The Daily Devotional Blog

Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as  servants of God ( 1 Peter 2 :16).     It's about knowing who we are in Christ and not letting people throw us off, because they may not understand yet . We have to continue to climb for Jesus, because He is the reason we're all here. He's the reason we can be who He made us to be, in His image (Genesis 1:27). Let's rejoice and be glad it that. Let's be glad He made us who we are -- fearfully and wonderfully made. It's a unique gift each person has for themselves. No copies, original masterpieces of the Lord's goodness once again. So embrace who you are, embrace your God-given attributes and go out and make fishers of men with your gifts.   

Keep going and don't stop. Continue to do the hard work from the inside to the outside, from the outside to the inside. It will pay off. Focus intensely and don't get distracted.  "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them ( Ephesians 2 :10). I have much respect for the people who are grinding, hustling, and climbing for the Lord. They continue on despite obstacles and challenges, They know and believe in what Christ told them. They know that eventually all the weight they are carrying will come off, because it's really carried by the Lord. Although it may seem heavy, He has us covered. He just wants us to work smart, thus hard in the natural, to reduce the load. He wants us strong, mighty, and muscular. Those things have more staying power and leverage for us to make an impact on others, as well as, ourselves. They're a must in order to be effective.  So continue to p...

Some time ago I wrote a blog post about the living water Jesus gave to the Samaritan woman. The post was titled, Living Water   and it was about the woman's encounter with Jesus.  I want to remind you that Jesus will give you everything you need and some of what you want. He will see to it that you never have to become thirsty (or hungry for that matter) regarding anything you may need in your life. It's amazing to me how many people truly do not believe that. Throughout my conversations with people I'm surprised how many don't think Jesus will do what He said He would do. Jesus is a man of His word and if He said we would never thirst again, He means it. The Samaritan woman is one instance of His power (John 4:1-45). The Samaritan woman is one instance of His love that gave her the confidence to know who she was in Christ. And guess what she did after her amazing encounter with Him? She opened her mouth and invited other Samaritans to encounter Him. That...

" And whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed" ( Genesis 39 :23). Such was the case with Joseph after his brothers left him in the pit of what probably seemed like hell to Joseph ( Genesis 38 ). Such was the case when Joseph was taken out of a place he wasn't sure he'd ever get away from after his brothers sold him to some passersby. And such was the case when Potiphar's wife, the king who Joseph ended up working for, lied on Joseph and Joseph found himself thrown into prison. After all of that, the Lord was still with him, because the Lord had favor over his life. And whenever Joseph found himself down, he was never out. God made is so Joseph's brothers' hatred and jealousy for him didn't stop God's plan. Nothing can stop God's anointing and God's anointed. Thus, the Lord made it so Joseph would succeed every time someone wanted to ruin him. He had the Lord's success over his life and the Lord was with him wherever he went. It...

Isn't it great when we have someone we can take our challenges to when we need to? It's simply wonderful when that someone is always there when we need Him. Someone we can have refuge, safety, and shelter in. Someone who is a constant heartbeat for us who continues on for a lifetime. Well, when we have God in our lives, He is that someone who covers us and someone we can tap into at anytime. Therefore we can cast any care we have on Him and he will take care of us, because He loves us nonstop. I'm not just saying that, I know it to be true in my life and I know God is with us always as long as He lives in our heart.  So although challenges happen, trouble comes, heartache hits us, anxiety creeps in from time to time, and the list goes on, God is our continuous lifeline, And here's another thing: We must cast those cares (worries) on the Him. Why? Because 1 Peter 5 :7 says casting all your anxieties on the Lord is a good thing, because he cares for you. That'...

I think it's best taking the road less traveled sometimes, don't you?  When it comes to achieving great things, the people who don't care to fit in are the ones who are usually the ones who will get to where God has for them to go. Too many times people want to be a part of the crowd, because it makes them feel valuable. Let me tell you this: if you what to go where God is sending you, the crowd can't come, because God only called you. And He doesn't call the people who want to be around a crowded place, because it's too much going on and that can lend itself to chaos and too many distractions. What I'm saying is that you can't be afraid to go where no man has gone before. As long as God is with you, He's guiding you and you will be ok.  In the bible, Esther found herself alone. She was preparing to go to the next level the Lord had for her and she knew she couldn't hang out with the rest of the women. She had to focus. She knew she ha...

