Daily Devotional Day & Night

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Today’s scriptures are about God’s thoughts of us. There aren’t many parents that dislike they’re children. I don’t care if you’re a murderer, thief, rapist, or terrorist you’re parents will love you, because they created it. You’re a part of them, and share their DNA, so they have an unbreakable connection to you. It’s the way God created it, because that’s how He feels about us. It’s true that He knew us from the beginning of time, and He loved us enough to create us for Himself. He loves us enough to stand beside us through thick and thin, no matter the weather.

I can honestly testify to this, because my mother always has been there for me. Especially in the times when I was a mess and when I kept choosing wrong over right. She gave me freedom to stand on my own two feet, but was there to help me when I fell. She was there to teach me how to be a woman, and how to conduct myself as a lady. She’s been my rock, and always listened when I complained, offered a shoulder when I cried, and most importantly, she corrected me when I did something wrong. I will always love her for that. I know that God gave me to her, because she would help mold me into the person that I am today, and I’m so grateful for that. She wasn’t perfect, yet proved to be human over and over again, and that’s another reason why I love her so dearly. Despite her shortcomings and mine, she never stopped showing her love for me.

God is more awesome than a great parent could ever be because He is perfect. He created the world, and each and every one of us, with so much care and precision, that have unique DNA, finger and toe prints. If you test a strand of my hair, you’ll know that it belongs to me—God did that for a reason—He did that to let us know that we’re each special in our own way. He sees us as His precious children, and He’ll never leave our side. He protects us from harm, and gives us the wisdom we need to grow. When we obey His Laws, we’ll live life to its fullest potential. We’ll experience things that only He could show us, because we are valuable gems to Him. By the blood of Jesus, we’re washed of all Inequity, and through Him, God see’s no evil. He loved us so much that He’s given us His Holy Spirit, so that we could have access to Him at all times, through effective communication.

The enemy will have us hating ourselves because of the mistakes we make. He showers us with shame and guilt, to keep us away from God. It’s like the little child who hides in the closet after he breaks dad’s favorite coffee mug. He hides because he thinks that he’s shattered dad’s world, but what he doesn’t know is that dad loves him more than he could ever love any coffee mug. God loves us unconditionally, and when we sin, He wants more than anything for us to repent. He wants us to be able to communicate with Him freely; after all He did create us for fellowship with Him. He wants us to be free in order to bring more peace, joy and happiness to our lives. That’s what any parent would want for their precious children. When God sees us He sees our innocence, and the purity of our heart. He sees the best in us, and expects us to show that side of us to the world. He hates sin, and would love it if we would never disobey Him, but He understand that it’s a human thing to do. He also understands when we love Him with all of our hearts, but our fight against the flesh is a little too much for us to bear. He places people and opportunities in our lives so that we could be better, and do better.

I want to leave you with this—it’s written: And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. (Heb. 10:19-23) GOD LOVES YOU! That’s a reason to rejoice! There’s no reason to think anything differently. Why else would He sacrifice Himself so that you could have a chance to be redeemed? This is a powerful weapon to use against the devil’s plots against you. From now on you can say “get behind me satan, because God loves me, and I am redeemed”, and that’s enough said.

Jesus is the key to establishing and maintaining a strong bond with God. He loves you, and all He’s waiting on is for you to love Him back. The first step to showing Him that is by accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior. If you believe in the Son, then you believe in the One who sent Him. If you want more information, take a few moments to take the God Quiz. My favorite verse today is: For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. (Jeremiah 29:11)

ENJOY! http://www.bible.com/scripture-detail.php?juli=2455569&dtype=Scripture

http://www.intouch.org/broadcast/today-on-radio

http://www.intouch.org/magazine/daily-devotional

I love you!

Daily Devotional Day & Night

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!

fa Today’s scriptures are about finding rest, in the faith we have in who we are in Christ. I so happened to run across one of Joyce Meyer’s broadcasts recently, entitled “Identity Theft”. Joyce was teaching about knowing who you are in Christ, and not allowing anyone to steal your identity. This was such a fitting teaching for me, because as I wrote yesterday, I sometimes don’t realize when I’ve been blessed. I love the Lord, and I believe with all my heart that He lives, but I sometimes get sidetracked by worldly things. I sometimes get hung up on what others do, or what I think I should be doing, and I momentarily lose my “Identity” in who I am in Christ. It’s so wonderful for our identity to be reaffirmed every once in awhile—in a way, that’s another reason why we should study His Word daily. When we know our identity in Christ, we can rest in the fact that we’re exactly who we were meant to be.

