05/01 | A Prison Child
Philemon 1:10 I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains.
Philemon 1:11 Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.
Two great thoughts arise from this brief text. The first is that Paul gave birth to something wonderful while in prison. In this case, it was the salvation of a runaway slave by the name of Onesimus. How and under what circumstances they met we are not told, but we are told that while in chains, while in jail, while unjustly bound by man, Paul had fruit for the kingdom.
That is something wonderful to meditate on this day. That even when things look like they are moving in the wrong direction, we can have fruit for heaven. Onesimus stands for all those who are enslaved, whether by man, or addictions, or in being bound by the thickest ropes hell can find. God has a way of sending His people to where they are so that they may be saved. The path there may be a rough one, but the rewards more than compensate for our trouble. May God give us children, especially when we are in chains.
The second thought is that God turns the unprofitable into the profitable. Onesimus was not a good worker and had caused injury to Philemon in times past. Now, by the grace of God, Paul sends him back, not to be treated as a slave but as a brother. He returns a changed man, a person of great value. A person who is no longer a dredge on society, but someone who adds to others, and is of benefit for the kingdom. God makes the useless, useful.
Prayer Point: Lord, help me to have my eyes opened to men and women like Onesimus, who on the outside don’t look like much, but whom with Your help can be profitable to men and the Kingdom alike. When I find myself in chains, help me to give birth to wonderful things.
05/02 | Take Me, Let Them Go
John 18:7 Again he asked them, “Who is it you want?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.”
John 18:8 “I told you that I am he,” Jesus answered. “If you are looking for me, then let these men go.”
It is God’s intention that we get off scot-free. “Take Me,” he says, “Let them go.” Jesus did not want any of His disciples to be caught up in His arrest and death. He freely offered Himself up, and made it clear that was His intention. He took our place, He bore our sins, He paid the price of our debt.
Be reminded today that Jesus has seen to it you go free. He loved you at your worst and stepped in so you could become your best. He took the hit for us. There is no double jeopardy in the kingdom, if He paid the debt, you can’t be sent the bill. So don’t accept it, no matter how much you may deserve it.
Prayer Point: Today, Lord, I thank You for willingly taking my place. I thank You that because of what You did, I can go free.
05/03 | I Lift Up My Soul
Psalm 25:1 « A Psalm of David. » To Thee, O LORD, I lift up my soul.
Psalm 25:2 O my God, in Thee I trust, Do not let me be ashamed; Do not let my enemies exult over me.
It is as if David placed his heart in his hands and lifted it up to God, for Him to view the sad condition it was in, and to heal it.
He wisely brought his sick heart to the one physician, the Great Physician, who alone can truly deal with the soulish ills of man. You will find rest for your soul, He has said.
There are times in life we need a Holy Spirit defibrillator, someone who can massage a weak heart back to life. The heart can be like a wounded part of our physical body that has been damaged and cries out at the slightest touch. Jesus says we can trust ourselves to Him whenever we find ourselves in that kind of situation. A bruised reed He won’t break. That which is tender and near collapse, He can protect and revive to vibrant life.
More than 130 people will die from suicide in the U.S. today, and God only knows how many will try. There is a balm in Gilead, the scriptures say. There is a medicine for sick hearts. There is One to whom you can lift up your soul in the worst of times. He won’t let a smoldering wick go out.
Prayer Point: Today we pray for those whose hearts are burdened and heavy-laden with the troubles of this life. We lift their souls up to You, O God; in mercy, give them spiritual CPR. Stop, we pray, some from committing suicide, and give them hope.
05/04 | Get A Word, Keep The Word, Pray The Word
Psalm 119:49 Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope.
This passage is packed to the brim with many spiritual truths.
The first is that God’s people go through seasons and situations where troubles are many, and the road is rough.
Secondly, in those seasons a child of God should look to the Lord, and His Word, for a promise to help them through.
Third, when a child of God, by faith, latches onto one of those promises, it births hope. Hope is an expectation of future good, that things will be better, that God will turn our situation around. It is the word of God that brings hope, because He cannot lie, and He has the power to do everything He says He will do. David, in a season of distress, called on the Lord, and while he wasn’t given immediate relief, he was given a promise that relief would come. That is often all we need to make it through.
Lastly, just because we have been given a promise, that doesn’t mean we sit around and do nothing until it comes to pass. David, in this passage, teaches us to pray for the fulfillment of that which God has promised. It is a principle throughout scripture that promises from God need to be watered with prayer:
Isaiah 62:6 I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the LORD, give yourselves no rest,
Isaiah 62:7 and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.
