO

Live Daily Footstool Devotional

Monday, 7th August, 2023.

Read Mark 14: 32-50

Mark 14:41-42 KJVS - And he cometh the third time, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: it is enough, the hour is come; behold, the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

42 RISE UP, LET US GO; lo, he that betrayeth me is at hand.

If you do not master the art of waking up early and overcoming a lot of sleep in your life, so that you can have enough time to wait on God before you step out into each day, you will end up forfeiting the companionship and help of God in many ways.

Jonah 2:8 NIV - Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.

When you wake up in the morning, God is standing by and ready to hold your hand and walk with you through the day. When you sleep in the night, God is looking forward to your rising, just so He can say to you, “Let us go”. Too much sleep prevents us from having the sweet influences of the Holy Spirit in our everyday lives.

Ensure you wake up early to have your Quiet Time everyday, where you can be with the Lord alone in prayer and in the study of His Word.

Peter, James and John slept and slept when they should have been praying with the Lord in the garden. Jesus wanted them to pray too so they could overcome the temptation of being close friends who betray their Master. Because they could not overcome sleep when it was most needed, most of them fled when Jesus was arrested- they could not stand with or for Jesus in the difficult time (Mark 14:50).

Spending time with God daily, especially, using part of your night sleep time to do so, is the secret to being an energetic follower of Jesus , with obvious signs of His presence in your life.

From today, when you are sleeping in the night, and it is time for you to wake up and have a Quiet Time with Lord, may you hear His voice say to you, “ Rise up and let us go”, for indeed, He wants to go with you and step into the day with you, and you with Him.

Prayer: Dear Lord, may I keep hearing your voice ringing in my heart through every nighttime, be it a physical or spiritual night in my life, saying, “ Rise up and let us go”. Help me to practice having only just enough sleep for the night and using the extra time before sunrise to wait on you daily, in Jesus mighty name. Amen.

Live.

Anastasia Bruce

Footstool Colour

MOVE INTO THINE HOUSE

Desiring Mercy Devotional

Tuesday, 13th June, 2023

Mark 2:9-11 KJV

Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? [10] But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) [11] I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and GO THY WAY INTO THINE HOUSE.

God wants to heal you from anything that prevents you from taking a walk with Him. When Jesus healed the paralytic, he commissioned Him to go into his house. Whatever keeps you from moving about and taking your God- intended steps, not only slows you down but also prevents you from moving into your own house and into your own space.

It is the desire of God for your to build your own house and move into your own house. Some people come into this world and live for so many years without ever building or moving into their own house. It takes being forgiven of your sins and being healed of your paralysis to be able arise , take up your bed and move into your own house. This man had the blessing of love and team work with his four friends. Certainly they could use that gift of togetherness to build their own house if the situation called for that.

It is amazing what Jesus told to the various people who received miracles from him. Some were warned not tell anyone. Some were told to go show themselves to the priest. Others were told to follow Him. But this man who was sick of the palsy was told to go into his house!

When Jonah was angry with God in Jonah 4, he moved out of the city and went to build a hut outside of the city to sit there and watch what would happen to the city. Because of anger, Jonah did not mind settling for less in life when he desired to move into his space. And he was ready to justify his anger unto death. That was just absurd. But God had something better in mind for him. And if Jonah could calm down that anger, he would receive enough grace to have mercy and flow with the great city Nineveh. Certainly, if you have the chance to move into your own house, would you prefer moving into hut or village-like structure somewhere outside the city? Absolutely no. Too much anger and quarrelling is a major preventive force from a building a great city. People and families who like quarrelling a lot do not do well. They live in the same houses built by the fathers and forefathers only to quarrel among themselves and be hindered by how this person has hurt the other. When you spend all your energy in life focusing on fighting and quarreling with others, you will never be left with enough energy to build your own house and establish your own space, of good quality enough to match up the standards of a great city.

May you possess the wisdom to stop fighting and build your own house. May you stop quarrelling with everyone around you and noticing everyone’s faults every now and then instead of focusing on the good in them and also focusing on yourself to build your own house and space. And by the time the Lord has washed you clean by His blood, and given you a reason to walk about with Him, in Him and for Him, may you have your own standard dream house to return into for your own self-respect and privacy in Jesus mighty name. Amen.

Desire Mercy

Anastasia Bruce

Footstool Colour

MAINTAIN A GOOD CONSCIENCE

Live Daily Footstool Devotional

Monday, 5th June, 2023

1 Timothy 1:5 KJV

Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of A GOOD CONSCIENCE, and of faith unfeigned:

1 Timothy 1:19 KJV

Holding faith, and A GOOD CONSCIENCE; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:

1 Timothy 3:9 KJV

Holding the mystery of the faith in A PURE CONSCIENCE.