The Lord loves all people. There is no hatred in Him when it comes to people. He hates the deeds that we sometimes do, but He doesn't hate us. Why? Because the God who is made up of love cannot hate anyone and "whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love" ( 1 John 4 :8 ). And that means that God will never turn His back on us no matter what we've done. I'm not saying there will be no consequences. I'm just saying God will be with us throughout what we may have to go through. And when He is with us, who can be against us? He will never leave us or forsake us.  So, considering that, why do you think people have turned that backs on Him? Why do you think when everything was going well, some people were all for Him, but as soon as things started going down, they turned their backs? He was there for them and now they act as though He hasn't done anything for them. All He did was love them -- love all of us. For, as the scripture says, H...

I looked up the word, stream and a stream is a continuous flow of motion. It moves right along with the flow. Is that what we're doing? Are we moving with the flow of God? Are we going in the direction He would have for us? Did you know God makes the crooked places straight? Yes, it's true. In Isaiah 45 :2 , God says " I will go before you   and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze   and cut through bars of iron." How amazing is that? That God would do that for His people? So you need not worry about busting through any doors, God will open those for you too ( Isaiah 45:1b ). And you don't have to concern yourself with deviating from the plan He has given you. Why would you do that anyway? There is no need. He said He would go before you and level the places out, didn't He (read verse 2 again)? That means when you get where you're going, everything will be nicely laid out for you as though it was all waiting for you, in which...

Isn't it great to never be hungry or thirsty?  That's the awesome assurance we get from God. It's an awesome guarantee that Jesus tells us in John 6:35 when He declares, " I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty." So you can walk in confidence that with Jesus you will never go wrong. Your life will always be one of protection and coverage in all the things of God. Never being hungry or thirsty means always having an endless supply of wisdom, grace, favor, mercy and all the things that go with those promises. God activates those things as we continue to trust in Him to do so. We seldom know when He will act and when He will wait for us to act. It's a exchange as God develops us in our walk with Him, because He wants us to be great ambassadors for His kingdom. He wants us to look more like Him each day and as we do that we will never be hungry or thirty again.  Isn't t...

Just in case you may be wondering, Jesus can fix, heal, repair, restore, or reclaim anything that you are in need for Him to do.  If He can do it for the blind beggar He passed by, He can surely do it for us. In Luke 18 :41:43 , Jesus asked the blind man what it was He wanted Jesus to do for him and the blind man said he wanted his sight recovered. And Jesus said to him,  “recover your sight; your faith has made you well"  and immediately he recovered his sight and the blind man followed Jesus. It was just that quick. The blind man didn't care who was around or what people were saying. He knew he needed Jesus of Nazareth. Now, what do you think it was that made the blind man call out to Jesus? I think it was simply that he was tired of being blind and wanted to be healed, so he figured, 'hey Jesus is passing by, this is my opportunity' and it paid off. It was clearly his eye-sight, but let's not forget to where it is we have come from. We were once blind too...

God knows.  He knows what happened and He knows why it happened. He even knew before it happened that it would happen. He's God and that's why He's the only omnipotent God. Just as He knew us before we were born ( Jeremiah 1 :5),  He knows what we're going to do before we even do it. You may ask, if God knows, then why did it happen? I can't answer that. All I can say is that God knows and His ways are better than our ways. His plans are better than our plans.  I have to stand on that. I have to be settled in my spirit about it. That's what we all have to do if we are going to be able to be at peace with certain things that happened or didn't happen. We have to know that God knows and He knows best. He always will.

"The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters; the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook" ( Proverbs 18 :4). Continue to speak positive and wise, so your words have power to impact. It doesn't matter what's going on around you. Continue to pray and speak well to those who may not speak well of you. That's what Jesus did and when we strive to be more like Him we will become closer to Him. Nobody else is quite the role model. He is it. Nobody else holds a candle to Him. He is our spiritual and super natural role model and He's kind and loving, He even gives us natural role models. Do you have anyone in your life you look up to? You admire? If not, pray that the Lord will put someone in your life and He'll do it. Speak that over your life, because we can all use more positive in our lives, right? It can't hurt. In the meantime, speak life over your life and speak well of others, because your words should be like deep waters and wisdom coming fro...

