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Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Posted on May 10, 2017 in Devotions |

Devotional for Wednesday, May 10, 2017

“He Is Mighty!”

by Dona Hake

Who is Jesus to you? What does His Name mean? Within the Name and character of our Living God is an abundance of words that explains who He is and what He has done! Today we will continue with names and words that explain the God that we serve. I have been reviewing each day for you the names and words that tell us about our loving God. So far we have meditated up Him being:

OUR COUNSELOR

OUR SANCTUARY

OUR LIGHT

HE IS WONDERFUL

OUR ROCK

OUR UNDERSTANDING

Today we will ponder within our hearts how our Lord is mighty!

Psalm 150:2 KJV

“Praise him for his mighty acts: praise

him according to his excellent greatness.”

Let us ever be reminded of how great and mighty that our Living God is!! When doubts and fears try to make us shrink back in our faith, let us call to mind that with man it may seem impossible but with God ALL things are possible for He is able and mighty! The Hand that created and called into existence the Heaven and Earth waits for you to turn to Him in your time of trouble. He desires to do mighty acts on your behalf according to His excellent greatness!

Psalm 77:12

“I will meditate also upon all Your

works and consider all Your [mighty] deeds.”

I encourage you to reflect on the times that He has done a mighty work in your life. His Name is called mighty and there is nothing too big for Him.

Ephesians 3:20 Easy to Read Version

“With God’s power working in us, he can do much,

much more than anything we can ask or think of.”

Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Posted on May 9, 2017 in Devotions |

Devotional for Tuesday, May 9, 2017

“Jesus Our Understanding”

by Dona Hake

Proverbs 8:14 (ESV)
“I have counsel and sound wisdom;

I have insight; I have strength.”

Jesus is so many things to us. I will review the many words that I have been bringing to you that tell of our wonderful Lord. He is our Counselor, our Sanctuary, our Light, He is called Wonderful, and He is our Rock. If you missed any of these devotionals covering these, I encourage you to scroll down and read them.

Have you ever had something that you did not quite understand, and it bothered you for you really wanted to feel to know what was going on in a particular situation. Maybe there is a scripture that bothers you because you do not feel you are totally receiving the depth of it’s meaning. There have been times in my life in which confusion came as a result of not understanding something. I believe that lack of understanding can be a tool of the enemy. It is probably his greatest opportunity to come as an angel of light making good look bad or bad look good. Our Lord desires to help us understand, and He will come along side of us and minister to our hearts the clarity that we need. When we seek to know more, and we ask Him to help us understand, He is faithful to help us. As we search His Word He will help us understand it and apply it to our lives.

In those times where things may seem to appear dark, cloudy, and difficult…know that He is well able to unfold to you what you need to know. He is able to bring to you the clarity that you need.

1 Corinthians 2:16 (AMP)

” For who has known or understood the mind

(the counsels and purposes)

of the Lord so as to guide and instruct Him and

give Him knowledge? But we have the mind

of Christ (the Messiah) and do hold the thoughts

(feelings and purposes) of His heart.”

Praise Him today that as we draw upon His understanding we are walking in deeper realms holding the thoughts, feelings and purposes of His heart!

Monday, May 8, 2017

Posted on May 8, 2017 in Devotions |

Devotional for Monday, May 8, 2017

“The Lord Our Rock”

by Dona Hake

The past four days we have been meditating on the many names the Lord is to us. He is our Counselor , our Sanctuary, our Light, and yesterday we looked at how wonderful He is. Today our meditation will be on the Lord being our Rock.

Psalm 18:2 (ERV)

“The Lord is my Rock, my fortress, my place of safety.
He is my God, the Rock I run to for protection.
He is my shield; by his power I am saved.

He is my hiding place high in the hills.”

As believers we can know Him as our Rock. He IS the Rock on which we stand, and we know that as we stand upon that Rock we shall not be moved. We can never remind ourselves enough about what He did for us at Calvary.

Before I knew Him as a teenager I can still remember whispering a prayer before my eyes went shut each night. “God…there just has to be more to this life than this…” I just could not believe within my heart that there wasn’t more. Tormented in my soul I would keep uttering this prayer and then I met Him face to face at the last closing moments of a week long crusade I had attended. Each night my heart struggled as I fought to surrender my all to Him. What a fool I was to think that my ways were better and higher than His. I praise God that in that time in which my heart was overwhelmed that He led me to the Rock that was higher than my ways of trying to live my life. Praise Him today that you are able to stand strong and firm on the Rock that is unmovable!

Psalm 61:2 (KJ21)

“From the end of the earth will I cry unto Thee

when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to

the rock that is higher than I.”

