Category: Daily Devotional

Eccl 2:26 For God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His sight; but to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and collecting, that he may give to him who is good before God. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind. —What can we conquer? There are some problems that we encounter in life that are easily conquered, & others that are impossible in our strength! One of those that fall into The impossible is Death! It is the number one thing conquered by Christ & this one thing is where our HOPE is! For hope for eternity is really the most important thing. Anything else is a fake! & ultimately a lonely place to be at the end of this life! There are many who have tried it all in this life, only to come to the end still searching for “what this life is really all about”! For ALL is VANITY! —Ecclesiastes 1:7 All the rivers flow to the sea, yet the sea is not full; to the place where the rivers flow, there they keep on flowing. —Life can become wearisome if we focus on the wrong things! The most important is focusing on God, alone! Eccl 12:13 When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this: Fear God & keep His commandments, because this is the whole duty of man.  Love Mel

From Bill & Mel —God gives us what Winkler calls “divine dynamite” to blow through the strongholds the devil places in our minds. —EPHESIANS 6: 12 “For our struggle is not against enemies of flesh & blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” — So we MUST stand on His promises. “The way to stand on a promise is to announce it over your life or your situation. This is called a declaration. In this case you may declare, “Because I share in the inheritance of Abraham, I declare that I am blessed to be a blessing.” Since the promise also includes your offspring, you should speak it over your children too: “I declare that my children are blessed so that they too can meet the needs of others.” Let me make it clear. If tormenting yourself with guilt or memories or fear helps you, then do it. But on the other hand, since you know that such torment gets you nowhere, If a thought pattern troubles you – forget it & treat it as an attack of the evil one. God gives instructions to put on the full armor. If He wants you to do something He will tell you. If a thought pattern makes you feel bad – forget it!!!! That’s IT – FORGET IT! Even if there is truth in the attack, FORGET IT! Replace IT with another thought! This is part of renewing the mind! We can’t think on two things at the same time! Why not choose to think positive! As a little child, Look for the good! Play some beautiful music! Music can chase the demons away! Our praise brings God’s power! Remember the walls of Jericho came falling down when they played music & praised God! Believe what God says. That is what matters! Love Mel

From Bill – Reading a great book today called Activating the Power of God’s word by Kyle Winkler. I recommend it. In it he describes the mental struggles of a person called Linda. Many of us will resonate with the attack’s of the evil one. It starts with evil Bombarding the mind with lies, doubts, and what-ifs • then Satan offers an object (money, fame, career), a substance (drugs, alcohol), or a person (an unhealthy, codependent relationship) as the means of relief • then When the person succumbs to the pressures, Satan follows up by giving intense guilt & shame. It becomes a cycle reinforced by habit also called a stronghold. This can be quite debilitating. There will be enough truth in these “arguments” to convince you they are true or perhaps they are what God thinks. An obvious example is reminding you of an intentional sin you once committed & telling you that you cannot be forgiven. Or a tragic event that happened that you were involved in. Or when you are once again tempted with a familiar issue, he tells you that you must eventually give in & there is no hope. Starting another cycle of guilt & shame just for the temptation. You can be rendered totally incapacitated and ineffective if you stay in that place. So how do we escape this? Tune in tomorrow. —Just remember, he tempted our Savior too, who overcame all temptations! We too can overcome! It is a war! Prepare to do battle! Love Mel

From Bill & Mel —Information Borrowed from Compelling Truth and Got Questions websites. Covenant theology examines the Bible within the context of the Bible’s covenants. The two covenants typically of focus include the covenant of works & the covenant of grace. These two covenants are seen as extensions of the seven covenants in Scripture (Adamic, Noahic, Abrahamic, Palestinian/Land, Mosaic, Davidic, and New). Covenant theology simply explained begins with the covenant of works that began in the Garden of Eden. Adam & Eve were given one command, with a clear consequence for disobedience. When Adam & Eve failed to keep God’s commandment, God established the covenant of grace. This covenant of grace is seen clearly in Jesus Christ, with salvation offered as a free gift of grace by faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). Other covenants are similarly broken by humans yet kept by God’s grace. Abraham failed God at times, yet God’s grace was sufficient. The Davidic Covenant was fulfilled despite David’s sins. In the New Covenant, Jesus fulfills the law & offers salvation to those who turn to Him. He fulfills the covenant both as a human & as God. All the earlier covenants find fulfillment in Jesus, who claims not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17). —For by Grace we have been saved! Grace is the love from our God because He is love & not based on our behavior! How great would it be if we learned to love like that! Now That is & would be worth celebrating! Love Mel

Information Borrowed from Compelling Truth & Got Questions websites. The Davidic Covenant was an unconditional covenant, found in 2 Samuel 7:8-16, which promised to bless David’s family line & assure an everlasting kingdom. Jesus is from that family line of David (Luke 1:32-33) & as the Son of David (Mark 10:47), is the fulfillment of this covenant. It amplifies the “seed” aspect of the Abrahamic Covenant. The promises to David in this passage are significant. God is always using His power to bring about wholeness for His people eternally.
THE NEW COVENANT found in Jeremiah 31:31-34,  promised that God would forgive sin & allow a close, unbroken relationship with His people. The promise was first made to Israel & then extended to everyone who comes to Jesus Christ in faith (Matthew 26:28; Hebrews 9:15). Jesus Christ came to fulfill the Law of Moses (Matthew 5:17) & create a new covenant between God & His children. Now that we are under the New Covenant, both Jews & Gentiles can be free from the penalty of the Law. We are now given the opportunity to receive salvation as a free gift (Ephesians 2:8-9). Praise the Lord & believe that He is working out all that is wrong in this world! Preparing the way to a better one! Love Mel