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Beautiful Life – Part 1

Beautiful in Holy Scripture can mean what is fitting, appropriate and fair. What is mature, intrinsically good and beneficial.

Beautiful is what God is and what pleases Him.

It’s how He operates. 

A beautiful life is for everyone who chooses to be transformed into it by Holy Spirit. The Heavenly light of Christ is available to us to shine upon us and from within us, making us increasingly beautiful like He. 

The shining One intercedes on our behalf to guide us in oneness with Him as perfect unity. This kind of harmony is Father’s desire for us to live His best life above lesser things, to take dominion and expand His Kingdom.

A beautiful life is what He’s highlighting to us right now as we come more into His light.

Psalms 96:6 TPT tells us, “Breathtaking brilliance and awe-inspiring majesty radiate from his shining presence. His stunning beauty overwhelms all who come before him.”

So, we see here that this purest beauty comes from Him as our Source, who leads us in a life of significance beyond ourselves. It is appropriated by faith as we come near to experience Him in new ways.

Our Lord desires that we become even lovelier sanctuaries of His Presence (Ps 84:1). He desires that we take hold of His hand and receive more of His beauty in our lives. 

Who wouldn’t want a more beautiful life?

Ephesians 5:8-10 TPT remind us that “Once your life was full of sin’s darkness, but now you have the very light of our Lord shining through you because of your union with him. Your mission is to live as children flooded with his revelation-light! And the supernatural fruits of his light will be seen in you—goodness, righteousness, and truth. Then you will learn to choose what is beautiful to our Lord.”

This transformation into a more beautiful life is a John 10:10 journey, where we must consistently choose good over evil, to be awakened to more of God’s beauty—inwardly and outwardly.

In this way, God offers us a tree of life streaming from His righteousness, wisdom and insight. We can choose to become a tree of life planted by a riverbank, always producing fruit and prospering in all we do (Ps 1:3, Je 17:8). 

God has much for us forward, even beyond ourselves; and therefore, desires to strengthen us in Him (Co 4:5 KJV).

Proverbs 11:30 TPT reminds us that “…a life lived loving God bears lasting fruit, for the one who is truly wise wins souls.”

In Revelation 22:1-2 MSG, John says, “…the Angel showed me Water-of-Life River, crystal bright. It flowed from the Throne of God and the Lamb, right down the middle of the street. The Tree of Life was planted on each side of the River, producing twelve kinds of fruit, a ripe fruit each month. The leaves of the Tree are for healing the nations.”

For us to be fruit-bearing instruments, God must be our center, just as the Tree-of-Life was center in the Garden of Eden, aware that the Tree-of-Good-and-Evil was also there (Ge 2:9).

As we activate this Tree-of-Life wisdom by faith, we will walk out a life of complete beauty with God, no matter what our circumstances. We will see Him and know His beautiful way in the midst of any situation, as we seek Him.

Proverbs 3:17-18 TPT tell us that “The ways of wisdom are sweet, always drawing you into the place of wholeness. Seeking for her brings the discovery of untold blessings, for she is the healing tree of life to those who taste her fruits.” 

The Message version (of Proverbs 3:17-18) reiterates this by saying, “Her manner is beautiful, her life wonderfully complete. She’s the very Tree of Life to those who embrace her. Hold her tight—and be blessed!”

Friends, God is bringing completeness to our hearts, some assignments and areas of our lives—past, present and future. He is our completer, who matures us and makes our lives beautiful. His higher ways will produce an outcome beyond what we can think or imagine. 

So, do you trust Him?

A couple of weeks ago, He revealed to me that it’s a new day. He confirmed this by the same scripture that He highlighted years ago to me, before He led me into the wilderness. In this, I realized that the same Word that leads us closer to Him inwardly also leads us to awaken outwardly:

This Word is Song of Songs 2:13 TPT, which says, “Can you not discern this new day of destiny breaking forth around you? The early signs of my purposes and plans are bursting forth. The budding vines of new life are now blooming everywhere. The fragrance of their flowers whispers, ‘There is change in the air.’ Arise, my love, my beautiful companion, and run with me to the higher place. For now is the time to arise and come away with me.”

