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Monday, August 7, 2017

Posted on Aug 7, 2017 in Devotions |

Devotional for Monday, August 7, 2017

“His Understanding Is Unlimited”

he counts the stars and knows them by name

by Dona Hake

Psalm 147:3-5 (TLB)

“He heals the brokenhearted, binding up their wounds.

He counts the stars and calls them all by name.

How great he is! His power is absolute!

His understanding is unlimited.”

I love these verses and I love thinking about how our loving God knows every detail about everything. He is the one that knows all things and He gives us all things that pertain to life and godliness. How awesome is this verse as the Psalmist proclaims that our God counts the stars and calls them them all by their name. One by one He created each star and caused it to shine in the evening skies.

To think of how great and mighty God is should encourage our hearts to remember that the same God that placed stars in the sky one by one also created me and you! One by one He formed each of us in our mother’s womb, and He knows every day of our life from beginning to end. How amazing is our God? Oh that we would turn to Him when our hearts are broken and hurt that we would receive His healing touch, and restoration. Oh that we would look to Him for the smallest of our needs for He knows what they are before we notice any lack in our lives.

The same hands that formed the stars and hung them in the skies promises to touch our heart if it has been hurt and broken. Those hands are well able to bind up our wounds and bring restoration to our life. He is great and His power is absolute!

Lord, remind us today of Your greatness! Let us ponder how unfathomable Your love and Your works are. You created the heavens and the earth, how much more we should believe that You can take care of every little detail of our lives as we live here on this earth. For those of us with hurting and broken hurts, we thank You that you are able to heal and restore. Cause us to hear Your lovingkindness each and everyday as we awaken, for we know that we are to fully trust in You and only You. Thank You for giving us sufficient grace to live and do Your will. We trust You today to work in our lives! In Jesus Name, amen!

Sunday, August 6, 2017

Posted on Aug 6, 2017 in Devotions |

Devotional for Sunday, August 6, 2017

“When I Am Weak…”

by Dona Hake

2 Corinthians 12:8-10 (ERV)

8 “I begged the Lord three times to take this problem away from me. 9 But the Lord said, “My grace is all you need. Only when you are weak can everything be done completely by my power.” So I will gladly boast about my weaknesses. Then Christ’s power can stay in me. 10 Yes, I am glad to have weaknesses if they are for Christ. I am glad to be insulted and have hard times. I am glad when I am persecuted and have problems, because it is when I am weak that I am really strong.”

In the scriptures (2 Corinthians 12:8-10) Paul spoke of calling out to God to help him. Paul had enough of dealing with his problems for he was in his own ability and weariness was upon him. He begged God that the whole issue would depart from him. God’s response…

”My grace which is my favor, my lovingkindness, and my mercy are all that you need. My grace is sufficient against any danger and it enables you to bear this trouble manfully. My strength and power are made perfect and show themselves MOST effective in your weakness.”

Paul’s heart was totally toward God and his eyes were opened. He saw that it was only God’s strength that he needed to arise and be more than a conqueror in his situation. Even though he was weak, the revelation came to him through this experience that in his weakness, God was able to show Himself strong and mighty. One translation of this portion of scripture implies to allow God’s grace to rest as a tent pitched upon us. What an awesome way of looking at dwelling and drawing upon His wonderful grace.

In another translation Paul said, “when I am weak in my own human strength, then I am truly strong, able and powerful in God’s strength.” Paul saw that God’s grace was all that he needed. He saw that it was sufficient. God’s grace is adequate for any purpose and it is always more than enough.

Today we ask you Lord to reveal to us areas in which we still try to live in our own strength and abilities. Cause us to see your grace and strength in everything we do no matter how big or small the task or situation may be. We praise you for Your abundant grace that You have made available for us to draw upon. You are so good to us Lord!

Saturday, August 5, 2017

Posted on Aug 4, 2017 in Devotions |

Devotional for Saturday, August 5, 2017

“For Such a Time As This !”

by Dona Hake

Oh the magnificence of our loving God as He created the heavens and the earth! Today we are looking at His work of creation and how He separated the light from the dark. As we live our lives as victorious believers we too must keep our hearts, soul, and mind FULL of His powerful light and be separate from the ways of this world which is darkness.

We are living in a time where spiritual darkness is continually gaining momentum, and we MUST see that we are guarding our hearts with all diligence. The enemy seeks WHOM he may devour, and he would love to pull our hearts and minds into a place that we are not abiding in our Lord’s light. My heart is extremely grieved to see when believers refuse to acknowledge this. My friends let us not try to live in a comfort zone for we will ultimately find ourselves in trouble in spirit. We need to be cautious that we are not seeking the things of this world but our affections must be on things that are above.

