Devotional for Sunday, April 30, 2017

“The God of All Mercy”

by Dona Hake

Matthew 5:7 (TLB)

“Happy are the kind and merciful, for they shall be shown mercy.”

The Lord has so freely shown us His mercy.  Even before we knew Him, even before we realized we needed Him, He was desiring to forgive us and redeem us to Himself.  As we look to Him and behold how beautiful His love is, and how merciful His heart is , we will come to realize the beauty of being merciful to others.  Today let us meditate upon how our sweet Lord desires to show His mercy through us.  As we walk justly and humbly before God and man we will want to love people with His love and be merciful to them even in those times we may feel they do not deserve mercy.   Let us read this scripture in Micah.

Micah 6:8 (GNV)

requireth of thee: surely to do justly, and to love mercy,

and to humble thyself, to walk with thy God.

As a little girl I can remember learning this golden rule…  “Do onto others as you would have them do onto you.”  Deep down we could all admit that we want to be treated fairly especially by those that we think really care about us.  Yet we know there are times that people will mess up.  People can really hurt us, and sometimes that may not even have a clue how much our heart hurts as a result of their words or actions. I love this quote because it reminds me that there will be times that I will mess up and in those times I hope that those around me will forgive me and I can be reconciled if I have hurt them.     It makes me think twice before I react to those around me if I feel they are wrong.  It reminds me that I need to be quick to forgive and forget, and extend the mercy of the Lord to them.

Lord, help us all to be merciful and see those around us the way You see them.  Help us to realize that we cannot forgive in our own ability but only with Your help and strength.  Help us to walk humbly before You, do justly to those around us,  and to love your mercy.  Amen.

 Devotional for Saturday, April 29, 2017

“The God of the Abundant Life”

Today let us praise the One that has promised to bless us with a life of abundance!  John 10:10 “I have come that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”  Forty one years ago today, at nineteen years of age  I surrendered my life to Jesus.  I was a stubborn person and I could argue with any Christian till they were blue in the face.  Nothing seemed to convince me because all I seemed to encounter was Christians that were full of hypocrisy and I hated it!  Then finally I saw some real genuine believers that walked out what they spoke and believed.  I finally allowed the Lord to take hold of me.  It was the most important decision I ever made, and I will never forget the joy that flooded my heart that spring evening of April 1973!

Has every day of my life been victorious and has everything gone perfectly?  Absolutely not!  My skin crawls when I see or hear anyone of faith that tries to portray that life is a bed of roses  just because they have become a Christian.  Jesus told us that in this life WE WILL have trials.  In the book of Romans 8:31 it says:

“What, then, shall we say in response to these things?  If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare his own Son, but gave Him up for us all- how will not also, along with him, graciously give us all things.”

God has made it possible to fill our cup to the full!  May we realize that He desires to  fill us to the full in order that we have Him to draw upon in our times of test, trials, pain and suffering.  The life of abundance is that of always having His all sufficiency to draw upon, and NOTHING can separate us from Him.  Do not forget that He desires that the full and abundant life that we have been blessed with should spill out to those around us!  We praise You Lord for this full and abundant life, and we are so thankful that nothing can separate us from Your love!

Romans 8:39

“…neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation,

will be able to separate us from the

love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Devotional for Friday, April 28, 2017

“He Preserves Our Life”

by Dona Hake

Psalm 119:36-40   (NIV)

“Turn my heart toward your statutes
and not toward selfish gain.
 Turn my eyes away from worthless things;

by Dona Hake

Proverbs 25:4 (ERV)

silver to make it pure, and a worker

can make something beautiful.”

Today this is the truth I desire for you to ponder… You are so valuable and He loves you so much.   As we walk through this life we realize that we are all walking through the process of change and hopefully we are seeing spiritual growth within us.  There is a refining and purification that is taking place in our hearts if we deeply humble ourselves to His Mighty life changing Word.

One version of Proverbs 25:4 is translated like this:

“Remove the impurities from the silver,
and the smith has material to make a vessel.”

The Lord our Refiner desires to  bring our hearts  to a fine or a pure state; free from impurities.  As our Purifier He will cause us to be free from anything that debases, pollutes, adulterates, or contaminates our hearts.  God wants every bit of us so He can use us in wonderful ways to glorify Him on this earth.

In the forty one years that I have known the Lord I cannot begin to tell you how many times I have heard people share from the depths of their hearts as they walked through a difficult trial.  Many at the end of the trial admit that they experienced  God removing things from them that positioned them to be used in a greater way.  Many times those difficult situations can actually cause us to do the soul searching we need to do and God is able to work in us in a greater way.     At this point I want to say something very important and that is God does not bring grief and tests to see what we are made of.    This is such a lie and false teaching.   Our God is the giver of ONLY good gifts.  He desires that we stand fast in our faith when the trials of this life happen.   He desires that we seek to be full of His Word at all times for when the issues of life happen we have a rich well of strength within us to draw from.    As we draw upon Him for wisdom and strength in the midst of a trial we will always find that in the end we are stronger in patience, longsuffering, and all the good things of our Lord.  

As we keep our hearts humble before Him I believe He will continue to refine and purify us that we can serve and be used by Him in greater ways.  Praise be to the God who is the Refiner and Purifier!

by Dona Hake

“I feel like I’m on track!”  Have you ever said that?  I love the feeling that I know I am doing the right thing and all is flowing smoothly.  God desires to lead and guide us each and every day of our lives.  He also desires that we seek Him first and that we purpose that His Spirit is leading us.  Today I want us to meditate upon the Holy Spirit being our spiritual compass in this life.