Friends, God is doing new things in our lives right this moment.

Are we seeing it?

Are we syncing with Him?

Are we laying down old ways and picking up His new?

He desires that we come into His fulfillment of promises to prove out our beautiful lives as living testimonies.

There is so much more to share. So, join me next week for Part 2 of Beautiful Life.

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

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Redeeming Your Time – Part 3

Redeeming our time is a divine expression of reconciliation. God takes regrets, missed opportunities and passed moments in time and reformulates them into something new, while He simultaneously reforms us inwardly. He brings something good out of all of it to benefit us and others. 

God’s power of redemption in our daily lives can break through the resistance of our minds and offer us fresh vision to gain manifest victory.

Nothing is impossible with Him. 

Isaiah 43:18-19 TPT say, “Stop dwelling on the past. Don’t even remember these former things. I am doing something brand new, something unheard of. Even now it sprouts and grows and matures. Don’t you perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and open up flowing streams in the desert.”

Friends, God will bring life where there was or is no life. He is life everlasting. So, when we invite Him into our dead, hopeless places, life begins to flow in and through us from Him as our river of life. When this happens, we will experience our prayers getting answered in new ways. 

We need only to have our eyes opened and be aligned with Him.

A few weeks ago, I walked into a store to purchase something small I had had my eye on. It was the perfect throw for a new chair.

When I walked into the store, Holy Spirit immediately drew my attention to the song playing on the store speakers. It was Fleetwood Mac’s Don’t Stop. Suddenly, I heard this song in a new way, as encouragement for my daily redemption from God. The lyrics went:

Open your eyes and look at the day. You’ll see things in a different way. Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow. Don’t stop. It’ll soon be here. It’ll be better than before. Yesterday’s gone. Yesterday’s gone. Why not think about times to come? … Just think what tomorrow will do.

Holy Scripture confirms this message by saying, “Set your gaze on the path before you. With fixed purpose, looking straight ahead, ignore life’s distractions…” (Pr 4:25 TPT). “…fasten your thoughts fully onto Jesus…” (He 3:1 TPT). “Keep your thoughts continually fixed on all that is authentic and real, honorable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind. And fasten your thoughts on every glorious work of God, praising him always” (Ph 4:8 TPT).

Yes, there is a backstory…

Once, when I walked through the deepest and longest character-building time of my life and could not see my way off of the ocean floor, our Lord revealed a few highlights of my life forward. He enabled me to see beyond where I was to where He was taking me. He even revealed a major shift to me that was years up ahead that would make room for more of His promises to come into place. 

These fresh visions of hope kept me going. 

Still today, He opens my eyes daily to see how He has brought me into new life and continues to do so. 

He is our trustworthy God of the impossible—our God of more than enough. He makes a way where we cannot see or find one on our own. He delivers us from limitations and sets us on a higher track with Him.

Hebrews 3:1 TPT reminds us that each of us is “invited to the feast” of our “heavenly calling.”

God desires that we keep moving in His direction, because this is where new life waits to be received. It’s the gift of redemption being worked out in our lives daily. 

We need only to humble ourselves, choose to trust Him at His truth and follow His lead.

So, has God revealed glimpses of your future to you?

Has He given you a vision in your heart?

Have you asked Him about it?

As we walk with Him and seek Him, He will reveal even more! The Lord of our lives will enable us to experience the convergence of small daily victories right up to His complete fulfillment of big promises to us. 

The key is to process this path His way, submitting to His strategies and course corrections. When we follow Him into new life, He will surely deliver us into the glory of His goodness and the fruit in the land.

Pray with me if you will…

Dear Lord, 

Thank You for making me holy and inviting me to the feast of my Heavenly calling (He 3:1 TPT). Take me higher in You, Lord. Show me what You have for me forward—the future You have planned for me (Je 29:11). Open my eyes to see it unfurl daily. Help me follow You into the great destiny you have for me. My life is Yours. I trust You to get me there—to receive all You have for me and nothing that’s not of You.

