Category: Video-Devotions

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Everyday Worship – Part 2

This series centers around God’s revealed Word to us in mid-October, which is that “everyday worship is very strategic for life.”

Our Lord highlighted two key scriptures for this message: Luke 21:28 and Galatians 6:9.

Luke 21:28 AMP instructs us to “…stand tall and lift up your heads [in joy], because [suffering ends as] your redemption is drawing near.”

Other versions of this scripture say to stand up, straighten up, look up and raise your heads as God’s redemption works on our behalf to bring us progressively from suffering into joy. Into “great power and miracles, in the radiance of his splendor, and with great glory and praises…” (Lk 21:27-28 TPT) as we continue to worship Him daily (1 Jn 3:2 TPT).

The second key scripture, Galatians 6:9 NKJV, says, “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”

To lose heart here means to lose inner strength (Pr 24:10 TPT).

John 3:15 ESV reminds us “that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”

So, since the eternal life of our Lord is inside of our hearts to strengthen us by faith, when we lose heart (inner strength), we need to check our faith factor. Since faith comes by hearing the Word, we must ask ourselves, “Which voices are we listening to?”

We can choose to grow in this eternal life on earth as we trust God and submit to His ways by faith more than ourselves (Ga 5:19-21 TPT). It’s how our souls get built in the highest strength above anything else that tries to come against.

Are we believing in God’s ways as much as in His promises to us? Are we believing in His benefits of Presence as much as in His rewards of completed tasks? What are we valuing and honoring most? God? Or the results of His promises? If it’s the latter, then there’s some growing out of selfishness (limitation) and into Love that needs to happen (1 Jn 4:18 (AMPC).

We can ask Holy Spirit to search our hearts and bring the conviction that leads us to repentance.

The evidence of living life God’s way by faith is the fruit of love.

1 John 3:14 ESV confirms this by saying, “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death.”

So, in the humility of devotion to worship God is where we hand over burdens of the task we were never intended to carry. It’s where we can honor the priority of Him as God above works and acknowledge our dependency upon Him as King above all. It’s where we can receive divine strength to carry on.

Job 33:4 NIV says, “The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”

Everything worship-worthy of God is live-giving. It stirs a river of life that move from the Spirit of Christ in us, into our souls then back to Him. Holy Scripture makes it clear to treasure His Spirit of life over lesser things (Jn 3:6, 6:63).

God reminds us in Isaiah 45:22 TPT to “…turn your heart to me, face me now, and be saved wherever you are, even from the ends of the earth, for I alone am God, and there is no other.

He is our sole Source and Sustainer for life. He is our Completer. God is making us whole and completing our days with His life-giving abundance as we worship Him in Spirit and truth (Jn 4:24).

God has made us stronger in Him and is bringing us into a powerful place, void of shame and irrational fear (Is 29:22).

He has transformed us into a more fitting, beautiful bride to live out His dreams He placed inside of us for a new, abundant life, into which we are now transitioning.

Can you see the pieces coming more together into the beginnings of an outward manifestation of wholeness—what is essentially a whole new life?

We will arrive into tomorrow as we come through yesterday’s transformation. Therefore, our tomorrow will not be like yesterday. And the only way we can overcome that which tries to overcome us is to look at God and thank Him for His gift of transformation (redemption, liberation), His active life-giving miracles. His newness of life made manifest in abundance (Ro 6:4).

So, let’s check our hearts, repent of our ways above God’s and ask Him to help us move increasingly in His true life by faith in and worship of Him alone. Let’s keep our eyes on Him and our heads lifted toward Him as we anticipate the greater joy of His Presence and His miraculous power to produce all He said He would.

Lord, let it be unto us, according to Your will. In Jesus’ Mighty Name. Amen.

Friends, there is more to this Word. So, join me next week for Part 3 of Everyday Worship.

This video-devo was graciously re-posted by the Salem Web Network, which includes iBelieve.com.

