“Be strong and brave. Don’t be afraid of them. Don’t be terrified because of them. The Lord your God will go with you. He will never leave you. He’ll never desert you.” Deuteronomy 31:6 NIRV
What a promise! I have a bigger chance at succeeding everyday in every way when I remember this verse.

Have you ever been asked to do something that you were incapable of doing? Were you afraid? I’ve been there before! What makes a task seem so impossible and creates a sense of fear and defeat before we even attempt to do it? I believe the answer to that question is our focus. When we rely on our own ability, our focus is on us and our failure is locked up tightly in our mind because we know we are unable.

So many times I have faced impossible situations in my own strength and failed miserably only to remember that I am no longer my own, I belong to God. Father, you have called me and I have answered, “Here I am Lord!” But when you said go and do that, I froze in fear. My mind said, “I can’t!” and I allowed my fear of failure to barricade me behind what I thought was a safe place, but when I looked behind me, my enemy was there, laughing at me, taunting me.
Call me again, Lord! That I may hear Your voice and run wildly to Your arms for it is my only place of safety. You were never looking for my ability, but my willingness to obey. It’s in obedience and worship that I am able. When my eyes are on You, my ears are open to You and my heart is willing to obey, then YOUR Kingdom will come and YOUR will be done.
It’s time to put on big girl panties and stand with my Father. He trains my hands for war and my heart for obedience so that I may walk in promises fulfilled. Whats past is past, leave it and move on.

Now, to the one with enough power to prevent you from stumbling into sin and bring you faultless before his glorious presence to stand before him with ecstatic delight,  to the only God our Savior, through our Lord Jesus Christ, be endless glory and majesty, great power and authority—from before he created time, now, and throughout all the ages of eternity. Amen! Jude 24-25 TPT

I love any scripture that reminds me of the powerful God I serve and the way Jude closes his letter reflects that. The one with enough power to prevent me from stumbling back into sin again. Now that right there is HUGE! I know I can’t in my own ability, but when I rely on the power of Jesus to do it, what’s done is done and can’t be undone.

But get this picture solidified in your mind right now; not only is His blood powerful enough to keep you from sin, but it brings you faultless before His presence to stand in ecstatic delight.  Faultless! As if you’ve never sinned. Washed completely clean. Even when you run through a mud puddle it doesn’t stick to your shoes. Now that’s awesome!

I don’t know about you but when I think about just that, it makes me want to fall on my face and cry. What great love the Father had for us. He saw we needed a savior and sent His only son to make us clean and keep us clean. To make us healed and keep us healed. To make us rich and keep us rich. To make us forgiven and keep us forgiven. Our part is to believe it and receive it.

“I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus, the Nazarene and wonder how He could love me a sinner, condemned, unclean. How marvelous, how wonderful, and my song shall ever be; How marvelous, how wonderful is my saviors love for me!” My Saviors Love, Chas Gabriel 1905

I believe! I receive everything You purchase for me. Thank You for this truly amazing gift which included everything I would ever need for life. What a well thought out plan! I give You all praise, honor and glory in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.

Keep being compassionate to those who still have doubts, and snatch others out of the fire to save them. Be merciful over and over to them, but always couple your mercy with the fear of God. Be extremely careful to keep yourselves free from the pollutions of the flesh. Jude 22-23 TPT

How many of you remember show and tell? For those who don’t, it was a time when each student was given the opportunity to show something and tell about it in class. It could be a new puppy, a family heirloom, somewhere you visited over the summer. It was a way to see a part of someone you hadn’t known, to share a little personal knowledge.

I’m reminded once again that as followers of Christ Jesus, our primary goal is to also show and tell. We are to show others the love of God and use words to share the gift of salvation and what it means to experience fellowship with God. Those with doubts need convincing and those approaching the fire need rescuing.

Let us not forget mercy. I feel this word has become loosely defined of late so I’m going to include the definition from the dictionary: compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one’s power; compassion, pity, or benevolence. A good reminder, don’t you think?

It’s not the mercy the world gives, “Fool me once, shame on you! Fool me twice, shame on me!” It’s habitually and repeatedly given just as God has shown to us habitually and repeatedly. Knowing that Father is looking on, watching how you display His love on the earth. How will they know unless we show them?