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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Redeeming Your Time – Part 2

The best way to reconcile issues of the soul, unfinished business or any other outstanding matter is by the living, redeeming work of the cross. 

Colossians 1:17 TPT says that “He existed before anything was made, and now everything finds completion in him.”

The AMPC version reveals that God is our supreme binder, saying, “…He Himself existed before all things, and in Him all things consist (cohere, are held together). [Prov. 8:22-31.]”

So, we must do as Hebrews 4:16 AMPC says, which is to “find grace…to help in good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it].”

We can hold on to the Spirit of Grace and release matters to Him to bring complete wholeness, which honors Him (Ps 55:22 TPT, Phil 1:6). By God’s authority, we can also bind the enemy that tries to keep us spinning in un-resolve so that life doesn’t continue on without us (Lk 10:19).

The revelation God gave me on this is that His grace not only works outwardly as explosive power but also works inwardly as an implosion, where internal fragments are made whole or redeemed. 

Just as in the military command to “fall in,” this means that we must break away from a former or present place and meet with God to come into a new alignment under His authority for transformation. In this way, He will bind our matters into a glorious new whole to demonstrate His goodness (Ps 18:25).

So, as we trust our Kinsman-Redeemer, we can give Him all of our fragments, and ask Him to resolve them to His liking, and then grow them exponentially (multiplicity) for His glory (Jn 6:11, Lk 6:38, Is 43:1). We can ask Him to awaken our minds and hearts to see and know Him more in this way—as our God who redeems our lives on earth as it is in Heaven. 

Because redemption doesn’t stop at the altar of salvation (Ps 50:23 TPT).

Redemption continues to work on our behalf as we walk out our salvation, submitting our limitations to God and trusting Him with transformation and multiplicity.

Sometimes, it may look and feel worse before we see better. But God, in His faithfulness, will get us to the place of fewer hindrances and more shalom peace and abundant true (zoe, Strong’s #2222) life than we’ve ever known.

God is in the redemptive work with us, so we can “fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace” (He 4:16). Know there will come a time, when we will begin to see the outward work of His redemption. 

We will see the promised fruit. 

Just as God is the perfect binder, He is also the perfect sower, who multiplies good fruit in our lives forward. Luke 8:15 NIV says, “But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.”

Multiplicity is a part of God’s redemptive work as explosive growth. Multiplicity is a time-saver. 

Job’s life is a noble example of abiding-ascension and multiplicity, where God restored him double for his losses. 

And God will do the same for us. 

We see God do double miracles of brokenness to abundance for the multitudes in John 6:11 NLT, which says, “Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted.”

When I read this scripture, during this writing, Holy Spirit highlighted the Word “distributed” to me.

I believe He revealed it’s time for those of us who have followed Him in the deep implosive work of our souls to now explode on the scene into the distribution phase. In other words, it’s time to get the message out, to share the blessing or the feast of manifest miracles God has done in us with the world around us in whatever form He as ordained.

As we obey, God will use the life-work He did in us to extend life to others as He expands our reach outwardly by His explosive grace-power.

As Redeemer, He will do the impossible on our behalf.

As we go about this new phase of distribution with our Lord, as redeemed vessels with a message of redemption for others, a critical element to practice is the acknowledgment of Him “as our Provider of all we need each day,” as is written in Matthew 6:11 TPT. Abiding in Him is everything, as it was for Job. 

So, our righteous prayer today is…

Dear Lord,

Thank You for Your victory-redemption. Where I have felt defeated in the past, help me live in Your miraculous abundance as I abide in You and obey You. “Let my passion for life be restored, tasting joy in every breakthrough you bring to me. Hold me close to you with a willing spirit that obeys whatever you say” (Ps 51:12 TPT). Thank You, Lord, for making my path increasingly bright as I continue to come into greater life-union with Your righteousness (Pr 4:18, Ps 23:3).

In Jesus’ Mighty Name. 

And now, I declare over you that “…God himself, the heavenly Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, release grace over you and impart total well-being into your lives” daily (Ep 1:2 TPT).

Amen.