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Everyday Worship – Part 1

In mid-October, our Lord revealed a Word to me that “everyday worship is very strategic for life.” So, I began to search it out; and this is what I believe He would like to share:

Beginning with definitions, the word, everyday, according to Webster’s, is an adjective that means “routinely.” Everyday is also a compound word, comprised of “every” and “day.”

Every means “without exception” or “complete.” It’s root word, ever, means “always” in reference to time and way. Vine’s Dictionary defines ever as “at all times…on all occasions…continuous…perpetually…successive occurrences…unbroken…for ever and ever…unto all the ages.” Ever is also a root word of “everlasting,” which means eternal and can reference our future. Interestingly, as we look further in Webster’s, we find that eV is an abbreviation for “electron volt,” an obvious reference to power.

2 Timothy 1:7 NIV reminds us that “…the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.”

Moving onward, the word, day, according to Webster’s, can reference the light of day, the time of day or a specific period, such as an age. It can mean “the time established by usage or law for work, school or business.” Day can reference “conflict and contention” as in “played hard and won the day.” It can reference mood or attitude in regards to “seemingly endless” or long days, or “an indefinite number of successive days.” It can even reference a “period of rotation of a planet.”

The Word I believe our Lord is revealing to us in these definitions is that if you desire to power through your days on earth with the eternal life-victory of Heaven, it will require continuous, wholehearted worship unto God. In this attitude of worship, God will bring the completion of His divinely-desired (and designed) outcome in abundance to fulfill His promises to us.

This, then, begs the question, “What is worship?”

Worship is both a noun and a verb. The Tyndale Bible Dictionary makes it succinct by saying that worship is an “expression of reverence and adoration of God.” Tyndale goes on to stress that worship is not confined to physical buildings, because we are the building, the vessel, in which the Spirit of Christ, our New Jerusalem, dwells (Ac1:8).

Not only is worship not confined to church buildings, it is not confined to what we may think of as traditional in expression. I love what Vine’s Dictionary has to say, which is that worship:

…is not confined to praise; broadly it may be regarded as the direct acknowledgement to God, of His nature, attributes, ways and claims, whether by the outgoing of the heart in praise and thanksgiving or by deed done in such acknowledgement…to serve, do service to… (Ac 17:25).

So, the short of this is that all the ways in which we serve God in truth and Spirit is considered worship. This includes our work of any kind when we do it unto our Lord. It includes speaking life-giving words over ourselves and others. It includes remembrances and appreciation of God-given deliverance into promises fulfilled. It includes individual and corporate celebration, even as a nation. It includes intentional efforts in intimate relationship with God, such as prayer, Bible reading and operating in the gifts God gives us.

When we worship in spirit and truth, we are not only honoring God, we are exercising our faith, which invites an increase of God’s grace of eternal life into our souls (Jn 4:24, 3:6, 6:63). Active faith is movement, and movement is a sign of life itself. We are, in essence, the church being built by His life-giving Spirit, being made more fit in character by His fruit of Spirit, which pours out of us to build outwardly (1 Pe 2:5).

So, we see here that worshipping God is cyclical. Jesus, whose Spirit dwells in us as Holy Spirit, can pour out worship continually through us, like a river, as we are yielded to Him (Ac 2:17). As we humble ourselves unto Him, we will experience His glory, which is translated as worship in Luke 14:10 KJV. This is the kind of worship that we give back to God.

In this way, worshippers demonstrate Godliness as living sacrifices unto our Lord, who receive a new, constant flow of life (Ro 12:1, 1 Ti 2:10). In this way, we are blessed for our devotion, reverence and awe of Him.

