Category: Daily Devotional

Matt 6:9-13 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, & the glory, forever. Amen” —Jesus teaches His Disciples to Pray! Now immediately following the prayer is two scriptures that are worth reading! —Matt 6:14-15 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Matt 5:23-24 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, & there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, & go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, & then come and offer thy gift. —Forgiveness in our hearts is critical as part of our prayers! —Mark 11:25 Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. —Forgiveness is so so important to receiving all that God has for us! It never means that we are to be a doormat, but we can move past the hurts & pains when we forgive! It frees our hearts so they will be free to beat for our God! And it makes the way for our God to forgive us! Love Mel

Romans 11:1-2 I ask then, did God reject His people? Absolutely not! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. God did not reject His people, whom He foreknew. Romans 11:11 I ask then, did they stumble so as to lose their share? Certainly not! However, because of their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel jealous. —Our salvation came because we were grafted in as a branch can be grafted to another plant that has a root system! Thank you Jesus—Romans 11:16-18 If the first part of the dough is holy, so is the whole batch; if the root is holy, so are the branches. Now if some branches have been broken off, & you, a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others to share in the nourishment of the olive root, DO NOT boast over those branches. If you do, remember this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. —Remember it is all about the root! —2Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that ANY should perish, but that all should reach repentance. —He cares for all! —2Chron 6:6 Yet I have chosen Jerusalem, that My name may be there, & I have chosen David to be over My people Israel. Romans 11:5 So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. Revelation 7:3-4 Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a SEAL on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all THE TRIBES of Israel. —We serve a God who continues to focus on His beloved Israel, His Chosen People & all of us who have been grafted in! That is worth praising Him over! Love Mel

2 Tim 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, love & a sound mind. 1John 4:18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear…. Psalm 34:4 I sought the Lord, & He answered me & delivered me from all my fears. 1 John 4:8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.  1Peter 4:8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Col 3:14 Above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. —I have learned that there is a lot of joy & fulfillment that comes from giving, provided that giving comes from a place of love & not fear! Do you believe that if love is not shared, then it is not real love! Do you believe that there are those that can’t even experience real love because of the fear that binds their hearts? What about the ones that do nothing more than take & take! The ego within tries to manipulate or control! Is the ego empty from taking, manipulating or controlling?  Where is real balance found? God is the only one that really knows! Who is willing to find real love by surrendering to God? It is found in surrender! Do you fear surrender? Love vs fear! It is a struggle! Surrender is the final battle, because it is the submission to God! That is the only thing that overcomes fear, as well as control, & manipulation! Learning to Love right, always leads us closer to God! Love Mel

From Bill- Cat & Dog Theology continued. What is our purpose? Isaiah 43:7 (NKJV) 7 Everyone who is called by My name, Whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him.” Our purpose is to glorify God! Psalm 100:2-3 says: “Worship the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is He who made us, & we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture. Psalm 139 says: For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” —Sometimes we wonder if God still cares about us when things don’t go our way or we cannot clearly discern the purpose of God in our current circumstances. But then we should remind ourselves “it’s not about us”. Whew!! Our circumstances are not a judgment of God upon us. He promises to bring good from what the enemy means for our bad! And He will use us when he needs us– we just need to be available. Q: Is God being glorified today? His spirit is working everywhere & pastors, preachers & missionaries are spreading the word throughout the world. We can Participate daily with our prayers, time, giving, & as He leads. He is being glorified, & that is that & should be sufficient to give us great joy as His children. Let us rejoice. Love Mel

From Bill— Cat & Dog Theology – credit to Gerald Robison sermon. The Dog says: You feed me, you pet me, you house me – YOU must be God”. The Cat says “You feed me, you pet me, you house me – I must be God”.  Now consider, Are we Cat or Dog Christians? Dog theology looks with a longing love only to be with His Master in Heaven. While Cat theology – with a sigh of relief -seeks God mostly to avoid Hell. When we wake each day & utter our first prayer, when we read the word of God or hear it preached, do we see it from His perspective & desire to find out how we may glorify Him in all we do? Or do we selfishly seek all that God can do for us & all the blessings He can give us? By now, we must know the Bible plan is all about God & not all about us? Knowing it is all about Him – History is His Story –  taking the confusion away & helping us answer some of our questions of life like “why me”. & I t can remove some of the pressures we place on ourselves. Seek to love & serve His purposes then many questions will be answered. Much of the pain we induce to ourselves will be relieved. Being “dog-like” is a great picture of what it looks like to seek God! It’s a worthy spiritual goal. This is where we find the love we desire! Remember it is all about Him!! And He is not Santa, He is our Creator, with our salvation in His wings!—Isaiah 40:3 A voice is calling, “Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.”—Love Mel