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Wisdom Strategy – Part 2

A couple of weeks ago, the moment I awakened, our Lord spoke to me saying, “You can use your bubble wrap to move or to cocoon yourself. Don’t get wrapped up.”

I understood exactly what He meant. And don’t you love it when God gives us the understanding with His Word in such a clever way that helps us overcome in the beginning of a new day?

To be sure, God is not only in the macro, He’s in the micro.

He knows what’s on our to do lists. He can forewarn us so we don’t get stuck on a single action item, where the enemy of our lives can try to drain our valuable time and energy that results in frustration and a feeling of defeat. This can be especially true in areas where we have impending deadlines and feel weary at the outset or feel that we have insufficient time or resources.

Since dread works to oppose hope, in pressing moments, we must remember that God always offers us balance and that His powerful mercy and grace will help us beyond our own abilities. Our God works to resolve unfinished business. And oftentimes, in the end, we realize our situations aren’t as bad as they seemed.

For me, I had returned from a long weekend away and was faced with a few impending deadlines. In fact, two of them were on the very day God spoke His wise Words to me. One of them was what I perceived as a very unpleasant task that needed immediate resolution. Another involved an ongoing project of packing up our home.

But what’s most important to remember is that our deadlines are part of our timelines. And our timelines are tied to our Lifeline, who is our Lord Jesus. He is our Hope and Peace. He is our Mercy and Grace. And He is faithful to move on our behalves.

An advantage God gave me, in addition to His wise Words on this particular morning, came in the fresh perspective I experienced when I returned home from my weekend away. I felt rejuvenated with a new energy for organizing and cleaning up piles of boxes and wrapping supplies. It all seemed much more manageable after I returned.

We know that transitions are messy. But God has a way of helping us see what needs to be tackled first in an effort to get on top and keep us ready. He doesn’t want us to feel bound up in what can look like a mountain before us but is really a small thing to God that He will help us through.

So, after I shared time with Him on this particular morning, praying and reading what He instructed me to read, I picked up my phone to see that the impending deadline that I was least looking forward to dealing with had improved.

I was reminded of James 1:17 AMP, which says that “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above; it comes down from the Father of lights [the Creator and Sustainer of the heavens], in whom there is no variation [no rising or setting] or shadow cast by His turning [for He is perfect and never changes].”

Also, Hebrews 13:21 AMP, which says that God will “equip you with every good thing to carry out His will and strengthen you [making you complete and perfect as you ought to be], accomplishing in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ…”

I knew faithful God was at work on my behalf. I knew that choosing to prioritize Him and dwell with Him helped my attitude and trumped the dread that the enemy tried to bring.

My most immediate deadline was resolved by the end of the day. And I didn’t have to do anything. God’s favor just lifted the yoke of it all for me (Is 10:27).

I was reminded that life is our portion every time and that God will always offer us a way of escape that works when we believe Him and follow through in His ways.

It’s important to remember, while in the midst, that our story isn’t over. And, just like God builds us in faith and grows us in grace, He also strengthens us in His wisdom in small ways to advance us.

The enemy may try to set traps for us in an effort to hinder us from progressing into all God has for us in our next assignments. But God will offer us an advantage by revealing His wisdom in both our simplest and most complex issues.

James 1:5 TPT reminds us that “if anyone longs to be wise, ask God for wisdom and he will give it! He won’t see your lack of wisdom as an opportunity to scold you over your failures but he will overwhelm your failures with his generous grace.”

Therefore, sometimes, our best prayer can be, “Lord, help me get through this. Show me the way. Give me Your wisdom on this.”

Sometimes, we need to take a moment to resolve in our hearts and declare that we are not defeated but destined for victory with faithful God. Then choose to walk in it every moment, knowing we’ll receive that for which we believe when we put our faith wholly in Him (Mt 8:13).

To God be the glory.

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

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Wisdom Strategy – Part 1

We see it all around: ungodly attempts of domination, both subtle and sudden. From hostile workplaces to outright wars of genocide in the world. Control. Rape. Extermination of people groups. Nations.

It’s all opposition to God’s way of apprehending dominion.