Give God no rest? That is, remind Him of His promises, bug Him about them, repeat them back to Him. In all probability, it has more to do with us getting to the place where He can fulfill His promise, and very little with agitating Him. However, those who pray earnestly for a thing to happen will also find themselves drawing near to Him. That nearness will become a magnet that draws fulfilled promises to our side.
Prayer Point: Lord, fulfill Your promise. Keep Your word, honor Your pledge. Help speedily, I pray, in Jesus’ name!
05/05 | Prep Work
Joshua 3:5 And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.
This passage speaks of today’s responsibility for tomorrow’s blessing. Today we prepare, tomorrow the Lord works wonders. Today we sanctify ourselves. Today we renounce sin, today we dedicate ourselves anew and afresh to walk in purity and holiness. Today we forsake that which is not of the Lord, that tomorrow we may grasp God’s best.
It is not that we may earn God’s best, but that we may be able to keep, preserve, and walk in His best.
Here is Genesis 35:3 broken down for prayer:
Jeremiah 2:13 “My people have committed a compound sin: they’ve walked out on me, the fountain Of fresh flowing waters, and then dug cisterns—cisterns that leak, cisterns that are no better than sieves.
Cisterns that leak, cisterns that cannot hold water, cisterns that cannot retain that which God has graciously poured in. That is why we sanctify ourselves, not to earn, but to be able to preserve.
Prayer Point: Lord, plug my leaks, seal up the holes in my spiritual walk, that I may retain all that You wish to pour in.
05/06 | Soup’s On
Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.”
Years ago, I remember hearing a phrase from a friend who was an air traffic controller. It was “soup’s on.” He explained that there were times when a pilot would have to fly into weather where visibility resembled thick pea soup. He would then have to rely on a combination of his instrument panel and the air traffic controller to fly and safely land the aircraft.
I believe most of us have experienced this. Our heavenly Father has cleared us for take-off and halfway into our flight, we seem to lose communication. We feel as though God is silent and we are flying solo—“soup’s on.” But God doesn’t want us to rely on our feelings, thoughts, or reasonings; instead, He wants us to trust Him. When we daily seek Him and get His flight plan, He promises to direct our paths and guide us.
Prayer Point: Father, thank You that we’re never alone or on our own. Help us to daily put our trust in You.
(Today’s devotional provided by Pat Donaldson)
05/07 | Busy Here and There
1 Kings 20:38 Then the prophet went and took a position along the road, with a bandage over his eyes, waiting for the king.
1 Kings 20:39 It wasn’t long before the king happened by. The man cried out to the king, “Your servant was in the thick of the battle when a man showed up and turned over a prisoner to me, saying, ‘Guard this man with your life; if he turns up missing you’ll pay dearly.’
1 Kings 20:40 But I got busy doing one thing after another and the next time I looked he was gone.” The king of Israel said, “You’ve just pronounced your own verdict.” (MSG)
This is an acted-out prophecy in the Old Testament. A prophet is sent to reprove King Ahab, who had just let go the King of Syria, whom he had defeated in battle. It was God’s intention that the King of Syria was to be put to death for his wickedness. So, God sent a prophet to rebuke the King for letting go the Lord’s enemy.
There is a great lesson for us, in the way the prophet delivered his message to Ahab. Note, he says, “But I got busy doing one thing after another and the next time I looked he was gone.”
I got busy doing one thing after the other, and failed on my most important assignment. How true of life for so many of us! Isn’t this the very lesson Jesus tried to teach Martha?
Luke 10:41 But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things;
Luke 10:42 but only a few things are necessary, really only one, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”
Make sure that today, you don’t get so busy doing one thing after the other, that you miss the important things.
Prayer Point: Lord, today, deliver me from “busyness,” that I would not miss out on my truly important assignments for this day.
05/08 | Beware of Danger at Home
Luke 4:24 And He said, “Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his home town.
Luke 4:25 “But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land;
Luke 4:26 and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.
It is a sad commentary on the people of God when unbelief limits God’s gracious actions among us. It is ironic that “believers” often struggle with unbelief. In the passage above Jesus rebuked the people of His day, pointing out that God often had to go outside the kingdom to do miracles, because His own people didn’t have faith.
Unbelief limited the number of miracles He was able to do:
Matthew 13:58 And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
Unbelief shocked Him:
Mark 6:6 And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching.
He rebuked the disciples because of their unbelief:
Mark 16:14 Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.
Today, be aware that the poison of unbelief often finds a home in the heart of God’s children, and make sure to be proactive against it.