Tyndale’s confirms this by saying:

One’s life can be enhanced by loving and serving God (Dt 30:15-20, 1 Pe 3:8-12), by experiencing God’s deliverance (Is 38:16), and by receiving divine blessings (Mt 5:3-12).” These acts, like praising God, are acts of worship. They are cyclical and life-giving because they honor God, our life-giver, as well as others. This eternal “life is abundant (Jn 10:10), enlightened (Jn 8:12), free and satisfied (Jn 10:9), victorious (Ro 6:6-14), full of peace and joy (Ro 5:1-11), inexhaustibly refreshed (Jn 4:13-14; 7:37-38) and immortal (Jn 5:24, 1 Co 15:51-57).

Friends, when we model God’s way of life “…the God of peace (of untroubled, undisturbed well-being) will be with” us (Ph 4:9 AMPC).

So, pray with me if you will…

Dear Lord,

“Let my heart be sound (sincere and wholehearted and blameless) in Your statutes…” (Ps 119:80 AMPC). I invite You to bring me increasingly into Your light of truth, love and abundant life as I continue to submit my heart to You in true worship.

In Jesus’ Mighty Name.

Amen.

Friends, there’s more to this Word from our Lord. So, join me next week for Part 2 of Everyday Worship.

This video-devo was graciously re-posted by the Salem Web Network, which includes iBelieve.com.

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Good News – Part 2

When I was in middle school I ran track. Thankfully, I had an amazing coach, who taught me proper techniques for running races. Although I wasn’t the fastest girl on the team, those were invaluable lessons I carried into adulthood and apply even now to life in general.

A few of my favorites are:

1. Don’t be distracted by opponents.

2. Stay in your lane.

3. Keep your head and eyes straight forward.

4. Beat your own best time.

As I mentioned, I wasn’t the fastest girl. But I figured out, early on, there was a race I could be a part of winning. It was my favorite then and still is today: the relay.

Out on the track, there was nothing more exhilarating to me than the anticipation of seeing the runner behind me approach. I could feel my heart race even before my feet. As she got closer, I would sync in step with her, reach for the baton, grab it and take off as if running for my life.

I gave it my all, but it was never enough; because no one can win a relay by themselves. Winning this race requires team effort.

This principle links back to Part 1 of this series, where God asks Moses, “What is that in your hand” (Ex 4:2 NIV)?

“A staff,” Moses replied.

Moses couldn’t part the Red Sea alone. He knew he couldn’t gain victory for himself or others by himself. But with God’s grace-power and authority operating through Moses and his staff, he could do the impossible (Ex 15:6 NIV).

1 Chronicles 29:12 NIV tells us that God is “the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all.”

So, when we receive God’s hand to do what we cannot do alone, He releases His power and authority through us to accomplish His will. We become His hands and feet on earth. We don’t have to fear when we know we are in the palm of His hand.

All through scripture, we find that God establishes His will through our hands and that our lives and times are in God’s hand (1 Sa 24:20, Ps 31:15, Je 26:14).

God is the lifter of our hands, the One who offers us victory over opposition (Mi 5:9, Jo 8:18). He even calls us His “wreath of victory” in Philippians 4:1 AMP. With God, we can move faster than we think and affect many lives.

In early October, our Lord revealed to me that there are those, like Moses, who have not given up but have persisted in “impossible” assignments (races). These persistent ones are about to finish their final segments in victory by God’s Spirit—by His power and authority.

These are people who have been matured over time. Ones who have been strengthened to run with God in abundance (Ph 4:13, Ps 67:6 AMP).

God is unveiling His beauty that He restored in them deeply. They are emerging fluidly into their time to beacon, as God showcases His glory through these deliverers (Ac 13:47).

When God highlights them, we will come to know them in a new way, on a new level and in new areas. Many of them are close to us—those we think we have known for a long time but actually only knew on the surface.

Are you one of these deliverers? What has God empowered you to do?

Philippians 1:6 ESV says, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

God is able and He has made you able, because you have synced with Him in the race. He is behind you, in front of you and alongside you cheering you on.

God has placed His baton of victory in your hand to finish a final segment of a race (assignment). Know that, when this race is over, there will be another one up ahead, just on the other side of a brief rest.

