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Psalm 139:1-4 “Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I stand up; you understand my thoughts from far away. You observe my travels and my rest; you are aware of all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue, you know all about it, Lord.” ~CSB
In our younger days we remember ‘acting up’, (as my mother used to call it). We did this when our parents weren’t around. In other words our best behavior was only reserved for them. In school we would talk and joke with our friends and it didn’t matter how many times the teacher said, ‘Be quiet!’. But take those same days in the classroom and insert our mother or father in that room, our innermost thoughts to our teachers were, ‘Please don’t tell my parents what I do in your class!’ As grown men and women in Christ we should still experience this feeling. We do not become aware of this same ‘hiding’ situation until our spirits show us that there is no hiding from God. When we know this, we must become more cautious when it comes to doing the right thing. Hiding what we do is totally different with God than with our parents. They cannot see or hear everything we do. But our heavenly Father knows all. We cannot hide from Him. We cannot deceive Him like we used to do with our mothers and earthly fathers. It is God who created us, blew breath in our bodies and searched our hearts and minds. He knows us. There is nowhere we can hide when we choose to give in to the flesh and do things that are not pleasing to Him. So why do we stray and fall to the desires of the flesh? That is the question that separates life and death. If we know that God knows every move we make; from sitting down and standing up, to the words formed in our spirit before they come out of our mouths when we know He knows; then why do we still hold on to ungodly actions? God is like that parent standing in the classroom watching their children. And if that child chooses to be disrespectful and disruptive in front of their mother or father, the measure of disrespect for that parent from the child can be unmeasurable. It is the same unlimited measurement of disrespect to God. When we know God is there, watching over us to protect and provide for us, doing anything short of righteous actions should be further from our agenda. We must search ourselves and figure out what is more important, pleasing ourselves or pleasing God. For me and my house God comes first. All of us should wake up every morning hopping out of bed embracing the righteous acts we will perform throughout the day. Do this for God and all those he is going to bless through you as you continue your journey in Jesus’ name. Amen
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 Psalm 55:22 “Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.” ~CSB
To sustain means to ‘bear the weight of’. This is what God is telling us. He is saying that He will do this for us when we allow Him to. When it comes to the trials and tests we go through, the journey of endurance that continues throughout our lives is necessary because it is what is needed for us to become stronger in God’s purpose. But the necessary struggle in our lives, will sometimes be infected by obstacles of 'stress' that have nothing to do with God's main purpose. For example, moments that require our attention at work involving co-workers. Differences involving our family members. Even dealing with finances, wondering how we will pay our mortgage. All of these situations engage our spirits in order to strengthen us in our faith and purpose for God. These struggles, as the Word says, should be embraced as training for our upcoming blessings. But the distractions of stress and worry sometimes cloud our focus and weaken our faith in God’s power when it comes to believing in Him delivering us. These emotions are considered ‘burdens’ and should be taken off our shoulders and discarded. This is why God wants us to ‘...cast those burdens…’ on Him. He knows we have our hands full when going through our trials. There is no need for us to add to our spiritual struggle with the pain of ‘stress and worry’. These are emotions and feelings we do not need in our spiritual growth and should not be considered tools in our suffering. God is telling us we do not need to worry because He will bear the weight of the things that cause us this stress. He will take the burden that we lay at the altar so that we do not have to carry that weight of worry any longer. He will not let His righteous children be shaken by the fears produced by the world. Instead He wants us to focus on Him. He is our protector, provider and sustainer. With Him, nothing will keep us from His purpose and power in our lives. His purpose of victory, through His Son Jesus Christ. May this devotional keep you covered, guided and protected in Jesus' name. Amen  John 10:10 “A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.” (CSB)
