1 Samuel 2:10

Those who oppose the LORD will be shattered; He will thunder in the heavens against them.  The LORD will judge the ends of the earth. He will give power to His king; He will lift up the horn of His anointed.

This verse is the last part of the prayer Hannah prayed after she gave her long awaited son, Samuel, to the LORD at Shiloh. Hannah clearly knew how God would proclaim victory over His enemies. Indeed, He had granted her victory over her barrenness and had stopped the taunting voice of her husband’s other wife. This event, however, took place before Israel had a king. Hannah’s son, Samuel, would be the priest to anoint Israel’s first two kings. Yet, Hannah declared in her prayer of dedication how God would give power to His king and lift up the horn of His anointed.

God gave Hannah more than just a son. He gave her prophetic insight into His character and the things He would do. Through her pain and desperation, Hannah cried out to God and offered her son as a living sacrifice to God if He would grant her aching desire that would not go away. God heard her cry and granted her request.  She was a woman dependent upon God and committed to Him, and He used her pain to draw her closer to Him. Her prayer and declaration of faith became a prophetic word and an encouraging promise to Israel and to us. 

Know with all certainty that God is greater than His enemies!  His enemies are your enemies, and He will shatter all those who oppose Him. God will judge the earth, and it will not be pretty! The best and safest place to be is in Christ, who is His king. Being a Christian in today’s world is becoming unpopular and even offensive to those who have no regard for God or His word. God, however, is still sovereign, and He doesn’t cave to majority vote or popular demand. All power and authority has been given to Christ Jesus, and God will acknowledge the One He has anointed.

If the devil is taunting you today, draw closer to God and become dependent upon Him. God gave Hannah prophetic words that, when spoken, had power to defeat the enemy. We have power when we speak God’s word in declaration and promise. God will not let His word return to Him void but will accomplish what it says.  God will use your pain and your struggle if you will just give it to Him. Samuel was a symbol of a living sacrifice, which is what we are called to be in Romans 12:1. God used Samuel to anoint the kings of Israel and to give them direction. Hannah’s pain was anointed! God worked through her living sacrifice to lead His nation. He will work through us as living sacrifices, as well. 

Have a blessed day!

Isaiah 59:21

“As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the LORD: “My Spirit who is on you, and My words that I have put in your mouth, will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouth of your children, or from the mouth of your children’s children, from now on and forever,” says the LORD.

God promised in this verse to keep His Spirit and His word with the nation of Israel. We are His children through Jesus Christ, and God sent His Spirit to dwell in everyone who comes to Christ. While we may reject the Holy Spirit’s leading at times, He has promised He will never depart from us. His Spirit is with us forever.

Family and lineage are very important to the Jewish culture, as they are to most cultures.  God promised that His Spirit would not depart from their families or their lineage. It would not die out within the blood line. God cares about our families. His intention is to increase awareness of Him through our lineage. We are all aware that what we do today will affect our children tomorrow. Know, too, that what you pray today and proclaim by faith will affect your children tomorrow.

The devil knows the power of the family unit, and that is why he is so actively attacking it today. Too many of us Christians don’t understand the promise of the covenant God made in this verse. If His Spirit is always with us, we have the power to call on God, to move in the name of Jesus, and to proclaim by faith God’s perfect will for our children and our children’s children. We can’t control what choices they make, but we can pray and expect the Spirit of God to work in their lives. By coming into agreement with His will for their lives through prayer and speaking it out in a faith declaration, we activate the power of God to move in the lives of our children and grandchildren. Prayer is our biggest weapon in spiritual warfare, and I think most of us don’t fully understand how powerful it is. 

If your children are still at home, pray over them every day. Let them hear your prayers and what you want God to do for them and through them. Let them hear how you want God’s very best and perfect will for them. If your children are grown and have moved out of the house, continue to pray for them. Proclaim God’s perfect will for their future and let them know you are praying for them. God cares about your children and grandchildren, and He wants to increase awareness of Himself to them and through them. Know that He is working, even if you can’t see it right now. You have a covenantal promise on which to stand, but you may see it fulfilled only when you kneel.

Have a blessed day!

Hebrews 4:12

For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as far as to divide soul spirit, joints and marrow; it is a judge of the ideas and thoughts of the heart.