In Christ we are joint heirs to the throne of the Kingdom of God, so we’re Spiritual Royalty. We have power in His Name, and we have His love instilled in us. We’re each uniquely blessed with gifts and talents, which are meant to shape and mold us into awesome vessels for God. We are free from the burden of sin, because with Christ there is no condemnation for the believer. We are perfect in Spirit, by the blood of the Lamb, and no one can take that away from us.

Have you ever noticed that it’s exhausting to sin? For example, when you tell even a small “white lie”, it requires maintenance. After awhile, you have to make up another lie, to cover the first lie. Next thing you know, lying becomes your life. If you drink or use drugs to help null your inner pain, it eventually wears on your body, and your health is inevitably affected. If you spend a wild night out in the club, drinking and partying, you wake up sick and often times in a worst mental state. That sin can lead you to fornication or adultery, and then you have a whole mess of other things to deal with. Are these or other common sins worth the headache, when you can be who you were meant to be in Christ?

Walking in righteousness is so much better, because freedom really is bliss. Once you get to know Christ [but most importantly who you are in Christ] you’ll feel this exhilarating inner peace that can’t be explained. You get to put down the weariness of a sinful life, and walk in line with God’s will. Once you do that, the sky’s the limit. You can have or do anything you want in the world. If you ask for it, you’ll receive it, because now the things that you ask for are sure to be in the will of God. When you discover who you really are in Christ, watch out world! The key is self-discovery, and not trying to reinvent who you were meant to be, just because the world says different.

Know who you are, don’t try to be like your neighbor. Not everyone was called to preach and teach the Word, so don’t get frustrated because you don’t have that gift—God has blessed you with a gift just as important. For example, I was called to cook and not bake. I tried to bake, but I just don’t have the knack for it. In culinary school, there were people in my class who were masters at baking. They could whip up a batch of bread, or decorate a wedding cake beautifully. At one time, I thought I was a bad chef, because I couldn’t do what they could, and then finally I realized that it wasn’t meant for me. I can make a great turduckin, and season up some food really well, but baking wasn’t meant to be. We have to understand that God loves us just the way we are, because He created us this way. He knew exactly what we were going to do, before He even formed us in our mother’s womb.

Remember you are a chosen child of God, and through Jesus Christ you are awesome! Have peace in knowing that not one of your prayers will fall on deaf ears. God once said to King Solomon long ago: “…if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.” (2 Chron. 7:14-16) Because of Jesus, we are now God’s temple, and Jesus lives in our heart forever. He has chosen us from the beginning of time, so when we step away from sin, and choose Him He’s attentive to our every need. This is a promise made by the Lord our God. Now do you know your Identity in Christ? Have you exhaled yet?

Be at peace brothers and sisters, by knowing that we are children of God, and He has given us rest. It’s too exhausting fighting against the flesh alone, because it’s a losing battle. Take your place, put on the armor of God, and allow Him to give you rest, and assist you in your faith walk. Jesus said, “come to me and I will give you rest”. If you don’t know Jesus, then life will be spiritually harder than it has to be. Spiritual peace is worth more than any amount of wealth, or prestige in the world. I can surely testify to that! If you want to know more, take a few minutes to take the God Quiz today! My favorite verse today is: Not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. (Philippians 3:9)

ENJOY! http://www.bible.com/scripture-detail.php?juli=2455567&dtype=Scripture

http://www.joycemeyer.org/OurMinistries/Broadcast/

http://www.intouch.org/magazine/daily-devotional

I love you!

PS

For archived devotionals, visit my blog at: http://dailydevotionalangelicchef.blogspot.com/

Thanks to everyone that signed up for the group so far. If you haven't done so, please take a few minutes to sign up. I've learned that if you don't have a Yahoo e-mail address or sign-in, you're only allowed to subscribe to the e-mail part of it, unless, you sign up for a yahoo id. If you already have a yahoo ID or e-mail address, you can join the group and see the full group page. I have some links, documents and recipes on the database link. You can also share your contact information, or recipes, on the database link, and choose to share them with the entire group, or just have them on the group page.

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Daily Devotional Day & Night

HAPPY TUESDAY!

