Category: Daily Devotionals

What part did any of us play in our own salvation? None at all. We believed because God opened our blind eyes and allowed us to see. With so many aching for a loved one to come to faith, we need to know all over again that God is the only One who can command light where there is darkness. It will not happen with more preaching, cunning arguments, cajoling, even begging. Over the weekend, I was asking God about how to pray in a more focused, strategic way for someone who does not yet believe. I was led to one scripture after another about light/darkness.

I asked God to help me use these as a springboard to write out this prayer. Go ahead and insert the name of your loved one in each blank. May God shed His light across the landscape of their heart because of your investment, but even more, because of His great mercy.

PRAYER:

Lord, I remember that Paul said, ‘In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.’ 2 Cor. 4:4 Oh Father, You see the one who burdens my heart so. The god of this world has blinded ______________ from seeing the light of the gospel of Christ. He/she sees Jesus but is just unmoved. They have no appetite for Him, only indifference, even revulsion.

So You are the Word. When you speak, things are created which do not exist. Your Scriptures say, ‘For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Cor. 4:6 Unless you touch the darkness inside __________’s heart, they will never see Your light to understand the knowledge of Your glory. Just as You spoke it at the creation of the world, just as Your words created something out of nothing, would you speak again and enable belief where there is the vastness of unbelief? Have mercy on ______________.

Jesus, you said that ‘Men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil.’ John 3:19 I can see that ____________ loves unbelief and defends doubt. ________________ loves evil but can’t see that it’s evil. He/she is blind to depravity and numb to the consequences of sin. Enable __________’s heart to see Light and darkness and comprehend it.

Jesus, You told the crowd, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.”   John 12:35-36 Allow ___________ to have a healthy fear and awe of You. Enable __________ to have a fear of the devil and his angels. Allow _____________ to see the condition of a corrupt world and realize the time is short. Woo _____________, Holy Spirit, so they hear Your call.

Thank you, Lord, for hearing my prayer, for loving ______________ enough to die in their place. Isaiah foresaw Your coming and spoke prophetically to Israel. He said, “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.” Isaiah 60:1 I say to __________’s soul today, the same. Arise, Your light has come. Today is the day of salvation.

To You, Lord, belongs all honor, power, and glory. I praise You for your glorious plan to save mankind. May it be for ______________. Amen

“And He shall be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure.” Isaiah 33:6

Today, I need to plant my feet on something solid.  I need to be sure of something and someone.  I need to know that my feet won’t slip and what’s under me won’t shift.

    Isaiah reveals that three building blocks make up my spiritual foundation.

• Salvation ~ Though I was saved from eternal condemnation when I became God’s daughter, I am delivered from other things every day.  This very moment, if I turn to Abba, I can be saved from the temptation to sin, to self-condemn, to feel insecure and fearful, to indulge in self-pity, and to cave in to any other threat that would steal my sense of belovedness and peace.
• Wisdom ~ My life can’t be navigated successfully without it.  Abba is my storehouse of wisdom.  When shall I speak?  When is silence more prudent?  What is my defense?  Which way shall I turn at the next fork in the road?  At the very foundation of my spirit, I know that Wisdom is a Person and He is not stingy with instruction.
• Knowledge ~ Knowledge is information.  For any who love to learn and expand their mind, God is the most brilliant instructor!  While a spiritual journey is, most importantly, a journey of the heart, it is not exclusively emotional and soulful.  My mind is also engaged.  Spiritual transformation starts cognitively with knowledge and with my choice to believe that the final authority for Truth begins and ends with God.

God is the solid foundation for our times, offering us salvation, wisdom, and knowledge as cornerstones.  His offer of salvation supports the weight of our trials.  His offer of wisdom supports the weight of our fears.  His love, daily poured out, supports the weight of our distrust.

