Category: Video-Devotions

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Obedience As Entryways

Obedience is the beautiful entrance to our purposed assignments in this season. The “everything“ in Ecclesiastes 3:11 that has been made beautiful in its time is now ready, and one of those things is you!

Our Lord desires that we continue to follow Him as doors close. Don’t look back but be grateful for His faithfulness. He has open-door relationships all lined up for you forward. 

And as we obey Him, He will lead us into and through.

In this light, Holy Spirit has highlighted two areas of scripture on repeat for weeks:

Deuteronomy 7:11-13a MSG and Psalm 75:10.

Deuteronomy 7:11-13a MSG say: 

So keep the command and the rules and regulations that I command you today. Do them. And this is what will happen: When you, on your part, will obey these directives, keeping and following them, God, on his part, will keep the covenant of loyal love that he made with your ancestors:

He will love you,

he will bless you,

he will increase you.

These verses point to John 15:10 and reveal to us that God is working to restore legacies of honor now and that you and I have important roles. If you don’t know what your role is, you need to pursue God and find out. This is not a time to waver or wander. This is a time to listen to God and know that you know.

In Psalm 75:10 TPT our Lord reveals, “My praises will break the powers of wickedness, while the righteous will be promoted and become powerful.”

In Psalm 75:10 CEB we see that “God says: ‘I will demolish every bit of the wicked’s power, but the strength of the righteous will be lifted up.'”

It’s important to memorize this verse because it’s applicable in so many areas right now and along the way.

Holy Spirit is revealing that He is contending with that which contends with you and me. He is reversing bondages. He is freeing us up from that which once limited us. He is removing those prior constraints so we can move forward into Kingdom expanse and accomplish, with Him, the destiny He has for each of us. 

It’s time and the only way there is through careful obedience unto our Lord. 

In this season, He will invite us into new exploits with Him, works we haven’t done before. And it will be up to us as individuals to pursue Him for specifics along the way. 

“I don’t know how” is not acceptable. So, don’t even go there, except as a humble confession before Him. Holy Spirit has all of our answers. So, commit to honor Him by pursuing Him for wisdom.

Also, it’s not solely about the tasks at hand. It’s about what will happen as a result of working those tasks. Remember, God is at work with you. He releases His power on our work to accomplish the mission, so we are not alone and do not have to feel like we have to make it happen in our own strength. We can remember to leave room for His grace to show up in our weak areas right on time.

The next steps He reveals may not make any sense. His instructions may evoke fear in you and around you because you’ll realize you have to relinquish control to Him. Nevertheless, choose to remain close with Him and do it anyway, trusting Him. This is how you’ll break through fear that tries to bind you from moving forward. 

It’s a faith walk. So, trust Him with it all.

Remember Joshua and Caleb—those two leaders, out of an entire community, who chose courage and wholeheartedness in the face of impossible. This level of submission will be required of you and me, too, if we choose to move into our promised lands with Him.

John 14:15 NIV says, “If you love me, keep my commands.”

There is no other way in and through the true victory that is within reach. His standard and strategy of obedience is the path to blessing.

Holy Spirit reminded me that He built us to be like Jesus and that we are to be strongly and openly identified with Him (1 Pe 2:4-8 NIV). 

He took me to 1 Peter to see a fresh perspective for this season. I encourage you to read 1 Peter for yourself and invite Holy Spirit to highlight what He desires you see right now. Because if you want to be blessed, you need to hear from God for yourself and do what He says. 

Notice how these key verses link with Psalm 75:10:

1 Peter 2:9 NIV says, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

1 Peter 3:12 NIV says, “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

1 Peter 1:5 NIV says, You “who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.”

1 Peter 4:17-18 NIV – “For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And, if it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

“To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen” (1 Pe 5:11 NIV).

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

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Grateful Hearts

A couple of weeks ago, during quiet time with our Lord, Holy Spirit spoke to my heart, saying, “Grateful hearts are surrounded by life.”

He revealed to me that He desires to create a lifestyle of gratitude in His people. This involves not only becoming grateful for Him and to Him for what He will do in our lives but to also be grateful for the pathway of surrender that facilitates it.

God is making us aware of our need for Him right now because of the level of risk and reach of abundance that He’s bringing us into (Ps 65:11).

Outward Abundance

This is an expansive give-up-to-go-up way to abundance, where we will begin to experience the outward blessings, while remembering how they came about. And to the extent that it will become a new way of life forward to affect generations. 

Where many have known Him as the God of the impossible in the secret place, they will now know Him as the God of the impossible outward blessing.

He will reframe what His sufferers endured as they listen to Him. He will reveal more of Himself in the midst that may have been missed earlier to help them finally get on top of painful circumstances and lead this outworking of abundance, while continuing to follow Him. 