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

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Redeeming Your Time – Part 1

Recently, Holy Spirit brought to mind Paul Anka’s 1975 gold song titled, Times of Your Life. I hadn’t heard this song in a very long time. I remember it as one that was popular among young people to reminisce about mostly good times forty-plus years ago, especially at proms and weddings.

But, this song heralds yesterday as hard to find and suggests that we reach back anyway to gather moments and collect dreams to pack away in our minds. It goes on to talk about setting suns and passing seasons and tomorrows, where we wake up and find that time slipped away. 

But God has something else to say about moments and time in our lives. 

His way says it’s not over. In fact, God has some big, new beginnings for us.

He has better for us now and forward than we ever experienced back then. Our latter can be greater, as He redeems our time—past, present and future. 

He’s waiting. It’s our choice. 

As we look to God and seek Him, not our past, as we release all that’s former to Him, He will awaken us to more of His true life for us now and forward. He will enable us to see as He sees and embrace His best. He will work all things for our good and for His glory, recompensing what we missed out on earlier. He will make it better than it would have been. 

Daily, He will encourage us and reveal Himself to us as merciful and gracious as we prioritize Him as our first and center and follow Him forward.  (La 3:22-23). 

Do you believe Him?

Do you trust Him?

Do you know Him in this way?

It’s not too late. 

God desires to change the trajectory of our lives to go higher, farther and deeper in and with Him. 

He is not limited, except by our unwillingness.

He will give us better memories and make the dreams He put inside of us still come true.

As we commit to prioritize the Spirit of Grace above all else in our lives daily, He will refashion, reframe, refocus, refit and refresh us in ways that will bring Him (and us) greater honor. He will offer us better memories than we ever had and could have made on our own. 

He’s that good.

He’s that powerful.

He’s God.

He will take us from survival to feasting on His abundance, as we receive His grace of salvation to work on our behalf: His perfect life-blood will work righteousness and justice into our lives (Ro 3:25; 5:9, 18, 21 TPT). His great Name will open new doors for us. His Word will illuminate our hearts in truth that sets us free from a disappointing past. He can rework our today and our future and bring something good out of it. He is everlasting, and in Him, there is no end to His love, life and goodness (Ps 18:25). 

It begins with an attitude of humility, seeking Him and dependence upon Him, because we cannot do it ourselves (Ro 5:6).

And God exalts the humble (1 Pe 5:6, Lk 18:14).

If you feel like all hope is gone, and your heart aches for “Christ in you, the hope of glory” to show up on your behalf (Co 1:27), it’s time to be led “to the rock that is higher” (Ps 61:2). It’s time for hope to be restored. If you let Him shine His light in your heart, you can then put this fresh hope fully in Him. 

He never disappoints.

Isn’t it time to believe Him at His Word and let Him work on your behalf to do authentic life His way (Jn 6:63)?

Friends, God will restore His root of love in us—His greater glory, and make us into His brightest lampstands as we walk with Him along His narrow path and remain in Him.

God can and will bring opportunities around again for new life to prove better than it would have been if we had known better and done better earlier. Even if some of our previous moments got cut short, due to an illness or perhaps an untimely passing of a loved one, that time is still redeemable. The goodness of God continues onto the next generation to be appropriated (Ps 78:6). God’s will for us is to offer us recompense for whatever was lost or stolen when we forgive, repent for any wrongdoing and submit to Him. God will even reveal His recompense to us in advance, so we can set our expectation on Him to fulfill His promise.

How exciting are these mysteries of God revealed?! 

Pray with me if you will:

Dear Lord, 

Thank You for Your mercy for me. I “cry to You, When my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I” (Ps 61:2 NKJV). I entrust my life to You to get me where You desire I be in my growth in You and in Your Kingdom for Your glory. Restore my hope. Redeem my time. Make something good out of every lost moment and disappointment. Do that which only You can do. And open my eyes to see it and receive it all Your way.

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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Faithful Decisions – Part 2

On this Pentecost Sunday, I am reminded of the early church, who sought Jesus in Heaven and received an outpouring of Holy Spirit to empower them to go and reach others for Christ (Ac 2).