Sunday, May 7, 2017

Posted on May 6, 2017 in Devotions |

Devotional for Sunday, May 7, 2017

“Our God Is Wonderful!”

by Dona Hake

Isaiah 9:6

“…and his name shall be called Wonderful…”

Another name of our Lord…Wonderful! For the past three days we have meditated on some of the names of our wonderful loving God! He is our Counsellor, He is our Sanctuary, He is our light. So today we will focus on Him being wonderful. He is wonderful isn’t He? Let’s look at words synonymous to wonderful… awesome, wondrous, miraculous, prodigious, astonishing, amazing, astounding, phenomenal. This is the God that we serve. As believers we can testify of the many wonderful things He has done in our lives, and we should never lose sight of those things. May we be ready to speak of our wonderful God that never ceases to shower us with His lovingkindness and tender mercies.

I encourage you today to tell of His wonderful works when people ask why you carry such joy. I encourage you to ponder the many testimonies that you have witnessed in your life, and just take time to give thanks to God !

Psalm 40:5 (ERV)

“Lord my God, you have done many amazing things!
You have made great plans for us—too many to list.
I could talk on and on about them,

because there are too many to count.”

Saturday, May 6, 2017

Posted on May 6, 2017 in Devotions |

Devotional for Saturday, May 6, 2017

“Jesus Our Light”

by Dona Hake

I am enjoying looking at words that define and explain who Jesus is to us. We have meditated upon Jesus being our Sanctuary, and our Counsellor. Today we will think about Jesus being our light. When things seem dark and dim, HE IS the Light. When you do not seem to understand the whole picture ask Him for light on the matter, for HE IS Light.

I remember very well when my life seemed to be empty and without hope. On that day that I surrendered my all I can remember feeling the weight of the world drop off of me. It seemed like all of the sudden I just saw everything differently. Jesus the Light came into my heart and from that day forward He has illuminated my every path!

Psalm 36:9

(CEV)

“The life-giving fountain
belongs to you,
and your light gives light

to each of us.”

I am so thankful that His light abides within me. Today let us think about how our life, words and actions show forth the Light which is our loving Savior Jesus Christ! My friends, God desires that we be a light to this world that we may bring hope to the hopeless. Look for opportunities today to live and speak from that well within you in Jesus Name!

1 John 1:5 (The Message)

“This, in essence, is the message we heard from Christ

and are passing on to you: God is light, pure light;

there’s not a trace of darkness in him.”

Friday, May 5, 2017

Posted on May 5, 2017 in Devotions |

Devotional for Friday, May 5, 2017

“He IS Our Sanctuary”

by Dona Hake

When I think about a sanctuary, I think about a place of refuge. I think of quietness and peace…a place that cannot be touched by turmoil, stress and circumstances that try to bring my soul down. Have you ever had times where there may be confusion and stress all about you and you wish you could just escape it? I know we have all been in those situations yet as a believer we can humbly bow our hearts in prayer, and escape to that place that He has prepared for us to abide in. We do not have to run away from problems, we can be in the midst of them and maintain complete peace. Today let us meditate upon our Lord being our Sanctuary.

Many times people wait until they are so stressed out and their body has become worn down physically before they decide to seek God’s direction and comfort. I believe that God desires for us to be on top of things and He desires that we desire to live in a constant state of peace and serenity. He desires that we abide in Him and His place of total rest…He is our Sanctuary!

Throughout your day I encourage you to stay aware of His precious presence. I believe that the place He has provided for us is a place of perfect peace and no matter what goes on about you that peace need not be disrupted. Thank You Lord for providing a place of refuge that we can dwell all the days of our live.

Isaiah 8:14 (KJ21)

“And He shall be for you a sanctuary…”

Thursday, May 4, 2017

Posted on May 4, 2017 in Devotions |

Devotional for Thursday, May 4, 2017

“Jesus Our Counsellor”

by Dona Hake

Isaiah 9:6

“…and his name shall be called…Counsellor.”

Many times we may say or hear “I just do not know what God’s will is in this matter.”

To receive counsel on a matter is to get an opinion or instruction when one does not know exactly how to handle something. Oh praise God, our Lord is our Counsellor! Praise His holy Name for there is nothing too hard for Him to figure out. There is not one thing too hard for Him to accomplish when it is within His will. With man something may seem impossible but with our God, our Counsellor ALL things are possible!

How sad it is if we do not seek Him in our times of uncertainty. The Lord desires that we seek His face and know His will that we may prosper in all that we put our hand to. I believe that He wishes for us to step forward in strong confidence as we recognize His will. Many times we may know what to do but we just do not know how it is going to all come about. Our Counsellor understands and He knows how to instruct us. Oh that we would continue to remind ourselves that His ways and thoughts are higher than ours.