Prayer Point: Mark 9:24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
05/09 | Spice Things Up
Mark 9:50 …Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”
Salt is a preservative. Salt is a flavoring. Salt creates thirst. Salt is enduring—put it in water, it dissolves, but boil the water away and the salt will reemerge. That is why the Bible speaks of the salt covenant (one that is to be perpetual).
2 Chronicles 13:5 “Do you not know that the LORD God of Israel gave the rule over Israel forever to David and his sons by a covenant of salt?
Leviticus 2:13 ‘Every grain offering of yours, moreover, you shall season with salt, so that the salt of the covenant of your God shall not be lacking from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt.
Going back to Mark 9:50, please notice how Jesus couples having salt within ourselves and being at peace with one another. Saltiness mends fences, restores broken relationships, calms anger, quiets storms, and reunites banished ones:
2 Samuel 14:14 “For we shall surely die and are like water spilled on the ground which cannot be gathered up again. Yet God does not take away life, but plans ways so that the banished one may not be cast out from him. (NAS)
Today if your anger rears up, or forces try to bring division with others, have salt and be a peacemaker.
Prayer Point: Lord, this day, may the salt of the Spirit be poured out in copious amounts throughout my life. Mend relationships, broker peace.
05/10 | Have You Lost Your Mind?
Galatians 3:1 You crazy Galatians! Did someone put a hex on you? Have you taken leave of your senses? Something crazy has happened, for it’s obvious that you no longer have the crucified Jesus in clear focus in your lives. His sacrifice on the Cross was certainly set before you clearly enough.
Galatians 3:2 Let me put this question to you: How did your new life begin? Was it by working your heads off to please God? Or was it by responding to God’s Message to you?
Galatians 3:3 Are you going to continue this craziness? For only crazy people would think they could complete by their own efforts what was begun by God. If you weren’t smart enough or strong enough to begin it, how do you suppose you could perfect it? (MSG)
Prayer Point: Today, Lord, teach me to rest in Your finished work. Remind me that no matter how hard I might try, I will never earn or deserve Your grace.
05/11 | Bring Me Back
Galatians 5:8 This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you.
Proverbs 25:15 By long forbearing is a prince persuaded, and a soft tongue breaketh the bone.
Have you ever been talked into buying something you really didn’t want or need? Did a commercial ever goad you into a purchase that never really lived up to its expectations? We have all been there and done that.
Today’s scripture portion reminds us that there are voices around us that are constantly trying to persuade us to act or speak in ways that God never intended. Proverbs 25:15 reminds us that some voices play the long game, that is, they don’t try to get us all at once but little by little, line upon line, precept upon precept. A little drift over a long time will get you far from home.
David prayed in Psalm 51 that God would renew a right spirit within him. He recognized course correction was needed, that he needed to return to his moorings, that his drifting had so impacted him that renewal was the only real course of action that could work.
David wanted a work of grace to get him back where he belonged. Errors had crept into his behavior and his thinking. It was, after all, his thinking that led to his behavior. A soft tongue had broken the bone of his moral character; by long forbearing, a prince of God had been persuaded to do evil.
He wisely realized how far he had drifted, and that he needed God to medivac him back home. Today God can medivac you back home! He has Mercy Flight helicopters standing by to assist with your transit. Have you left your moorings? Have you strayed from once strong convictions? “Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord.
Prayer Point: Lord, renew a right spirit within me. Keep me from unholy persuasion and drifting in the wrong direction. Bring me back to where I belong.
05/12 | Old Fruit
John 15:16 “…I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain…”
Bananas and many other types of fruit rot rather quickly, yet Jesus spoke of fruit that should remain. How can something so easily perishable be expected to remain?
Jesus is, of course, not speaking of fruit literally, but of the impact the gospel would make through our lives in the lives of others. The Greek word translated “appointed” is “tith-ah-mee” and it means to set something in a particular place. To position it, if you will.
Jesus has positioned us to bear fruit that remains. He has given us His Word, His Spirit, and His promises of help. Yet fruit still has a way of rotting away. Perhaps we could learn something from Jesus. In John 17 we find Him in earnest prayer for His “fruit.”
John 17:11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one. (NIV)
Today would be a good day to look after fruit that has been born through your life. Did you lead someone to Christ? Pray for their keeping. Did you encourage someone? Pray they don’t fall back into the same hole. Did you donate a bike, or goods, or clothing to be distributed as a testimony of Christ’s love? Pray for those who received those goods, that fruit would remain.
Farmers don’t just plant seeds and walk away—neither should we.