And in the process of being light to the world, let us keep our lamps trimmed, our globes cleaned so the light of the gospel will shine brightly. Don’t allow the things others say and do cloud your view of what is right and wrong. As Jude said, “Be extremely careful to keep yourselves free from the pollutions of the flesh.”

Father, I ask that You help me to be merciful to others as You have shown me such great mercy. Keep me from becoming irritated at what others do or say. I’m pretty sure you understand what that’s all about! I’m so thankful that Jesus stands making intercession for me each and everyday. It’s He who made me right and I stand in awe of His sacrifice. Love You Lord! Amen

But you, my delightfully loved friends, constantly and progressively build yourselves up on the foundation of your most holy faith by praying every moment in the Spirit.  Fasten your hearts to the love of God and receive the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who gives us eternal life. Jude 20-21 TPT

Let’s look at the word ‘constant’ for a moment. The dictionary defines it as not changing or varying; uniform; regular; invariable: continuing without pause or letup; unceasing: regularly recurrent; continual; persistent: faithful; unswerving in love, devotion. Do you get the picture here? This is what Jude was saying about building yourself up on your most holy faith by praying every moment in the Spirit.

Oh but that’s not the only word he used. He went so far as to add to that word, ‘progressively’. Let’s take a look at what the dictionary says about that. Once again the dictionary says favoring or advocating progress, change, improvement, or reform, as opposed to wishing to maintain things as they are. Let me stop right there. 

We need to allow the Holy Spirit to pray through us the will of God in the earth. Constantly and progressively, not occasionally and comfortable. Moving forward not sitting like a couch potato. If the Holy Spirit is always moving and at work in us, then we need to move with Him and not stay stuck in tradition allowing the world to fall apart around us.

A foundation of faith is something we build on. Some of us will make it to heaven, but won’t have anything on our foundation. What have you believed God for? What have you labored in prayer for? What have you stood on the foundation of His Word and declared into your future, your children future? What have you dared to believe and refused to give up on?

Praying is SO important! Allow the Holy Spirit to direct your prayers. Speak what He prompts you to speak. Pray radical prayers. Is anything too hard for God? Ask God to show you where your belief meter registers with Him. Is it barely visible or has it become a resounding YES in heaven?

Oh Father, my Father. How excellent is Your name in all the earth. We Your people ask that You cause us to declare Your name in the earth today. Declare salvation in our homes, in our work places, in our families. The kind of salvation that leaves nothing missing or broken in our finances, our bodies and our relationships. May Your Kingdom come and Your will be done in the earth today. It’s in Jesus’ name, Amen.

But you, my delightfully loved friends, remember the prophecies of the apostles of our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One. They taught you, “In the last days there will always be mockers, motivated by their own ungodly desires.”  These people cause divisions and are followers of their own natural instincts, devoid of the life of the Spirit. Jude 17-19

I’ve been seeing some very disturbing things on social media and even the traditional news stations which seem to be swaying the opinions of Christians, yes that’s right, Christians around the globe. I felt a stirring in my spirit to expose some truth which seems hidden in the deception that’s flying freely.

The truth is this my friends, we are living in a season where the voice of the mockers, the haters, the deceived, have become loud and proud in the world. They will not listen to reason or truth, why? Because the voice of the prayer warriors has been silenced in the earth.

Hear me please. I know there are still men and women in the earth that pray today, but they seem to pray under the influence of the deception they hear with their natural ears and see with their natural eyes. They’ve allowed themselves to be swayed by opinions rather then the Word of truth from the Word of God.

Where are those who are so tuned into the voice of God that they will only speak what He says? Where are those who measure truth by the Bible instead of symptoms? Who allow God to be God and every man who rises his voice in objection to be the liar? Where are those who stand in the gap between heaven and earth, between flesh and spirit and cry out in intercession?

Where are the mothers who refuse to acknowledge as final say, what the world has done to sway their children from their God given destiny? The fathers who cry out day and night, “Come back to God, my son/daughter!” Where are the grandparents who will stop speaking what they see in this natural realm and fix their eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of their faith? Where are the friends who are willing to speak the truth in love whether it’s popular or not?