I love knowing that the Lord totally understands any problem we face and anything that we are walking through. He understands how we think and He knows our strengths and weaknesses. Just think about it, the One that created Heaven and Earth formed you in your mother’s womb. He created you for a special purpose. He is well able to counsel you in His purposes.

Today let us reflect on Jesus our Counsellor. He is always there to listen and as you speak to Him be mindful to also be silent that He can speak tenderly to you. His loving hand is well able to lead and guide you throughout this day!

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Posted on May 3, 2017 in Devotions |

Devotional for Wednesday, May 3, 2017

“Yes! His Name Is Mighty!”

by Dona Hake

Psalm 150:2 KJV

“Praise him for his mighty acts: praise

him according to his excellent greatness.”

Yes! His works are great and many are the mighty acts of our Living God! When doubts and fears try to make us shrink back in our faith, let us call to mind that with man it may seem impossible but with God ALL things are possible. The Hand that created and called into existence the Heaven and Earth waits for you to turn to Him in your time of trouble. He desires to do mighty acts in your life according to His excellent greatness! Today let us meditate upon how our Lord desires that we meditate and consider all of His mighty deeds. May we ponder and recall the wonderful things He has done for us from the smallest of details to the grandest of miracles that we have witnessed!

Psalm 77:12

“I will meditate also upon all Your

works and consider all Your [mighty] deeds.”

His Name is called mighty and there is nothing too big for Him. Yes Lord! Your Name is mighty and we praise You today for the mighty works You do!

“Now to Him who is ABLE to do above and beyond all you dare ask or think…exceeding your highest hopes and dreams.”

Ephesians 3:20

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Posted on May 2, 2017 in Devotions |

Devotional for Tuesday, May 2, 2017

“The Snare of Perfection”

by Dona Hake

As a very young believer I can remember having conversations with my Father about his spiritual condition. He did not know the Lord and his first and biggest reason was he felt he did too much wrong in his past, and God would never accept him in light of his many failures. Over and over I would try to tell him that God is forgiving and He was able to wash his past clean and give him a fresh start.

You see my Father was a perfectionist. Everything had to be exact and perfect. He was a very intelligent man yet the perfectionist thing became his snare. The Lord had showed me many times that because of this snare, his conversion to Christ would be on his death bed, and sure enough it was. Sitting beside him in his final hours of life he laid motionless and very unresponsive. I was growing weary and hopelessness was beginning to try to grip my heart. I thought how can I communicate with him now since he is almost in a non responsive state of mind and his body was not moving. Quietly I whispered in his ear, “This is it Daddy, you have very little time…you are going to die…if you want me to pray with you…do something…flutter your eyes…just give me some way of knowing you want me to pray” Many moments passed and then I was stunned as I saw him slowly moving his hand toward me to embrace mine. It was his way of communicating that he wanted me to pray.

I will never forget how precious he was as I looked into his eyes and I asked him if he knew Christ. I held a picture of Jesus in front of his face and said, “Do you know Him now?” My father nodded and indeed my heart was full of joy to know that when he took his final breath that he went to be with Jesus. Did he leave a perfect life behind? Absolutely not. Did he leave forgiven? Absolutely yes!!! His thoughts of thinking his life had to be perfect robbed him of his life on earth. I encourage you today to know that God is not looking for you to be perfect. He is looking for the heart that knows that it has need of Him and His forgiveness!

Psalm 103:12 (CEB)
As far as east is from west—

that’s how far God has removed our sin from us.

Monday, May 1, 2017

Posted on May 1, 2017 in Devotions |

Devotional for Monday, May 1, 2017

“His Hope Is Our Anchor”

by Dona Hake

Hebrews 6:18-20 (ERV)

“These two things cannot change: God cannot lie when

he says something, and he cannot lie when he makes an oath.

So these two things are a great help to us who have come to

God for safety. They encourage us to hold on to the hope that

is ours. This hope is like an anchor for us. “

What a firm foundation we have in Jesus Christ. He is total truth and nothing but the truth! It is wonderful to know that all the words that proceed from God are truth and when He says He will stand by. Let us reflect upon this scripture in the book of Hebrews. Our loving God never ever changes, and He is incapable of lying. He will never let us down. When He makes a promise He keeps that promise, and He stands by every word that He has spoken. So as this scripture says….”…these two things are a great help to us who have come to God for safety.” As we meditate upon the truth that our God never changes this should be as an anchor to our souls.

Where do you look to when you need answers? What do you do when you feel like your footing is shaky and your path seems unsure? We must always look to His Word for His truth is what we can rely and build upon. It is promised that our foundation will be strong and immovable when we build and anchor our hearts upon the Word of God. Today I encourage you to look to the Lord of all hope and the One that has promised to anchor our souls, and permit our souls to rest in knowing that we will not be moved in Jesus Name!