Galatians 5:16   CEV

 Many times we can fall to the weakness of following our own way or our own selfish desires.  We can also be guilty of knowing the Lord’s direction but trying to make things happen in our own ability.  As we trust Him for answers and direction He will always be faithful to direct us and keep us on track.  Oh that we would seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit as we walk in His will.  May we stay conscious that we are not doing our thing and expect His hand of blessing on activities and works that proceed from our own making.

Have you ever heard the saying spoken when someone is needing to make a decision…”Maybe you just need to sleep on it.”  I have had times where I have received answers to a particular need or leading in what I needed to do during the night.  The Lord has a beautiful and tender way of quietly speaking in the quietness of the night.  I recently visited the most unique gift shop.   I know it is owned by an individual that is a believer.   As I was talking to a young lady working and helping me, I exclaimed to her how beautiful and unique the shop was.   She immediately began to share how creative the owner was.   But then she mentioned a very interesting thing.  She said that many times the owner will have dreams and she will see things in her dreams that prompt her to change up displays or show her something new to create.     I was so blessed to hear that. I know the Lord is definitely speaking to her for it is evidenced in her beautiful store.

Psalm 16:7    (ERV)
“I praise the Lord because he taught me well.

I praise God that He so tenderly desires to come along side of us in this life that we can know we are going the right direction!   Praise Him today and seek to be led by the loving Holy Spirit.

by Dona Hake

Yesterday I sat in front of my pre-school class at church, and purposed to bring one truth to them, and that was God created so many wonderful things.   My teaching to them was based on Psalm 89:11 and I will share it with you from the Easy to Read Version…

“Everything in heaven and earth belongs to you.

Psalm 139:17-18

“Your thoughts and plans are treasures to me,

O God! I cherish each and every one of them!

 How grand in scope! How many in number!

As I read this Psalm and think about the sands of the ocean it causes me to realize that I really cannot fathom how many thoughts the God of heaven has thought about me.  In saying that it reminds me as well that His thoughts are different than mine because He sees us through His pure love, and His thoughts and ways will always be higher than how my mind thinks. 

Isaiah 55:9 (ASV)

 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways

higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

He sees our future through His eyes and He desires that our faith rest in Him.  I am thankful that I serve such a loving God that loves me so much!

by Dona Hake

Ephesians 2:10   (AMP)

“For we are God’s [own] handiwork (His workmanship), [a]recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live].”

This scripture should cause us to  anticipate the great Workman at work in our life.  Each one of us is a work in progress!  This should encourage our heart  that the God that created the heavens and earth is molding us and preparing us for another day.  Each day our feet hit the floor we should be anticipating how He is going to use us.  Let us be mindful though that we do it with His strength and ability.  Let our steps and plans be directed by Him.

Philippians 2:13   (AMP)

“[Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while [a]effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and [b]delight.”

He delights in using our ears to listen to those around us.  As we speak words, let them be words of edification to the one that may need a word of encouragement in their life.  May our hands be those that work heartily unto Him!   Today I am looking forward to what He is going to do in my life today as His loving hands continue to mold and make me for His purposes!  I hope you are too!  May we purpose in our hearts to take those paths that He prepared ahead of time, and walk in them!

by Dona Hake

Matthew 6:11 (CEB)

Physical hunger will always prompt us to eat, and we need to feed our bodies that we be healthy and have energy for this life.   Today we will meditate upon keeping our spirit man strong and healthy.   What do we need to do to keep it strong and in faith?   I know we all know the answer to this question yet how many times we can be neglecting taking care of keeping our spirit man nourished.    Oh that we not be deceived to think that we can live yesterday’s faith and testimonies.      We all are dealing with different things and different demands, therefore we need to be diligent to read His Word and meditate upon it daily in order that our spirit, soul and mind are thriving on the Bread of Life.

God’s Word is our sustenance, and as we ask for Him to give us our daily bread we will certainly receive from Him.  His bread is our means of sustaining life and nourishment.  I encourage you today to seek Him for that which you need.  Is it a specific answer or need for direction?  Is there emptiness in your heart and pain?  Anything you need God is well able to give to you and He will give you nothing less than what you need to be sustained this day.

Matthew 7:7-10(ERV)

“Continue to ask, and God will give to you. Continue to search, and you will find. Continue to knock, and the door will open for you.  Yes, whoever continues to ask will receive. Whoever continues to look will find. And whoever continues to

knock will have the door opened for them.

“Do any of you have a son? If he asked for bread, would you give him a rock?  Or if he asked for a fish, would you give him a snake? Of course not!”

by Dona Hake

“Love,

to be real,

must cost –

it must hurt –

it must empty us of self.”

Mother Teresa

God is calling us to the high places of love.  A wonderful place to meditate is 1 Corinthians 13 because this simply spells out what God’s love is and what it is not.

Love is patient; love is kind. Love isn’t envious,

doesn’t boast, brag, or strut about.

There’s no arrogance in love;  

it’s never rude, crude, or indecent—

it’s not self-absorbed.

Love isn’t easily upset.

Love doesn’t tally wrongs  or celebrate injustice;

but truth—yes, truth—is love’s delight!  

Love puts up with anything and everything that comes along;

it trusts, hopes, and endures no matter what.

Love will never become obsolete.

Let us desire today that God’s true and real love flows through us in every way possible.  Lord help us to desire to pay the cost even when it hurts.  Cause us to see that which hinders us from loving like Him and may He help us empty us from such things!  Lord, we are believing that You are well able to do above and beyond all we dare ask or think regarding Your love operating through us!  In Jesus Name, amen!