Read: Isaiah 60:1-62:5; Philippians 1:27-18; Psalm 72:1-20; Proverbs 24:11-12
Today’s reading is a word for America and for Israel. God wants us to rise and let our light shine because we are suppose to be a nation that other nations look to and see the light of God. We are to send missionaries all over the world and be a beacon of truth. We are to be the land of the brave and the free so let’s start believing this and living it.
Of course, this is also speaking to Israel and it will be the place of God’s sanctuary. Those that despised it will bow down and call it God’s city. There will come a day when there will not be any violence in the streets of Jerusalem. This has to be good news to them. God will restore Jerusalem to be his home.
In Isaiah 61, Isaiah proclaims his mission in life which is a Messianic prophesy about Jesus’ mission also. Jesus read from this very passage in the temple in his own home town in Luke 4:18 but left out the line that said “the day of the vengeance of our God” because he did not come to bring vengeance. Jesus came to bring healing and grace. This is our mission on the earth also: to bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim freedom for the captives, release from darkness the prisoners, and preach the good news to the poor.
Paul told the Philippian church to live their lives in a way that brings honor to the Lord. We do this by the way we treat other people and how we look after their interests as well as our own.
I pray that one day, America will be a land married to the Lord. The Psalm today is also a word for our nation. Put our presidents name in place of “king” and pray this over him. This Psalm is his destiny; Lord let it be. May we be a people who rise up and let our light shine and bring healing and grace to the land.
Saturday, September 30, 2017
Friday, September 29, 2017
Fri.’s Devo - Prepare the Way
Read: Isaiah 57:14-59:21; Philippians 1:1-26; Psalm 71:1-24; Proverbs 24:9-10
“Build up, build up, prepare the road! Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people.” That is what God told his people through Isaiah. That is what God is saying to us today. It is not the time to tear down and criticize. It is time to unite and bind together. We are to prepare the road by getting the obstacles out of the way of our maturing in the Lord and anything that could be criticized by the world. Some of these obstacles are the same as they were then. They did as they pleased and exploited their workers. They quarreled and debated their doctrine and yet they expected their prayers to be heard. They did all this while fasting to get close to the Lord. Their lives were hypocritical and a stumbling block to those who were looking to them for answers.
Fasting and times of prayer should not be to appear spiritual but to accomplish something in the spiritual realm. It should loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of bondage. Our goal should be to set the oppressed free and to bread every yoke of bondage. We should be caring for the poor and meeting the needs of those we see, starting with our own families. When we do this we will be the light of the world and our own healing will come. We will be safe in God’s protection and He will hear our prayers and answer them. We will have discernment and revelation. When the world is unfruitful, we will be healthy and fruitful. We will then be able to build up the walls of salvation and restore the path of righteousness. If we stop doing what our flesh wants to do and start doing what the Lord created us to do, we will soar with the Spirit and be filled with joy. Every promise in the Bible will be ours.
The people of Israel had a hard time maintaining devotion to the Lord so they lived in the consequences of choosing death instead of life. To them, God promised a Redeemer who came in the person of Jesus Christ.
Paul sends a letter to the Philippians commending them for their love. He has much joy when he thinks of them and knows that God is doing a great work in them which will just get bigger and better. They are preaching the gospel and Paul encourages them to continue.
Lord, may we remove all the obstacles that keep us from running our race without any hinderances. May our lives light the way for sinners to come to You.
“Build up, build up, prepare the road! Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people.” That is what God told his people through Isaiah. That is what God is saying to us today. It is not the time to tear down and criticize. It is time to unite and bind together. We are to prepare the road by getting the obstacles out of the way of our maturing in the Lord and anything that could be criticized by the world. Some of these obstacles are the same as they were then. They did as they pleased and exploited their workers. They quarreled and debated their doctrine and yet they expected their prayers to be heard. They did all this while fasting to get close to the Lord. Their lives were hypocritical and a stumbling block to those who were looking to them for answers.
