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Lost & Found

Recently, my husband found a young woman’s wallet on a bike trail. He picked it up, brought it home and informed me. I opened the wallet and saw the woman’s driver’s license.

Her name is Victoria.

Victoria’s photo revealed a troubled look on her face and an address that was a five-hour drive away. There was no money in her wallet, but there was a debit card and an appointment card for a court date.

I knew in my heart that God placed this young woman’s identity in my hand and on my heart to pray for a turnaround toward all that He is and has for her. I know God loves and values her, this person whose earthly guardian thought enough of her to name her prophetically.

Victoria is called to victory. To grow in victory by faith believing (Ps 92:12 TPT). To be empowered for triumph (Ps 92:10 TPT).

Just like her wallet, I believe what was lost will be found by God to help her find Him as her greater significance of identity and purpose in His promises fulfilled (2 Ch 15:4).

God has ways of revealing what is hidden to extend and sustain life abundantly through His salvation light of Christ. He meets with us to bring us from destructive darkness into His glorious Presence. All of us, who have fallen and are undeserving. All of us, who have an appointment with Him.

His Name is Redeemer.

None of us are too far from God to return to Him. Distance is a non-issue for our omnipresent Lord. He and His grace-power are bigger than everything else. So, hope abounds.

God is about revival, not ruts or ruin. He has divine beauty, fresh oil and new wine for each of us. He is our “beautiful strength” and never makes a mistake with us (Ps 92 15 TPT). He causes us to flourish in life as we follow Him (Ps 92:12 TPT).

God desires to take Victoria from iron and make her pure gold. He has a new countenance and a new life for her. He has a ministry designed just for her. He awaits her return to Him more fully. Wholeheartedly (2 Ch 19:9 NLT).

Entanglements of the world can cause us to feel bitterly hopeless, but God calls us out of the trenches of broken-heartedness and bitterness into His higher throne room to be enriched and entwined with Him. To help make others whole with Him.

He is our God of more than enough, whose “amazing mysteries” are “found within every miracle” (Ps 92:6 TPT). He reveals His “deep and glorious secrets” to the discerning. To overcome a violent world.

May we always remember God’s truth and pray for the one lost sheep. God doesn’t beat us up with the violence of rejection or condemnation but raises us up and carries us home to His merciful and gracious full restoration (Lk 15:4-5 TPT study note).

In “The Parable of the Lost Lamb” (Lk 15:3-7 TPT), Jesus says that “…there will be a glorious celebration in heaven over the rescue of one lost sinner who repents, comes back home, and returns to the fold—-more so than for all the righteous people who never strayed away.”

Concerning Victoria, there was no need for me to drive a five-hour distance to return her wallet, especially since I didn’t know if the address on her license was current. So, I called the authorities, to whom I handed it over. I would have loved meeting her in person to minister to her. But sometimes, we have to hand it all over to God and entrust Him to carry on His way.

Nothing is impossible with God.

So, I continue to pray for Victoria and speak victory over her young life and believe that The Master, who brings dead things to life will reach her and set her on a new path for His glory (Lk 15:24, 32 TPT).

May we always remember that, because He found us, it’s a new day for victory. In this assurance, we can rejoice.

Around the same time God put Victoria’s wallet in my hand, He also revealed to me that we will find what we have been searching for and that some of what we find will be unusual, even better—some things God knew about that we didn’t see previously. Something He will reveal.

Then He spoke to me saying, “It’s time for the beautiful things to come into place, to manifest.”

So, God’s love is being expressed and poured out in new, wondrous ways to us. He is giving us unusual opportunities to reach out to others and share His love. 1 John 3:14 ESV tells us “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers…” Therefore, we are to lovingly help others along the way. This is God’s standard as we go. The study note in Proverbs 24:10 TPT forewarns us by saying, “If you fail to help others in their time of need, you will grow too weak to help yourself.”

So, let’s leave room for God’s grace to help us help others. Let’s let Him show us how to align in the most fitting way that returns glory to Him. We are in a time of wholeness, where as we move with Holy Spirit, we will see the redemptive completion of His manifest promises.

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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Everyday Worship – Part 3

We are continuing to break down the Word our Lord gave us in mid-October, which is that “everyday worship is very strategic for life.”

Priority

A key element Holy Spirit highlighted to me is priority, especially concerning God and people. We simply cannot make it without Him and them.

God helps us reconcile our work life realities with Him by inviting us to balance our divine assignments with His divine Presence. Too often, we can get caught up in deadline pressures to the point of hyper-focus on the task, even if it’s for God. In an effort to get the job done, we can ignore intervals to break away to be alone with Him as our Provider and Finisher. We can even devalue His invitations to experience His Presence that is our answer to our pleas for help. We can dismiss the importance of being refreshed.