Isaiah 56 TPT calls “corrupt leaders” devourers, saying they are blind, dumb, asleep, greedy, ignorant, undiscerning, selfish and drunk as they snowball into a vortex of destruction (vs 9-12).

Clearly, evil is on the losing end, as scheming perpetrators perpetuate a death spiral for themselves, just as Haman and his sons were hung on their own gallows (Es 9:25). This includes acts of deception, such as seductive manipulation, as forms of witchcraft, as well as slander and envy, as forms of murder.

But, no matter what, God’s people can choose to remain in His truth and honor Him (Is 56: 4). We can take the high road. We can find Jesus in the midst as our exodus. Our lifter. Our One True King. Our Savior from all evil.

Holy Spirit offers us a wisdom advantage more powerful than that which comes against us. 1 Corinthians 2:7 reveals that this “wisdom [is] a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.”

This wisdom is available to God’s people to give us an advantage to live out His best life for us. This benefit for victory requires seeking Him, hearing from Him and carrying out His strategies. It requires courage. Backbone. And steadfastness in His ways.

This is the same wisdom that the undiscerning ones consider to be foolish as in 1 Corinthians 2:14 NIV, which says that “The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.”

So, this timely truth reveals that God always outsmarts our enemies; and we can, too, when we hear from Him and carry out His plans without compromise.

Anyone who has ever walked through a Joseph journey can attest to remaining strong in our Lord from jail to justice. God will set us up to reign above it all when we humble ourselves unto Him and do what’s right (Is 56:1).

His wisdom is strategy, which is critical in war. Obeying Him in battle means syncing with His power for life.

God sees the full panoramic view inside and out. He knows the motive of every heart and leads those who trust Him into victory. Even in ways that don’t make sense.

Consider Elijah.

In 1 Kings 19, God repeatedly directs Elijah back to confront the ungodly domination from where he fled. This involved facing a death camp of prophets. So, there was a direct enemy threat against him that God would overrule as Elijah went forth in obedience.

Queen Jezebel and her passive-aggressive husband, King Ahab, operated under a false spiritual rulership. But God made Himself known as supreme Ruler through Elijah.

Elijah heard from God, followed His instructions and felt empowered to shift from feeling defeated to leading victory for God’s people (1 Ki 21). As Elijah acted on faith, he broke through impossible strongholds by following God’s revealed wisdom. Elijah was positioned for this advantage from the beginning (Ep 1:11 AMP).

He came to see that no evil was too big for faithful God to throw down. God’s spiritual laws of sowing and reaping rule, regardless of whether people are aware of this truth. The foolishly unrepentant are no match for God as they bring destruction on themselves.

Like with Elijah, and so many others, God’s mercy offers us the beauty of endurance to be made strong in Him during tough times that extend into a lasting legacy of honor, both in place and name (Is 56:5 TPT). God will bestow upon us a legacy of honor when we wisely remain in His truth and worship. We will live in His outward expressions of joy and honor above former fears that tried to bind us.

God will flip attacks and disempower the enemy. He will turn our rejection into remembrance when we put Him first.

He is our hope of powerful glory that never gives up. Therefore, it is critical that we remain close to Him, know His Word, His way and our true identity in Him. When we follow through in His revealed wisdom, we will always be advantaged for greater.

And when we keep our eyes on Him, over time, our love grows greater beyond limitations, even un-forgiveness. It’s in this place of dwelling that we find our greatest treasure.

So, pray with me if you will…

Dear Lord,

Thank You that, through Your wisdom, You have given us an advantage to live out our destinies, as evil implodes itself. Thank You for fighting nonstop on our behalves. Please continue to open our ears and eyes and enable us to receive Your revelation-understanding, Your wisdom that positions us for victory in You. For Your glory, Lord. We choose to trust You.

In Jesus’ Mighty Name,

Amen.

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

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Authentic Heart

God’s Word wisely advises us to not be anxious about our lives in general (Lk 12:22). To not be anxious about tomorrow (Mt 6:34). To not even worry about what we will say (Mk 13:11). Or worry about how we will defend ourselves (Lk 12:11).

We strive to be daughters and sons after God’s own heart, like David, and to be courageously wholehearted, like Caleb. Because we know that God has given us the ability to move from anxiety to authenticity with His help as He constantly works on our behalves to bring us into wholeness.