Prayer Point: Today, Lord, I pray for fruit from days gone by, for those I have helped, for those I have given to, for those who were brought to church. Stir up that which was sown, and let the fruit remain, and multiply.
05/13 | Such Great Love
Isaiah 53:3 He was despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. (NKJV)
Despise: scorn, disdain, to regard as unworthy of one’s notice or consideration.
Even as Jesus hung on the cross and was rejected by men, He was saying by His actions…I love you!
As He took the thorn of crowns on His head and the stripes on His back, the nails in His hands and feet and sword in His side, He was saying…I love you!
Romans 5:8 But Christ proved God’s passionate love for us by dying in our place while we were still lost and ungodly! (The Passion Translation)
You never have to question again if God loves you—the answer is a definite YES! God is Love…That’s all He can be. Even in the Rejection, Pain, and Suffering He bled LOVE! Thinking not of Himself, but of you and me.
Will you believe in Jesus? Will you surrender your life—meaning absolutely everything—to Him?
1 John 4:8 He who does not love does not know God, for GOD IS LOVE. (NKJV)
For at the cross, Jesus was paying our debt of sin that we owed.
Romans 6:23 For sin’s meager wages is death, but God’s lavish gift is life eternal, found in your union with our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One. (TPT)
What a price He paid for our Redemption. What a price He paid for us to know His great Love that He has for us.
1 John 4:10 This is love: He loved us long before we loved him. It was his love, not ours. He proved it by sending his Son to be the pleasing sacrificial offering to take away our sins.
1 John 4:11 Delightfully loved ones, if he loved us with such tremendous love, then “loving one another” should be our way of life! (TPT)
Prayer: Thank You, Father, for demonstrating Your love for us by sending Your Son Jesus to die on the cross, offering us this free gift of salvation. Help us to love others as You have loved us. We know it is impossible by ourselves. Please send a fresh outpouring of Your Holy Spirit into our hearts and baptize us afresh and anew in Your love. We love You! Amen!
(Devotional provided by Colleen Heeren)
05/14 | Believe Anyway
Romans 4:18 When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn’t do but on what God said he would do. And so he was made father of a multitude of peoples. God himself said to him, “You’re going to have a big family, Abraham!” (MSG)
Years ago, a popular saying in the church was “Praise the Lord anyway.” Meaning, no matter what is going on, praise the Lord. Praise when it is good, but even when things are bad, make a decision of your will to praise Him anyway. Good advice. So is the passage above from the book of Romans.
Abraham believed when it was seemingly foolish to do so, when it was absolutely impossible the thing he was hoping for. He realized in the natural it was hopeless, but he decided to believe anyway. There is a time to ignore science, ignore facts, ignore the nay-sayers, and believe anyway.
Just as importantly, there is a time to distinguish between an obsession and a true promise of God. Abraham didn’t believe because it was something he really wanted, he believed because it was something God really promised. There is a time to hold on, and there is a time to let go. May God give all who read this wisdom.
Prayer Point: Today, Lord, help me hold onto things You have genuinely promised, no matter how remote they may seem. And also, help me to let go of those things that You have not promised, no matter how precious to me they may seem. Thy will be done.
05/15 | Not Knowing
Hebrews 11:8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.
In March of 2016, I went to a doctor’s office in Southfield, Michigan, not knowing when I began the day the turn my life would take before the day was over. A cancer diagnosis.
The truth is, do any of us really know what the day may bring? How quickly our lives can change: a birth announcement, a car accident, the engagement of a child, a death, a diagnosis, a pandemic, a surprise birthday party.
Abraham went out not knowing where he was going, but he also went knowing who he was going with—God. Because of that fact, he knew everything would be alright. “Acknowledge the Lord in all your ways” is more than good advice, it is assuring yourself that everything will turn out according to God’s plan.
Almost six years on, and I am doing pretty well, though my blood is still full of cancerous cells. And it is going to be okay, because I know WHOM I have believed. My faith is in Him, and the outcome is His to decide.
Prayer Point: Today, Lord, whatever be my portion, I ask You, I invite You, to walk this road with me.
05/16 | My First Born
Numbers 3:13 Because all the firstborn are mine; for on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast: mine shall they be: I am the LORD.
In this verse, God claims as His own all the firstborn males in Israel and declares they are very special to Him. In the following verse, He extends that special place to all His children.
Exodus 4:22 “Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Israel is My son, My first-born.
First-born in Jewish thought means to be in a hallowed and special relationship with God, and highest in rank, among other things. Speaking of David, that positional authority is pointed out in this text:
Psalm 89:27 Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.
Higher than all the kings of the earth, that is how God describes His firstborn! Be reminded today of the superlatives God uses to describe all His people:
His firstborn.