God offers us a strategy to run in peace and well-being in our daily race in Philippians 4 by reminding us who we are in Him and revealing His proper techniques for running races:

Verse 1 – He calls us His beloved and instructs us to “stand firm” in Him.

Verse 2 – He tells us “to work in harmony” with Him.

Verse 3 – He advises us to help others who work “in the [cause of the] gospel.”

Verse 4 – He says to “Rejoice in the Lord always [delight, take pleasure in Him].”

Verse 5 – He instructs us to let our “gentle spirit [your graciousness, unselfishness, mercy, tolerance, and patience] be known to all people.”

Verse 6 – He invites us to not be anxious or worried and to bring our concerns to Him with thanksgiving.

Verse 7 – He assures us that He will guard our hearts and minds with His peace.

Verse 8 – He commands us to focus on His truth, honor, righteousness, purity, beauty, peace, goodness, excellence and praise worthiness.

On the second day of seeking God to write this devotion, I asked our Lord what else He desired to say. He brought to mind the old gospel pop song, Put Your Hand in the Hand, which I hadn’t heard in years.

As I searched it out, I realized this song was released the same year that I had begun running track in middle school.

Let’s remember these lyrics as we go forward:

Put your hand in the hand of the man

Who stilled the water

Put your hand in the hand of the man

Who calmed the sea

Take a look at yourself

And you can look at others differently

Put your hand in the hand of the man

From Galilee.

The scripture reference Holy Spirit led me to was Isaiah 41:13 AMP, which says, “For I the Lord your God keep hold of your right hand; [I am the Lord], Who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.'”

He also reminded me of 2 Timothy 4:7 TPT, which says, “I have fought an excellent fight. I have finished my full course with all my might and I’ve kept my heart full of faith.”

So, friends, God’s good news is that He is about to show us greater victories than we’ve ever known as we decide to trust Him enough to run with our hand in His and finish our races (assignments) strong.

To Him be the glory.

This video-devo was graciously re-posted by the Salem Web Network, which includes iBelieve.com.

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Good News – Part 1

God’s good news is live-giving. His directives lead us into abundant life in Him.

Deuteronomy 30:19 instructs us to “choose life.” But how do we know which way offers God’s best life?

We will know by first knowing Him and His Word. By seeking Him and developing a relationship with Him that builds trust in Him and His truth (Ex 14:31). By putting His ways above our own desires. By being obedient and waiting on His timing.

The more we come to trust God and extend faith to go His way, the more His faith in us takes root in our souls (mind, will, emotions) and instills new life. This is the same everlasting life that our loved ones, who have gone before us, experience in Heaven. It is a lifeline of God’s goodness that is inherently void of harshness. It’s what Jabez prayed for (1 Ch 4:10).

So, even during hard times, we can choose to look at the sonship Heavenly Father offers to us more than our hardship. God has provided His abundant lifeline, even in the midst of difficulty. Therefore, we are not without His best option.

Choosing life in times of endurance enables us to progress with our Lord along His timeline. Even in the face of no way out, He will make a way. He will move the immovable and do the impossible. We will see it and experience it as we look to Him and obey Him.

A few weeks ago, while driving home one night, our Lord gave me a visual of a miraculous work He is doing in my life:

As I was driving on an interstate, this highway suddenly turned into a “parking lot.” GPS said the wait would be three-miles long. So, I prayed to God to make a way where there didn’t seem to be a way for myself and everyone else.

Then, I turned on Christian radio and immediately heard the lyrics, “Move the immovable. Do the impossible.” I began to sing these words in my car and thank God for doing exactly this.

Ironically, after the song, a local pastor broadcasted a message that included the lie that God doesn’t do miracles anymore, ever since He gave us His Bible. Isn’t this just like the enemy to try to counter a work of God before it happens?

Still, God got me through the road construction zone, little-by-little, where three lanes narrowed into one.

In situations like this, I have learned to pray, “Lord, what would You have me see and know in this?”

