Tues.’s Devo - Till the End

Read: Isa. 60:1-62:5; Phil. 1:27:2:18; Ps. 72:1-20; Pr. 24:11-12 We are seeing these scriptures fulfilled in our lifetime. The Gentile are coming into the kingdom and will continue like a flood. We are about to see the largest harvest ever before which will precipitate the Jewish harvest. We, as Gentiles are to provoke them to jealousy in our faith toward God and Jesus. The Jew that has been forsaken and hated will become an eternal excellence and joy. Violence will no more be heard in the land of Israel! Won’t that be a welcome change? I have to admit some of this sounds too good to be true, but it is not. When God declares something its a done thing. I believe this is talking about the seventh millennium but it will happen. We read in Isaiah that our gates should be praise and in Phillippians we read that our conversation should honor the gospel of Christ. Our gates are our mouths. We should guard what comes out of our mouths and let it be praise and wisdom. We should honor one another above ourselves and walk humbly before God. We can have the mind of Christ which makes us a servant. If Christ could submit to death, then we should be able to submit to our boss, or our husband, or to what God is asking of us. Only by dying to ourselves are we able to be exalted by God. We will see that our sacrifice will not be in vain. Lord, thank you for Your plans for a great future. Help us to not get weary in well doing but to patiently endure with joy till you come.

Mon.’s Devo - The Reason and Benfits of Fasting

Read: Is. 57:14-59:21; Philippians 1:1-26; Ps. 71:1-24; Pr. 24:9-10 God is a redemptive god. He lists man’s sins and rebellion then says in 57:18, “I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts to him and to his mourners.” God’s mercy knows no bounds! Isaiah 58 is known as the “fast chapter” because it explains why we fast. It is not to seem righteous and holy to others. It is to deprive yourself of a daily need so you will be compassionate toward those who are needy. Spiritually it is to break free those who have been bound under Satan’s power. So we mix fasting with prayer. Fasting clears our minds and spirits so that the light of Jesus can shine brighter through us. When we willingly do without as a fast to the Lord, then we won’t be forced to do it in famine. God will reward us then. There are other ways we please God: we don’t always do what we want to do but we honor God with calling holy what He calls holy. When we honor a day of rest and delight in the Lord, God will give us the promises of promotion and blessing. The last verse in chapter 59 is another great declaration for our families: “My spirit that is upon you, and my words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth nor out of the mouth of your seed, nor out of the mouth of your seed’s seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever.” This is our prayer today.

Sun.’s Devo - The Power of The Word

Read: Isa. 54:1-57:13; Eph. 6:1-24; Ps. 70:1-5; Pr. 24:8 It is amazing how many promises that we stand on are found in Isaiah. If you need a good rock to stand on for your children you can use Isa. 54:13-14 (“And all my children shall be taught of the Lord…”). For spiritual warfare, try Isa.54:17 (“No weapon formed against me shall prosper…”). If you are confused, Isa. 55:8-11 is a good reminder (“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord...”). If you are anxious and are having a hard time sleeping you can claim Isa. 57:2 (“I will enter into peace: I will rest when I go to bed.”) In Ephesians we have instructions on how to receive the blessings of God like: children honor your parents; fathers don’t provoke your children; servants obey your masters; be strong in the Lord; and put on the whole armor of God. Since our enemies are not earthly beings but invisible spiritual beings, our weapons must be invisible and spiritual also. Our first piece of armor is having our loins girt about with truth. That means we have the seed of God in our inmost being - our reproductive parts. This is talking about salvation. If we don’t have this truth, none of the other pieces will work. The next is the breastplate of righteousness. This has to do with the sanctification process that accompanies those who are truly saved. They want a pure heart. The next has to do with our walk. If we are truly saved then we will want to share it with others. Our faith is our next weapon. It acts as a shield against all the lies and discouragements the devil brings our way. Then we are to take the helmet of salvation. Our mind has to be covered with salvation. Our head must be covered with the blood. Last of all the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Notice that the Spirit and the Word work together. The Word has to be breathed forth from God for it to have power. Anyone can use the Word to preach their doctrine but unless it is breathed on by the Spirit is will bring death and not life. The Word is our weapon. We got ammunition in Isaiah to put in our guns, our mouths, that we can proclaim God’s Word back to him with power. God promised in Isa. 55:11, “So shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” Lord, teach us to use Your Word to accomplish Your will on earth.