I won’t be afraid of today, Father.  Everywhere I choose to go, you give me sure footing.  I can’t help but live successfully.  Amen

Save

And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” So he called his name Israel. Genesis 35:10

God has always been an identity changer. One cannot be near someone like God and not be severely affected. Either one is repelled and runs the other way or is smitten by His glory and wants to make Him their home. The identity-changing nature of God has never been more evident than when He personally changed the names of people. Jacob, in spite of all of his failures, persevered with good faith intentions and God acknowledged the change in his heart with a name change. The name Jacob means ‘supplanter’….one who takes something by force through treachery. Fitting, since he tricked his brother and stole his blessing. Years later, God saw that Jacob was one who literally wrestled with Him in order to receive God’s blessing. He persevered until faith in God defined Him. God chose the name Israel for him….one who perseveres with God.

While God may not give new earthly names to every person, my identity has radically changed if I was adopted into His family. God says that I’m no longer an alien, but a resident of heaven. He says that I’m no longer an enemy, but friend. I’m no longer cursed, but blessed. I’m no longer lost, but saved. I’m no longer rejected because of my sin, I’m chosen. I’m no longer unclean, but righteous. I’m no longer without purpose, I’ve got a calling. I’m no longer hopeless, but hopeful.

Many more pages could capture more identity changers but is this short list not enough for me to ask myself, “Have I really embraced my new identity? And if not, why?” It’s hard to digest that I’m no longer who I was if people around me treat me as if nothing has changed. I’ve also got a spiritual enemy, Satan, who is bent on reinforcing, through hurtful circumstances, that I’m the same old sinner without hope.

How can I immerse myself in the wonder of a changed identity? By spending more time with the Name-Changer. He will whisper each new name in my ear if I’m engaged in a two-way conversation. Prayer is not about me talking. It’s more about Him talking. Never has His voice been more clear than in the pages of His love letter to me. Scriptures are not primarily for study. They are for the strengthening of faith. They are the words of a Father to His child. In the stillness of today, God would want me to hear, “You’re mine!”

Let me bask in the spiritual cooing that comes from running home. Amen

He who goes forth and weeps, scattering the seed, will doubtless come back with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves. Psalm 126:6 

A harvest never comes overnight. A farmer plants seed in early spring but doesn’t expect to see anything come up in a week. He knows that seeds require early and late rains before they bring a yield.

The harvest portrayed in this verse comes to the person who walks, weeps, and then walks and weeps some more.  “Goes forth” means a continual and repetitive motion.  But the mourning isn’t hopeless.  While doing so, there is also an intentional perseverance to plant heaven’s seeds ~ the Word of God. 

Perhaps this has characterized a period in your life. You have faithfully sown the seeds of scripture. You have salted the pages of your Bible with tears. You have asked God for the faith to stand another day in the promises that transcend this season of life. But times of weariness and disillusion have set in and the seeds have fallen to the ground as you opened your fingers to let them spill out. You quit walking the boundary lines of your garden. You put your arms down and have let your hands stay limp. Expectations have been nullified by time and one disappointment after another.

So many saints know these periods. Weeping is not a sin, it is encouraged, and in fact, even a command. But for any who have given up, dried their tears, and stopped praying….our Father reminds us today to regroup. Gather the seeds again. Regard them as precious. Speak them. Pray them. Stand in them. Be assured that God’s Word always bears fruit. He says so. When His Word is spoken, the environment changes. Anywhere His Word is sewn, kingdoms are shaken up. I may not feel the tremors nor see the stirrings of coming harvests but the unseen world knows it’s coming. Angels rejoice and demons tremble. Battles are being waged and God’s army is on the move.

Does this guarantee that things will turn out as I wish every single time?  Not necessarily. People we love still have free will. Sickness and death come to all of us because of the fall.  Man’s sin continues to infect our environment.  But sowing the Word of God ensures that God’s plan comes to my world.  Fertile soil is tilled up from hardened grounds of unbelief.  Sowing scripture sets the stage for a righteous outcome within a fallen world.  Many will believe who have denied. Many will be healed who have been terminal. Many will walk through an open door that was once closed tightly. And most of all, in the process of sowing ~ our own hearts draw close to Jesus and are changed. As we wrestle with faith, an intercessor begins to think, and feel, like the One they worship. Even while weeping.

Futility is not in my vocabulary. I get up and engage with faith again. Amen