In this case, He revealed to me that this is a visual of what He’s doing in my life regarding a particular assignment—that, even though it has seemed impossible, like there is no way I’ll ever get through it, He will help me as I progress with Him.

When I arrived home, I learned that my husband, who had driven separately through the same “parking lot,” suffered through five miles compared to my three. He was up ahead of me. But, even so, God accelerated my timeline to pass through.

Over the next twenty-four hours, our Lord confirmed His promise to me through three witnesses and by highlighting His Word in John 1:16 NIV, which says, “Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.”

The Amplified Classic version says, “For out of His fullness (abundance) we have all received [all had a share and we were all supplied with] one grace after another and spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing and even favor upon favor and gift [heaped] upon gift.”

Friends, God’s every Word trumps every enemy lie.

Jumbo blessings require a narrow path of truth, focus, discipline and persistence. It’s on this narrow path of obedience that we experience God’s favor to accomplish His will with Him by His grace-power and authority. Our faith is activated by our will to use what He has put in our hands to create what He desires.

Think Moses and his staff (Ex 4:2, 17; 14:16).

Good news came at just the right moment for the Israelites to cross through the Red Sea, as Moses obediently followed God’s command and extended his hand with staff over the water (Ex 14:21, 26-27).

What God put in my hand is a laptop purposed to write a book that He told me will help save many lives.

So, what has God put in your hand that will bring good news to others?

What we do for others, God will do for us. Multiplied. So, there’s no need for selfishness or jealousy. We can choose to grow in faith and be extensions of God’s goodness of deliverance when we do good to those who wrongfully blame us, like the Israelites did to Moses (Ex 14:11-13). God will protect us by His hand, and others will ultimately appreciate the handiwork (Is 49:2, Ex 14:31).

I believe we are in a special time and season where, as we speak to the mountains before us and put our hand to the task assigned us, we will see God’s manifest miracles that will enable us to progress through impossible obstacles. His weight of glory is bigger than the weight of any responsibility or pressure that we can hand over to Him. As we dwell in God and put evil behind us, we can expect to see God’s upper hand defeat the enemy’s underhandedness in our mission (Jo 11:14). So, let’s keep our eyes of faith on God, who carries our burdens, and outweighs enemy lies of defeat with His assured good-news victory (He 11:20 AMPC).

To God be the glory.

This video-devo was graciously re-posted by the Salem Web Network, which includes iBelieve.com.

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Buds, Blossoms & Dead Leaves

My eyes devoured the beauty of the fall trees on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Orange, red, yellow, and purple swathed the mountainside in a palette of color.

As I looked over the valley between the mountains, the wind blew leaves in front of my face. I captured one and admired its brilliant hue. I saw firsthand that the life-giving source in the branches ceased after nature’s purpose had been accomplished. The season’s clock told the forest to make room for new spring growth.

Form a New Image

Just like in this reflective moment, wrong beliefs can latch onto us like a dry leaf. Our emotions and lives can even gather dead leaves. Habits and mindsets that are familiar to us can cause us to place our security in them. But new growth cannot begin until the old is detached and discarded. Just like the tree that stopped nourishing its many old leaves, we need to let go of all that does not align with God.

Limiting God’s influence in our lives will hinder us from following His will and experiencing victory over obstacles. Living in doubt regarding the abilities the Father has given us can paralyze us. But when we are willing to grow, we can bloom and not produce dead leaves; because expansion brings new opportunities.

God’s Word instructs us in Isaiah 54:2-3a TPT that “Increase is coming, so enlarge your tent and add extensions to your dwelling. Hold nothing back! Make the tent ropes long and the pegs stronger. You will increase and spread out in every direction.”

So, to grow and develop new opportunities, we need to release leaves of doubt and insecurity. Transforming old ways of thinking to God’s way places us on the path to enlarging our boundaries and removing limitations. Then, we will experience a new bloom of life.

