December 05, 2021

Daily Devotion :

"Have Hopeful Expectation Every Day of Your Life..."

Romans 4:18-20-21

The Passion Translation

Against all odds, when it looked hopeless, Abraham believed the promise and expected God to fulfill it. He took God at his word, and as a result he became the father of many nations. God’s declaration over him came to pass: “Your descendants will be so many that they will be impossible to count!” In spite of being nearly one hundred years old when the promise of having a son was made, his faith was so strong that it could not be undermined by the fact that he and Sarah were incapable of conceiving a child. He never stopped believing God’s promise, for he was made strong in his faith to father a child. And because he was mighty in faith and convinced that God had all the power needed to fulfill his promises, Abraham glorified God!

In our ministry we want to help more people every year, and we believe God wants us to grow. But we also realize that if God has a different plan, and if we end our year with no growth, we cannot let that situation control our joy. We believe for many things, but beyond them all, we believe in Someone. That Someone is Jesus. We don’t always know what is going to happen. We just know it will always work out for our good! It is reported that Abraham, after sizing up his situation (he didn’t ignore the facts), considered the utter impotence of his own body and the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. Although all human reason for hope was gone, he hoped in faith.

Abraham was very positive about a very negative situation! Hebrews 6:19 tells us that hope is the anchor of the soul. Hope is the force that keeps us steady in a time of trial. Don’t ever stop hoping. Don’t be afraid to hope. No one can promise that you’ll never be disappointed. But you can always have hope and be positive. Have hopeful expectation every day of your life

December 04, 2021

Daily Devotion:

"Let Us Go Up at Once and Possess It..."

Numbers 13:32-33

New International Version

32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size.33 We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

We read in Numbers 13 of how Moses sent twelve men to scout out the Promised Land to see if it was good or bad. Ten of the men came back with what the Bible refers to as “an evil report” (Numbers 13:32). They told Moses, “The land is good, but there are giants in it!” They also referred to themselves as “grasshoppers,” meaning they believed they were insignificant and incapable of defeating the enemy.

The fear they had of the giants prevented God’s people from entering the land that He had promised to give them. It wasn’t really the giants that defeated these people; it was their poor self-image. They only saw the giants; they failed to see God, and they failed to believe that with God, they could do anything they needed to do.

Joshua and Caleb were the only ones who had a proper attitude. Caleb said to Moses and the people, “Let us go up at once and possess it; we are well able to conquer it” (Numbers 13:30). They had the attitude that God wanted them to have. They believed that with God, all things were possible.

God had a glorious future planned for all of the Israelites, just as He does for us, but only the ones with a proper attitude toward God and themselves will live in it and enjoy it. God does not have a bad attitude toward you; don’t have one toward yourself

December 03, 2021

Daily Devotion:

"Pray and Don’t Worry…”

Philippians 4:6-7

The Passion Translation

6 Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude. Tell him every detail of your life, 7 then God’s wonderful peace that transcends human understanding, will guard your heart and mind through Jesus Christ.

In this passage, the apostle Paul does not say, “Pray and worry.” Instead, he is saying “Pray and don’t worry.” Why are we to pray and not worry? Because prayer is an important way we cast our care upon the Lord. Prayer is what opens the door for God to work in our lives and the lives of other people.

When the devil tries to give us something to worry about, we can turn and give that care to God. If we pray about something and then keep on worrying about it, we are mixing a positive and a negative. The two cancel each other out so that we end up right back where we started—at zero.

Prayer is a positive force; worry is a negative force. The Lord has shown us the reason many people operate at zero power spiritually is that they cancel out their positive prayer power by giving in to the negative power of worry. As long as we are worrying, we are not trusting God. It is only by trusting, by having faith and confidence in the Lord, that we are able to enter into His rest and enjoy the peace that transcends all understanding.

You can make a decision now to cast all your cares on the Lord and begin to trust Him to take care of you.

December 02, 2021

Daily Devotion:

"I am going to wait and watch You work it all out, Lord..."

John 15:5

New International Version

5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

When we come into God’s power, we get to experience complete dependence upon Him. Faith involves us leaning entirely on God, trusting His power, wisdom, and goodness. We are to lean on, rely on, and entirely depend on Him, taking all the weight off of ourselves and putting it all on Him. Without God’s help, we can’t change anything in our lives.

We can’t change ourselves, our spouse, our family, our friends, or our circumstances. Truly, apart from Him we cannot do anything. We forfeit peace and joy when we fail to let God be God. We try to figure out things we have no business even touching with our minds. Nothing is too hard or too wonderful for God, but many things are too hard for us. With the help and leading of the Holy Spirit, we can grow to the place where we rest in the truth that we know the One Who knows all the answers, even when we don’t… and we can trust Him! It is so liberating to say, “Lord, I don’t know what to do, and even if I did, I couldn’t do it. But my eyes are on You. I am going to wait and watch You work it all out.

December 01, 2021

Daily Devotion:

"Childlike Faith ..."

Matthew 18:4

New International Version

4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Children believe what they are told. Some people say children are gullible, but children are not gullible; they are trusting. It is a child’s nature to trust unless he has experienced something that teaches him otherwise. And another thing we all know about children is That they can literally enjoy just about anything. They can even turn work into a game!

Our heavenly Father desires for us to come to Him as children. He wants us to know that we are His precious little ones and to put our complete faith in Him to care for us…

He wants us to take His hand and lean on Him, continually asking for His help. Everything that God calls us to do, He will help us do. He is ready, waiting, and more than willing. We can come humbly as little children—sincere, unpretentious, honest, open—knowing that without Him, we can do nothing.

