Hebrews 4:12 “For the Word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.” ~NLT
 
Tony Evans wrote in his Commentary Bible, “Scripture isn’t composed of dead words on a page; it’s alive. It cuts deep and can separate the spiritual from the earthly. The Word can judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. It lays us naked and exposed before God. Have you ever had an experience with God’s Word that made you feel ‘exposed’? Have you ever heard it preached and felt like it was directed at you? Have you ever felt your soul sliced open by the Word? Remember we have no private lives. We don’t even have private thoughts. Everything is laid bare before the One to whom we must give an account.”
 
Powerful Words by Bishop Tony Evans.  Let what he said sit with you for a moment while you consider your plans for this year.  Think about it, God already knows the desires of our hearts. He already knows our thoughts, so why not give in to His will for our lives. Then say this, “This year, I’m going to have a stronger relationship with God.”  It is time for all of us to receive God’s will for our lives.
 
When we make this decision, the rest will come from God. What do I mean by ‘the rest’? I mean the strength you will need to endure trials, heartache, and temptation. I mean the wisdom to know His voice when given direction. I mean knowing Him as He knows you.
 
The Word of God is for the people of God.  That is why the text says that it is, “…alive and powerful…”. It doesn’t matter what the world taught us, the Word of God is sharp enough to ‘cut out’ what the world set in us, (no matter how deep it’s set in), and make room for the Word of God to seed and nurture our spirit. We need this Word to help us build that stronger relationship with God.
 
This year, commit to spending everyday with the Lord. Allow me to help you by offering you my book, “Testimonies of Faith and Encouragement”.  This book contains devotionals, very much like the ones you receive from us weekly. It will not only give you another devotion to study for the week, but it also contains scriptures in the back of the book relating to each week you read.  
 
This book is set to help you develop the ‘good habit’ of spending time with the Lord. Look at it like this, for a few years now you have been receiving one devotional a week from us. With the book, you now have two. By the time 2022 is over you should be in the habit of reading God’s word every day.
 
With everything going on in the world today, we need God’s Word every day to be able to stay focused on the path the Father has laid down for us.  We need His Word every day to feed our spirits so that it will become stronger than our flesh.  Keeping those terrible desires for anger, sadness, lust and unforgiveness at bay.  
 
CLICK HERE:  http://bit.ly/testimoniesoffaith
 
And begin your journey to a strong relationship with God this new year, and watch this time next year, how you have become the child of God He created you to be!

May God continue to bless you in the new year,
​
Billy and Yolanda

Acts 20:35 “In every way I’ve shown you that it is necessary to help the weak by laboring like this and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, because He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.” ~CSB
 
It is that time of year! Family, friends, food, fun, Christmas movies and the exchanging of gifts! I mean how can you beat the feeling of receiving a wrapped present, size and weight teasing your curiosity and opening it without any knowledge of what is inside.  The best gifts are those you had absolutely no idea what you were going to receive but when you got it, you were so glad you got it!
 
This wonderful feeling is responsible for us putting aside the real reason for the season.  Jesus being born. The birth of the Messiah who grew to become the Savior resulting from His death on the cross. This is the best gift for all of us who believe.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not saying we shouldn’t give and receive.  What I am saying is that there are other gifts that we should be concentrated on giving this year as well.
 
One gift in particular is hard for some of us to give. Those of us who have been hurt, those of us who have been broken as a result of a betrayed relationship.  This is the gift of forgiveness. Some of us will not join family this year because they will not forgive. Something happened where a wound has not closed.  For those of us who are at this crossroad, think about how our Father forgave us. John 3:16 says, “For this is how God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” ~NLT
 
“HE GAVE…”  His Son took our place in our accountability for the sins we were born in and created for ourselves.  His Son, who paid a debt we owed but could never pay.  It is this gift that we can never be thankful enough.  It is this gift that we can never give to its equivalent. But we can live our lives loving ‘in spite of’. Forgiving regardless of how we feel. And giving our time, our talent and our money.  We do this because all those things were given to us by God.   
 
We serve God because He created us to serve others.  The text above says that it has been shown to us the necessity, “…to help the weak by laboring…” In other words, others may not forgive us, others may not give to us but we who are stronger in our faith will show others God’s Spirit in us by being the first to do so.
 
It is God who will reward us in our humility.  Luke 6:38 says, “Give, and it will be given to you: a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over—will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” ~CSB
 
This season step up and allow others to see what God has done with you and for you this year.  Show others how far God has brought you. Because He is bigger than you situation, He has made you stronger than your situation.  Allow His love to show and shine through you and bring our families back together. Forgive and allow God’s healing power to take place and finally heal that wound.  Jesus said, “…it is better to give than to receive…” This is because the gift has already been given to us.  And this gift gives birth to all of God’s promises to us.
 