The decision to receive the gracious redemption Jesus offers us as Lord and Savior is a new beginning that extends to subsequent decision-making.

Because redemption is intrinsic of the nature of Christ.  

This very nature of redemption draws us to do things His way—the way that offers, brings and gives true life (Jn 14:6).

Prioritizing The Spirit of Grace first in our lives invites Him to guide, protect and lead us into all truth for this redeemed, abundant life.

As followers of Christ, we have His living hope that does not fail us (1 Ti 4:10).

Our decisions are seeds that grow to be established over time. Our Lord gives us this freedom to plant seeds of faith-righteousness that are aligned with God’s will, to reap what proves victorious in His eyes.

1 Corinthians 15:57-58 NIV say, “But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

One of our Lord’s most beautiful promises for our efforts can be found in: 

John 3:21 AMPC, which says, “But he who practices truth [who does what is right] comes out into the Light; so that his works may be plainly shown to be what they are–wrought with God [divinely prompted, done with God’s help, in dependence upon Him].”

Pleasing God and bringing Him glory as we go and share His good news is our ultimate goal. But the prophet Isaiah reminds us that we are always on God’s mind, and He never forgets to bless us.

He says in Isaiah 26:12 TPT, “Lord, Yahweh, You will establish peace and prosperity for us, for all we have accomplished is the result of what you work through us.”

Here and again throughout Holy Scripture, our Lord reveals that He releases His best to His yielded ones.

Making decisions that do not align with God’s will reveals our unbelief of His Word and our unbelief in our true identity in Christ due to a lack of trust in Him to provide for all our needs. 

How can we possibly receive God’s finest blessings with such an impoverished mindset?

We can’t. 

Our minds need to be renewed like Christ’s, and we need to walk out His truth by faith in His living promises.

Perhaps one of the best Bible examples of getting it wrong before getting it right, at least in part, is Jonah.

Jonah’s decisions from his strong will and reluctant obedience caused him a lot of unnecessary pain and nearly costed him is life. And even after Jonah completed his mission, he remained pouting in his self-justification, which is a sign of immature character.

I love what the New Spirit-Filled Life Bible notes say to counter Jonah’s example. They say:

Transforming faith…is more than just knowledge about God. It changes us and molds us into the image of the One in whom we place our trust, and it is expressed through our actions and our attitudes. Let your faith in who God is transform who you are. Pray and ask the Lord to conform you into his image. Respond to God’s instruction with a willing heart that is open to change. By faith, receive the Lord’s instruction, and allow it to change the way you think, feel and behave. 

So, like Jonah, when we cry unto the Lord in our troubles, He will deliver us from our distress by His mercy. He will send His Word and heal us and rescue us from the pit of destruction (Ps 107:19-20). 

Proverbs 28:13 TPT says that “If you cover up your sin you’ll never do well. But if you confess your sins and forsake them, you will be kissed by mercy.”

Friends, we must come to an understanding that the perfect justice of the sacrificial blood of Jesus is enough to redeem our lives from ungodly choices (Ro 3:25 TPT). His Word and Holy Spirit are enough to guide us into living higher, as we turn to Him and commit our lives to Him (Ps 37:5-6). 

Faithfulness is our friend (Ps 37:3). Our Lord Jesus faithfully completed His work on the cross to redeem the lives of as many as who will receive His grace. In honor of Him, let’s make faithful decisions that align with His will and invite His blessed redemption into our everyday lives for His glory.

Pray with me if you will…

Dear Lord,

Thank You for Your mercy and grace of redemption that makes a way of a blessed life for me. I believe Your Son’s sacred and sacrificial blood redeems my life. I repent of all my sins and gratefully receive You as my Lord and Savior over all of my life. As You search my heart, if there is anything specific I need to lay at the foot of Your cross today, I invite You to bring the conviction that leads me to repentance. Help me to live out all the victory of redemption You have for me—spirit, soul and body. Help me make faithful decisions forward that bring honor and glory to Your Name as You transform me into Your likeness. Thank You for Your mercy and grace.

In Jesus’ Mighty Name.

Amen.

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