Did you know you are an expert? Did you know you are more diligent than you may think? The question is, what are you doing with all that diligence?  Proverbs 22 :29 says, do you see a man skillful [diligent] in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men."  Well if you have been  diligent and consistent, more than likely you should be close to standing with powerful kings (ie, important people who are impacting change). That's right, if you've been doing something for at least 10,000 hours, studies show you're an expert and you are great at your craft because you have practiced for a long time. In the book Outliers , author Malcolm Gladwell says that it takes about 10,000 hours of practice to achieve mastery in any given field. I did the math regarding how long it would take someone who worked at something for 3 hours everyday, and it would take them about 10 years to reach 10,000 hours. Imagine that.  What's my point? It...

Jesus paid it all. He gave everything for us. My pastor spoke a great message yesterday about Jesus dying on the cross for us. The following are my notes:  When Jesus died, He paid the interest for us. In other words He paid for our value in full and didn't charge us anything. When we need peace, deliverance, joy, healing, resurrection power, or whatever it is, Jesus paid it in full and there is nothing we did to deserve it. There is also nothing more we can do to change that. Jesus gave it all, because He loves us. He died so we didn't have to. Isn't that great? Who else can we say that about?  The scripture reference was John 19 :30, which says, "when he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is  finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit." That's what happened. If you want to get a free relationship with Him, Romans 10 :9-11 says this: "If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that...

When we follow the steps that God orders for our life, our life will be so much better. I know that for a fact, because finally I had to let go and let God instead of trying to make everything fit into my life. And it's paying off. It's paying off, because God is a God of order and discipline. He does things in excellence. He's doesn't do things in an unorganized, chaotic, haphazard, sub-standard fashion. That means He's not going to bless a mess. He's not going to put His stamp of approval on the things we want that He knows aren't good for us. It doesn't matter how much we plan and how hard we work. It doesn't matter how much blood, sweat, and tears we shed to get it. If God didn't ordain it for our lives, it's not going to work for any considerable amount of time. It doesn't matter how much we get accolades and even the money we may get for it. If it wasn't sanctioned by God, it's not going to have any leverage and we will...

Just as the air is flowing through the atmosphere, God is with you. He will never leave you or forsake you. You may feel all alone, you may feel like nobody gets you, you may feel like God has forgotten about you, but know this: you're not alone, somebody else is feeling exactly the way you are. The "right" people understand you, because they have been where you are. And God is certainly thinking about you, oh yes, He has you on His mind. He knows the exact plans He has for you. He is keeping you safe and ensuring you're not put in any harm. He is putting things in place for your prosperity. And He is giving you a hope & a future. How do I know? Because Jeremiah 29:11 tells us so. Perhaps those words were written for you at this present moment in time. God's words have many purposes. Maybe just maybe He has you reading these very words at this very time for such a time as this in your life. Could it be that He knew what you wanted and needed to read ri...

I have a question for you? Are you trying to please people more than you're trying to please God? At one point in my life I certainly was. I was more concerned about what people thought and said about me than what God did. Now, forget about all of that. I realize I must focus on doing the things God wants me to do and when I do those things I will be much more helpful to people. It's true. Once we start getting in the place God has for us, we will not have one care in the world about the thoughts or words from people who mean us no good. Let me tell you, it's not worth your time to give any credit to the cares of the world, because they will wear you down. Concern yourself, first off, by what God thinks and says about you and there are many great things. And after that concern yourself with what your wise inner circle has to say, because they will be coming from a place of love and will want the best for you. They are the consistent ones you can count on. They're ...

Do you know God is pleased with you? Oh yes, 1 Peter 2 :19-25 says, "for God is pleased when, conscious of his will, you patiently endure unjust treatment. Of course, you get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong. But if you suffer for doing good and endure it patiently, God is pleased with you." That's right. He's pleased with the fact that you didn't abandon Him when the going got tough. You did just the opposite -- you ran towards Him. You ran into His loving arms. And He is pleased with you for that. Some people are so mad at God that they haven't spoken to Him in a long time. They hold Him responsible that He didn't stop their bad decisions even though He gave them warning after warning. Not you though. Although you may have messed up and messed up royally, God loves the after-fact -- He loves that you changed for the better. You became more humble, you started living your life for Him again and not yourself.  So,...

Proverbs 11 :30 says, "the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and whoever captures souls is wise." Are we doing enough to win people to Christ? Are we doing enough to use our gifts for the Lord? Are we doing enough to put ourselves out there in order to draw men unto Jesus? Did you know that's one of the major reasons we were born? We were made in God's image and God wants people to be more like His image. Some of us really don't realize who we are and the major impact we can have on others. Some of us think we are simply existing for no reason, so there is no belief and faith in what God has for us and what He wants us to do. It's a ho-hum existence of nothingness. We just go through our day doing the same thing over and over again accomplishing nothing. I don't know about you, but I don't want to go through life that anymore. I used to do that. It was unfulfilling and it wasn't helping anybody, not even myself. Do you want to live a...