May God bless and keep you in this season of His Son’s birth. In Jesus’ name,
 
Amen

Blessings, and Merry Christmas! 
 
Billy and Yolanda

1 Corinthians 1:28 “God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important.” ~NLT
 
Game day. A local football team is playing a team that has been undefeated.  The game is close.  There is a wide receiver that is not one of the better players. In fact, they have not thrown to him all night.  The opposite team does not feel he is a threat and consider him ‘nothing’ to fear. 
 
Last quarter, and the local team is behind. A touchdown can win the game. The ball is hiked, and the receivers run their patters. The defense covers all the receivers to make sure the quarterback doesn’t connect. All are covered except for one.
 
Our weaker wide receiver just happens to be open. No one feared any success from him since he hasn’t performed all night. The quarterback sees this and throws the ball in his direction.  The wide receiver catches the ball for the first time and runs in for a touchdown.  The local team wins and there is victory in the small town.
 
God works in this way as well. Those times we feel we are in the background and feel we should be in the front so everyone can see us. This is not God’s way.  First, God wants us to humble ourselves. Know that it is about Him and His business, not ours. Then, God wants to train us before He reveals us.  The training periods are the trials we go through and the pain we endure. This makes us stronger. When we persevere in knowing that we live to serve, this allows us strength in the gift of faith also given to us by the Lord.
 
While all of this is going on, the world may see you differently. The world will not fear you because it will be unaware of the power God is allowing to grow in you. The power to do and perform the will of God for others that need His miracles.  The world will see you as that ‘weak wide receiver’ and when the time of miracle comes, that darkness will not be able to cover you and prevent you from receiving and using the power that God throws your way! What victory that will be!
 
When we feel the world has labeled us as ‘insignificant’, you can be sure that this is not the way God feels about you. He created you with great intention for you to be a blessing to the world in the name of Jesus Christ. He created all of us to be a tool for the kingdom.  The world may tell you, may show you or may label you as ‘insignificant’, but that is a lie.
 
The truth is that you are a child of God. And any child of God has the makings of royalty. Jesus Christ hung bled and died for us to become inheritors of the kingdom.  And that is an inheritance the world cannot take away.  The devil does his best to talk you into giving up your inheritance, but all you have to do is say ‘no’. 
 
Like Jesus, the world my beat you, bleed you and try to kill you, but you are a child of the Most High and God will not let you fall.  He will take those who think they are, “…counted as nothing at all…” and will use them to bring “…to nothing what the world considers important…”
 
May God’s peace surpass your thoughts and guard your heart and mind in Jesus’ name,
 
Amen

Blessings,
​ Billy

​1 Corinthians 12:4-7 “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.” ~NLT
 
I was watching a TV show where one of the characters was faced with a potentially sad situation because of his past. He said, “I wish I had been a better man coming up.” The character of the wife said to him, “Your past made you the man you are today, and I love you.” 
 
That is how God looks at each and every one of us. It does not matter what color your past is, Jesus died on the cross for us all to become a new creature. Whatever happened in our past, God can take that and use it for the Kingdom.  How does He do this? Our past, our memories become spiritual gifts when we begin to live God’s will for our lives.
 
It is because we have all gone down our unique paths that our gifts are different. But we all share the same source of power in healing, strength, and wisdom from God. When we receive our direction from our Father, we begin to encounter other children of God that will be able to benefit from the healings of our past.
 
Our transformations allow us to become aware of the purpose God has given us in the life we lead in His Son’s name. We begin to recognize our position in ‘service’ to others God places in our paths. If any one of us thinks that our existence does not count, we would be sadly mistaken. God does not create failure. Our existence has the foundation of purpose. And that purpose is the soil that nourishes the seed God planted in us for Him to do great things through us. Our services in this world may be different but we, “…serve the same Lord…”
 
God works in different ways and our differences confirmed this. For instance, we are all people yet some of us are men, some of us are women. Ethnicities, how we raise our families may all be different, but it is, “…the same God who does the work in all of us.”
 
Lastly, we must stay obedient. God’s work in us is powerful and Satan can infiltrate our fleshly desires and attempt to use that power for his will. Remaining obedient will keep us from ever giving in to any of those temptations. Remember, “A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.”
 