Have you ever had a child or a friend that was determined to do wrong? No matter what you said to try to convince them otherwise, they were going to do what they wanted to do, regardless of the consequences to themselves or others. Not only have I witnessed this in others, but that was me in my younger years. Someone who has never learned to detect the voice of God will follow the evil desires of their hearts because sin reigns in the heart. The best thing you can do for such a person is to pray God will give them a hunger for His word.  That hunger will draw them to Scripture, and the more they partake of His word, the more it will transform them into the image of Christ. 

I write this not from perception but from personal experience. Somebody must have been praying for God to give me a hunger for His word in my mid-twenties because I found myself suddenly reading for hours and not wanting to put it down. My life was surrounded by bad relationships, ungodly people, and a lifestyle that lived for the weekend and another chance to party. There came a point when it all fell apart, and I was looking for some sense of stability – something or someone I could really trust. The word that had been poured into me in my childhood came flooding back, and I began to hunger for more truth. All of a sudden, I began to read the Bible and see it with more insight. It spoke to me like never before, and I couldn’t get enough. God did a transforming work in me by feeding me His word and bringing godly people into my life to re-direct my path. God literally brought me out of a pit and into a spacious place through the reading of His word, and I still hunger for it today. That is the power Scripture holds for us.

What is God’s word saying to you today? Think about it. Meditate on it. Pray it over your life. Let it leave an impression on your heart. That which is implanted in you is alive and has the power to turn your situations around and transform your life in the process!  Pray for someone to receive the hunger today.

Have a blessed day!  

Psalm 103:17-18

But from eternity to eternity the LORD’s faithful love is toward those who fear Him, and His righteousness toward the grandchildren of those who keep His covenant, who remember to observe His instructions. 

Your relationship with God can affect your grandchildren. God’s favor upon you can filter through generations to continue to operate within your lineage. This should make us want to cultivate as close and as intimate a relationship with Him as we can. In fact, a strong relationship with God is the best gift you can give your family. Such a heritage can bond a family like glue, inspiring generations to come.

Notice that God’s love is described as a faithful love toward those who fear Him. We see little faithfulness in this world anymore. Marriages fail because one or both partners are unfaithful. Friends stab one another in the back. Employers focus upon who can do the most for them in the moment. Faithfulness can be hard to comprehend. Yet, God’s love is faithful – loyal and committed – to those who fear Him. Even when you have failed Him in some area, He will be faithful to you. If one of your family members has veered off the right path, God is still faithful. Continue to lift that family member in prayer, knowing that God’s love is toward and not against that wayward child or grandchild.

Today you have an opportunity to cultivate your relationship with God in His house and engage in corporate worship with fellow believers. Never underestimate the power and effectiveness of corporate worship on your life. Be faithful to God in this area, and watch how faithful He is to you. Find a place to serve Him in church, and watch how He will bless your life through it. 

Have a blessed day!

Ezekiel 36:26

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

The law was given to Israel on tablets of stone as a covenant under which God’s people were to live. If they obeyed all that was written in this law, they would live and receive God’s blessings. If they broke even one part of it, however, they were guilty of sin and deserving of death and cursing. The sacrifice of an innocent, unblemished animal was required to atone for sin. No one could keep the entire law, and no one could enter God’s presence under this old covenant. The best it could do was to expose the fact that man could not keep God’s law. Therefore, God sent His Son in the flesh to die and become a sacrifice for the sins of His people. Anyone who accepts this sacrifice receives forgiveness of sins through grace. This new covenant of grace is greater than the former covenant of law because it has the power to transform lives. 

God promised to remove our hearts of stone (law) and put a new heart of flesh (grace) within us. When we make Jesus Lord of our lives, God changes our hearts. The Spirit in this new heart has the power to transform us with new life. It is a heart transplant that affects us forever and changes our very nature. We cannot live life abundantly without this transplant. 

Is your heart hard and cold?  If so, you are living according to the law in some area. Grace can give you a warm heart of flesh. Let go of the law and surrender to grace today. Allow God’s love to transform you with life anew. The law will only expose your weakness and leave you guilty before the Father. God’s grace will cover you with renewed strength. Wherever you are hurt, disappointed, bitter, or hardened, submit yourself for a heart transplant today. The life awaiting you is well worth it!

Have a blessed day! 