Sat.’s Devo - Walk in Love

Read Is. 51:1-53:12; Eph. 5:1-33; Ps. 69:19-36; Pr. 24:7 Today’s reading is one of hope. God calls Israel to remember their roots. They were called out of the seed of Abraham and salvation is coming. One day everything they went through will make sense and be rewarded. Faith is what saved them then and what still saves us today. They had faith looking forward for the Messiah, we have faith looking back at the Messiah. It is all the same. Faith is what saves us. We are still looking forward to the Messiah to come again. Isaiah 53 is probably the best Old Testament prophecy about Jesus’ first coming. I wonder what they thought about this scripture since they seemed to be thinking the Messiah would be a king and not a suffering servant. We could sum up the whole chapter of Ephesians and the New Testament in what Paul says in Ephesians 2: “Walk in love.” If we walk in Christ’s love then we wouldn’t want to do lewd acts or participate with sinners. Our righteousness would shine and we would be children of light. We would desire to be wise and walk in the Spirit. Paul even gives a description of a person who walks in the spirit. They speak the Word, sing the Word, pray and praise God with their lips. They are thankful for all things. If we walk in love then we can submit to our husbands and honor them as our spiritual head. Husbands can love their wives as Christ loves the church. Lord, help us to walk in Your love today.

Fri.’s Devo - Renew Our Minds to Receive God’s Promises

Read: Is. 48:12-50:11; Eph. 4:17-32 Ps. 69:1-18; Pr. 24:5-6 There are some real nuggets in today’s reading. God promises in 48:15 to make our way prosperous. In verse 17 it says that God will teach us to profit and lead us by the way that we should go. If we will obey what the Word says then we will experience peace and righteousness. We won’t thirst when we walk through the deserts of life. Because God has chosen us like he chose Israel, we have been given a covenant with God to establish and inherit the earth. God will have mercy on his people and comfort us. We are engraved on the palms of God’s hands. Those that wait on God’s promises will never be ashamed. God will contend with the enemy and save our children. In Chapter 50, God promises to give us the speech of the wise that we will know what to say to those who are weary. He will open our spiritual ears to be able to hear His voice. These are some pretty good promises! Ephesians talks about being renewed in the spirit of our minds. That means having God’s perspective of life. We are spiritual people having a temporary earthly experience but we tend to live contrary to that belief. We are to put on the new man who doesn’t lie, isn’t angry, and doesn’t give the devil any attention in their life. This new man walks unafraid in the truth being kind and loving to everyone. Lord, renew our minds in You today.

Thurs.’s Devo - Commanding God’s Promises

Read: Is. 45:11-48:11; Eph. 4:1-16; Ps. 68:19-35; Pr. 24:3-4 When I read today’s reading I was made aware of the many times God used the word “commanded” or “declared”. He tells us to ask of Him things concerning the future and his church. We are to command Him concerning His doings. In other words… we read the promises and command them to happen. God has promised to raise up the righteous and direct all his ways. When we don’t see this happening we can call God on it (not disrespectfully). We have a part in making God’s promises come to pass. We need to agree with heaven to bring those promises down. In Is. 46:10 and in Is. 48:3 it says that God declares the end from the beginning. God declares the way a person or happening will end at the moment of its conception. How the middle goes is up to our agreement. We can do life the hard way and enter a life of discipline and hard knocks or we can do it God’s way and the path will be made smooth. I’m not saying their won’t be trials because there will be, but we will see the big picture and never lose our joy, peace and hope. In Ephesians we read that when Jesus rose from the dead he was rising from the lower parts of Sheol where all the people went who died before He came. He preached freedom to them and those who believed rose with Him when He rose. When Jesus rose he appointed ambassadors to carry out His work on earth. He gave them the grace to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers to edify the body of Christ. Lord, thank you for Your promises. Help us to command them by Your Spirit to bring heaven to earth.

Wed.’s Devo - Prayers For Our Children

Read: Is. 43:14-45:10; Eph. 3:1-21: Ps. 68:1-18; Pr. 24:1-2 I just got home from visiting two of my sons and their families so my heart is heavy for them. As parents we want to see our children prospering in every way and it is easy for me to see all the things I should have done or prepared them for. It is hard not to feel like a failure, so I am so glad for the great promises in today’s reading. In Chapter 43, God says He will make a way when it seems impossible: a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. If you think about that, it is all impossible situations…it is impossible to make a path in the waters of a storm. But, God can do even that. No matter what our storm is, God can make a way out of it. In Chapter 44, God promises to pour out His spirit on our seed and His blessings on our offspring. God is our redeemer that formed us and our children in the womb. He will raise up decayed places like Jerusalem that had become uninhabited. To me, those decayed and uninhabited places are like unfulfilled dreams or plans. God can take the pieces our our failures and build them back into successes. In Chapter 45, God promises to go before us and make crooked places straight and break in pieces the gates of brass. God will make the hard times turn into prosperous times and tear down the things that are keeping us or our kids from encountering HIm. I have to bring out one verse that people have a hard time with and it is 45:7. The King James says that God created peace and evil. God is the creator of all things: good and bad. He created light and darkness, a tree with fruit of knowledge of good and evil. This should comfort us because God controls his creation. Lord may our children and grand children be strengthened with might by Your Spirit in their inner man; that You may dwell in their hearts by faith in their inner man. May they know the love of Christ and be filled with all the fulness of God because you are able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us.