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Compromised Truth – Part 2

Compromised Truth leads to disrespect of self and others as we navigate through life our way. It’s an attack against God’s character of authenticity for us and, therefore, hinders blessings that come from stewarding God’s genuine nature in us.

We must put God first, cultivate an intimate relationship with Him and trust Him enough to make Him our supreme authority. We must hear God’s voice above all others, even above our communities with parents, spouses, bosses, friends, counselors, pastors, prophets, etc. If any people in our lives advise or expect us to do anything outside of God’s will, we can still choose God’s way. We can realize that even the well-meaning can operate in an opposing spirit to the life God has for us. Forgive them and move on.

We can choose to distance ourselves from opposing voices, if necessary, while coming closer to God. In cases where we cannot totally distance ourselves, such as in child-parent relationships or employee-boss relationships, we can still run to God in prayer, seek His protection and guidance, declare His truth over our lives and wait out greater freedom.

This is what twelve-year-old Jesus did in Luke 2:41-52 AMPC when He went and stayed in the temple of God for three days to pursue Father’s Presence, while His parents knew not where He was (vs 46). In the midst of His parents’ “custom” to visit Jerusalem, during the Passover season, young Jesus didn’t want to leave His spiritual feast. Jesus wasn’t afraid of the power of His True Father. He was drawn to Him. At the outset, Jesus chose this as His “necessary” high purpose and priority above returning home with His earthly parents (vs 42, 49). Verse 52 reveals the result of Jesus putting Father God first and pursuing His truth by saying, “And Jesus increased in wisdom (in broad and full understanding) and in stature and years, and in favor with God and man.” 

In this light, when we pursue God as truth above all else, He increases His wisdom in us as He grows us to be wise, like Him. And He increases our favor with Him and man (Lk 2:52). This righteous priority translates into us experiencing the increased victory of salvation, even in our families, that Jesus died to give us on earth as it is in Heaven. Luke 2:51 says that Jesus’ “mother kept and closely and persistently guarded all these things in her heart” as He explained His whereabouts and purpose to her.  

I have learned that, as I have gone out to do the work our Lord sent me to do with Him, He has blessed my family and myself in eternal ways that only He could. So, like young Jesus, when we make Father God our eternal life source above all else, including family, we will see the fullness of life He has for us and others; andunderstand it, both in practical ways and through His Spirit of Revelation.

Jesus is our best family member and our greatest champion. He looks out for us in truth and glory. He says in John 14:2 AMPC that “In My Father’s house there are many dwelling places (homes). If it were not so, I would have told you; for I am going away to prepare a place for you.” 

Jesus desires that we live an authentic life abiding in Him. We do this by firmly deciding He, as part of the Holy Trinity, is Lord of our lives and determine to walk it out, not letting anyone or anything pull us away, including any other relationships.

As the world around us strives to get ahead, we must look to God and align with His truth, which is that He will give us the things He put in our hearts when we come to appreciate Him first, above all else (Matt 6:33). 

So, pray with me if you will:

Dear Lord, 

Your truth is better than anything. Thank You that it sets me free from decline, as I incline my heart toward You. I humbly turn to You and ask You to deliver me from unholy compromise. Rid me of fear, of masking Your truth and authenticity in me and of the unholy mixture of man’s ways. Help me rightly divide the truth and priority of Your prevailing Word. Help me walk in it and live out the fullness of life You have for me in the earth, as I learn to rest in You, while working alongside You. Help me to walk out Exodus 33:13 AMPC, which says, “…if I have found favor in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You [progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with You, perceiving and recognizing and understanding more strongly and clearly] and that I may find favor in Your sight…” Lord, help me to live in a way that glorifies you abundantly and enables me to experience Your wisdom and beauty in my life-journey with You (Ep 1:17). Thank You that I don’t have to be afraid but that I can trust You to help me live out Your life-plan for me, knowing that You judge fairly (De 3:16, 1 Pe 2:23).

In Jesus’ Mighty Name,

Amen.

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

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Compromised Truth – Part 1

Just like a bad attitude results from the delay and disappointment of distractions, annoyances result from the false realities of lies, regardless of intentionality. Both distractions and lies are door-openers to the enemy to drain us of peace and pace in our victory runs. The enemy is all about covert and overt lies.