Praise breaks are a normal and required part of a work-as-worship lifestyle. Knowing His timing of when to break away with Him is part of the work process. We can even ask Him to reveal to us when we need to do so. Since everything is made more efficient with God, stepping away to honor Him by focusing entirely on Him positions us for transformation, opens His gateway to wisdom, restores our joy and enables us to flow out of His Glorious Presence with something we cannot contain. Our work will be finished His way, and it won’t feel heavy.

Considering this, why then would we eat at our desks when we can feast at His table of abundance, especially knowing that we cannot complete a God-size mission our way? We must let go of the “just one more thing” attitude and the “I have to get this done now” self-justification.

Grace

God’s truth is that we desperately need His help. We cannot finish higher assignments without Him. It’s important to consistently choose God’s beautiful way over our own hard habits. We can honor Him by yielding to His Fruit of Spirit, trusting that we don’t have to do it all on our own.

Breaking away with God facilitates our purity of priority, our sense of what matters most. We need His surges of grace-power, which is His Holy ease, that re-sets us and fuels us for the long haul so that we don’t give into the pressure of overload that can provoke us to give up the task. We can even ask Him to increase His grace-power so we can work more efficiently with Him.

Therefore, we must leave room for God’s grace and not grieve Holy Spirit or choke out His Word. We don’t have to know how He will do what He promised us. We just need to believe He will do what He said. God’s truth is that “His lavish gift is life eternal, found in your union with our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One” (Ro 6:23). This Heavenly life enters into our souls as we believe Him by faith in action.

Conversely, the opposition to God’s grace-life for us would suggest we act out of self-reliance and wait until all is good enough in our personal lives to do the very life-giving things God commanded us to step up and do. God is about living a Heavenly life of abundance on earth. He is not in our limited self-reliance, which reveals our unbelief and always produces corruption (Ga 6:8 TPT).

Proverbs 3:7 AMPC reminds us to “Be not wise in your own eyes; reverently fear and worship the Lord and turn [entirely] away from evil. [Prov. 8:13.]”

Persistence

I love God’s imagery of commitment and strategy of Godly determination in Song of Songs 4:6 TPT, which says, “I’ve made up my mind. Until the darkness disappears and the dawn has fully come, in spite of shadows and fears, I will go to the mountaintop with you—the mountain of suffering love and the hill of burning incense. Yes, I will be your bride.”

This verse reflects persistence, which is another key element Holy Spirit highlighted to me. Everyday worship implies persistence. So, resist the lie that everything has to be finished right now. Find a way to take time to step away from your workspace and praise God. Put on your favorite worship music, focus entirely on Him, speak adorations and appreciations to Him and simply revel in His Presence. It will make all the difference in enjoying your journey and even in being able to finish your assignments according to God’s will (Ec 7:8).

Wisdom

The final key element God highlighted to me is wisdom. Everyday worship is wise and facilitates an atmosphere where wisdom is revealed and received. It’s one way God builds us in Him and with Him.

Proverbs 24:3 TPT says, “Wise people are builders — they build families, businesses, communities. And through intelligence and insight their enterprises are established and endure.”

Proverbs 24:13-15 TPT reminds us that “Revelation-knowledge is a delicacy, sweet like flowing honey that melts in your mouth. Eat as much of it as you can, my friend! For then you will perceive what is true wisdom, your future will be bright, and this hope living within you will never disappoint you.”

As our Bread of Life, upon which we feast, we must know God and understand His purpose for us in divine assignments in order to fulfill them with Him. As we are strengthened in our Lord in this way, we will live out His truth that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. We will come to better know Him and understand His power and our purpose.

Ephesians 5:17 AMPC reminds us to “…not be vague and thoughtless and foolish, but understanding and firmly grasping what the will of the Lord is.”

So, it is crucial to invest time in God’s Presence of Word and other forms of worship, like prayer and praise, where we are entirely focused on Him in truth.

Let Us Remember

Let us remember that solutions and resolve come not by looking back but by looking up to the Peacemaker.

If we will persist in life-giving worship of Him, He will expand His victory-directives to us. We will be energized and know His new mercy, increased grace and fresh insight for each day forward. We will know His gracious mountain-moving power by faith, and we will see His manifest miracles in our work lives and beyond.

So, pray with me if you will…

Dear Lord,

We need You. We thank You that “The harvest of the earth is here!” You, “the very God we worship, keeps us satisfied at” Your “banquet of blessings” (Ps 67:6 TPT). We repent of grieving You, Holy Spirit, by not receiving Your invitation to come away with You when You prompt us. Help us to honor You by submitting to Your loving ways and remaining entwined with You! Help us to go where You call and lead us. Let Your faith be in us to move mountains (Mk 11:22-24 TPT)! Thank You for Your blessed rewards.

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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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.