So, those who have suffered through the laying down of limitations time after time, feeling like all they experienced was suffering after suffering but still holding onto hope for promised goodness they had not seen, will now experience the outward blessing upon blessing. 

Purposed to Build Legacy

God will use them to rebuild legacy. Some of those blessings will involve contracts. 

And there will be such a deep level of gratitude that will propel them onward. Many will experience Amos 9:13 CEB, which confirms that 

The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when the one who plows will overtake the one who gathers, when the one who crushes grapes will overtake the one who sows the seed. The mountains will drip wine, and all the hills will flow with it. I will improve the circumstances of my people Israel; they will rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; and they will make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant them upon their land, and they will never again be plucked up out of the land that I have given them, says the LORD your God.

The way there is to surrender more to His will and His ways, seek Him for His wisdom, carefully follow His precepts and do the work at hand.

Release of Unholiness

Holy Spirit revealed to me that He’s finally releasing the ties that interfered with those who walked with Him for so many years—in spirit, in mindset and even in physical proximity. He is severing ungodly ties and establishing new boundaries so all can live freer and more aligned with Him.

Holy Spirit revealed to me that He’s bringing a finality to ungodly co-dependencies that have transgressed beyond their assignments to grow and train others. This is to encourage more dependency on Him. 

He revealed that it’s time to move on past old limitations into a lifestyle of integrity beyond the grasp of what was to live better and far better lives that will bring Him greater glory. 

So, in this season, where alignments will surface into manifestations, God’s people can watch and marvel as He graciously shows up to do that which only He can do as they continue to do what He instructs.

Creating an Honor Society

Holy Spirit revealed to me that He desires to create an “honor society” and that He is building it to reveal Himself to the world as a God of Honor. In doing so, He is inviting us to return to honor and justice. 

He is inviting us to return to the knowledge of Him. To come to know Him as Wonderful Counselor and see justice. To align with Him and come to know Him as Mighty God. 

He is inviting us to interact from a heart of wisdom and impart wisdom to impact society, which requires us to lean into Him (His grace and favor), not on our own understanding (Strong’s #5463).

In a vision, I saw The Lord ask, “Does wisdom sync down?” 

“No,” He said. “Wisdom lifts. Therefore, rise. Come up higher with Me. And access wisdom.” 

Unusual Access

Holy Spirit revealed to me that He is about to give His people unusual access to what’s critical. Many are about to be personally escorted into the most important places. 

This requires that we humble ourselves before God. Turn to Him and watch Him open the doors for us. It won’t be the way others got in. It will be a unique passage that is not open to all. It will be a better way, a protected way, a more direct way and a more honorable way. It will be a passage of authority.

This is one way that God will make a way where there appears to be none. 

These necessary entrances are reserved for those who walk in divinely-purposed assignments. They are not reserved for the masses and are not visible to them. God has aligned workers standing by to show His surrendered ones the way and lead them through to critical points of their destinies. 

Keep Growing & Going

So, faithfully reach for God and keep growing in Him. Keep working what He instructed you to do, even if you have to begin again, knowing better this time around. Even if you have to get creative and work around some obstacles. 

Remember, immature Peter denied Jesus three times and was forgiven each time. Mature Peter became part of Jesus’ inner circle.

We can be encouraged that God has more restoration for us as we progress with Him. He is the God of more than enough (Je 31:14 MSG). And it’s time to overflow with His goodness in our assignments to bring Him more glory in the earth.

In Jesus’ Mighty Name, 

Amen. 

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

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Declaration of Grief

During quiet time with our Lord a couple of weeks ago, Holy Spirit showed me this Word-vision (Declaration of Grief) and revealed that some of His people have made declarations of grief over their circumstances, their souls and their lives due to disillusionment of Him. 

These false declarations have been exalted above God and His truth. And they need to be reversed, so those who feel grieved can live out the level of life forward that God desires they receive.

If this is you, God desires to disempower grief in your life by having you choose to illuminate Him, not eliminate Him in your circumstances.

He is the only One who can fix it. So, if you are willing, you don’t have to experience defeat but ascend in victory.

Psalm 119:28 HCSB says, “I am weary from grief; strengthen me through Your word.”

What’s important to understand is that God is not the cause of grief and that, with excessive grief, comes degeneration. It’s one way the enemy tries to steal quality of life from people, and all of it is founded on the lie that you cannot get past it.

Holy scripture tells us in Proverbs 21:23 MSG to “Watch your words and hold your tongue; you’ll save yourself a lot of grief.”

The word “grief” in this verse means distress or straits (Strong’s #6869a). Webster’s defines straits as “a situation of perplexity or distress.” A narrow place with limited resources or space or time; a constricted or tight place. The point here is that we can hem ourselves into a state of grief with our own spoken words, and the more we meditate on them and speak them the worse the situation and our mental health becomes. 