Walking out a false reality is where we feel like nothing good works for us. That’s because we’re working our plan, not God’s. Many times, we can be too deceived to realize we’re doing the wrong thing, especially since our ways feel so familiar.

A couple of weeks ago, our Lord gave me a revelation that some of our most enduring annoyances result from relationships in which God’s truth is compromised. Much of it is done, out of fear of man and by masking our Godly identity and character. This false shield works against our shield of faith and postures us to believe lies, speak lies and exhibit false impressions. Little wonder why we don’t get ahead sometimes.

I believe God is highlighting this issue, because He’s about to remove some of these major annoyances in our lives. I believe we are coming to the end of some sufferings, since last-season’s patient endurance has had its developmental work in us for the new season we’re in now (Ja 1:4, 1 Pe 5:9-11, Is 61:3).

God has seen us try our best to respond His way to the troubles that have come our way by trusting Him, blessing our enemies and moving forward (Lk 6:28, 1 Co 4:12). God has met us there.

This model is based on one Jesus set for us in 1 Peter 2:23 AMPC, which says, “When He was reviled and insulted, He did not revile or offer insult in return; [when] He was abused and suffered, He made no threats [of vengeance]; but he trusted [Himself and everything] to Him Who judges fairly.”

Jesus is “the perfect expression of the truth” in its integrity and sincerity of character (Vine’s Dictionary). His truth means what is “ideal” and “genuine” (Strong’s #228). “Unconcealed” and “manifest” (Strong’s #227). This makes sense, since we know that He was God who “came down from Heaven” and revealed Himself in flesh (living bread) (Jn 6:51).

Likewise, whenever God calls us out and away to fulfill a mission with Him for His glory, it’s also for our benefit. Even if we don’t see how, we are to just go. Abraham is a great example. God instructed him to depart from his family’s house and go to where God would send him. We are all called to the Great Commission where, as we go, God will take care of our families and deliver us from evil and into His greater promises.

This requires courage.

If we shrink back and remain in a state of compromise, not only do we live at a lower level than God intended, we live in agreement with demonic activity. Over time, this can change our personalities, as confusion and resentment settle in. Until, by God’s grace, we see the light of His truth and firmly decide to obey Him, our realities won’t change much for the better.

We see this play out in the Israelite community-at-large, who died in the desert, just short of their Promised Land. They realized too late that their unbelief in God’s truth led to death. Only a fraction of the community believed and carried the predominant Spirit of Truth into their fullness of divine promise. The former carried power in number, but it was their own power—a lesser power than God’s grace-power operating through the few who went where they were sent.

Sadly, this community-at-large brought it on themselves, even though they were forewarned by God and Moses to make righteous choices.

Deuteronomy 30:19 AMPC says, “I call heaven and earth to witness this day against you that I have set before you life and death, the blessings and the curses; therefore, choose life, that you and your descendants may live.”

In this light, I recall some of the best wisdom my earthly father ever shared with me, which is to think for myself and not just go along with the crowd. I’ve known for a long time that I had to make decisions as to whether I would compromise truth and follow the crowd of destruction or believe God’s truth and receive the crown of life. We can all choose righteousness as we come to know and trust God’s character, Word and guiding Presence.

His nature of truth offers us a powerful force of purity, certainty and righteous direction toward living out His eternal reality. It’s His authenticity that He shares with us, as He reveals Himself and His mysteries to us and deals faithfully with us in covenant relationship (Co 3:4). Who wouldn’t want to know God like this, especially since His truth leads to freedom, while lies lead to a less-than-abundant life?

God alone brings His best. He alone empowers the miracles we need. His is the only way that works. He will meet us in the midst of our challenges with His grace-power, and bless our obedience, to propel us beyond where we can go in our own efforts. So, as we honor Him and His ways, we will come to know Him as The One who is most for us. We will experience Him working out our salvation right before our eyes on earth as our new reality. Oh, what a wonder that He loves us so much.

I invite you to join me next week for part two of Compromised Truth.

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

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Order Renewed

A little over two weeks ago, I had a dream in which I saw flashes of various mechanical and electronic system panels that were spinning out of control. First, God showed me these systems individually. Then He showed me that they were not (dys)functioning independently of one another but were connected. As I felt the system’s overwhelming disorder, suddenly, He made me aware of a simple control switch. He gave me the understanding that all the chaos would stop if I would just flip the switch. And so, I did. That’s when I woke up. 