I love you enough to tell you when you’re deceived, when what you’re saying or thinking is not what the Word says. There’s only one way to God and that’s through believing that the blood Jesus shed was enough to bring you into fellowship again with God. It’s enough to bring your children back to God. It’s enough to manifest healing in your body. It’s enough!

Father, hear my cry today. Open the eyes of our understanding, that we may hear and know the difference between a truth and a lie. May we never be satisfied with anything less than Your Word. May we meditate on it until we become convinced of it’s power to overcome the deception being spread like a cancer among Your people. We break off the lies of the enemy! Satan, let Gods people go! You have no right to hold them in your grip any longer. Release them and let them go free in Jesus’ name. Amen!

I will bring the one third through the fire; I will refine them as one refines silver, and I will test them as one tests gold. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them; I will say, “They are my people,” and they will say, “The Lord is my God.” Zechariah 13:9

I used to dread tests but now I can’t wait for a test to come. Once I understood what tests really are, it was a no-brainer! The dictionary defines tests as; the means by which the presence, quality, or genuineness of anything is determined; a means of trial; the trial of the quality of something.

You see, tests are designed to show your quality, what you’re made of, your endurance and stability when you go through things. It’s a way to see if we’ve actually learned something. As God spoke to the prophet Zechariah, this process of testing would define who we are and Whose we are. Once the testing is over, we would unquestionably say, “The Lord is my God!”

Every time I encounter an adversary, I use the tools God gave me to overcome, the Word. The Word is in my heart and in my mouth. What comes out of my mouth during a test determines if I come out victorious or have to re-take the test.

I am pretty confident that I can 4 point any exam now, bring it on! “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.” I Corinth 10:13

Father, I know from my past that when I call on You, You hear me, You answer me and show me things I didn’t know before. You may not give me all I want, but You definitely give me all I need. You’re a good God, a Faithful Father and You live in me. You’ve given me the ability to pass every test so that I will come out pure gold. I live for You that You may be glorified in the earth. It’s for Jesus! Amen

Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus. In him, this is what we preach and pray, the great Amen, God’s Yes and our Yes together, gloriously evident. God affirms us, making us a sure thing in Christ, putting his Yes within us. By his Spirit he has stamped us with his eternal pledge—a sure beginning of what he is destined to complete. 2 Corinthians 1:20-22 Message

Promises, promises, promises! I hear it but I don’t see it. Ever feel like that? You’re hearing one thing and seeing another as you slowly slip into an abyss of seemingly broken promises. Nothing good seems to happen to you through no fault of your own. You’ve been faithful, you’ve stood unwavering when the black storms hammered you over and over again. You’re a train wreck! When will help come, you ask?

I’m reminded once more of Elijah and the long drought, when he prayed for rain. He didn’t give up when he saw nothing once. Twice. Six times! Ok, one more time….tiny little cloud. Most of us would have said, ‘STILL NOTHING!’ Why report a cloud that small when you need a kazillion more with it just to wet the ground?

I Kings 18:45 Message says it like this; “Things happened fast. The sky grew black with wind-driven clouds, and then a huge cloudburst of rain, with Ahab hightailing it in his chariot for Jezreel.” OMG did you see that? Things happened fast!

I’ve been sensing this in my spirit so, so strong for so, so long. It’s gonna happen so fast it will overwhelm me. The Spirit of the Lord spoke to me a while ago, that when things begin to happen, it would happen so fast it would take my breath away. I became breathlessly excited just thinking of it.

So what should I do? Do I patiently wait for it, or do I give up on the promises of rain? I mean, really! How long should I have to wait, anyway! Twenty years ago sitting in a friends house after prayer I had a vision. I saw an overhead window with a hand on the latch and the words, “I’m getting ready to open a window over your life to bless you. Get ready for it!” Again ten years ago after Saturday night prayer, I saw the same window, the hand had turned the latch and I saw the window bulging. The word then was, “Get ready, it’s gonna bury you alive! You won’t be able to run fast enough because my blessings will chase after you!” Two years ago yet again, “Like a Tsunami the wave of my blessing will overtake you.”

A resounding YES with the YES of God. Where two agree, as Jesus said, it’s a done deal. I don’t care how long before it manifests, I just know it will because God never, NEVER breaks a promise.