Here is another: You are the light of the world. And another:
1 Peter 2:9 But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
Circumstances lie about who we are and what God thinks of us; may the Lord remind you this day that you are the apple of His eye.
Prayer Point: Lord, I thank You, and I recognize that I am not worthy to be held in such high esteem. Help me also to never accept the devil’s or the world’s lies about who I am in relation to You.
05/17 | Our Calling
Hosea 11:1 When Israel was a youth I loved him, And out of Egypt I called My son.
This passage is literally true of the Jews—God called them out of slavery in Egypt, to a glorious life in the promised land. It is also prophetically applied to Jesus. His family fled to Egypt, from the murderous evil of Herod, and after a short period there, God called them back to Israel.
Today I would like us to see it in a third way—that God calls us out of carnal worldly living. Egypt biblically can represent sin and bondage. Because of the love of God, He is always calling us out of spiritual Egypt. That sentiment is echoed in this New Testament passage:
Revelation 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
It is a twofold admonition, do not partake in the sins of the world, and if you do, you will partake of the same judgment that is coming to the world.
Prayer Point: Lord, thank You, that You loved me so much You delivered me from spiritual Egypt; keep me from ever going back. In Jesus’ name.
05/18 | Many Believed…But
John 12:42 Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue;
John 12:43 for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.
If the faith you have doesn’t cost you anything, it isn’t worth anything. Many leaders believed, but they weren’t willing to risk their standing in society to acknowledge their faith.
We are living in a time where having faith in Christ and in the Bible’s teachings is becoming increasingly expensive. Where you will stand on these issues comes down to two basic questions:
Who do you most want to please?
Who are you most afraid of displeasing?
Scriptural food for thought:
Proverbs 29:25 Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe.
Galatians 1:10 For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.
Luke 12:8 “And I say to you, everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man shall confess him also before the angels of God;
Luke 12:9 but he who denies Me before men shall be denied before the angels of God.
Prayer Point: Lord, help us always to speak up for You. Help us never to fear man, and keep us in the hour of testing to never hide our lamp under a bushel.
05/19 | He Sees and He Speaks Life
Ezekiel 16:6 “When I passed by you and saw you squirming in your blood, I said to you while you were in your blood, ‘Live!’ I said to you while you were in your blood, ‘Live!’
Speaking of the nation of Israel, God says, “I saw you squirming in your blood.” He saw the mess they were in. He saw the near-death they were experiencing. He saw them squirming and flitting about trying to get themselves out of the mess they were in. He knew they were in mortal jeopardy unless He intervened.
In one glance, God took the whole situation in and then completely turned it around. One word from His lips is all it took: “Live!” O, and how much was wrapped up in that one word. The angel of death was rebuked, the squirming would stop. And life, not just survival, but wonderful, overflowing life would come. The nation that was dying in Egypt would be replanted and wonderfully bloom in Israel. The old soil was killing it, the new soil would nourish it.
Today, if you or someone you love are squirming for life, please know that God sees, and has commissioned us as His associates to say, “Live, in the mighty name of Jesus!” A chain of events will be unleashed, death will lose its grip, and life and hope will come to those languishing on the side of the road of life.
Let your response to this day’s troubles be, “Yet will I…”, in so doing you will honor God, improve your countenance, and serve the devil notice that you will not complain.
Prayer Point: Lord, today in the name of Jesus and the authority of His word, we speak the word, “Live,” over [__________]. In Jesus’ name, so let it be done.
05/20 | Open the Gates
Psalm 24:7 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. (KJV)
Psalm 24:7 So wake up, you living gateways! Lift up your heads, you doorways of eternity! Welcome the King of Glory, for he is about to come through you. (TPT)
In context, the passage is speaking of the triumphal entry of Christ into heaven, having conquered sin and the grave. Previously, the Psalmist asked:
Psalm 24:3 Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place?
The answer is the LORD Jesus Christ, for He is worthy.
But we may also understand this passage in another way, and it is most appropriate as we begin a new day. The text could naturally stand side by side with Revelation 3:20 ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me.
Now, we who have opened the door and received Christ need not do it again, but it is also very correct that as we begin each day, we open our hearts, we open up those everlasting doors and invite afresh and anew for the King of Glory to come in.
Prayer Point: Lord, today I open again the eternal doorway of my heart and invite You to come and dine with me, and to allow me to dine with You.
05/21 | The Gates of Hell Shall Not Prevail
Numbers 21:33 Then they turned and went up by the way of Bashan, and Og the king of Bashan went out with all his people, for battle at Edrei.