So, how do we get from anxiety to authenticity to live out God’s abundant life for us as a battle of good over evil, light over darkness and Holy Spirit over flesh (Jn 10:10)?

His Word offers us a strategy against an anxious heart in Philippians 4:6 AMP, which says, “Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything [every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your [specific] requests known to God.”

Therefore, God’s process to go from anxiety to authenticity is to pray and petition Him with gratitude. No matter what, everything we face in life can be willfully processed in this faithful attitude.

It begins with the heart of Jesus in us, His spiritually born-again ones, and ends in the fullness of victory when we return home to Heaven.

The middle involves diligently growing in holiness by increasingly receiving God’s virtuous characteristics and ways into our souls to become more like Him and see ourselves from His perspective so we can know and do His will.

Colossians 1:23 TPT wisely advises us to “…continue to advance in faith, assured of a firm foundation to grow upon. Never be shaken from the hope of the gospel you have believed in.”

So, our best life is firmly rooted in a foundation of faith in our One True God, on which we can choose to stand and trust that He and His ways will work out His goodness for us, no matter what comes and goes.

It’s a lifelong journey that includes a timeline of trusting God enough to give up lesser things and reach higher to become like Him; and partner with Him to fulfill His calling and complete specific divine assignments (Ma 25:21).

On the contrary, anxiety works with the enemy to facilitate lack. Anxiety is propelled by fear and rooted in lies. Acting out of fear and lies is the opposite of operating out of love and truth, which causes us to move in a wrong direction from what God originally intended.

Since we reap what we sow, living in lies grows weeds of falsehood, including insecurity and pretense. This pretense is a facade of sin that works against the powerful shield of faith Jesus died to give us. This sin produces death in various forms.

But we don’t have to bring trouble on ourselves. Proverbs 28:26 TPT says that “when you lean on the wisdom from above, you will have a way to escape the troubles of your own making.”

Therefore, we will come to know God’s abundant life as we choose Him as first priority in all things (Ma 6:33).

To do this, we must “set” our “minds on things above, not on earthly things” (Co 3:2 NIV). This means remaining in God’s Word and Spirit of Presence.

So, since we become what we worship and attract what we worship, our best life comes from worshipping the only authentic High God worthy of worship.

We don’t have to settle for less.

Our wise, truthful, eternally gracious and merciful God, who is Love Himself, is for us, not against us. He desires that we experience Him in such depth of relationship that we release false burdens and find perfect rest in our dependency on Him as our faithful source to meet all of our needs.

It’s not about figuring it out on our own, which would be self-reliant. Proverbs 28:26 TPT tells us that “self-confident know-it-alls will prove to be fools.”

And, we don’t have to step on others to achieve anything. This would involve a lack mentality.

Rather, it’s about humbling ourselves before God to agree with Him and partner with Him His way. It’s about exploring, with enthusiasm, His how as we journey with Him. We can enjoy the adventure when we believe Him at His Word.

We must remember that His very life covenant, for which He died, was to bless us—to enable us to receive greater life than we deserve or can even imagine on earth as it is in Heaven. It’s a choice we make every moment of every day.

He invites us to invite Him, as the source of faith in us, to prove out His faithfulness in all areas of our lives.

So, do you trust Him at His Word for this true flow of life?

If not, ask Holy Spirit to reveal what you are believing that is working counter to His best plan for you. Then repent of having believed that lie. Renounce it. Turn back To God and His truth. Decide to take courage and agree with Him above all else, no matter what. And walk out your best life with your best attitude in agreement with Him.

Pray with me if you will…

Dear Lord,

Thank You for Your love for us. We renounce all lies of the evil one and choose to agree with You. Thank You that Your Word is faithful and true. It does not return void. It will go forth to accomplish the purpose and mission You sent it out to do (Is 55:11).

Show us Your glory, Lord, and help us to “feast on all the treasures of the heavenly realm and fill” our “thoughts with heavenly realities…not with the distractions of the natural realm” (Co 3:2 TPT).

Help us to take courage and yield to Your spirit, not our flesh. Help us depend on You, not on our own understanding (Pr 3:5). Help us to see as You see, to walk with You and to dwell with You every moment of the day. Help us to experience complete freedom in Your truth as You continue to establish it in our lives.