The Lord desires that we continue to walk in the light of His Word in the midst of the devil trying to pull people from knowing and loving God. As we do this the greater works that Jesus said we would do is going to happen. Wonderful things are going to transpire in Spirit like never before. Even though sin may be abounding, His grace will abound even more! In order for God to sweep this earth and bring many to Him, we MUST remain strong, upright and diligent to walk in His truth. Let us abide in the light of His Word!

Psalm 112:4 The Voice
“When life is dark, a light will

shine for those who live rightly— those
who are merciful, compassionate, and strive for justice.”

As we determine ourselves to abide in His Word and proclaim it, HE HAS PROMISED that light will shine for us in the midst of darkness. Let our hearts be strengthened in knowing that we do not have to be afraid for such a time as this we are here! Jesus addressed fear in the book of Matthew and we need to refer to this scripture today in light of what I am sharing:

Matthew 24:5-7 Amplified Bible

“For many will come in (on the strength of)

My name appropriating the
name which belongs to Me, saying,

I am the Christ (the Messiah), and they will
lead many astray. And you will hear

of wars and rumors of wars; see that you
are not frightened or troubled,

for this must take place, but the end is not
yet. For nation will rise against nation,

and kingdom against kingdom, and there
will be famines and earthquakes in place after place;”

My friends I encourage you that you do not let your heart be troubled. Cling to the peace of our Lord! God is calling us in such a time as this to be beacons of light to a world that is looking for answers to their fears, and they are yearning for the hope that we can bring to them for such a time as this!

Friday, August 4, 2017

Posted on Aug 4, 2017 in Devotions |

Devotional for Friday, August 4, 2017

“He Will Clear the Road For You To Follow”

by Dona Hake

Proverbs 3:5-6

Contemporary English Version

“With all your heart
you must trust the Lord
and not your own judgment.
Always let him lead you,
and he will clear the road
for you to follow.”

I can remember a few years ago when I had taken my Granddaughters home after watching them all day. It was an evening of very slow traffic due to freshly fallen snow. I made a decision to go a certain way home because I thought it was the safest, and it ended up adding an hour onto my travel time. Upon turning onto the main road I found the road was blocked due to an accident and they were detouring all cars. The problem for me was they were directing me onto a road I had never been on before. It was dark, and visibility was bad which made matters worst. I had absolutely no clue where I was, and became a bit nervous about it. Since I did not even know the street I was on, I could not even program anything into my GPS. I remembered that there was a compass on my iPhone and that was the best thing for me at that point. I could at least see I was heading in the right direction, and that is all I needed, and I eventually got back on track.

In my time of having no clue of what to do, I had peace in knowing that at least I was going the right direction. So it is in this life when we are in those places where everything seems new, strange, or confusing. Fear can so easily grip our hearts when we feel we do not even know where we are, and what we are to do. We just need to get our direction back, and allow the peace of the Lord to minister to our hearts so that we can be guided by His divine direction.

I love the translation of this scripture that I am sharing with you today. Our judgements can seem so right at times but we cannot put our trust in our own judgements, our trust must be in the Lord. Praise God that He is well able to clear the road ahead of us, and we can begin to see clearly again and make some sense out of things, and go in His divine direction.

Lord, help us this day to lean upon you in the smallest of matters for all things that concern us really do matter to You. We thank you for your divine direction and provision as we walk beside You this day. In Jesus Name!

Thursday, August 3, 2017

Posted on Aug 3, 2017 in Devotions |

Devotional for Thursday, August 3, 2017

“Don’t Look Back!”

by Dona Hake

I am sharing a testimony I remember hearing a few years ago on a Christian radio station. This young man was sharing his heart, and making emphasis on the power of keeping his heart and eyes set on what God had set before him. He also was declaring the importance of understanding how our past can affect us if we do not deal with it properly. He spoke the following words, and I spoke the words over and over in my mind till I could jot them down on paper. I love to write things down that minister to my heart like this. He said…

”The past is not really the past if

it is impacting your present.”

I thought these were powerful words to ponder. Of course we understand that what happened twenty years ago or even yesterday is over and done with. What we need to understand though is if we dwell on any negatives of our past, and allow them to hinder us in the present they will have power over us. They will affect our life in a very negative way. Sometimes it is hard to fathom how much our past can torment us. Memories can serve to torment us IF we allow them to do so.

Paul wrote in the Corinthians and he exclaimed that those in Christ are more than conquerors, and in Philippians he spoke of the “race” in this life. He declared the importance of staying focused, strong, and purposed to continue in momentum, and he still did not consider himself a winner.

Philippians 3:13 God’s Word Translation

“Brothers and sisters,

I can’t consider myself a winner yet.