Today’s scriptures are about preparation for your eternal retirement. The fact still remains that we each will physically die, it’s inevitable. In the life of a believer, death means rest, rewards, and eternal bliss. However, while we’re still here on earth, we have work to do, in order to prepare for eternity. You may be wondering what you have to do to be prepared for eternity—one word, “work”. Let’s look at it in a worldly way—from the time you’re able to talk you enter into grade school, then on to middle and high school, and then off to college. In school you work to learn how to do basic things like reading, writing, and arithmetic, and in college you learn a trade in order to make a decent living. Once you’re done with school, you then enter into the workforce. You start a career, and you work hard to climb the ladder of success. You get health and life insurance, as well as start a 401K plan to save for your retirement. Retirement is your time of rest—your reward for working so hard over the last 30 or 40 years. You setup up a nest egg, so you can do all of the things you’ve always wanted to do, once you’re done with the rigorous work you put in most of your life.

Now take this analogy and think of it in a spiritual way. We put in a lot of effort to get prepared for retirement, but we rarely invest in our “eternal retirement”. As children of God, we have a very serious job to do, and it takes consistency, hard work, faith, and lots of love to get through. However, the more we work, the more we’re investing in our eternity. Jesus once said: “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.” (Luke 10:2-3) This is such a true statement; we need more workers for the Kingdom of God. There are so many wonderful people in this world, who dedicate their life to the greater good of the Kingdom of God, but for each of them, there are probably one thousand who don’t. There is a church on every corner in America, and most of them are filled capacity on Sunday morning, but 80% of the members don’t do anything to give back to God. They aren’t working to invest in their eternal retirement, nor do they plan too.

We shouldn’t only do good things because we think we’ll lose our salvation, or have a horrible life in Heaven—the “New Jerusalem” is promised to each believer. It’s written: This is the message from the one who is holy and true, the one who has the key of David. What he opens, no one can close; and what he closes, no one can open: “I know all the things you do, and I have opened a door for you that no one can close. You have little strength, yet you obeyed my word and did not deny me… Because you have obeyed my command to persevere, I will protect you from the great time of testing that will come upon the whole world to test those who belong to this world. I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take away your crown. All who are victorious will become pillars in the Temple of my God, and they will never have to leave it...” (Rev. 3:7-8, 10-12 NLT) These are the promises of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Hallelujah! Each believer will receive, and keep, their crown of life; however, the amount of jewels that adorn that crown is what will set us apart. Your work does matter, so never stop giving back to God, because He’s already given us so much.

Why do you think Jesus always said, “I am coming back soon”, yet it’s been thousands of years since He took His permanent residence in Heaven? I think that Jesus comes sooner than we think. We each will perish from this life whether it’s during Jesus’ physical return, or through death, and it’s written when we’re absent from the body we’re present with the Lord. (2 Cor. 5:8). So we must always be prepared. Life is short, you look up tomorrow and another year has passed, and you’re quickly approaching retirement. In some way or form Jesus is “coming back to get us”, so we must diligently work to store up our treasures in Heaven. Most importantly, we must do our best to give someone who’s lost the opportunity to receive that incorruptible crown. When a Soul is saved, all of Heaven will rejoice, and your deeds won’t go unnoticed in Heaven or here on earth.

Today is the day that you should start preparing for your “eternal retirement”. Take some time to reflect—talk to God and find out what His will is for your life, and do it. If you don’t know Jesus as Lord, then you don’t have any type of retirement plan. All you need to do, in order to ensure you place in Heaven, is to confess your belief in Jesus Christ, confess your sins and repent, and then ask Jesus to be Lord of your life. If you’ll need more information, take some time to take the God Quiz right now! My favorite verse today is: There the wicked cease from troubling: and there the weary be at rest. (Job 3:17)

ENJOY! http://www.bible.com/scripture-detail.php?juli=2455566&dtype=Scripture

http://www.intouch.org/broadcast/today-on-radio

http://www.intouch.org/magazine/daily-devotional

I love you!

PS

For archived devotionals, visit my blog at: http://dailydevotionalangelicchef.blogspot.com/

Thanks to everyone that signed up for the group so far. If you haven't done so, please take a few minutes to sign up. I've learned that if you don't have a Yahoo e-mail address or sign-in, you're only allowed to subscribe to the e-mail part of it, unless, you sign up for a yahoo id. If you already have a yahoo ID or e-mail address, you can join the group and see the full group page. I have some links, documents and recipes on the database link. You can also share your contact information, or recipes, on the database link, and choose to share them with the entire group, or just have them on the group page.