"For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch" ( Isaiah 62 :1). In other words, for God's sake I will not keep silent and I will speak . That's exactly what He wants us to do. He wants us to open our mouths and speak on His behalf. John 12:32 says, Jesus, when He is lifted up from the earth, will draw all men [people] to Him.' Can't we also draw people unto Him if we are made in His image and covered by His blood? Why not? Why can't we do whatever it is we were born to do, to draw people to Him? Why can't we use our voices to do that? We can indeed and you know what else we can do? We can use the gifts and talents He blessed us with to step it up. We can do much more. Each one of us has something unique only we can do and no other soul can do it. What do I mean? If two people sing the same exact song, the songs will be...

Did you know that God knows what we need before we ask Him? Yes, it's true. Matthew 6 :8 tells us so. And Matthew 6:10 tells us that God's will, will be done on earth as it is in heaven. That means you're blessed to do whatever it is He has for you to do. That means you cannot fail because if God's will is for you to do it and you are going forth in faith, then it is a done deal. Do you understand? When we start knowing who we are in the Lord, we can walk with a boldness and a confidence that we will be victorious. I am not talking about walking in cockiness or arrogance. Those attitudes don't come from God, because they tend to make one think they are above others and that they are justified in looking down on them. Such attitudes have just the opposite affect. They don't honor God and we can rest assured that God won't honor them, so that's not what we want. We want to connect with the people God wants us to impact in order to make His world be...

Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil ( Ephesians 6 :11). Don't walk away from what God has for you. Push through the struggle. Push through the inconvenience. Push through the rejection. Push through those who don't understand what you're doing or where you're going. Stand firm on what the Lord told you. He's made promises to you, remember? He's reminded you of those promises in Jeremiah 29:11 , Proverbs 3:5/6 , Matthew 6:33 , Philippians 4:13 , John 3:16 , John 3:30 and I can go on and on and on. Each one of those scriptures speaks to how the Lord will come through for anybody who knows He's their father, their friend, their confidant, their everything. Standing firm in Him is for anybody who has accepted Him as their Lord and Savior by confessing H...

Let your eyes look directly forward and your gaze be straight before you ( Proverbs 4 :25). That scripture means to stay focused on continuously gaining wisdom and insight. It means looking towards the light and not having anything to do with darkness. It means to take the road of goodness, not the road of bad and evil. It doesn't mean we won't ever have problems. It just means we will walk with more power throughout our challenges. We will be able to speak life, not death and defeat to them.  Proverbs 4:10-12 says to accept what the Lord says, that the years of our lives will be many when we walk in the way of wisdom; that our steps will not be hampered and when we run we will not stumble. But don't try to look at all of this with your natural eyes though, because if you do you may start getting confused, because you may think all of your problems will be stumbles when they're not. They may simply be God's ordered steps over your life. They may be there to ...

Are you tired? Are you so busy it seems you hardly get a minute to relax? Are you stressed and pressured to the max, because of life's challenges? If so, guess what? Jesus has come with more good news for you. He says, “come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" ( Matthew 11 :28). That's right, His words are right there plain as day. Aren't they wonderful reassuring words of His goodness? Isn't it great to be reminded, once again, that He will give us rest when we need it? He will make it so we are filled with peace and comfort when we need it. All we have to do is continuously make Him our source -- our energy source. We can never go wrong with the Lord who gives us peace when we seem to be growing weary. He will ensure we are stopped in our tracks as He redirects us with His overflow of strength and vitality. He is an endless source for us. 

"Do not fret [worry] because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong" (Psalm 37:1).  Translation? You're not missing anything not being a part of the "hip cool" crowd. Trust and believe that. All that matters is that you position yourself around the people with a vision who live for the Lord. They are the ones who will become more in life, because they will be able to possess natural and supernatural power. Now, that's power. Consequently, it doesn't matter if things seem boring or ordinary, because you can best believe there is much movement behind the scenes. And you can best believe that God is going to show people how it's done through your life. You have been serving Him and serving Him some more. Don't think any of it has been in vain. God honors those who honor Him. As I say often in many of my blog posts, serving and honoring God doesn't mean everything will go perfectly, because we will still have our challe...