Category: Daily Devotionals

PREACHING THE GOSPEL WITH SPIRITUAL POWER

Because our Gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.  I Thess. 1:5

What does it mean when the Word is spoken with power, in the Holy Spirit, with full conviction?  What does it feel like to a group of people as they listen and how does it differ from the Gospel being preached without power, without the Spirit’s anointing?  Tragically, many know the latter and have never experienced the first.  We know what it is to sit in church and hear a powerless delivery, even if entertaining.  Continue reading “Preaching The Gospel With Spiritual Power” →

LEAVING THE VALLEY OF REGRET

Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that You have broken rejoice.  Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Psalm 51:8-9

Regret is a powerful force.  If my heart is big and I love others, the potential for being plagued by sorrow is certain.  The consequences of my past choices are ever in front of me, seen in the broken lives of family and friends who are paying for my bad decisions.  I can spend much of my adult life discovering the things I could, and should, have done differently. The question is this: How can I walk in joy when the pain of my choices is still crippling others?  Continue reading “Leaving The Valley Of Regret” →

WHEN THE POWERLESS LOSE THEIR VOICE

Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. I Thess. 5:14

Feeble (kaw-shal) ~ Those who are brought down, cast down, failing, overthrown, stumble badly.

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         In the early 1990’s, life caught up with me. I succumbed to a severe depression. I became, what scripture calls, the feebleminded. I lost all ability to speak up for myself. I went to a well of wordlessness. Language disappeared and it was several years before I was able to take God’s hand to leave the shadows. This ministry, Daughters of Promise, was built, in part, upon the redemption of those ashes. I am passionate to speak to those who cannot find their own voice. Their eyes often tell their story in stony silence.

I learned firsthand that the feebleminded are of paramount importance to God. His heart breaks when the weak look to the strong to protect them but few actually stand in the gap.

I remember what it was like to bring both of my children home. I wasn’t all that familiar with the care of infants so my fear of just being able to keep them alive was real. Would I hold them wrong and would they break? Would I know how to care for them when they were sick? Would the temperature of their bathwater be right? Too cold and they would be hypothermic. Too hot and they’d burn. Everything about a baby is fragile. New mothers who value life give 100% of their focus to provide for, and protect, their child.

Let’s take a detour. I watched the recently released videos on the practices of Planned Parenthood. Continue reading “When The Powerless Lose Their Voice” →

WHAT IS JESUS DOING?

Because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.  Hebrews 7:24-25

         Ever wonder what Jesus has doing since He ascended from earth?  I do.  “Running the world,” is assumed.  But it is surprising to discover that Jesus spends his time praying for me.  What’s He praying for?  The same things I pray for when I talk to God about my own children.  When they’re hurting, I’m consumed.  When they’re angry, I can often take up their cause.  When they’re soaring, I dance!  When their faith is fragile, I hit my knees, defend God, and share scriptures.  Jesus does all of this and more for me and for you.

         Jesus revealed to Peter that Satan had demanded permission to sift him like wheat.  Jesus, because of Peter’s devotion to Him, did not leave him alone to face the attack unsupported.  He helped him by earnestly praying for him. Continue reading “What Is Jesus Doing?” →

WHAT I MUST DO TO MAKE IT

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope.  Romans 15:4

           Are you in a place of hopelessness?  Life has temporarily come apart.  You are exhausted and have no more fight to survive.  You are waiting for someone to come along and impart supernatural strength but so far, no one offers enough of what you need.  What must you do to make it? Continue reading “What I Must Do To Make It” →

THE RUB OF COHABITATION

All the wicked of the earth you discard like dross, therefore I love your testimonies.  Psalm 119:118

     In the process of refining silver, the dross and the pure silver must co-habitate.  It is at the end that the dross is isolated and removed.  Though I am called to mingle with others for a time, and though we appear to be made of the same substance, eventually the two of us will be separated.

    As God’s child, I feel the pain of this kind of cohabitation.  It happens in a subtle and not-so-subtle form.