This is what I believe to be the interpretation of this dream…

The control switch represents God’s light of truth, which in this case, is that He has given us all power and authority over that which battles for power over us. As we trust God in new territory, our faith is built and our minds are renewed in Christ. As we abide in Him, we are renewed in His strength to overcome that which tries to overcome us. When we choose to walk out God’s truth in faith believing, we come into His new order, where He works out our salvation for our good and His glory (Re 21:5, 2 Co 5:17). 

An important strategy here is to hold onto His directives and be determined to operate with Him and His ways. If we have inched away from Him and found that life feels out of control, it’s not too late to realign.

Sometimes, coming up higher means going back and picking up where we left off in a particular divine assignment to unstop the wells, so God’s stream can flow through us again in the way and at the level He intended.

Since all of our divine assignments flow together like streams into a river, when we shift our attention from the eternal to the temporal, we will sense a decline in momentum and value as our efforts prove life-draining. This is a time when the enemy of our lives likes to take advantage of our weakness, especially by provoking us to discount our actions to believe it’s just a little thing.  

God’s truth is that, when we remain in His specific directives for our specific divine assignments, we will find them to be life-giving, because God is our life-source and He is with us in them. He isn’t in draining distractions that lead to a bad attitude. But rather where He first instructed us to be, which is working alongside Him to build His Kingdom.

This is very similar to remaining in the place of God’s glory during tribulation, where attacks can feel fierce, and pain is a distraction that battles to provoke us to retaliate against others and God’s deep restoration of us. 

In the Bible, we don’t have to look any further than Ecclesiastes 1, where King Solomon’s pessimistic tone and analogies of life reveal his perceived loss of purpose. His tormented heart and attitude were greatly influenced by the distraction of his 700 ungodly wives (1 Ki 11:3). 1 Kings 11:4 AMPC reveals that, “For when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not perfect (complete and whole) with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.” 

King Solomon proved out that broken-heartedness can happen even during “good” times, when God is building all around us and that placing our attention on distractions leads to a bad attitude and destruction of life.

Like King Solomon, we are called to actively build with God in specific ways. And when our eyes depart from the heart of God in this, the enemy will take our time and energy as we hand it over. These little fox distractions can cause harm in the form of delay, which can result in us feeling stuck and disappointed. Ultimately, this kind of false surrender can cause us to feel exhausted with no redemptive victory to show for our flesh-driven efforts, only vanity. And unless we repent, we can miss God’s rewards.

Therefore, we must be careful to set our focus on The One True God and keep our hearts attuned to His, lest we fall to foolishness.

If you have gotten off-track, even a little bit, pray with me if you will…

Dear Lord, 

Thank You that Your mercy is new every morning. I repent of believing the lie that distractions, that cause me to turn from You, are like work breaks. I renounce this lie and humbly ask You to restore a good attitude in me. I declare Your truth that keeping my eyes on You and continuing to work alongside You will bring the breakthrough that You and I desire to be fulfilled. Help me to seek You, Your will, purpose and plan for my life instead of searching for new things outside of Your schedule. Help my heart to perceive the value of what You have already given to me. Help me to run in sync with You and not run from You. You alone are my best escape, not any vain imagination. So, help me to live out Your true vision for my life in it fullness. Thank You for this breakthrough of truth and understanding and for restoring Your order in my life.

In Jesus’ Mighty Name,

Amen. 

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

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Reset Challenge

The Birds

Three weeks ago, I heard three individual birds sing on three different days. Where we live downtown, this is highly unusual, especially this time of year. 

On the first day, I was working at my desk in the 2 a.m. hour. The birdsong was coming from across the street. I looked out the window but didn’t see a bird in the darkness. Nonetheless, it stopped me in my tracks as I so enjoyed the sweet melody in the stillness of this early morning hour. 

On the second day, a bird sang again, early in the morning, just outside my bedroom window. It awakened me but I didn’t see the bird this time either. However, I enjoyed the melody nonetheless. 

On the third day, in the 7 a.m. hour, while making my bed, I heard a bird sing again, just outside the bedroom window again. This time, I looked out and saw her. It was a little brown bird perched on the branch of a perfectly symmetrical, but leafless, tree alone, singing with her whole heart. Her voice was loud, crystal clear, and her melody was indescribably beautiful. 