The mystery of godliness is indeed a mysterious thing. The more you get to know the Lord, the more you realise that there is so much more to know than what you've already known about Him. The deeper you get into God and encounter His power and generosity, the more you may be tempted to relinquish the basic things you know about Him. His grace is as important as His laws. Yet we are to hold all of God's truth in a good conscience.

Decide to maintain a good conscience always. Maintaining a clear conscience is the goal of our Christianity. God wants us to come to the place where our conscience bears witness with the Holy Ghost within us always, and we are never liars at heart.

1 Timothy 1:5 NLT - The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, A CLEAR CONSCIENCE, and genuine faith.

Does your conscience sometimes condemn you or remind you when you are doing something funny? Pay attention to the inner voice within you. When your conscience is well trained to distinguish good and evil through exercises in obeying the law, your conscience can become a trustworthy guide that God can use to direct you in the way of truth.

Isaiah 7:14-15 AMP - Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Listen carefully, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and she will call his name Immanuel (God with us). 15 He will eat curds( yoghurt) and honey when he knows enough to refuse evil and choose good.

A good conscience is one that can rightly tell right from wrong. The Lord's aim is to train us with His Word till we gain a good conscience. When you start developing a good conscience, maintain a good conscience and keep maintaining it.

Aim to be pure and holy in God's sight, no matter how mysterious your walk if faith gets.

Live!

Anastasia Bruce

Footstool Colour

*BE INTERESTED IN THE LITTLE PROFITS*

Good Friday With Jesus

8th June, 2023

1 Timothy 4:8 KJV - For BODILY EXERCISE PROFITETH LITTLE: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.

1 Timothy 6:6 KJV

But godliness with contentment is GREAT GAIN.

Which one would you prefer to have in any field of endeavour, any day- little profits or great gain? Of course anyone would choose to have great gain any day, to the neglect of little profits! It takes so much time to gather little profits over time and space, to turn them into much. It is this fear of taking too much time and effort to gather little profits which may not even amount to so and so much, that ends up making us great wasters. But God doesn’t want us to great wasters. He wants us to be interested in gathering little profits.

Many times, Christians are just satisfied with the fact that they are saved and that the Holy Spirit lives in them. As such, they magnify their interests in the nature of godliness so much to the neglect of bodily upkeep, thinking of the latter as of little importance or little profit, just like the scripture above says. Godliness, which refers to spiritual exercises like prayer, Word study, bearing the fruits of the spirit, etc, has got great rewards and promises attached to it, including benefits for the afterlife. True as this is, bodily exercise, which involves things like physical exercise, walking, moving, working or doing something with your hands, has got profits attached too, though quantified by the Bible as little. Many believers have become utterly lazy because they’ve got their eye on the great gain instead of the little profits. This too is evil. Being more interested in things that will give you great gain than in things that will give you little profits is certainly from an evil eye. One must not have an evil eye.

Proverbs 28:22 NKJV - A man with an EVIL EYE HASTENS AFTER RICHES, And does not consider that poverty will come upon him.

Suppose you learn that doing a certain kind of job can fetch you say, one million dollars a day, and you find that you equally possess an ability which when put to use can help you fetch say one dollar a day. I bet the natural response will be to totally ignore the job that gives you one dollar a day and focus all your energies on the job that gives you one million dollars a day. But the cross does not preach so! The cross preaches that we go for both at the same time, not neglecting one over the other! It takes death to self to do things that can give little profits alongside things that yield huge returns, one both enterprises are God-ordained for you.

Jesus congratulated the Syro-Phoenician woman who believed in little crumbs falling off from the master’s table being of great use to the dogs.

Matthew 15:26-28 KJV - But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. 27 And she said, TRUTH, LORD: YET the dogs eat of the CRUMBS which fall from their masters' table. 28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, GREAT IS THY FAITH: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

Great faith is to believe in both greater truths and lesser truths alike. For example, spiritual exercise is important, true, yet it also true that bodily exercise is important. To go for a job that fetches one million dollars a day is important, true, yet it is also important to keep the job that gives one dollar a day of you can, so you can have something to spare for those who have nothing.

Surely, it is only when we are nailed to the cross and are become selfless that we can see things this way.

May God give you an eye of great faith! May the Lord give you an eye that is better than an evil eye! May the Lord give you wisdom to go for and maintain little profits as you do great gain. May your heart be upright always, that you may have enough to spare.