    1.) Everyone in church looks the same.  They carry similar bibles; even tote the latest bible study workbook.  It is hard to tell silver from dross.  Only Jesus really knows who is His and who is not.  Yet, I can feel the spiritual rub when I pray or attempt to fellowship with someone.  The values of the kingdom are bent to their advantage and the smell of idolatry is faintly evident if I am prayerfully discerning.  To have to co-exist is uncomfortable and often confusing as I try to fellowship with those who privately reject Christ and use the church as an institution to fool themselves and gain a platform.  The kingdom clash is not perfectly clear as pretenses veil the state of their heart.  What I have often chalked up to a personality clash can be far more serious.  Dross and silver are in the same pot but not yet separated.  Continue reading “The Rub of Cohabitation” →

WHICH WAY THE WIND BLOWS

Ephraim feeds on the wind, and pursues the east wind continually.  Hosea 12:1

            The ‘east wind’ in all countries, is a parching, injurious wind.  What does it mean that God’s people are pursuing and feeding on a wind that is self-destructive?  They make alliances that are bad for them.  They feed off deals and agreements that are made by their own ingenuity, created without prayer and without regard for what God might have in mind.

            To hear many talk, ‘the big deal’ is always around the corner.  They’re always working on it and are quick to let others know that it’s going to be prosperous.  Continue reading “Which Way The Wind Blows” →

WHEN I’VE EMOTIONALLY CHECKED OUT!

Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. And he blessed Abram and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” Genesis 14:17-20

             Abram had been traveling by faith for a long time now.  He had entered many foreign territories and encountered king after king.  They had all been unrighteous, whether by deed or in whom they worshiped.  Not one had been a follower of Yahweh!  Yet, out of nowhere comes the King of Salem to meet Abram after his battle for Lot and his family.  Abram is weary and, most-likely, vulnerable.  He has just risked the lives of himself and his men for a spiritually wayward family member.

            The thought of meeting a righteous King was out of the realm of his experience.  He had probably never thought there was such a thing.  Say the word ‘king’ to Abram, and he’d think ‘enemy’ or ‘heathen’.  Yet, here was a king who came to refresh him with a meal, encourage him with God’s very words, and give him a blessing.  He was the first to bless Abram other than God!  Abram had not grown cynical with his previous experience of other kings.  He did not approach Melchizedek warily and refuse his affection.  This, to me, is one of the miracles of this story.

            When life has always been one way for 40 years, the thought that it could be different is often beyond hope.  I quit praying.  I stop dreaming.  My faith shrivels.  I simply cease believing that God will do a new thing.  Technically, I may know He can because He is God.  But dangerously, I believe His heart for me has switched off.  He doesn’t love me enough to bless me with a different experience. Continue reading “Checked Out” →

CLINGING TO TRUTH IS CLINGING TO JESUS

Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ.  Jude 1

Jude was the brother of James (James the less) and Simeon, and all three were the half-brothers of Jesus.  They had at least one thing in common; they did not believe that Jesus was the Christ until they were older.  Blood relatives can be blind to anointing. Proximity yields a normalcy that obscures the signs of kingdom greatness. In spite of rejection, they all became bright lights after fully receiving the love of Christ.  Their passion for Him was stunning. They defended the faith and were martyred by people in far off lands, people who were hostile toward the Gospel.

Jude’s only letter was short but powerful.  He wrote generally, to the church at large, about the deterioration of doctrine.  He just about begs his listeners to defend the faith, to contend for it vigorously at all costs, even unto death.  He was clear to convey that when you and I defend doctrine, we defend Truth and Truth is a Person.  When we err from any one important tenet of the faith, we mar the face of Christ.

Today’s church is weak in theology. And, if weak in theology, absent in faith. We must know Jesus’ history, understand the sweeping narrative of Scripture, and become intimately acquainted with the backbone of our Rabbi’s faith if we are to possess the steel foundation that endures challenging times.  If our doctrine is mushy, so is our faith and weak is our light. Continue reading “Clinging To Truth is Clinging To Jesus” →