Fasting and times of prayer should not be to appear spiritual but to accomplish something in the spiritual realm. It should loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of bondage. Our goal should be to set the oppressed free and to bread every yoke of bondage. We should be caring for the poor and meeting the needs of those we see, starting with our own families. When we do this we will be the light of the world and our own healing will come. We will be safe in God’s protection and He will hear our prayers and answer them. We will have discernment and revelation. When the world is unfruitful, we will be healthy and fruitful. We will then be able to build up the walls of salvation and restore the path of righteousness. If we stop doing what our flesh wants to do and start doing what the Lord created us to do, we will soar with the Spirit and be filled with joy. Every promise in the Bible will be ours.
The people of Israel had a hard time maintaining devotion to the Lord so they lived in the consequences of choosing death instead of life. To them, God promised a Redeemer who came in the person of Jesus Christ.
Paul sends a letter to the Philippians commending them for their love. He has much joy when he thinks of them and knows that God is doing a great work in them which will just get bigger and better. They are preaching the gospel and Paul encourages them to continue.
Lord, may we remove all the obstacles that keep us from running our race without any hinderances. May our lives light the way for sinners to come to You.
Thursday, September 28, 2017
Thurs.’s Devo - Time of Joy
Read: Isaiah 54:1-57:13; Ephesians 6:1-24; Psalm 70:1-5; Proverbs 24:8
The time of judgment and discipline are over and it is time to shout for joy. God’s kindness and grace is being extended over Israel. It is time for rebuilding and restoration. They can rest assured that every promise that God gave Israel will be fulfilled.
God gives hope to the foreigner who calls on his name and the one who has been made a eunuch. He will give them a name in his temple that is better than sons or daughters. He will give them joy and acceptance.
God explains that the righteous die and no one wonders why but the reason they die is so that they will be spared from evil. They instead enter into peace and rest. This is a great reminder to us when we don’t understand the death of someone we love. God does everything out of his love for us.
Isaiah rebuked the men who were suppose to be the prophets of the day. Instead of using their gifts to warn the people of what was to come, they were using their gifts to benefit themselves. Instead of worshipping the Lord, they worshipped idols so their idols will have to save them in calamity.
Paul reminds them to honor their parents, obey their masters and treat their slaves well. He reminded them that their Master was in heaven and he had no favorites.
Then he admonished them and us that our enemy is the devil and not people. We fight him by having our spiritual armor
on and using the Word against him. We gain ground by praying in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. That means to ask God his will and then pray it.
Lord, may we open our most and fearlessly make know the mystery of the gospel. May we wear joy as our clothing today.
The time of judgment and discipline are over and it is time to shout for joy. God’s kindness and grace is being extended over Israel. It is time for rebuilding and restoration. They can rest assured that every promise that God gave Israel will be fulfilled.
God gives hope to the foreigner who calls on his name and the one who has been made a eunuch. He will give them a name in his temple that is better than sons or daughters. He will give them joy and acceptance.
God explains that the righteous die and no one wonders why but the reason they die is so that they will be spared from evil. They instead enter into peace and rest. This is a great reminder to us when we don’t understand the death of someone we love. God does everything out of his love for us.
Isaiah rebuked the men who were suppose to be the prophets of the day. Instead of using their gifts to warn the people of what was to come, they were using their gifts to benefit themselves. Instead of worshipping the Lord, they worshipped idols so their idols will have to save them in calamity.
Paul reminds them to honor their parents, obey their masters and treat their slaves well. He reminded them that their Master was in heaven and he had no favorites.
Then he admonished them and us that our enemy is the devil and not people. We fight him by having our spiritual armor
on and using the Word against him. We gain ground by praying in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. That means to ask God his will and then pray it.
Lord, may we open our most and fearlessly make know the mystery of the gospel. May we wear joy as our clothing today.