As God’s children, we were never intended to live in bondage of any kind. We can experience glorious freedom and liberty—freedom to enjoy all that God has given to us. He has given us life, and our goal should be to enjoy it.

Seek to become and remain childlike with all the simplicity of a child. It will enhance the quality of your life in the most amazing way.

November 30, 2021

Daily Devotion:

“Victory Thinking” Rather Than “Give-up Thinking…”

Galatians 6:9

New International Version

9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

In Galatians 6:9, “losing heart” and “fainting” refer to giving up in the mind. The Holy Spirit tells us not to give up in our mind, because if we hold on, we will eventually reap good things.

Think about Jesus. Immediately after being baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit, He was led into the wilderness to be tested and tried by the devil. He did not complain and become discouraged and depressed. He did not think or speak negatively. He did not become confused trying to figure out why this had to happen. He went through each test victoriously (Luke 4:1–13).

Can you imagine Jesus traveling around the country, talking with His disciples about how hard everything was? Can you picture Him discussing how difficult the Cross was going to be… or how He dreaded the things ahead… or how frustrating it was to have no roof over His head, no bed to sleep in at night?

We have His Spirit dwelling in us and the strength available to make it through whatever we are facing. We can handle our situations the same way Jesus did—by being mentally prepared through “victory thinking” rather than “give-up thinking.”

November 29, 2021

Daily Devotion:

"Prayer To Be A Daily, Regular Part Of Our Lives..."

Acts 3:1

The Passion Translation

3 One afternoon Peter and John went to the temple for the three o’clock prayer.

Many people feel vaguely guilty about their prayer life because they compare themselves to others. God is a creative God and wants each person to have his or her own individual prayer life. Your prayer life doesn’t have to be just like anyone else’s. Yes, there are proven principles of prayer that you can follow. As we see in Acts 3:1, the early disciples set aside certain hours of the day when they would go to a designated place to pray.

That is good self-discipline, but that should be the start of learning to pray and not the finish. We can discipline ourselves to establish a prayer schedule that is individually suited to us, but we can also learn to pray without ceasing. That means to pray at all times, in all places, with all kinds of prayer.

“Pray your way through the day.” Let prayer become like breathing, something you do with ease and without effort. We never have to “wait” to pray. Each time you see a need or think of anything you need help with, pray right away!

Prayer is talking to God, and since He is everywhere, we can talk to Him all the time. God wants prayer to be a daily, regular part of our lives.

November 28, 2021

Daily Devotion:

"Choose To Place Your Trust ..."

Psalm 20:7

New International Version

7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

There are many facets of faith. The most brilliant facet, however, is trust! Trust is something we have, and we decide what to do with it. We decide in whom or in what to put our trust.

Where have you placed your trust? Is your trust in your job, employer, bank account, or friends? Perhaps your trust is in yourself, your past record of successes, education, natural talents, or possessions. All of these are temporal, subject to change. Only the Lord changes not. He alone is the Rock that cannot be moved.

As children of God, we can have the assurance that God will deliver us in current troubles, just as He delivered us in the past. We can then take our trust and put it in the right place, which is in God alone.

Trust is not upset, because it has entered into God’s rest. Trust is not confused, because it has no need to lean on its own understanding. Trust does not give up or panic. Trust believes that God is good and that He works all things out for good! Choose to place your trust in God. It pays marvelous dividends.

November 27, 2021

Daily Devotion:

"Bring Into Completion"

2 Chronicles 15:7

New Living Translation

7 But as for you, be strong and courageous, for your work will be rewarded.”

As “a new creation,” you don’t have to allow the old things that happened to you to keep affecting your new life in Christ. You are a new creature with a new life in Christ. You can have your mind renewed according to the Word of God. Good things are going to happen to you!

Begin to think positively about your life. That doesn’t mean that you can get anything you want by just thinking about it. God has a perfect plan for each of us, and we can’t control Him with our thoughts and words. But it’s important for us to think and speak in agreement with His will and plan for us. God has begun a good work in you and He will bring it to completion (Philippians 1:6).

So even when you feel discouraged because you are not making progress quickly, always remember that God is working in you and He will never leave you or forsake you. Jesus will set you free to enjoy the good things in life.

Trust Him to renew your mind with His Word!

November 26, 2021

Daily Devotion:

"Whatever You Are Rooted In Will Determine The Fruit In Your Life..."

Ephesians 3:17

The Passion Translation

17 Then, by constantly using your faith, the life of Christ will be released deep inside you, and the resting place of his love will become the very source and root of your life.

Rejection starts as a seed that is planted in our lives through different things that happen to us. God loves and accepts us, but the devil steals that truth from us by making us think we’re rejected so we feel rejected and unloved.

When this happens, it affects every area of our lives. It becomes a tree with many branches that all bear bad fruit. Whatever you are rooted in will determine the fruit in your life—good or bad. If you are rooted in rejection, abuse, shame, guilt, or a poor self-image—if you are rooted in thinking, Something is wrong with me!—your “tree” will bear depression, negativism, a lack of confidence, anger, hostility, a controlling spirit, judgmentalism, hatred, and self-pity.

If you are rooted in Jesus , then you can relax and know you are loved and valuable. You can know that God sees you as right through your faith. All the areas of your life that are out of order can be reconciled through Jesus and the work that He has done on the cross. Here is the good news—you can be delivered from the power of rejection!