If you’ve ever tried to figure something out or do something or get someplace that was beyond your own ability, you know how frustrating and impossible it feels. But when we turn to God, tap into Him as our Source and hand over our frustration and grief, He offers us unspeakable joy to strengthen us and help us go beyond where we could not go alone. 

This is how it works when dealing with grief. We are to pass through it, not camp there. And God is inviting us up higher in this area. 

1 Peter 1:8 TPT says, “…through believing in him you are saturated with an ecstatic joy, indescribably sublime and immersed in glory.”

The AMPC version calls this joy “inexpressible and glorious (triumphant, heavenly).” 

1 Peter 1:8-9 MSG says, “…Because you kept on believing, you’ll get what you’re looking forward to: total salvation.”

And isn’t Heaven on earth what we ultimately desire?

If you’ve been making declarations of grief over your life, Holy Spirit would have you know that whatever it is that you believe you’ve lost is not lost in God’s Kingdom. Because He designed life itself to be a cycle, not a linear time on earth. 

Plus, God will do the impossible for you if you will only believe, which means to trust Him in His truth and apply it to your own life and situation. Hold onto Him, instead of your trouble (grief). And in fact, humbly lay your trouble at the foot of His cross and entrust Him with it. Because, as long as you hold onto it, it will work against you.

Whatever tight place you believe you cannot get through right now, God will make a way.

Jude 1:24 NIV says, “To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy.”

Excessive grief does not honor God and can actually be an idol. And idols get torn down. Many believe excessive grief attracts demons that try to hold people in a consistent state of grief. This would be a demonic stronghold.

So, we can prevent a lot more trouble coming our way when we willfully surrender it all to God. And the sooner the better. 

He has an amazing year before us, and He desires to help us. So, will you let Him help you?

If so, pray with me . . . 

Dear Lord, 

Thank You for Your Glory-Presence. Thank You for making a way for me to experience Heaven on earth as joy unspeakable. 

I repent of making grief an idol above You and Your way, and I choose to turn to You and lay it down. I renounce all ties with the enemy of my soul and command all ungodly spirits assigned to grief to go in Jesus’ Name.

This day, I choose to honor You by receiving the new life and purpose You have for me. And I entrust You with all that I cannot control. 

Thank You, Lord, for loving me past grief and help me speak life consistently.

In Jesus’ Mighty Name, 

Amen. 

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

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Lift Down

A couple of weeks ago, Holy Spirit showed me the Word-vision “Lift down.” In this vision, the letter “i” in Lift was illustrated like an EKG line with the end of the line pointing upward as an arrow. 

At first, to me, this phrase seemed like an oxymoron. But as I sought The Lord for His meaning and looked it up in the dictionary, it began to make sense. 

According to Webster’s, Lift down means “to pick up (something) in order to move it to a lower position.” The example given was lifting a box down from a shelf to the floor.

When I read this, God sparked my spirit that He’s about to lift down His shelved saints for outward use . . . bringing them from that upper shelf, that high place, that upper room of powerful intimacy with Him alone. 

A place reserved for His people to interact with Him for His enjoyment and for their deep transformation and equipping. A pure place, void of distraction and wear. A place of infilling and refreshing. An anointed assignment of “be still and know that I am God” (Ps 46:10).

But just as it was an inner-chamber time, these lifted down ones are now coming more into the latter part of Psalm 46:10, which is to experience God being exalted among the nations and in the earth. 

Just as many have been switching out seasonal décor and reorganizing their purposed spaces to make room for their new year goals, God is making a spiritual shift in their lives, too.

Holy Spirit impressed my heart that their shelf-life has expired and they are now being renewed outwardly to offer fresh hope and new life to others. 

Interestingly, if you look at the word “shelf,” you will see “he” in the center. If you delete the “h,” in “shelf,” you will see the word “self.” 

The ones who were shelved, were ones who were delivered from self-centeredness and into more of Him. They were made powerful in The Lord, as they were inwardly lifted by Holy Spirit. 

They were held up, close to God’s heart, in intimate reserve for higher purposes. And over time, God made them into uncommon instruments fit for use. 

Now is their season to be repositioned, to lift off into just the right place for them to share more of the blessing God created them to be. 

These saints are purposed to lift the hearts of many. They will bring the strength and beauty of life to saints. They will serve as God’s vessels to see manifest miracles. And nothing less will bring such great joy to their hearts. 

The verse Holy Spirit repeatedly highlighted to me is 2 Corinthians 9:11 TPT, which says, “You will be abundantly enriched in every way as you give generously on every occasion, for when we take your gifts to those in need, it causes many to give thanks to God.”

So, these lifted down ones will live out their life’s purpose in a better place, more aligned with God and those with whom He assigns. 