Numbers 21:34 But the LORD said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have given him into your hand, and all his people and his land; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.”
Numbers 21:35 So they killed him and his sons and all his people, until there was no remnant left him; and they possessed his land.
In conquering the promised land, the Jews ran into a King named Og and his army. This is what the Bible tells us about this guy Og:
Deuteronomy 3:11 (Only Og king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaites. His bed was made of iron and was more than thirteen feet long and six feet wide. It is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites.)
He is said to be the last of the giant men mentioned in Genesis 6:4, that may have been the result of relations between women and fallen angels. Whatever the reason, he was one very large man.
Our text mentions him in passing, noting his death and the defeat of his army, and then says: “they possessed his land.” If God is with you (and He is), you will take territory from the enemy, not the other way around. God has called us to defeat the Ogs of this world, and take their territory. How big and strong they are is of little consequence when compared with the God we serve.
That is the attitude David had when facing Goliath:
1 Samuel 17:26 … “…who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
Prayer Point: Lord, help us to always realize that we are the army of the living God, and that the battle is the Lord’s. May we take territory from hell this week. In Jesus’ name!
05/22 | Fire Week, Day 1: In Celebration and Reminder of Pentecost
This week I will be sharing devotionals having to do with fire as a symbol of the Holy Spirit. Sunday is the day on the church calendar that we celebrate Pentecost. It is known in the Old Testament as the Feast of Weeks. This annual celebration came 50 days after Passover and is called “Shavuot.” The name “Pentecost” is derived from the Greek word for 50, because it was celebrated exactly 50 days after the Passover.
The Jews also celebrate it as the day that God gave the Law to them on Mt. Sinai. The law He gave them was inscribed on tablets of stone. God promised in the Old Testament that a day would come when He would write His law in His people’s hearts:
Jeremiah 31:33 “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
This wonderful promise was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. It also fulfilled another prophecy in the book of Ezekiel:
Ezekiel 36:26 “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
In the Old Testament they had the law outside of them, and this was visually and practically illustrated by the fire of God, which was only on Mount Sinai but not on the people.
On the day of Pentecost, God put His law inside His people and that was visually and practically illustrated by the fire of God, in the person of the Holy Spirit, resting on each person individually, in the upper room on the day of Pentecost.
Prayer Point: Lord, let Your fire illuminate my path. Help me to walk in Your ways being led by the Holy Spirit. I thank You I have the privilege of living in this day and age, where You take away stony hearts and put Your compassion in us.
05/23 | Fire Week, Day 2: Fire Seeks Its Own Echo
Leviticus 6:13 The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out.
The Bible tells us that “…the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Heb 4:12)
This text in Leviticus is one of those probing texts, that cuts through the image we present to others and shows us what we truly are. It is a text that is like the letting down of the anchor that probes the ocean’s bottom below, and gives a wise captain knowledge of the depth of the passageway beneath his ship. Even as a sailor would call out in ancient days, “Twenty fathoms, Captain! Fifteen fathoms, Captain! Ten fathoms, Captain!” this text will sound you out. It will echo and resonate in the corridors of your heart and ask of thee, “Hast thou left thy first love?”
This text will probe you. It asks, “Is there fire upon the altar of thine heart?” “Of what quality is it?” “Is there anything that obscures it?” “Of what intensity level does it burn?” “Is it a flickering flame, smoldering flax, a glowing coal, or a roaring inferno?”
It will cause you to examine the state of the fire upon your altar, and it gives you a standard by which it must be judged: “it shall be ever burning.” The word “burning” can cover a lot of different meanings, from smoldering to blazing inferno. The Hebrew word translated “burning” is “yaw kad.” The depth and intensity of its meaning is exemplified by this passage in Deuteronomy 32:22, where God is expressing His anger at the Jews for worshipping false Gods, and not having faith in Him: “For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.” It speaks of a consuming fire.
This text separates those who are spiritually pretense from those who are spiritually intense. It is the amount, and intensity, of fire upon your spiritual altar that answers that question better than any other. It cannot be answered by the fire you once had, or the fire you recently had, but as deep calls out to deep it searches your being for its own echo. Your fire has to answer its question.
Prayer Point: As I examine the fire on my altar, my heart cries out for more, Lord. Set me on fire again, cause my flame to burn brighter, and ignite me with Your presence.
05/24 | Fire Week, Day 3: Fire Can Stop a Plague
Zechariah 2:5 For I, saith the LORD, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her.