Remove the Limits

On the contrary, Psalm 78:41 TPT refers to the Israelites wandering in the wilderness. It says, “Again and again they limited God, preventing him from blessing them. Continually they turned back from him and provoked the Holy One of Israel!”

The Lord didn’t want them to stay in the desert for forty years, but their inability to believe Him for bigger and better things stopped their progress.

Ephesians 3:20 AMPC reveals that God is for us by saying, “Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams].”

So, God’s power lives within us, but it’s up to us to allow that power to work and develop in and through us by faith and obedience. His plan doesn’t automatically happen simply because He desires it.

Likewise, in Matthew 13:58, we learn that Jesus did many miracles and healed the sick, lame, demon-possessed and lunatic. But unbelieving people limited what Jesus could do for them. His ability was always there, but the ones He ministered to had to reach out and accept what He offered. If they didn’t get healed or delivered, it wasn’t His fault.

Change Involves Risk

It can be hard to take steps that feel risky, but without exercising this level of faith, everything stays the same. Because growth requires transition.

In 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 NKJV, we read about the story of Jabez. It says:

Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name, Jabez saying, “Because I bore him in pain.” And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that your hand would be with me, and that you would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested.

We see here that Jabez asked Jehovah to help him escape the legacy of his name, which means “sorrow-maker” (AMPC version) and “to grieve” (Strong’s #3258). Jabez didn’t succumb to the label bestowed upon him at birth. Instead, he sought to rise above it, so God could birth new life through him. Dissatisfaction with his familiar environment urged Jabez to seek advancement.

Jabez faced what felt like risk by voicing his request. Leaving his family and home may have been a requirement to escape the limitations placed on him by his family. Still, he was willing to move forward and ask God to give him new territory and not cause pain to anyone, including himself (1 Ch 4:10 AMPC).

This doesn’t mean we all have to leave home for the Lord to accomplish something in our lives. But cutting ties with people who pull us down removes the atmosphere of peer pressure tied to outgrown identities and performance. While surrounding ourselves with wise mentors separates us from limited understanding and pushes us forward to unseen heights.

When we allow labels from others’ words to stick to us throughout our lives, those impressions can affect what we think and how we act. When this happens, we are agreeing with the label instead of agreeing with what the Bible says. Jabez escaped the name placed upon him at birth, because he didn’t submit to its meaning.

God is so good, and He wants us to live an unlimited life aligned with Him. There is no end to His knowledge, goodness, love, mercy, creativeness, and wisdom. Our Father has placed gifts into each of us, but without stepping out and allowing Him the freedom to work, these talents will remain dormant, and the circle of influence we have will be hindered.

Friends, when we expand our minds, stretch out our stakes, and lengthen our cords, we will grow a bouquet of buds and blossoms and will not gather dead leaves and sticks.

God invites us to leave the ungodly familiar behind and answer the call to reach beyond ourselves toward a new pathway of living.

Pray with me if you will…

Heavenly Father,

Show me those things in my life that have no purpose for me any longer. Help me to receive Your wisdom to know how to expand my horizons, enlarge my tent, and stretch out my stakes. Help me to not put limits on what You want to do in my life.

In Jesus’ Mighty Name.

Amen.

To God be the glory.

This video-devo was graciously re-posted by the Salem Web Network, which includes iBelieve.com.

Barbara Latta is a true southerner and is transplanted from Arkansas to Georgia. She writes a monthly column in her local newspaper, contributes to devotional websites and has stories in several anthologies. She is the author of God’s Maps, Stories of Inspiration and Direction for Motorcycle Riders. She loves traveling with her Harley-riding prince on his motorcycle, taking in the creativity of nature. Drinking coffee on the patio while the sun comes up is her favorite time of day. Her desire is to share how the grace of God overcomes all obstacles and writes as a Titus 2 woman on her blog at www.barbaralatta.blogspot.com. She loves being a mom to two grown sons and Mimi to one granddaughter.