To subscribe (don't have a yahoo ID) click on this link: http://groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/AngelicOne?user=enter+email+address&Click+here+to+join+AngelicOne.x=59&Click+here+to+join+AngelicOne.y=29

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Daily Devotional Day & Night

HAPPY MONDAY!

Today’s scriptures are about singing unto the Lord. Reading through the Gospels of Christ, I was thinking of how cool Jesus was. If Jesus lived in this generation, we would say He has a certain “swagger” about Him. He was always meek and laid back. He was never too loud and boastful, just wanting to be seen. When He spoke, He spoke wisdom, and always paid homage to our Father in Heaven. Jesus was quick to say things like, “All of this is made possible because of my Father’s love”. When He praised, He praised with purpose, hope, and gratitude. The one thing the enemy doesn’t like is to hear us praising the Lord, because He knows it pleases God. His job is to keep us in bondage, and not believe that God has done anything for us to sing and shout about. Remember, we are peculiar people, and when others look at us they see something different, and we should continue to praise God, in hopes that His joy will spread to everyone around us.

King David may have been one of the most controversial people written about in the bible, because He was highly favored by God, yet never claimed to be perfect. God knew David from birth, and knew everything that he would ever do, but He still made a covenant with him. God promised to take care of David and all of his descendants (2 Sam. 7:12-16), all because David loved God, and wasn’t afraid to tell the world. David never hesitated to sing praises to the Lord. He even stood up to the giant Goliath, to defend the honor of God. He always put his life on the line to defend the Name of God, and He was well pleased with him. David wrote many of the songs in the book of Psalms. When things went well for him he wrote a song, when things went bad for him he wrote a song. When he fell short of honoring God, He wrote a song to express his remorse. David was a true servant of God, and God let everyone know it. Yes David broke some of the Laws of Moses, but God forgave him because He knew his heart. No matter what, David never ceased to praise His Holy Name.

David wrote a Song of Thanksgiving that was recorded in the book of Chronicles. My favorite part of this song is: Sing to the LORD, all the earth; proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples. (1 Chron. 16:23-24) One of my most favorite things to do is sing. For me, singing brings joy to my heart; especially when I’m singing praises to the Lord. There’s nothing like, after a hard day, or in times of pain, to turn on my favorite Gospel song, and start to sing praises to the Lord. I would be driving in my car, or in my home, with the music blasting, for all to hear. The praise and worship portion at my previous church in Portland, OR, became one of my favorite parts of Sunday service. It allowed me to give something back to the Lord, as well as be filled with His joy. There’s a huge difference between being happy with worldly things, and being filled with the Joy of the Lord—David knew that better than anyone.

God is well pleased with His servants, but more so of those who will proclaim His Name to all who will listen. Singing praises to the Lord may not necessarily mean to physically sing, but it also means to proclaim His goodness in your life, with a joyful heart. Joy in our heart helps us radiate the light that Jesus has planted on the inside of each believer. People are drawn to light, so along with being filled with the spirit of joy, we’re also spreading it. Jesus was a man who touched many people just because of Who He was in the Lord. He had such a huge following because He never stopped proclaiming the Love of God. David and all of his descendents were blessed because He never ceased to proclaim the Love of God. If you feel like something is missing in your life, and you aren’t where you want to be Spiritually, then take inventory—how often do you sing praise the Lord? Do it often no matter what’s going on in your life, because God has it all figured out.

God has made a covenant with us (similar to David’s), by offering His only Son as a living sacrifice. Because of Jesus, we all have a chance at a fruitful life; that’s a reason to rejoice! All God requires of us is to believe in His Son Jesus Christ, love Him, love each other, and offer praise and thanksgiving. That doesn’t sound like a lot to ask does it? So the questions remains, what’s holding you back from being fulfilled? Are you doing these things with no hesitation? If I ask you when the last time you sung praises to the Lord was, what would your answer be? If your answer is “you don’t know, or if it’s been way too long”, then take a few moments to take the God Quiz today. Salvation is free by the grace of God, you don’t have a earn it; all you need to do is believe. Please don’t waste any more time wondering “what if”, invite Jesus into your life today! My favorite verse today is: He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord. (Psalms 40:3)

ENJOY! http://www.bible.com/scripture-detail.php?juli=2455565&dtype=Scripture

http://www.intouch.org/broadcast/today-on-radio

http://www.intouch.org/magazine/daily-devotional

I love you!