Each of these three times, I knew God sent the bird(s) to praise Him and to minister pure sweetness to my heart, which prompted me to praise Him along with them (Rev 4:11 TPT). I knew I was not alone, and I sensed there was more to it. So, I asked Holy Spirit what else He desired I see and know. 

Three Scriptures

First, He highlighted three scriptures. They are:

Luke 1:45 TPT, which says, “Great favor rests upon you, for you have believed every word spoken to you from the Lord.”

Then Psalm 55:22 TPT, which says, “So here’s what I’ve learned through it all: Leave all your cares and anxieties at the feet of the Lord, and measureless grace will strengthen you.”

And lastly, Psalm 72:7 TPT, which says, “In the days of his reign the righteous will spring forth with the abundance of peace and prosperity forevermore.” 

The Message

Holy Spirit then showed me a Word-vision, in which I saw “A New Day” spelled out. As He continued to build His message, this is what I believe it to be for anyone with whom it resonates:

It’s time for your whole heart to awaken and arise with your eyes wide open on Me to receive more of My new glorious day I have brought you to (Is 60). You have seen the beginnings of the manifestations of my greater promises. But there is much more in magnitude (excellence) that is very near. I require you to tangibly receive it as I bring you into it. In other words, there won’t be time for you to process long. I have given you that grace in the past in order to prepare you, in every way necessary, for the now that you see happening. It’s show time, daughter, which is the time I show up for you and align you physically into these greater promises. It’s time for you to receive them in manifest form, to fully step into them with your trust in Me, and not just dream about them anymore. It’s time for your heart to sing again as I make your dreams come true. It may feel like it’s happening fast and, in your face at times, but know that this is My doing and that you are ready. It’s not too much for you to absorb, because I revealed to you what would come to pass well ahead of time and even gave you wisdom and guidance in advance to help you advance now. So, you know what I AM doing and what you are to do. Just continue to faithfully follow My lead, and I will continue to reveal to you how to navigate, even more intricately, this new glorious place that I will continue to bring you into. Remember, I AM with you. I AM God and you cannot fail when you remain close to Me. So, keep stepping with Me, because I AM with you all the way. Remain in this life-giving place with Me, because it’s My time for you to reign with Me in greater, manifest ways and places that will make your heart sing again.

The Challenge

So, friends, God is commanding our attention. In this hour of shift, He is perfecting our hearts to align with His as we receive His invitation to stand alert and march forward with Him (Ep 6:15 TPT). Herein lies our challenge. Are we willing to let go of any old mind-sets, habits and schedules that would burden us in order to take on the new He requires of us? Are we willing to move onward in relationship with Him as light?

We know that God’s best requires a narrow path. And this narrow path may require some resets of attitude and actions of us in order to sustain the fullness of joy in God’s promises. His way of truth is the only way.

Divine resets begin in the heart and are purposed to help establish God’s holy and righteous intent for us in the earth. They are a necessary part of our growth process as they help strengthen us in Him to receive more of His blessings to be a blessing and to build His Kingdom.

So, for those who are willing, pray with me…

Dear Lord, 

Thank You that “You’ve gone into my future to prepare the way, and in kindness…You have laid your hand on me” for victory (Ps 139:5 TPT)! You say that by constantly using my faith, the life of Christ will be released deep inside of me, and the resting place of Your love will become the very source and root of my life (Ep 3:17). You say that then I will be empowered to discover what every holy one experiences—the great magnitude (excellence) of Your astonishing love in all its dimensions (Ep 3:18).

So, Lord, I believe You at Your Word, and I invite You to get me there. Reset my heart to rest in You as You show me the way along Your narrow path. I choose to trust You in this strengthening process.

In Jesus’ Mighty Name,

Amen.

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

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Master-Peace

Every time I gaze at a sunset, I am reminded of my future. We all have one, you know. We’re all going somewhere. 

Jesus endured the agony of the cross for the joy that was set before him (He 12:2). He knew His future was joyous and involved mercy and honor on the other side of our painful judgment that He took upon Himself. He knew He was returning home and being established in a higher place of eternal life with exponential reach.