Wednesday, September 27, 2017
Wed.’s Devo - Shake Off the Dust
Read: Isaiah 51:1-53:12; Ephesians 5:1-33; Psalm 69:19-36; Proverbs 24:7
God calls out to all his remnant who pursued righteousness. He reminded them of their beginning and how he formed them. He began with Abraham and Sarah who he called out and blessed them. Surely he will take care of Israel and see them through. Just as he brought them out of Egypt and into their land, he will bring them back with joy and singing. He encourages them to wake up and shake off the dust of affliction and poverty because it is time to arise and be strong. It is time for a change; it is time for redemption.
This is so true of what God is saying to the body of Christ. It is time to rise up and shake off despair, hopelessness and fear. It is time to be strong, daring and hopeful. God is coming to our rescue and we will the the head and not the tail.
Isaiah ends with the perfect description of Jesus’ first coming to earth. It was not as a triumphant king but as a lowly servant.
Ephesians gives us a perfect picture of a Christian. They show live a life of love and purity. We are to the be light of the world so we can have no darkness in us. Our marriages should reflect the way God loves his bride and the way the bride honors her husband.
Even our Psalm describes Jesus’ death and his promise to save Zion and rebuild it. We are spiritual Zion and we will be strong on the earth.
Lord, help us to realize the power we carry and it purpose. We were created to bring glory and honor to you.
God calls out to all his remnant who pursued righteousness. He reminded them of their beginning and how he formed them. He began with Abraham and Sarah who he called out and blessed them. Surely he will take care of Israel and see them through. Just as he brought them out of Egypt and into their land, he will bring them back with joy and singing. He encourages them to wake up and shake off the dust of affliction and poverty because it is time to arise and be strong. It is time for a change; it is time for redemption.
This is so true of what God is saying to the body of Christ. It is time to rise up and shake off despair, hopelessness and fear. It is time to be strong, daring and hopeful. God is coming to our rescue and we will the the head and not the tail.
Isaiah ends with the perfect description of Jesus’ first coming to earth. It was not as a triumphant king but as a lowly servant.
Ephesians gives us a perfect picture of a Christian. They show live a life of love and purity. We are to the be light of the world so we can have no darkness in us. Our marriages should reflect the way God loves his bride and the way the bride honors her husband.
Even our Psalm describes Jesus’ death and his promise to save Zion and rebuild it. We are spiritual Zion and we will be strong on the earth.
Lord, help us to realize the power we carry and it purpose. We were created to bring glory and honor to you.
Tuesday, September 26, 2017
Tues.’s Devo - Leave Babylon
Read: Isaiah 48:12-50:11; Ephesians 4:17-32; Psalm 69:1-18; Proverbs 24:5-6
God gave Israel some great words that we should heed. He says that He is our Lord who teaches us what is best for us and directs us in the way we should go. If we pay attention to his commands then we would have peace and righteousness and our descendants would be great in number. He instructs us to leave Babylon (the confusion of the world) and rejoice in our redemption. We are instructed to remember all the times God saved us and rescued us out of our troubles. Is it too hard for God to do it again? God is faithful and he has chosen us and he will help us. He will restore our land and bring the captives out of captivity. God has not forgotten us and he will call in the prodigals and the lost to salvation. If we hope in the Lord, we will not be disappointed.
In Ephesians, Paul teaches them to not live like the world lives in lust and impurity. They are to put off the old man and its desires and be made new in the attitude of your minds. Whatever is in your mind will eventually come out of your mouth and your actions. We need to be saying things that are helpful and build one another up. The last thing Paul says is to forgive just as Christ forgave you. That includes everything.
Lord, thank you for being our redeemer and our salvation. We put our confidence in you alone.
God gave Israel some great words that we should heed. He says that He is our Lord who teaches us what is best for us and directs us in the way we should go. If we pay attention to his commands then we would have peace and righteousness and our descendants would be great in number. He instructs us to leave Babylon (the confusion of the world) and rejoice in our redemption. We are instructed to remember all the times God saved us and rescued us out of our troubles. Is it too hard for God to do it again? God is faithful and he has chosen us and he will help us. He will restore our land and bring the captives out of captivity. God has not forgotten us and he will call in the prodigals and the lost to salvation. If we hope in the Lord, we will not be disappointed.