May God continue to bless and keep you healed, empowered, and directed in Jesus’ name,
 
Amen

2 Timothy 2:20-21 “Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also those of wood and clay; some for honorable use and some for dishonorable. 21 So if anyone purifies himself from anything dishonorable, he will be a special instrument, set apart, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.” ~ CSB
    
When I was growing up, my grandmother had our ‘everyday’ dishes for our daily meals.  But when we had company she would pull out the ‘good dishes’.  This would be a great impression on our ‘honorable guests’.  This was sort of a way to present to others, who would visit, a taste of our best.  That is what God does with us.  When we are ready, He will present us as His best. 
    
Some may look at the text and see, ‘wood and clay’ and automatically say, “That’s me…I’m just regular, nothing special.  That is my place in the world.”  This is not true.  God made us all for a purpose.  And in that purpose we all have a distinct separate value.  This value is in place to ‘set us apart’ from what the world may consider valuable.   
    
Birthed from a quote by Italian sculptor Michelangelo, there is a story out about a sculptor who was asked about his famous statue carved out of stone; “…The statue was always there, I just chipped away the unnecessary pieces.” This is God’s intent for you as you are going through that period in your life where you ‘wait’ on Him.
    
We often fall into grief, depression, sorrow and our patience is tested during our ‘waiting season’.  Switch your perspective and use this time to ‘chip’ away all that is in you that is not of God.  If you are claiming to be ‘wood and clay’ then chip away at what is not needed in you so that you will become more valuable than gold and silver.
    
Chip away at your anger, addictions, sadness, doubt, worry, fear, selfishness, grief, unforgiveness and anything of you that is ‘dishonorable’ and not of the Kingdom.  When the time comes, God will present you to the world as the beautiful sculpture you have always been! He will set you apart and reveal you as His “…special instrument…”  No longer will you be hidden behind all the unnecessary personal and physical traits that were keeping you falling short.  You will be prepared for “…every good work…”
    
​Prepare yourself for the special blessing God has just for you.  It’s yours and no one else’s, but God will not give it to you until you are ready.  So get ready, chip away, ‘purify’ yourself and become a valuable vessel for God and for the kingdom.  

May God continue to allow His peace to surpass your thoughts and guard your heart and mind in Jesus name,

​Amen.

​Jeremiah 17:10 “But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.” ~NLT
 
My first jobs as a teenager were in fast food restaurants. I had to slide a timecard into a machine that documented when I arrived to work and when I checked out. This determined how much I was paid. There would be a schedule set and the days I would work would be on the calendar. When I showed up, clocked in, then clocked out, this would determine the amount of money I would be paid for the time and amount of work I did. If I was home sick, or if I did not come in on that day, I would receive no pay.
 
Later in life, I was able to receive a salary at the places I worked. This meant that the companies I worked for gave me a set salary. No ‘clock punching’, and it was ok if I did not make it to work. I was covered by vacation or sick time. This time was allowed by the company because of the time I put in to build up that vacation and sick time. Now, hold onto these examples and let’s go down another road:
 
In the world, I used to live day by day. I would do just enough to pay my rent and bills. I would earn just enough to build up some ‘fun’ money to ‘enjoy life’. I used to want material things. For example if I wanted a new car, I would work enough hours, and hustle enough money to get that car. But one day, I would lose that car and the happiness that it brought would be gone.
 
This was the ‘punching a clock’ time in my life. I would punch in to get just want I wanted, but nothing more would come of it and eventually I was always lacking. I would lack happiness. I would lack meaning. I would lack peace. I would walk around living with a void in my life. And I would bring others down around me because my desires were not fulfilled.
 
But then, I got into the Word of God. I started living my life the way the Word directed me to. Sure there were directions from the Lord I had to work on, but work on them I did. I practiced and trained myself in receiving God’s will for my life and in return, began to feel fulfilled. I began to receive a joy in my heart that happiness could not bring me.
 
In other words, I was not living the ‘punch a clock’ life anymore. God was allowing me a salary! Because I grew in obedience to the Word of God, He covered me when I couldn’t make it to work. He blessed me even when I failed. He lifted me when I felt I could not get up. And He put into my empty back account what I needed to get through!
 
My heart began to hold the treasures of the kingdom, replacing my own desires. So when God, “…searched my heart...", He saw that my motives were all in His favor. When we do this, God will “…give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.” Let us examine our own actions and live a life deserving of a ‘salary’ from the Lord.
 