Psalm 73:16-17

When I tried to understand all this, it seemed hopeless until I entered God’s sanctuary. Then I understood their destiny.

Have you ever experienced times that just seemed all wrong? Evil seemed to win over good. Injustice was honored over justice. What was bad was seen as good and what was good was seen as bad. All you have to do is to turn on the news to witness this on a daily basis! The devil is always trying to cloud our perception of right and wrong. 

At times when it appears evil wins in this world, we may feel hopeless to do anything about it. We may have life situations that just can’t be solved and wonder if God is even there or if He cares. We all experience things in life that we just don’t understand. In those times, the best thing we can do is to enter God’s sanctuary and worship Him.

We were made to worship. We cannot let the bad things that happen in life warp our view of God. We must take these things to Him and look to Him for an answer. When you submit a matter to Him, He will give you understanding into that situation. He may allow evil to reign for a while, but He ultimately has the last word. We must trust His handiwork, even if we don’t see it. 

I recently had a situation where God denied my request. It seemed so unfair and really made me doubt my own faith for a short while. After submitting the matter to God and turning completely to Him with it, He soon began to show me exactly why He denied that request. There were many things I did not know and was shocked to learn about that situation. God was not being cruel, unkind, or unfair. He was being a protective Father, and I’m very grateful He was! Entering His sanctuary on the matter eventually revealed to me just how much God loved me, and the devil was doing his best to try to convince me otherwise!  

We all need a greater revelation of Christ and His love for us. This is what builds our faith and helps us overcome. Enter His sanctuary today with whatever matter disturbs you, and receive His love in every empty area. He will increase your understanding and give you a greater revelation of Himself.

Have a blessed day!

Isaiah 51:3

For the LORD will comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places, and He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and melodious song.

We belong to God through His Son, Jesus Christ, and He will take care of His children. He knows every place where we hurt, where there is a void, where we have been betrayed, and where we have suffered loss. Those are our waste places, our wildernesses, and our deserts.   Those are the very places where He will comfort and restore us. We can expect joy and gladness once again and a reason to sing with thanksgiving. 

God’s intent is never to destroy us but to make us whole. While He may allow loss or hardship it to come, His ultimate goal is to draw us closer to Him and establish us in His purpose. The devil comes to steal, to kill, and to destroy, and He will leave you to die there.  If God allows the enemy to make an entrance into your life, He comes behind with healing and restoration. He will make our wildernesses like Eden and our deserts like His very own garden. He wants us to be fruitful and flourishing. To come to that point, however, we will require His comfort. 

We must remember that God made Eden first, then He placed man there. He will bring us from our wildernesses into a place He has already created for us, where we have purpose and are able to flourish. Many times when people face loss or failure, they attempt to rebuild with an attitude of lack, still focused upon trying to fill the void. They become frustrated and even angry with God if they face a setback or are not able to move as quickly as they like. We must take time to receive God’s comfort and healing in all of our waste places. Allowing Him to love us enables us to submit to His plan, rather than committing to our own. The Eden God has prepared for us may be nothing like what we could expect or imagine. It will always be better!

Know today that God has good things in store for you. Submit the areas where you are hurting or have suffered loss to Him, and receive His comfort. Don’t try to fill that void with other things that will ultimately disappoint. Give it to God, and know that He will lead you into a fruitful and flourishing place of joy and gladness. You will have reason to give thanks and sing praise for what only He can do in your life.

Have a blessed day!

Zechariah 11:7

So I shepherded the flock intended for slaughter, the afflicted of the flock. I took two staffs, calling one Favor and the other Union, and I shepherded the flock

Zechariah 11 is a picture of a good shepherd in contrast to a bad one. The bad shepherd wanted only the best for his own profit and sent the afflicted out for slaughter. The good shepherd, however, tended to the needs of the afflicted among the flock so they would be made whole. The good shepherd had the best interest of the afflicted at heart.

If you feel damaged, overlooked, or thrown away, remember today that you serve a God who tends to the afflicted among the flock. He is not willing that any should perish but that all be made whole through His Son, Jesus Christ. His plan for your healing, however, comes from the combination of His favor and union with the body of Christ.