In Ephesians, Paul teaches them to not live like the world lives in lust and impurity. They are to put off the old man and its desires and be made new in the attitude of your minds. Whatever is in your mind will eventually come out of your mouth and your actions. We need to be saying things that are helpful and build one another up. The last thing Paul says is to forgive just as Christ forgave you. That includes everything.
Lord, thank you for being our redeemer and our salvation. We put our confidence in you alone.
Monday, September 25, 2017
Mon.’s Devo - God Will Do It!
Read: Isaiah 45:11-48:11; Ephesians 4:1-18; Psalm 68:19-35; Proverbs 24:3-4
Many prophets today feel that Trump is a type of Cyrus. Yesterday, we read that Cyrus was a Persian king who God anointed to subdue nations and bring down kings. He was to make the crooked places straight and cut through hypocrisy and strongholds. God promised to give him the wealth of the wicked and wisdom. For the sake of God’s people, he called Cyrus before he knew God and chose him to rule for the elect’s sake. Woe to the person who fights against God and the one God chooses.
I have to agree with the prophets, but the first verse today says that if your don’t understand God’s choice you can ask him and he will tell you. God said that he raised up Cyrus in righteousness and He would direct his ways and through God, Cyrus would build God’s city. Cyrus would let the Jewish captives go back to Jerusalem and everyone would agree that God was in Cyrus.
Then we read about what will happen to those who had idols and trusted in things other than God. They would be put to shame and disgraced. The gods they served would fall to the power of God. God would prove himself to be the only God.
God tells them to remember the things God has done in the past because he makes known the end from the beginning. What he has said would happen will happen.
This is such a parallel to what God is doing right now in our nation and in the world. He is bringing to shame the deeds of satan and setting up his standard once again but it is a war in the spirit and in the natural.
To Babylon, God promises to bring down their pride and destroy them. They have lifted themselves above him and he is done with them.
To his covenant people who have not followed him in heart but only in words, he reminds them that he has given them fair warning. He will delay his wrath for his own sake but he will not give his glory to another.
In Ephesians, Paul admonishes them to live their lives to honor the grace God has given them. He wants them to mature in love and the gifts God has given them.
Lord, by your wisdom build our spiritual houses, through understanding may we be established and through knowledge my our rooms be filled with rare and beautiful treasures. Thank you for what you are doing in our nation. You promised you would save us and you are doing it. Help your people to unite in love and see your kingdom come to earth.
Many prophets today feel that Trump is a type of Cyrus. Yesterday, we read that Cyrus was a Persian king who God anointed to subdue nations and bring down kings. He was to make the crooked places straight and cut through hypocrisy and strongholds. God promised to give him the wealth of the wicked and wisdom. For the sake of God’s people, he called Cyrus before he knew God and chose him to rule for the elect’s sake. Woe to the person who fights against God and the one God chooses.
I have to agree with the prophets, but the first verse today says that if your don’t understand God’s choice you can ask him and he will tell you. God said that he raised up Cyrus in righteousness and He would direct his ways and through God, Cyrus would build God’s city. Cyrus would let the Jewish captives go back to Jerusalem and everyone would agree that God was in Cyrus.
Then we read about what will happen to those who had idols and trusted in things other than God. They would be put to shame and disgraced. The gods they served would fall to the power of God. God would prove himself to be the only God.
God tells them to remember the things God has done in the past because he makes known the end from the beginning. What he has said would happen will happen.
This is such a parallel to what God is doing right now in our nation and in the world. He is bringing to shame the deeds of satan and setting up his standard once again but it is a war in the spirit and in the natural.
To Babylon, God promises to bring down their pride and destroy them. They have lifted themselves above him and he is done with them.