Thank You, Lord, for Your grace upon grace for taking us from glory to glory, from victory to victory. Thank You that we don’t have to worry about our days ahead, because You are faithful to Your Word.

Have Your way, Lord. Get us precisely where You desire we be. For Your glory.

In Jesus’ Mighty Name,

Amen.

And now, “I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit” (Ro 15:13).

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

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Legacy Faith

Abraham is one of my most favorite Bible characters. We know he was known for his great faith, even faith for God’s promises that would extend beyond his lifetime on earth; and especially for a restored family for God and himself.

In this light, I believe Holy Spirit has been highlighting some promises to me that He’s about to fulfill in my own family lineage, including for those who have gone before me. And I believe this is also for whosoever is willing to receive.

Our Lord highlighted Isaiah 55:11-13 TPT, which says,

So also, will be the word that I speak; it does not return to me unfulfilled. My word performs my purpose and fulfills the mission I sent it out to accomplish. For you will leave your exile with joy and be led home wrapped in peace. The mountains and hills in front of you will burst into singing and the trees of the field will applaud! Cypress trees will flourish where there were only thorns and myrtle trees instead of nettles. These will stand as a testimony to Yahweh’s renown, everlasting signs that will not be cut off.

These passages describe the goodness of God in motion. We know from Ecclesiastes 3:11 AMP that “He has made everything beautiful and appropriate in its time. He has also planted eternity [a sense of divine purpose] in the human heart…”

God is taking us from captivity to captivating. This is grace for reward for those who patiently endured and follow Jesus (He 11:6). What used to be barriers will no longer be. We can enter into His promises with peace, rejoice and wisdom. We can experience God’s beauty for ashes in many forms as He brings us into a more complete freedom with expressions of restored beauty—even material beauty—that stand as testaments to His extraordinary goodness. Reflections of Him.

These material things are divinely purpose and will be important to our hearts, because they are important to God’s and necessary for our assignments. Some of these material things were important to those who lived before us and are now gone—things that they did or didn’t receive in their lifetimes, for which they held faith in their hearts, like Abraham, believing God would deliver as promised.

Hebrews 11:1 MSG says that “The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.”

Romans 8:14 AMP reminds us that “For all who are allowing themselves to be led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” As sons and daughters of God, we have a blessed heritage.

Our God doesn’t forget His promises yet to be fulfilled (Nu 23:19). His way for us is always prosperous. His restoration includes gracious and miraculous multiplicity as He calls us out of former places through His wide-open doors for expanse that will require an Abraham kind of faith for restored legacy in our families and in God’s family-at-large.

As God fulfills these desires of the heart, He will establish greater grace in our lives and extend family legacy for our benefit and His glory.

Are you seeing God work in your life this way?

We know that Abraham grew in faith. He was commanded by God to come away from his father’s unholy house and go where God would send him.

The irony of it all was that God miraculously led him into an increase of family and blessings that he couldn’t contain or attain through his first family, only through God.

As God graciously removed Abraham from hindrances and facilitated miracles, Abraham soared, including as a father of many nations (Ro 4:18).

Like Abraham, as we extend faith, we can expect some big shifts for greater legacy beyond what we’ve previously known.

Just as mountains of the soul have been removed, and hope has been restored, God’s redeemed ones are now beginning to enjoy an increased expanse of freedom to live in the full purpose of His manifest plans for their futures unafraid (3 Jn 1:2).

God is reminding us of Jeremiah 29:11 AMP, which says, “For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you,’ says the Lord, ‘plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.’”

So, let us pray…

Dear Lord,

Thank You that in Your Presence is fullness of joy (Ps 16:11). Thank You for bringing us to a place of captivating beauty in You. Please continue to help us to engage with You and let lesser things fall away. Continue to show us Your glory and experience it in new ways to us.

Help us to remember who we are as in 1 Peter 2:9 TPT, which tells us that we are Your “chosen treasure—priests who are kings, a spiritual “nation” set apart as God’s devoted ones.” Thank You for calling us “out of darkness to experience” Your “marvelous light.” Thank You for claiming us as Your very own. Thank You for Your purpose, which is to broadcast Your “glorious wonders throughout the world.”