Instead of dismissing us as sheep meant for slaughter, God leads us with Favor and Union to create a worshipping body.  Indeed, we can do nothing without His favor, but with it, nothing is impossible. His favor brings healing and opens doors for us we could not open on our own. Union with a body of believers, also known as the church, will allow us to develop and grow, becoming productive members of the body of Christ. Favor and union worth together to transform us from afflicted sheep to healthy, well groomed, and fully functioning members of the flock. 

The Christian life was not meant to be lived in isolation, and God does not slaughter the afflicted. He is a restoring God who brings healing through His favor and growth through union with other believers. Each believer is given a gift by the Holy Spirit that edifies the body, and being a part of a local church should both heal you and develop the gift within you. If you are not already a part of a healthy local church that can minister to your needs and allow you to develop and operate in your spiritual gift, look for a place that will. God’s favor is found with union, and without them, we are all like sheep intended for slaughter.

Have a blessed day!

Daniel 12:1

At that time Michael the great prince who stands watch over your people will rise up. There will be a time of distress such as never has occurred since nations came into being until that time. But at that time all your people who are found written in the book will escape.

Many are asking if we are living in the end times that are prophesied in Scripture. While I don’t know exactly where we are on the apocalyptic timeline, I will declare that we are closer than we have ever been. Most Christians believe in an end time event known as the rapture, where God’s people are miraculously taken away from the earth while God releases judgment upon it. I’m not here to argue a particular time for that event, whether it be pre-tribulation, mid-tribulation, or post-tribulation. I do, however, want you to note that Daniel prophesied of an escape.

We find here that Michael the Archangel watches over God’s people and will rise up at that time. There will be a time of great distress, such as the world has never seen. Without doubt, people will want a way to escape the judgment of God that will be hurled upon the earth. Just as God promised to make a way of escape from the temptation to sin in 1 Corinthians 10:13, so He will make a way of escape from the earthly judgment of sin. That provision was made through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Rather than focus on the timeframe, please note the requirement for the great escape. Those whose names are found written in the book will escape. The book is known in Revelation as the Lamb’s Book of Life. Only those whose names are written there will be allowed into heaven when they die. If, however, you have not yet died whenever God declares the end of time for the earth, the recording of your name in the book permits you to participate in the great escape. The way to get your name written in the book is to accept the sacrifice of God’s Son as your atonement for sin and to follow Him as your Lord and Savior. If you have not yet made your reservation, there is no better time to do it. We are closer to that time than we have ever been!

Our mission on earth is to help get as many names as possible written into the book, not to argue when the rapture will occur. Instead of looking for the rapture, we need to prepare people for it. Is Jesus your Lord? If so, make some disciples. If not, you have a very important reservation to make!

Have a blessed day!

Mark 5:-29

A woman suffering from bleeding for 12 years had endured much under many doctors. She had spent everything she had and was not helped at all. On the contrary, she became worse. Having heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His robe. For she said, “If I can just touch His robes, I’ll be made well!” Instantly her flow of blood ceased, and she sensed in her body that she was cured of her affliction.

When all of our efforts fail to achieve our goals or meet our needs, we often lose hope and become discouraged. Hope deferred can certainly cause depression, where we are tempted to stop trying altogether. Having spent everything she had and becoming worse, this woman certainly had reason to give up hope and sink into depression. But she heard about Jesus.

Faith comes by hearing, according to Romans 10:17. She heard about the healing power of Jesus, and she knew He could heal her. She followed behind Him to somehow get close enough to touch His robe. Fighting through the crowd, she found a way to stretch forth her hand and touch the hem of His garment, and she received her healing.

I’m learning to stretch forth my hand when it seems all hope is gone. I need a power greater than my own, and I can find it only in Christ. When things don’t go as I had hoped, instead of losing hope, I stretch my faith to connect with Jesus. When fear and doubt assail me, I stretch to lean on His power and not my own. When I have no answers, I stretch and rely upon Him. My faith grows in the stretch, and His power is released.

If your plans for the future have failed, instead of losing hope, I encourage you to stretch today. If God still hasn’t answered your prayers, I encourage you to stretch. If fear, doubt, discouragement, and depression are surrounding you, stretch forth your faith and believe that Christ still has the power to meet your need. Your faith can command power from Him, but you may have to stretch to lay hold of it. Miracles are just within your reach if you have the courage to stretch.

Have a blessed day!