Category: Daily Inspirational Devotional

Thank you for your support and encouragement!

Four years ago today with much fear and trepidation on my part,  this Daily Devotional was launched.  Over a thousand Devotions later, I look back in wonder and gratitude to the Lord for His love and faithfulness.  It takes discipline  to write on a daily basis, but I truly look forward to the task…for in the process the Lord has shown  me much.  Thanks to all of you who have been faithful Readers and to all the new people who God directs here daily.  As we all go forward, I pray God’s  peace, His power, His presence, and His provision into your lives and homes in the name of Jesus!     Pam

 

 

 

 

Luke 21:34 ” Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap.”

Dissipation…such an interesting word to be used here.  It’s disgust and self-loathing, not to mention the hang-over from too much alcohol consumption.  When our lives revolve around partying …it starts to take a toll on us physically and emotionally.  We think we’re having fun…but are we?  None us know the day we will die, and thinking that we’ll get right with God when we’re older and have sown our wild oats may never happen.

I Corinthians 1:10 ” I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.”

There is nothing sadder than a Church that is divided and then splits…it’s a no win situation for everyone.  Family and friends are forced to take sides they don’t want to…words are taken out of context…feelings get hurt.  The very first thing we must do when Church gossip and problems are getting out of hand is to recognize it as a ploy of the enemy. A divided Church is a weakened Church, is a dying Church.  We need to agree in a Spirit of unity to work through conflicts and attitudes in an open, respectful fashion.  The Church Body can become healthy again when it is united in mind and sentiment.

Hebrews 2:1 We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.”

Remember with me the very first time you heard the Gospel Message explained to you.  At that moment, the gift of Salvation was offered and you accepted.  But since that time, when you hear the Gospel Message, does it still stir you with thankfulness and gratitude, or are you apathetic to the words?  This scripture tells us to be on guard of falling away from our first love, and becoming a lukewarm Christian.

Daniel 6: 19-20 ” At the first light of dawn, the King got up and hurried to the lions’ den. When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, ‘Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God , whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?’ “

King Darius had spent a sleepless night after being tricked by his administrators and satraps into throwing Daniel into the lions’ den.  The King had tried to rescue Daniel, but his decree stood and couldn’t be repealed.  So here he was at first light, yelling for a response from Daniel.  Did the King really imagine that Daniel had survived the night…was he hoping beyond hope…or had Daniel’s trust in God been so very evident that King Darius actually  believed it was possible?

Revelation 19:6 ” Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like peals of thunder, shouting: ‘Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns.’ “

If you’ve ever been to a huge stadium cheering your team on you can recall the deafening  roar  of the crowd.  Now imagine multiplying that noise by thousands upon thousands.  That’s what it sounds like  in Heaven.  A tremendous throng of saints,  all singing Hallelujah and praising God together…and all on the winning team!

Psalm 112: 4 ” Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man.”

When a fellow Believer is going through suffering and misery, we sometimes look heavenward and ask God, “Why?”  We see examples in the Bible of powerful, Godly people who went through very dark times…and again we ask, “Why?”   But if you talk to a Believer  who’s  gone through a traumatic event, in hindsight they will speak of God’s grace and mercy…of how He carried them when they were exhausted  and weak…and of how His peace   undergirded   them to be able to move ahead day by day.  Yes, just like Daniel, we will all spend a night in the lions’ den…but take hope, for  God is right there beside you in the darkness until the sunrise.

Romans 1:17 ” For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’ “

Our Christianity  hinges on one little word…faith.  We believe what we can not see.  We put our trust in someone we’ve never physically  met.  We have confidence that when we die we’ll have eternal life.  Our spiritual walk from beginning to end is entirely based on  assurances we’ve  read in an ancient book.  Yes, Christians are a curious lot…a group of people who stand on faith alone and live by it daily.

Psalm 36: 1-2 ” An oracle is within my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There is no fear of God before his eyes. For in his own eyes he flatters himself too much to detect or hate his sin.”

The wicked willfully rebel and oppose the Lord.  There is no reverence or even acknowledgment  of God in their life.  In their eyes, they are a self-made person that needs no other one or thing  to make it.  In their mind, whatever devious methods it takes to make it to the  top, or whoever they must crush in the process,  is fair game.  Winning is everything in their life…but in the end, sadly  they will  lose.

Colossians 2: 6-7 ” So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”

There comes a time in all Believer’s lives when one has to take a stand.  Our journey with Christ Jesus has taught us much… inspiring, edifying, rooting and establishing us in His truth.  So now we stand at a crossroads in our life.  Do we compromise everything we’ve learned, or stand firm in our faith?  Do we give in to the crowd, or be that “weird Jesus lover”?  The decision is hard but yet an easy one to make if you’ve already been firmly rooted and established in Christ.