He was kind in leaving us with His peace of reconciliation to strengthen us for our journeys on earth (Jn 14:27, Ps 29:11, Ep 2:14 TPT). We know we are to follow Him as our Prince of Peace and allow His peace to rule in our hearts, since we were called to His peace (Co 3:15).

So, what is He leading you through and to?

What does mercy look like now and on the other side of your challenge?

It should look like Jesus in the midst and Jesus exalted when our eyes and thoughts are fixed on Him (He 12:2, 3:1).

He is where we find our resolve and rejoice of shalom (peace), which is “wholeness, health, security, well-being and salvation” (Tyndale Bible Dictionary).

He is about masterfully restoring and transforming us as we run to Him and come to know our glorious Jesus more. He is about having us receive and extend His love, truth and grace as He works out our salvation on earth. And about walking with us in His victory of purpose and vision for our lives, no matter what.

Shalom (peace) inherently points to our blood covenant with God. As a reflection of this, and as an expression of peace as fruit of His Spirit, it also points to our covenant relationships (with His people), including marriages.

In this light, a little more than two weeks ago, Holy Spirit revealed to me that He is supernaturally reconciling people to one another on a level that none of us could ever do in our own strength. He showed me that He is working to restore relationships that we thought were way beyond impossible and that we are going to see a fountain of life come through these to bless many.

Holy Spirit gave me a glimpse of how patiently and intricately He has worked to reconcile people on a generational level, while working out their salvation over years at the root. He has been masterfully working this wholeness to shift people’s legacies for dramatically better, fortified, lasting, more Godly futures. Legacies that can endure.

Holy Spirit revealed specific people to me, as a close-up example in my own life, and how He has strategically and miraculously linked them. How He is working to revive them and restore their bloodlines now and forward for higher blessing and much greater outward fruit for His Kingdom.

Soon, these manifestations of reconciliation will come into their fullness of purpose. Soon, as we continue to grow in God’s grace, we will see a greater shift toward these life-changing divine connections to be blessed through them and alongside them as we work together in newfound ways (1 Co 16:9). 

We will discover joy that overflows exponentially as God brings our brokenness into more of His Shalom (peace) of wholeness that delights our hearts.

We will experience our role in kingship in a new and more above-ground way. We will see how our David, Joseph and Job preparations paid off, where, like them, we ran to and with The Prince of Peace and were protected and restored to come into the authentic places to which we were called, anointed and appointed. 

We will experience the establishment of Psalm 85:10 TPT, which says, “Your mercy and your truth have married each other. Your righteousness and peace have kissed.” And Psalm 72:7 TPT, which says, “In the days of his reign the righteous will spring forth with the abundance of peace and prosperity forevermore.”

We will know, even more, Holy Spirit as our Person of Peace as we continue to experience His strategy of peace as our path to provide us with a more fruitful lifestyle of protection and projection in the earth that rules victoriously.

So, there are more walks of faith and sprints of new order before us as God continues to bring shifts in our marathon for the betterment of our lives and others. From darkness to light, where one day ends and another begins, He is with us working His plan. We must keep this at the forefront of our minds as we progress, lest we become self-sufficient and limit God’s best in our lives.

We can invite His super into our natural to help us by His grace-power. It’s the only way to receive and give maximum benefit. We cannot fail with Him.

So, pray with me if you will…

Dear Lord, 

Thank You for blessing us with peace and for giving us an “[unyielding and impenetrable] strength” (Ps 29:11 AMPC). Thank You for giving us “abilities that result in a calm, well-balanced mind and self-control” (2 Ti 1:7 AMPC, Ro 8:6). Let peace rule in our hearts and let our passions for life be restored, tasting joy in every breakthrough you bring to us (Co 3:15, Ps 51:12 TPT). Hold us close to You with a willing spirit that obeys whatever You say. Help us to put into practice the example of all that we have heard from You and seen in our lives so that You, as our God of peace, will be with us in all things, including in our relationships (Ph 4:9 TPT, Ps 34:14). 

In Jesus’ Mighty Name,

Amen

“Now, may the Lord himself, the Lord of peace, pour into you his peace in every circumstance and in every possible way. The Lord’s tangible presence be with you all” (2 Th 3:16 TPT). May His peace cascade over you and rest upon you (Ju 1:2, 2 Th 1:2 TPT).

To God be the glory.

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