1/31/12 Daily Devotion

Revelation 2:10 Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.

 
With faith comes the testing of the same. As we sincerely give our lives over to Christ, as we sincerely walk in faith, our faith will come into question. Through the prompting of Satan, this world will test of faith again and again. This is not a possibility; this is a fact. Knowing this to be factual, there is another fact that we must grasp. Even though our faith will be tested, we have the ability to overcome these tests through the power of Jesus Christ. There is nothing that will be set before us that we cannot over come through the power of Jesus. There is nothing that is set before us that we cannot defeat through the power of Jesus. Faith is a wonderful thing, but faith that is being tested is proof of a life striving to live for God.

 
Prayer Starter:

 
Lord, help me live and walk with powerful faith.

1/30/12 Daily Devotion

Numbers 12:7 But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house.

 

Miriam and Aaron had begun to speak ill of Moses in front of those gathered. They were trying to help those present find fault with Moses in order to draw attention to themselves. Their claim to fame was that Moses, even though God spoke to and through him, made a mistake. Thus the people should rest their trust on them, for they also had been used by God. In the idiocy of these accusations, God came in a pillar of cloud and called out Miriam and Aaron and set them in their place, stating that Moses was faithful. One can only imagine how Moses felt at that very moment hearing God call him faithful. Is this not what we each are longing to hear when we cross from this life to the eternal? To be found faithful, we must live faithful lives.

 

Prayer Starter:

 
Lord, help me become more faithful to You.

1/28/12 Daily Devotion

Romans 8:31-32 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

 

Who can say that God has not been gracious to them? No one. As we examine the scriptures, we are assured that God has been gracious to those who have given their lives to Him, and because of this we know that He will offer the same to us as we offer our lives to Him. God loves us so much, God cares about us so much, that He did not withhold the very life of His Son. God loves us so much that his promised presence within our lives is guaranteed following the transfer of control of our lives over to Him. God can withhold His graciousness, but usually this only occurs when we have withheld our lives from Him.

 

Prayer Starter:

 
Lord, I am underserving of Your graciousness. Please help me begin to live a life that is truly worthy of You.

1/27/12 Daily Devotion

2 Corinthians 1:11 as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.

 
One of the greatest gifts we have from God is prayer. Just knowing that we have the ability to contact God should bring to us a peace of mind. God is God, and because of this He does not have to communicate with mere humans. God is God, and because of this He does not have to listen to our cries for help. God is God, and because of this He does not have to answer our groans of injustice. God does not have to answer, listen, or communicate with us, but He does simply because of the love He has for us, His children. God could keep us separated from His majesty, but this would prevent Him from having a personal relationship with us. God’s intention from the beginning has always been to become the greatest part of our lives, thus through this gift of prayer we have the ability, if utilized, to come into the presence of God.

 
Prayer Starter:

 
Lord, Your gift of prayer is amazing. Please find me reaching towards You, through this gift, often.

1/26/12 Daily Devotion

Nehemiah 9:17 They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them,

 
Nehemiah sought to bring reform among the people in regards to their ways. At the feast of tabernacles, Ezra and others taught about Moses’ law. They looked at what God had done for His people. They examined the actions of their ancestors. They looked at how they refused to listen to God, how they failed to remember all the miraculous things God had done within their lives. After the examining of the past, they then made a commitment to walk in the ways of the Lord.  To truly experience the presence of God, to truly experience the graciousness of God, we must make a commitment to walk in the ways of the Lord. We need to remember the manner in which God has worked within our lives in the past and seek to allow Him to have full access in the present and into the future.

 
Prayer Starter:

 
Lord, come into my life as You have never done before.

1/25/12 Daily Devotion

Joel 2:13-14 “Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.

 
The graciousness of God allows us to return to Him even after we have walked against His desires. The simplicity of this knowledge also comes attached to the difficulty of the human condition. The human condition causes us to retain aspects of our lives, thus holding back from the full relinquishing of our hearts to the will of God. In order to experience the graciousness of God, we must overcome the human condition, or in essence we must be willing to give God our hearts and not just our garments.

 
Prayer Starter:

 
Lord, help me turn my complete heart over to You.

1/24/12 Daily Devotion

Luke 4:22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked.

 
When Jesus spoke, people were amazed. They were amazed at His words. They were amazed with His knowledge, and they were amazed with His graciousness. When Jesus spoke, He did so in such a manner as to obtain the attention of His audience, but also in a manner that sought to glorify God. Do you speak graciously? Are your words bringing with them harm, or are they flowing with the presence of God?

 
Prayer Starter:

 

Lord, help me become gracious in words and actions.

1/23/12 Daily Devotion

Malachi 1:9 “Now implore God to be gracious to us. With such offerings from your hands, will he accept you?”—says the Lord Almighty.

 
The prophet Malachi was commissioned by God to speak about the moral and religious declension. That which Malachi had spoken about covered a wide array of topics because the people had swiftly turned their backs on the ways of God. One issue that had to be addressed was the unacceptable offerings placed on the altar, offerings that were not perfect, offerings that were deformed, and in their presentation of such offerings they displayed contempt for God. God is more than willing to be gracious to His people, but this willingness always comes with conditions. If we express contempt for God, if we throw aside His ways, if we purposefully ignore His will, we shall receive exactly what we have expressed to Him, nothing of value. But as we strive to walk within the will of God, as we strive to become an image of God, as we strive to express the love of God through our lives, then His graciousness will flow through our hearts and our lives.

 
Prayer Starter:

 
Lord, help me to truly live for You, thus allowing You to truly live within me.

Daily Devotion 1/21/12

Psalm 130:3-4  If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? [4] But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared.

 
How would anyone be able to experience the power of forgiveness if that which they had done was never erased? We, as humans, love to hold onto that which others have done wrong. We love to use these things as weapons at just the right moments, moments that serve to enhance our own agenda. But what about forgiveness? When God forgives us, He removes any further guilt resulting from that which we have done wrong. In other words, what we have done, after it has been forgiven, is no longer held against us by God. Can you imagine what this world would be like if we forgave and forgot as God does?

 
Prayer Starter:

 
Lord, help me become a true forgiver, one who forgives and lets go.

Daily Devotion 1/20/12

Colossians 1:13-14 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, [14] in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

 
Rescued and forgiven, could any sweeter words have been spoken? God has chosen, through the shed blood of Jesus, to rescue us from the depths of our transgressions and forgive us of our sins. God has chosen to remove us from the clutches of darkness and bring us into His kingdom, the kingdom of His Son, the place of redemption, the place of forgiveness. The love of God could not be more obvious, but too often the love of His children remains stifled. As God continually shows us the extent of His love, we must do the same by bringing this love into the world daily.

 
Prayer Starter:

 
Lord, Your love for me is amazing, but I don’t always express this truth. Guide me, Lord, in such a way that my love for You becomes an obvious part of my life.