Regarding these assignments, Holy Spirit revealed to me that there will be a sense of gratitude over that which seemed long gone being reconnected and restored. 

God was working to bring these lifted down ones “there” the whole time. It just took longer for them to get “there.” 

Holy Spirit reminded me to make room for some switch-out alignments in this season for they will surely come. The shift will prove to be better and far better. It will ultimately bring great joy. And for it to happen, one thing must end as one thing comes together. 

These endings are things God is finished with in the best way. Things that have served their higher purpose and are being promoted beyond as well.

If you are one of these lifted down ones, God has been preparing you for this for a long time. He has been working it behind the scenes in marvelous, miraculous ways to bring a holy, full-circle, new-life convergence to go and be “there” to fulfill destiny at just the right time. 

It will all ultimately prove to be a blessing. 

And 2024 is just the beginning of the release. 

I firmly believe we are about to see an uncontainable rain pour for and through these, who were fed by an underground stream for so long. And even as I write this devotion, I see the Words “it cannot be stopped.”

So, Dear Lord, 

Let it be according to Your will and ways. As you lift down your shelved ones, may they bring honor and glory to You and Your Kingdom in the nations and in the earth, all the way to their Heavenly Home. 

In Jesus’ Mighty Name, 

Amen.

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

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Trustworthy Him

As we enter into this new year with our hopes and dreams and our goals and purposes, we can remember that God is trustworthy. We can trust that He is with us, He knows what is best for us, He will do what He said He would do and that we and our assignments are valuable to His Kingdom.

Webster’s defines trustworthy as “worthy of confidence” and “dependable.” Strong’s concordance (#4103), defines it as “faithful.” It can also mean “to confirm, support” and to “establish” (#539). It can mean to “build up” to “believe” and to “bring up.”

Psalm 111:7 TPT assures us that “All God accomplishes is flawless, faithful, and fair, and his every word proves trustworthy and true.”

This is good news because we’ll need Him and His perfect guidance to help us all throughout this new year and beyond as He brings His words to pass in our lives. 

For many, this is the year they’ve waited for. It’s the year of the door (on the Hebrew calendar) when they will step out of the old and into the new to begin to receive their big promised breaks. This is not to say, everything will happen in 2024. But it will begin to happen with even more to come in 2025.

By now, you’ve probably experienced some old doors closing, some transitional shifts, some clarity of direction, and God even settling some matters that have weighed on your heart. 

But there’s much more to come as God moves many onward into a whole new beginning that will touch every area of their lives. 

A couple of weeks ago, Holy Spirit revealed that He’s bringing in some “pillars” to help “support” this new reality. In fact, these support pillars are actually “doorposts,” upon which the door is hinged. If you research the word “doorpost,” you’ll find that it’s another definition of the word “trustworthy” (Strong’s #539, Brown-Driver-Briggs)! 

We know that Jesus is our Door. The One who brings a close to divine assignments, including opportunities and relationships, and the One who opens new ones.

So, these support pillars of the Door will be people God will bring into the lives of His faithful ones, who will be assigned as long-standing constants that will believe in them, bring out the best in them and help them rise. They will be strong, stable and secure. They will be established and will function as a gracious resource and even a kind of guardian. They will be dependable, purposed people that God has made trustworthy to help others fulfill their purpose in life. 

And, in some cases, it will mean they will even nurse people back to stability.

This is good news because it means that many are coming into new, strong relationship assignments, some of which may prove surprising. Some of which may even feel like reassignments as God brings in familiar people to be a part of His full-circle, outward blessings.

But even the familiar ones will serve in a new role and purpose for the long-haul that will prove out God’s plan. They will offer a sense of completeness with developed skills and extensive value with many benefits. 

There will also be many entirely new people, as God expands the reach of their missions.

One important element in all of this is to know when to let go of the past while moving forward. A focus on Jesus is imperative, as doing so sets the right trajectory that will hit the mark on time. 

Paul encourages us in Philippians 3:12 TPT by saying, “run with passion into his abundance so that I may reach the purpose for which Christ Jesus laid hold of me to make me his own.”

Paul assures us in 1 Thessalonians 5:24 TPT that “The one who calls you by name is trustworthy.”

So, we can depend on God to help us and know that He will bring it to pass. We just need to submit to Him in obedience and follow His lead into the Godly manifestations of His promises for which we have held to faith.

Pray with me if you will . . . 

Dear Lord, 

Thank You for being perfect and faithful. Thank You for Your beautiful plan for my life. 

I invite You to cut the ties in my life that bind me to whatever You are finished with. I choose to move faithfully forward with You into new assignments, according to Your plan for me. 

I forgive and bless everyone in my present and from my past and pray only good things for them. I trust that You love them and will guide willing hearts into Your beauty.

In Jesus’ Mighty Name, 

Amen.

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