To his covenant people who have not followed him in heart but only in words, he reminds them that he has given them fair warning. He will delay his wrath for his own sake but he will not give his glory to another.
In Ephesians, Paul admonishes them to live their lives to honor the grace God has given them. He wants them to mature in love and the gifts God has given them.
Lord, by your wisdom build our spiritual houses, through understanding may we be established and through knowledge my our rooms be filled with rare and beautiful treasures. Thank you for what you are doing in our nation. You promised you would save us and you are doing it. Help your people to unite in love and see your kingdom come to earth.
Sunday, September 24, 2017
Sun.’s Devo - God’s Grace and Deliverance
Read: Isaiah 43:14-45:10; Ephesians 3:1-21; Psalm 68:1-18; Proverbs 24:1-2
God gave them a promise of deliverance from the bondage of the Babylonians. He promised them that they would come back on the very boats they were carried away on. He is the one who led the Israelites through the desert and fed them and gave them water once, and he could do it again. But, he didn’t want them to dwell on the past, because he is going to do a new thing. He was not going to deliver then like he did then. He just wants them to know that he can deliver them and he will. God would blot out all their sins and transgressions.
Isaiah was speaking about Jesus, their Messiah, who would come in a most peculiar way and dressed in humility and love. He would not be a wooden idol but a real person - God coming to earth in a form we could relate to. He would be the final sacrifice to blot out all of their sins.
God controls kingdoms and raises up and throws down kings. In Isaish 45:7 it says that God formed the light and creates darkness. He makes peace and creates evil. The word “creates” in the Hebrew means “to cut down”. So it should read, God molds the light and cuts down misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow and wickedness. He brings forth peace, health, prosperity, happiness, perfection and cuts down evil, calamity, distress, and harm. The devil is the one who brings all these hurricanes and tornadoes against our nation. We need to stand up and say “Peace be still” to the storm.
I have had two storm dreams lately. Storms come in so many different ways so I say “Peace be still” to all of our storms.
Paul tells his people in Ephesians that surely you have heard about the grace that God has given us. He still gives out this grace to whatever is going on in our lives. Grace is the ability to do through God what you can’t do yourself.
Paul prays for his people and us that we would be strengthened with power in our inner man and that we would know how wide and long and high and deep Jesus love for us is. God is able to do more than we ask or imagine according to his power that is at work within us.
Lord, thank you for the power of your love that works through us.
God gave them a promise of deliverance from the bondage of the Babylonians. He promised them that they would come back on the very boats they were carried away on. He is the one who led the Israelites through the desert and fed them and gave them water once, and he could do it again. But, he didn’t want them to dwell on the past, because he is going to do a new thing. He was not going to deliver then like he did then. He just wants them to know that he can deliver them and he will. God would blot out all their sins and transgressions.
Isaiah was speaking about Jesus, their Messiah, who would come in a most peculiar way and dressed in humility and love. He would not be a wooden idol but a real person - God coming to earth in a form we could relate to. He would be the final sacrifice to blot out all of their sins.
God controls kingdoms and raises up and throws down kings. In Isaish 45:7 it says that God formed the light and creates darkness. He makes peace and creates evil. The word “creates” in the Hebrew means “to cut down”. So it should read, God molds the light and cuts down misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow and wickedness. He brings forth peace, health, prosperity, happiness, perfection and cuts down evil, calamity, distress, and harm. The devil is the one who brings all these hurricanes and tornadoes against our nation. We need to stand up and say “Peace be still” to the storm.
I have had two storm dreams lately. Storms come in so many different ways so I say “Peace be still” to all of our storms.
Paul tells his people in Ephesians that surely you have heard about the grace that God has given us. He still gives out this grace to whatever is going on in our lives. Grace is the ability to do through God what you can’t do yourself.
Paul prays for his people and us that we would be strengthened with power in our inner man and that we would know how wide and long and high and deep Jesus love for us is. God is able to do more than we ask or imagine according to his power that is at work within us.
Lord, thank you for the power of your love that works through us.
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