In the 1660’s the Bubonic Plague was wreaking havoc on England, and London in particular. To put things in perspective, consider this: the population of England was about 5.3 million, of whom more than 200,000 died. That is 3.77 percent of the population. If the same amount of people in America died from Covid that would be more than 12 million deaths! Or, approximately 24 times as many people who have already died.
What is even more crazy is that the actual numbers indicate 25% of London itself died from the plague. Imagine ¼ of NYC dying from Covid, and you can better understand the scope of this plague.
In 1666 the great fire of London ravaged the city and is in large part responsible for the ending of the plague. The fire killed many of the rats and fleas that were the primary cause of the spreading of the plague. Fire kills vermin.
We can make a couple of spiritual applications from this truth. The first is that the fire of the Holy Spirit can kill the vermin inside of us. He will cleanse us of that which would pull us down—if we will seek to let Him burn freely in our lives.
The second is that as the church of Jesus Christ, if we start enough spiritual fires, God will cleanse our land of spiritual vermin.
Prayer Point: Lord, burn in me. Burn my vermin out, and then start fires around me of Your presence and heal this land.
05/25 | Fire Week, Day 4: Fire Chases Out Snakes
Acts 28:3 But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand.
Acts 28:4 And when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they began saying to one another, “Undoubtedly this man is a murderer, and though he has been saved from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.”
Acts 28:5 However he shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm.
“A viper came out because of the heat.” What is true in the literal is true in the spiritual. Get on fire with the Holy Spirit and snakes will come out after you. In Paul’s case, the snake latched onto his hand. The hand is often used as a symbol of power and usefulness in the scriptures. God asked Moses what was in his hand, Jesus is seated at the right hand of God.
So, the enemy could be said to be spiritually attacking Paul’s usefulness for the kingdom. Satan has his own fire department whose job is to put out spiritual fires wherever they may start. Don’t be surprised in a time of great usefulness for the kingdom if great troubles also come along with it.
Paul “shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm.” So it will be with you, if you shake the creature off. Don’t accept attack, but fight back. There is nothing the Devil likes more than pacifist Christians, those that won’t put up a fight. The Bible tells us to resist him firm in our faith (1 Peter 5:9). And that, when we do, he will flee from us (James 4:7).
Prayer Point: Lord, may my life be so on fire that it stirs up hell, and may Your grace be so powerful in my life that the enemy flees 7 different ways.
05/26 | Fire Week, Day 5: Fire Attracts
Acts 7:30 And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him (Moses) in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush.
Acts 7:31 When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him, (KJV)
Fire brought Moses to God. There is nothing so attractive to lost people than the presence of the living God. People by the multitudes went into the wilderness to see John the Baptist, which of him Jesus said: “He was a burning and a shining light…” (John 5:35). His dress was odd (camel skin), his diet bizarre (locusts & honey), and his message painfully straightforward—repent!
Yet people flocked to see him in an environment that offered no amenities. No water, no stores, no shelter, just an open, blazing sun. His walk with God was such that despite all the odds seemingly stacked against him (poor location, weird dressing and eating habits, no accommodations), his ministry prospered beyond all that were before him. That is what the fire of God can do.
The fire of God is contagious, it captures the imagination, and it stirs the heart. Fire ignites passions even in the deadest of souls. O for more of His fire in us!
Prayer Point: (From an old chorus) “Set me on fire once more, and let the world watch me burn for you.”
05/27 | Fire Week, Day 6: Fire Energizes
Exodus 3:2 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
I have often thought about this verse and the lesson it teaches. When a man or woman burns with the fire of God, they do not burn out, they burn on. The bush was not consumed. There was no wear and tear on the bush. The bush was not diminished in any way because of the fire of God that burned within it.
Normally, a fire consumes everything it touches; the fire of God, on the other hand, uses no fuel other than its own. Self-effort will burn you out, because self can never do what God alone can do. The self will flail about and accomplish little, but wear out the individual who is trying to accomplish what only the fire of God can achieve.
That is why the Bible tells us in Ephesians 6 to be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. Let the basis of fruitful productivity be God’s power and energy and not your own, and you will never burn out.
Prayer Point: Lord, let Your power and strength be released through my life. Keep me from burning out, but instead let me burn on in Your grace.
05/28 | No Substance
2 Timothy 3:5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.
Last winter during the Christmas season, I had a day where I really wanted a fireplace (we don’t have one in our home). So, somehow, I found out that there are channels on my cable subscription that have fireplaces with music that you can put up on your screen. Or you can even just have a crackling fire on the screen.
I did it, for the mood, but it wasn’t really scratching the itch I had. I could see flame, and sometimes hear crackling, but there was no heat, no smell, and it was only a 2D experience. A poor substitute, at best.