In the past, my life had its ups and downs. Back then, sometimes everything was great. Then a few days after the ‘great’, things would drop to ‘not-so-great’. I used to wonder ‘why’ this happened. When my relationship with God became strong, I understood those times better. My ‘ups’ back then were from the victories I acquired under my own power. Or at least I thought that was the case. I realize that the ‘world’ allowed me that happiness. It did that because it knew I wasn’t strong enough, by myself, to keep the world from taking that happiness away from me. In other words, the world could always beat me under my own power. Then as a Christian I learned that the world cannot beat God’s power. God created us and equipped us to conquer this. Knowing that the world was stronger than us, God created in us the tools that He would use when we allowed Him to. This allowance comes from us when we seek the relationship with Him so that He can give us His ‘peace’ and ‘joy’. These two gifts are everlasting and will help us to endure our trials. The world may allow us happiness. But the gifts from the world always have an expiration date. This is where the ‘downs’ come from in our ‘ups’. There is no expiration date on God’s gifts. How do we receive these gifts? We find it in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In John Chapter 10, Jesus has a conversation with His disciples about a shepherd and his sheep. Jesus tells His disciples that the sheep hear the shepherd’s voice and follow his voice only. All others who come for the sheep are thieves. Jesus says that He is our Shepherd, and all who come to Him will have everything they need. The world, the devil, or thief, (however we may make reference), may be able to steal our happiness, because under our own power we can only go so far in protecting ourselves. But with our ‘Shepherd’s’ power of protection and provision, we will have victory. Inside that victory is everything we will ever need. The scripture above gives us the warning about staying close to Jesus. Because as sheep we cannot stray away from the Protector. Outside of this powerful protection, the world only comes to steal our faith. The devil only comes to kill our hope. And the thief only comes to destroy our relationship with God. But if we keep that hope in our hearts strong, and believe our Savior when He says in scripture, “...I have come…” so that we may have, “...life and have it in abundance.” We realize the thief cannot steal from God. And he cannot steal from God’s children. God, through His Son Jesus Christ, has given us everything we need to keep the thief from being successful in his attempts at the destruction in our lives. God’s peace and joy are everlasting as we continue to walk in our strong relationship with The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. Amen  Mark 9:23 (CSB) “Jesus said to him, “If you can? Everything is possible for the one who believes.”
This beautiful story of a miracle of Jesus Christ starts at verse 14. Jesus has approached a crowd where a man has brought his son to be healed. The man runs to Jesus and tells Him that his son is possessed by a demon. And this demon host has attempted to kill the son it possessed many times. In this text, the man says two specific things. One: he says, “...if you can do anything, have compassion and help us…” In response, Jesus repeats the man’s request. Like a teacher demonstrating how the ‘student’s’ action looks. He says, “...If you can?” Here the ‘Teacher’ demonstrates that there is no belief in the man's request for his son. Oftentimes we come to Jesus with an ‘IF’ in our prayers. It is like we second guess, or we are not sure if God can do what He says He can do. Or we may think that God will bless others, but when it comes to our own prayers, we may not be worthy. Jesus cuts this short by continuing the verse with, “...Everything is possible for the one who believes.” The next thing the father of the possessed son said is, “...I do believe; help my unbelief.” This is a good prayer. The world has shown us so much of its ugliness. The world has taken us through so much suffering and pain that it is sometimes hard to fight the emotions of fear and doubt that our flesh brings to our attention. But we must lean on the strength of our spirits in order to maintain and strengthen our belief. When those hard times come and test our belief systems, pray to God, “Help me with my unbelief, Lord!” In our story, Jesus went on to rebuke the demon from the man’s son and heal him. God’s power and love will do the same for us when we believe in that love and power. In verse 29, Jesus tells His disciples that some situations can only be worked out by nothing but prayer. Allow that prayer we pray to be in 'thanksgiving', like we have already received from God, for the deliverance of what we are going through. Trust God by knowing that ‘He can and He will’ deliver us and protect us. May God continue to keep you healed, protected and loved as we journey in Jesus’ name. Amen |
Authors Billy & YolandaThis is the place where we share our heart through God's Word in faith that will inspire and empower you to live in peace. Archives
January 2026
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