May God continue to bless and keep you covered in His healing, direction, and love in Jesus’ name,
 
Amen

Hebrews 12:11 “No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.” ~NLT
 
I remember when I went to ‘boot camp’ at Fort Jackson. I never knew what I was in for. There was about ten weeks of serious training. Three phases divided by the colors, Red, White, and Blue.  The first phase seemed the hardest because I was so out of shape. Not only that but the world as I knew it stopped. No family, no entertainment, and no freedom. I had to answer to four soldiers in that famous ‘drill’ hat daily.
 
A lot of running, exercises, yelling, sweat and tears. This included training us to be ‘dress right dress’. In other words, we all had to move together with precision when we marched. This took a lot of training and practice. Laying down to go to sleep at the end of the day was the easiest part of the process. We carried the red flag with us, so everyone knew we were on our first phase. We were new. I would watch those platoons with the white flags and said, “I’ll be there one day.”
 
Phase two began and we carried that white flag. At this point we were in better shape, so the running and exercises weren’t as bad anymore. This was the time I was beginning to miss home. In my heart though, I knew my training wasn’t complete, so I had to push through.
 
Phase three, the blue flag! We were headed towards our completion. Working out, running, pushups, sit-ups, all this seemed routine now. I had gone from a size 48 waist to a 31. I was embracing my training because I had never done anything like this before in my life.  I had never put myself in a position where authority figures like the drill sergeants would tell me what to do and when to do it, for ten weeks. I didn’t quit. I didn’t get angered, I hung in there and made it through.
 
I allowed myself to be disciplined. I realized that if I hadn’t been pushed by the ‘drills’, I would have never accomplished what I had. I never would have learned what I did, and I never would have become the man I am today. When I allowed myself to be disciplined, I learned how to discipline myself.
 
When it comes to the Word of God, we must listen to our Father’s direction. But unlike the Drill Sergeants, God is not going to yell at us. God will not force us. If we don’t learn to allow discipline within ourselves in the trials we go through, we will not know how to discipline ourselves and be obedient in God’s will for our lives.
 
I didn’t enjoy the Drill Sergeants yelling at me. I didn’t enjoy waking every morning to the sound of reveille, jumping out of bed, and running five to ten miles.  But that discipline created the best ‘me’ I could be. Becoming a good Christian living in the ways of the Lord takes discipline, practice and spiritual training. And when that journey is complete, you will receive the “…peaceful harvest of right living…” that is given to those “…who are trained…” in God’s will and way.
 
May God bless and keep you as you continue your walk in Jesus’ name.
 
Amen 

John 13:6-8 “He come to Simon Peter, who asked Him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered him, “What I’m doing you don’t realize now, but afterward you will understand.” “You will never wash my feet,” Peter said.”  ~CSB
 
We must be careful not to tell God what we or He, ‘won’t’ do. For all things God directs us to do, there is a reason from Him and by Him, that we are directed to do what He tells us to do. He is in control and part of that control is us doing our part in obedience.
 
For example, no matter what the actions of others are we must love them. They are God’s children as well. Now I know that can be an issue in today’s time. But the issue is not bigger than God. His command in John 15:12 says, “This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.” The sacrifice of the Son is the greatest example of God’s love for us. We must follow our Father’s example.
 
Another example comes from deep down in our soul when someone hurts us to the point of our lives stopping. We have that feeling that nothing is important. We don’t wake up ‘ready to go’ anymore after being hurt that bad. But I’m here to tell you that we serve a God that loves us no matter what we have been through. We are protected to the point where God can heal us of that pain and allow us to use that pain to save someone else as He has saved us. The beginning of that healing is when we forgive. 
 
For some of us it is so hard to forgive. But how can we tell God ‘No’ when he tells us that we must forgive? The Word says in Luke 6:37, “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven.”
 
No matter what we ‘think’ we see, we must spiritually know and trust God in this knowledge that this situation in front of us is God’s plan, not ours. Discern the difference between knowing with all your heart and what feelings are triggered by the flesh. Peter meant well in his response to Jesus washing his feet, but that feeling was triggered by his flesh, not his spirit. Tony Evans said this about Jesus:
 
“He had spent three years with the Twelve--teaching them, leading them, praying for them, loving them. He had done everything for them that He had come to do.”
 
As His time had come, it was time for Him to teach them one more lesson and that was in ‘humility’.  Jesus with all His power came to serve, and that is the lesson He wanted to teach His disciples in washing their feet, to serve one another. In the service of others we must trust in the lesson God teaches us daily.
 
When we tell God ‘no’, we are like Peter telling Jesus, he won’t allow Him to wash his feet. Jesus tells us as well as Peter in His response, “If I don’t wash you, you have no part with me.”  Allow God to teach, so that we may always be a part of His plan for our lives. 
 