Let us be a showcase of Your mercy and grace. Thank You for making all things new.

In Jesus’ Mighty Name,

Amen.

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

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Dominion Strategy – Part 2

A couple of weeks ago, I picked up my Bible and began to read Isaiah 35. Here, Holy Spirit revealed His purpose and mission for a new assignment in front of me to help His redeemed ones recover their destinies.

Holy Spirit highlighted Isaiah 35:3-4 TPT, which says to “Strengthen those who are discouraged. Energize those who feel defeated. Say to the anxious and fearful, ‘Be strong and never afraid. Look, here comes your God! He is breaking through to give you victory! He comes to avenge your enemies. With divine retribution he comes to save you!'”

So, right now, it’s time to continue to follow Jesus as He leads us further into our next assignments with peace, rejoice and wisdom. It’s time to keep bringing order to transition as we move into position to recover all and then some. It’s time to move into God’s showplaces as He showcases His glory through us as a beacon to the nations (Ac 13:47).

God is lifting the bride of Christ into His light of justice for all to see His goodness. There will be extraordinary expressions of God’s covenant blessings for a restored generational heritage.

The grace for His plunder and spoils are part of this retribution as we continue to move forward with Him in His righteousness and holiness. This is justice in manifest form, and He is making it favorable and convenient.

Not only will God’s redeemed and authentic ones recover all, they will receive more than they had previously and even enough to share with friends to help them recover their destinies.

Think David at Ziklag.

1 Samuel 30:26 NIV says, “When David reached Ziklag, he sent some of the plunder to the elders of Judah, who were his friends, saying, ‘Here is a gift for you from the plunder of the LORD’s enemies.'”

Ziklag was land given to the tribe of Judah, the people of praise, and to the tribe of Simeon, the people who heard God.

I believe our Lord has set His beloved up to enter into His promises with praise, having heard from Him for purpose and strategy to recover much and much more.

I believe God is especially enabling His faithful bride to recover all “the spoils of the great victory of Christ, won for us through His death, resurrection and ascension” in manifest form (Is 33:23 TPT study note).

I believe God’s redeemed ones can receive a great fulfillment of His promises to glorify what Jesus did, as in Isaiah 33:23, which says, “…There will be a great plunder, such an abundant treasure divided that even the lame will seize their rich share.”

I believe our Lord is going so far as to position those who dwell with Him and are willing to be instrumental in facilitating miracles and multiplicity, wherever He assigns (Is 33:24).

I believe we are breaking through to a life of victory on a magnitude like we’ve never experienced. It’s what He has been growing us into all along—returning us to His great heritage for us as we have increasingly returned to Him.

I believe we are about to experience a flourishing above past pruning that many have endured. What was once cut back will now come forth as light and life. As gold revealed by grace for resolve.

I believe we will see grief disappear as God fulfills promises, not only for ourselves but for others, who have carried generations of grief from wrongdoing.

I believe where previous generations got it right before it went wrong, God is raising the righteous into the fullness of their righteous heritage.

Remaining strong by keeping eyes on Him is imperative as He redeems it all and establishes His glory even more in the earth.

So, let’s remember the Words of Moses in Exodus 15:2 AMP, which say that “The Lord is my strength and my song, And He has become my salvation; This is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will exalt Him.”

Let us pray…

Dear Lord,

Thank You for Your salvation on the earth—spirit, soul and body. Thank You for Your strategies to recover destinies. Thank You for helping Your persevering ones to move into position to prosper and flow out of their prosperity like water to a dry land in new and miraculous ways (Is 35:5-6). Thank You for enabling us to enter in ready and equipped. Thank You for moving us into roles to showcase You in a grander way.

Thank You for fulfilling promises, bringing manifest redemption and positioning us for the next mega shift, even beyond the ones You are moving us into right now.

Thank You that we can expect to see the heritage of Your redeemed ones come to life again as You enable us to minister to them. Thank You for Your everlasting expressions of Your wholeness restored to Your beloved in a way that honors what You sent Your Son to do for us all.

We are grateful and we believe You to bring it to pass.

In Jesus’ Mighty Name,

Amen.

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