I don’t know what your promise is, but I do know the promise keeper! I don’t care how long I have to wait to see the manifestation of the promise. The cloud may look too small to do anything significant, but when God adds His YES to it, baby you’d better run for cover or get doused big time! I’ll just continue having faith in God and watch the sky be black with the abundance of rain. After all, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not yet seen. Hebrews 11:1

“Jesus also did many other things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written.” John 18:25

Wonder how many pages could be written of the things I’ve done in my lifetime, the things that count for Christ? The fact is, and I’m being real here, “greater things than this shall you do” has not happened in my life that I’m aware of and I think I’d of noticed if it had. So what’s lacking?

Search my heart, Lord. See if there be any wicked way in me. Purify me. I really want to know why the signs, wonders and miracles aren’t following me, because I really do believe.

Perhaps it’s because there has not been a demand placed on the supernatural. Why do we need something when we can just charge it, buy it, go to the doctor? We’ve become such a self-dependent society that we just don’t need what God has to offer until we do. It’s not until we get to the end of our means that we cry out to Him.

I’m running to you God, not the medicine cabinet. When I’m in pain, I call out, “Your stripes! Your stripes! They were for me! Thank you!” When I am down for the count, You lift me up to win. You’ve made me more than a winner! This year for Christmas, I give You the only thing I have, all of me. There’s nothing I want from You that You haven’t already made provision for. I’m satisfied in just wanting more of You. More compassion for the lost, broken and hurting. All for You, Lord.

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1 NASB

The definition of the word dwell is; to live or continue in a given condition or state. I believe that where we live, our environment or the atmosphere in which we reside, is so important in maintaining our peace and safety.  When I read this in the Young’s Literal Translation it gives a fuller meaning; “He who is dwelling In the secret place of the Most High, in the shade of the Mighty lodgeth habitually.”

Have you ever heard someone say that what you do for 21 days forms a habit? It’s true! When you form new habits and consistently do the same thing repeatedly, it becomes part of your routine. That’s what I did about 8 years ago when I was challenged by our pastors wife to get up early every morning and spend time in the Word and journal daily. It was our first homework assignment I believe.

As much as I love to read and write, to commit to doing it every day was a real challenge for me. I’m far too spontaneous for that! Every excuse you can imagine bombarded my mind, but once I said yes, everything changed. It’s as if that obedience opened the door for greater clarity, greater revelation and a deeper understanding of who I am in Christ. What I thought I knew has become something far greater than I could have imagined.

Make a habit of continually living in His presence. Not just when it’s convenient, or when you’re desperate for an answer. Do it because without His constant touch on your life, it would be a life with no purpose.

Father I choose to hide under the shade of Your wings. It’s there that no evil will come near me. It’s there where You teach me and bring me to know You more. I will live in this place You’ve provided for me and enjoy Your peace. It’s in Jesus’ name always, Amen.

I was just remembering the time I made breakfast for my family with the prompting of Shannon. It was a weekday and although I always loved doing things for them, this particular morning, I had gone long on my devotions and didn’t have a whole lot of time to get ready for work.

“You make the best omelets, Mom!” So I made us an omelet. Just as I was finishing, she came out, put her arm around me and said, “I love you Mom, you’re the best, even when you don’t want to be a mom.” Even on my very worst day, in the middle of chaos at work when bad turns to worse, that brings a smile to my face.

That’s how I feel when I think about Jesus and what He’s done for me. The joy and laughter that bubbles up inside as I observe His hands in the details of my life. He does all that for me! Because He loves ME!

 I was reading in John 17 where Jesus prayed for us, a whole chapter just for us. The very last 2 verses He says: “Father, you are the one who always does what is right. The world does not know you, but I know you, and these followers of mine know that you sent me. I showed them what you are like, and I will show them again. Then they will have the same love that you have for me, and I will live in them.”

My family knows me! They know that I’m the same at home as I am out in the world. I want to be known as a woman of love, the kind that God is. I’ll demonstrate it at home, I’ll demonstrate it at work, I’ll demonstrate it when I feel like it or when I don’t.  

Jesus, I’m so thankful you prayed for me then and you sit at the right hand of Father praying for me now.  It’s all for Love. I step aside so that you may be more visible in me, Lord. May your light, the light of your love shine so bright that my face is not seen. May I reflect you today, even when I don’t want to. It’s in Your name I pray, Amen.