Jesus says in verse 7, “What I’m doing you don’t realize now, but afterward you will understand.” Trust in the Lord and watch the work He does in you to affect all around you. May God continue to protect, heal and guide you in Jesus’ name,
 
Amen

Swimming pools are a great example of ‘believing with all your heart’. For example, when you are standing on the side of the pool at the ‘3’ feet, you know that you are in a ‘no diving area’.  The pool is too shallow, and you could injure yourself with the wrong entrance in the water. At the shallow end you may tuck your feet under you and jump in bottom first, playing it safe. 
 
But when you stand along the side of the ‘9’ feet or deeper, you know that there is enough room in the water to dive straight in, headfirst. Deep in your heart you have no fear because you know that there is nothing to stop you when you dive blindly into the depths of the pool. 
 
In life, God may bring you to a place where He wants you to ‘dive’ right in, but you are afraid.  You think what you are diving into is the three feet, but in actuality, if you allow your spiritual eyes to open, God has deepened the waters and you can dive physically blinded, but spiritually open minded and aware, into the deep waters on your journey.
 
Tony Evans says in His Commentary Bible, “When a person believes, he receives justification. But in order to receive deliverance from temporal wrath, a believer must confess, or publicly acknowledge, the lordship of Jesus Christ and call on Him for divine assistance.”
 
You see, just like you would believe the safety of diving in the ‘9’ feet at a swimming pool, you have to believe with all your heart that Jesus is Lord, and all healing, blessings and direction come from the Father through Him.  This belief is the beginning. This belief, as scripture says, results in righteousness.
 
God created in us all we need to be righteous.  This belief you now have, ‘kick starts’ that creation in you to be righteous. Then comes the confession.
 
Confessing with your mouth leads to your actions.  The way you walk, talk, and the way you represent the kingdom. This as the text says, “…leads to salvation…”   It’s not enough to know the Word, you must live the Word. No matter what you encounter. No matter what the world brings your way, believing and confessing gives you the tools you need to maintain being a godly person in the eyes of the Lord.
 
Become that spiritual diver.  Even if the world shows you ‘3’ feet, God is forming deep waters for you to freely dive in without reservation and without doubt in his Will and His way. Are you ready to dive into the calling, the blessing, and the will of God for your life?
 
Know that you were created to be ready. Ask God today to give you the strength to blindly dive into the journey He has already laid out for you. The blessing God has for you is in what you are willing to do with what you believe, and in the confession of that belief.
 
May God continue to bless and guide you on your journey in Jesus’ name,
 
Amen

​Matthew 26:38 “Remain here and stay awake with me.”
 
At the beginning of our blessings we are always grateful.  We give God thanks in praises in the name of the Son!  We walk in our ministries, in our callings and in our blessings doing what God has called us to do.  But do we allow ourselves to learn and grow spiritually as we walk in our blessings?
 
For example, let's take a football player that excels as a good athlete.  This happens as he plays and learns in his growth from grade school to middle school.  But let’s say that same player develops that ‘I’m good no matter what’ attitude and decides not to practice or train before his tryouts for High School.  This would be a mistake.
 
Others that he would eventually go up against, never stop training.  Others that he would compete with for a position, would continue to practice in getting stronger and faster, leaving the player lacking in skills when it is time to start the new season.  In other words we must always continue training to become, not only good at what we do, but to learn how to be better at what we do.
 
In life, the enemy never sleeps.  He is constantly on the prowl seeking ways to destroy Christ’s work in us.  If we sleep, and he doesn’t, he will always up his game on us and we will be one step behind. 
 
In the text, Jesus is about to be arrested.  The time for Him to be sacrificed is upon Him.  He called for His disciples, (as tired as they may have been), to ‘…stay awake…’ and pray for their strength.  But in the text, they did not stay awake.  And because of this, they were unprepared when the enemy’s influence stepped in on them.
 
We must always be aware and ready to fight the good fight of faith.  We must stay awake spiritually at all times.  We cannot afford to let our guard down in trusting in the Lord in His control of this world.  And in that trust, know that we are made by Him, and are a part of that control.  
 
But we must stay awake, by reading His word on a daily basis, having the strongest relationship we can with God. We must stay awake by loving our neighbors as we love God and ourselves.  We must do good, in spite of all the bad going on around us. We must never sleep spiritually, so that we may never be caught off guard.
 
May God continue to bless and keep you in his will and way in the name of the Kingdom and the Son,
 
Amen