I think that is the very thing 2 Timothy 3:5 is talking about—people who look like the real thing, but there is no genuine substance to them. They generate no spiritual heat, and there is no smell of the fragrance of heaven about them. In short, they are just a poor representation of the real thing.
Rather than point fingers at others, today this verse is challenging me. Am I the real deal? Can people feel the fire of heaven around me?
Prayer Point: O God, fill these bones with the reality of You in overflowing measure once again. May I not be just the appearance of the real thing, but may Your life shine through mine with all the vibrancy of heaven.
05/29 | The Man Whom God Appeared to Twice
1 Kings 11:9 Now the LORD was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice,
1 Kings 11:10 and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not observe what the LORD had commanded.
God appeared twice to Solomon, once in a dream and once after the temple was built (see 1 Kings 3:5; 9:2). Most Christians will never experience anything like that in this lifetime. What privilege, what an honor! And yet…
He turned his back on God. Great spiritual privilege, and great spiritual experience are no guarantee of continued faithfulness to God. Better to have little experience and finish well, than much experience and finish poorly—for those who are given much will be required much.
The command of God is ever: … Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life (Rev 2:10), and the warning of God is ever: Ye did run well; who did hinder you… (Gal 5:7).
I always use this phrase in a positive way: It is not how you start out, but how you end up. Today, hear it as a gentle admonition and reminder from the Lord of the need to continue in the faith. For those with much experience in the Lord, be warned. For those with little and who have longed for more, be reminded that such experiences are no guarantee of success.
Prayer Point: Lord, help us to learn from Solomon that finishing well is more important than flash points along our journey.
05/30 | Memory Can Be Beautiful or Sad…
Lamentations 3:21 I recall this to my mind, therefore I have hope.
(This devotional comes from the pen of Charles Spurgeon, too good not to share. – Pastor)
Memory is frequently the bondslave of despondency. Despairing minds remember every dark foreboding in the past, and magnify every gloomy feature in the present; hence memory, clothed in sackcloth, presents to the mind a cup of mingled gall and wormwood.
There is, however, no necessity for this. Wisdom can readily transform memory into an angel of comfort. That same memory which in its left hand brings so many gloomy omens, may be trained to bear in its right a wealth of hopeful signs. She does not need to wear a crown of iron, she may encircle her brow with a fillet of gold, all spangled with stars.
So it was in Jeremiah’s experience: in the previous verse, memory had brought him to deep humiliation of soul: “My soul has them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me”; and now this same memory restored him to life and comfort: “I recall this to my mind, therefore I have hope.” Like a two-edged sword, his memory first killed his pride with one edge, and then slew his despair with the other.
As a general principle, if we would exercise our memories more wisely, we might, in our very darkest distress, strike a match which would instantaneously light the lamp of comfort. There is no need for God to create a new thing on the earth in order to restore believers to joy; if they would prayerfully rake the ashes of the past, they would find light for the present; and if they would turn to the book of truth and the throne of grace, their candle would soon shine as it did before. We must remember the lovingkindness of the Lord, and rehearse His deeds of grace.
Let us open the volume of memory which is so richly illuminated with memorials of mercy, and we shall soon be happy. Hence memory may be, as Coleridge calls it, “the bosom spring of joy,” and when the Divine Comforter bends it to His service, it may be chief among earthly comforters.
Prayer Point: Lord, may our meditations and the thoughts of our heart be sweet. May we push back foul thoughts that would darken our day, in Jesus’ name. (Ps 104:34)
05/31 | The Manna Stopped
Joshua 5:12 And the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten some of the produce of the land, so that the sons of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate some of the yield of the land of Canaan during that year.
This passage speaks to how good a parent God is. When we can’t do for ourselves, He will help. In this case the Jews were wandering in a desert land where food sources were very limited, so God stepped up and provided their daily nutrition.
But there came a day when the situation on the ground changed; they were no longer in the desert, but in the promised land, full of abundance of food. The manna stopped, and the expectation was that they would plant, cultivate, and harvest their own food.
God will take care of you when you can’t yourself. That is a comforting thought. Know today that if you can’t handle or deal with what you are facing, He will step in and help.
Know also, he won’t feed you if you can feed yourself. That would be bad parenting. That would be encouraging you to live as a baby, and expecting to be hand-fed by Momma. While we should be grateful for pastors and teachers, each one of us needs to learn how to feed our souls ourselves.
Prayer Point: Lord, help in those areas I can’t deal with, and help me to step up and be a spiritual adult in those areas I need to.