This is what I do:

I don’t look back,

I lengthen my stride,

and I run straight toward the goal

to win the prize that God’s heavenly call offers in Christ Jesus.

Whoever has a mature faith should think this way.

And if you think differently, God will show

you how to think. However, we should be

guided by what we have learned so far.”

Paul was proclaiming that until he crosses the finish line he needed to run with the good mental and spiritual habits of a conqueror. He proclaimed that he was not going to look back, and he was determined to run straight toward the goal. The heart of a conqueror does not look back. He spoke of lengthening his stride or running a steady pace or course. We must continually keep in front of us all of our goals both spiritual and personal, and run toward them with all of our hearts and strength that comes only from God!

Lord, we ask that your Holy Spirit remind us that our past is over, and You give us the power to overcome tormenting thoughts as a result of bad experiences that we have walked through. We desire to run straight toward the goal You have spoken to us. Show us how to think when we get off course, and guide us by the understanding in our hearts. We rejoice in You as we walk in Your perfect will for our life. In Jesus Name, Amen!

Wednesday, August 2, 2017

Posted on Jul 31, 2017 in Uncategorized |

Devotional for Wednesday, August 2, 2017

“Do You Delight In His Voice?”

by Dona Hake

Psalm 1 :2-3 (TLB)

“…but they delight in doing everything God

wants them to, and

day and night are always meditating on his laws and thinking

about ways to follow him more closely.

They are like trees along a riverbank bearing

luscious fruit each season without fail. Their leaves shall never

wither, and all they do shall prosper.”

There is great reward for being diligent as we embrace the Word of God. I want to draw your attention to the first few words of these scriptures so I underlined them. The words that came to my heart as I pondered these underlined words was,

“Do I delight in His voice, do I delight

in everything He tells me to do?”

You see…many times our Lord will speak things to us that He desires us to do. The things that are a joy are easy for our hearts and minds to consent to and obey. But what about those things that are not so easy. Again I will share what this version says...“…but they delight in doing everything God wants them to…” Sometimes God may ask us do things that may be one of those tough pills to swallow. It may be reaching out to that person that is somewhat hard to deal with. Sometimes we are required to walk the extra mile of patience when it seems that there is not one ounce of it left within us.

I believe the more we seek to love and live for our Lord, we will delight in ALL that He instructs us to do whether we feel like it or not. As we daily follow Him and purpose to put His teachings first and foremost in our life, He has promised that our life would be prospered. As we stand as trees along God’s riverbank we will begin to see things grow and develop within us. It matters not how hard things around us may seem for our roots are receiving life giving strength from the living waters of our Lord.

Let us always be mindful that our fruit is not for us alone to survive in this life but rather to be a blessing to those around us. Let us delight to do what He is instructing us to do and purpose to be used by Him. Be willing to step out and bless those He puts in our path as we live and abide in Him. As we proclaim His Word and display His goodness many will be blessed and nourished from the fruit that our lives bear.

Proverbs 10:21 NIV

“The lips of the righteous nourish many…”

Let us meditate on the rich promise that our lives will bear fruit in all the seasons, and all that we put our hand to shall prosper as we live to delight in all that He asks us to do!

Monday, July 31, 2017

Posted on Jul 30, 2017 in Devotions |

Devotional for Monday, July 31, 2017

“Possessing the Pure Heart”

by Dona Hake

I can remember like yesterday when I would go to Sunday School. I had a teacher that loved Jesus so much, and her passion was to share it with children. I will never forget her beautiful red hair and kind eyes. One Sunday our lesson was about how Jesus took our sins away by the power of His blood. She stood in front us with her flannel board, and on the flannel board was a heart with black spots on it, and then there was a pure white heart beside of it. Such a striking contrast…one heart bound up and the other was free. All I can remember as a little girl was that I wanted the pure white heart. I wanted to be free, and I wanted no parts of black spots on my heart. I wanted to understand how to keep my heart clean.

Thank God through His forgiveness, we can experience the pure white heart. Along with forgiveness that keeps us free He desires to shed His unconditional love upon our hearts that we be merciful to those around us.

Today I am encouraging you to desire a pure heart as you walk with Him. His forgiveness is always there for us to partake of. Nothing can stand in our way of possessing a heart that is pure before Him.

Let us also look to Him to help us to be merciful and forgiving. God’s love is so powerful and it can help us forgive wrongs done against us.

1 Corinthians 13:5 (ERV)
Love does not remember wrongs done against it.”

Do not permit the enemy to convince you that it is okay to keep an account of wrongs done against you. Unforgiveness is the enemy to our soul being free. Let us enjoy the freedom that forgiveness brings to our hearts! Today I leave you with this wonderful anonymous quote:

“Every person should have a special cemetery lot

in which to bury the faults of friends and loved ones.

To forgive is to set a prisoner free

and discover the prisoner was you”

(Unknown)

Saturday, July 29, 2017

Posted on Jul 29, 2017 in Devotions |

Devotional for Saturday, July 29, 2017

“…and He said, Peace Be Still”

Mark 4:38-40 Expanded Bible

“Jesus was at the ·back of the boat [stern],

sleeping on a cushion. ·His followers woke

him and said, “Teacher, don’t you care that

we are ·drowning [perishing]?”

Jesus stood up and ·commanded

[reprimanded; rebuked] the wind and

said to the ·waves [sea], “·Quiet! [ Peace!]

Be still!” Then the wind stopped, and it

became completely calm.

Jesus said to ·his followers, “Why are you afraid?

Do you still have no faith?”

In light of this portion of scripture I want to share one of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite authors Francois De Fenelon…

“A word from the Lord stilled the raging sea and

a glance from Him to you, and from you to Him,

will do the same for you.”

Many times in the midst of turmoil in my life this scripture and quote have helped me, and my soul has been quieted and comforted by it. Permit the Lord of all peace to stand up and quiet the stormy sea that you may be facing. This IS the peace that passeth ALL understanding!

Friday, July 28, 2017

Posted on Jul 27, 2017 in Devotions |

Devotional for Friday, July 28, 2017

“Loving The Truth of Our Lord”

by Dona Hake

Today I want to share with you about loving the truth. The Word is truth and it is light to our souls. God’s Word, His truth has been so freely given to us. It will strengthen, guide, and lift up our souls. On the other hand the lies of the devil will pull us down, and lead us into wrong paths. The devil loves to lie to us in order to create confusion and defeat in our lives. God is light and in Him there is no darkness, there never was darkness in our Lord, and there never will be. Oh that we would be quick to discern light from dark in our lives. May we learn to hate what God hates and love what He loves. In my walk as a believer I have found that the degree that I love His truth will also be the degree that I hate and despise the lies of our enemy. The more I love His Word, the more discerning I will be in all areas of my life. It is as one compromises the truth in their life that they will begin to accept and enter into compromise rather than reject the lies of the devil.

In Ecclesiastes 3 the writer speaks of an appointed time to love and an appointed time to hate. Know this…there are things that God hates, and because He hates certain things, we too should hate those things. We need to hate anything that could potentially pull us away from His perfect will.

Today I want to talk about lying and falsehood. God desires that our hearts be sold out completely and committed to His Word. May we never ever think that we can pick and choose when we are going to walk in truth. May our hearts desire to know that we are saturated in His Word. May we be determined to walk in a way in which we never waver but stay true to every precept He has given us to live by. May we never entertain thoughts of permitting ourselves to lie or live in the realm of being a pretender. Falsehood is lack of conformity to truth or fact. When we live to serve our Lord in truth our spirit will cause us to reject darkness and the lies of our enemy.

Psalm 119:163 (CEB)
“I hate, I absolutely despise, what is false,
but I’m in love with your Instruction.”

Psalm 119:163 Good News Translation

“I hate and detest all lies,
but I love your law.”

Today Lord we ask that You would give us discerning hearts for we well know that the devil can come as an Angel of Light. He roams and seeks ways to devour us, therefore we ask that You help us be watchful over our souls. Help us to be discerning. We thank You Lord that Your grace is able to keep us strong and deliberate in our walk. We ask that Your Word would grow deeper and deeper within us as we proclaim that we love Your law with all of our hearts. In Jesus Name! Amen.

Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Posted on Jul 26, 2017 in Devotions |

Devotional for Wednesday, July 26, 2017

“He Leads Me To His Rest”

Psalm 23:2-3Living Bible

” He lets me rest in the meadow grass and leads me

beside the quiet streams. He gives me new strength.

He helps me do what honors him the most.”

Today we are focusing on the word rest. Many times this word seems to be more associated with a time of refreshing ease or inactivity after exertion or labor. Rest is also relief or freedom especially from anything that wearies, troubles or disturbs one’s soul. I believe our Lord desires that we live in His place of rest.

May we learn to stop striving in our own ability and ideas of our own. His ways are higher and His thoughts are greater. I want to exhort your heart today to permit your Lord to cause your soul to live or abide in His place of rest. Permit Him to lead you to that Word that will strengthen your spirit. Allow those words of wisdom to bring light and direction to your heart as your are seeking Him for an answer to a problem. Today I encourage you to draw upon His strength just as you breathe without giving it a thought. It is His strength and rest that will sustain you that you can do His will that you have been assigned to do. This my friends is what will help you to do that which honors Him the most!