Daily Devotional Day & Night

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!

Today’s scriptures are about looking forward to the fate of our eternal life. Death is such a gloomy subject to talk about, because it brings such sorrow and pain. However, it should be the one thing that a believer should look forward to. Not in a way that we want to die each day of our life, but we shouldn’t fear it. At the same time, we’re only human, and have never been anything but, so it’s natural for us to question, and even fear, the unknown. Even Jesus briefly feared death. He understood the things He had to suffer, but the human side of Him couldn’t fathom the amount of pain He would endure. He prayed to God, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” (Matt 26:39) He understood better than anyone, what had to be done, and He stood on the promises of God. He knew what waited for Him on the other said, so that gave Him strength to complete the will of God.

Jesus truly lived by the saying, “obey God and leave the consequences to Him”. He was obedient up to death and now He’s King over all mankind. He’s been given power and authority—a Name above all Names. He received this power because He survived human life sinless, and with unwavering Faith in God. He endured the temporary pain and suffering in the flesh, because He understood that one day it’ll all end, and He would be able to experience eternal bliss. He gave up His life to free us from the fate of the wicked man. He offered himself in the place of our sin, and willingly shed His own blood for us, so that one day we’ll be with Him. What’s so awesome about this news is that it’s all free! If you simply believe in Jesus Christ, you will enter into the Kingdom of God when your flesh perishes. You’ll be able to give Jesus the biggest hug you can imagine. God will tell you how proud He is of you, and you will never hurt, hunger, stress, be depressed, or cry again. Can you imagine a life like this?

Jesus taught us that: “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.” (Mark 9:35), which is just the way God does things. I always wondered why God says throughout the bible the last will be first and the first last. I questioned whether if it was wrong to have an abundance of success and wealth on earth. I’m now learning that when God said the “last shall be first”, He means being last at heart. It means living your life as a humble servant of God. It means not putting the wealth and desires of the world, before the work of God. Servants are humble, meek, and subservient, and want nothing more than to please their Master. They put themselves last and their Master first, in hopes of pleasing Him, and in return the Master will blessed the servant tenfold. We are servants of God, and He comes first in our lives. He’ll bless us with much if we learn how appreciate little. The more we humble ourselves, and put His will before our own, the greater our reward would be in Heaven.

There’s also a hierarchy in Heaven, and the more we serve God on earth, the more we have to look forward to in Heaven. As if eternity with God isn’t enough, those of us who put in the work while here, are storing up treasures in Heaven as well. It’s said that once we reach Heaven, and we go through our judgment, we’ll receive an “Incorruptible Crown” (1 Cor. 9:25). In this crown will be jewels, and the amount of jewels you receive, represents your level of prestige. I love the example my Aunt gave me years ago, she said, “it’s like if you have one jewel in your crown you’ll be a janitor, and if you have fifty jewels you’ll be a King or Queen”. I’m sure it’s not exactly like that, but this can give you an idea of how it works. The amount of work you put in here on earth, does matter when it comes to your eternity. There are many people who think that just believing in Jesus is enough, and you can go through life sinning with no regard for Him, because you know that He’ll forgive you. I beg you, for you own sake, to turn away from that thought process, because we’ll each stand judgment.

The one thing we can rest easy in knowing is that Heaven is the final destination of any, and everyone, who believes in Christ. No matter what you go through in life, make sure you acknowledge Him, and quickly repent for your sins. Jesus said: “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:1-3) These scriptures give me so much peace, because I know that God is in control of my life now and forever. If He is with me, who can be against me? Can you honestly say the same thing? If you’ve accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, then yes you can, and don’t let anyone tell you any different. If you don’t believe in Jesus then you can’t, and there is no mansion for you. That can be changed right now, by confessing to God that you’re a sinner, and asking Jesus to be Lord of your life. Repent and follow the ways of the Lord! For more information, take the God Quiz right now. My favorite verse today is: He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth. (Isaiah 25:8)

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Daily Devotional Day & Night

HAPPY THURSDAY!

Today’s scriptures are about the powerful Name of Jesus. When I was reading these scriptures, the song “That Name”, by Yolanda Adams, started playing in my head. This is one of my all time favorite gospel songs. It’s a powerful praise and worship song, and I would love to see it performed by an interpretive dancer. I don’t care where I am in the world, when that song plays on my mp3 player halfway through it I’m lifting my hands in praise. The first verse is: There is a name that is so precious, a name so wonderful to me. This name is worthy of all praises. Because of him, I am made free. That name is Jesus, oh how I love him. The one who gave, his life for me. Because of love, so unconditional, I will have life, eternally. Can you honestly say that when you think of the Name of Jesus, you feel like this? To be totally honest sometimes I forget just how powerful His Name really is. There are times when I get so caught up in life, that it isn’t until I slow down and spend some time with Him, do I realize Who I serve.

When I think about the past, and all of the things I’ve endured, I often wonder how things would’ve been, had I truly understood that I was a child of God, through the powerful and mighty Jesus Christ. Had I known that all I had to do was go to God in prayer, and ask for all things in the Name of Jesus, and I would’ve received them—how dramatically different things would be. Jesus is everything to the children of God, because He’s the highest of the High Priests, the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords. He’s the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega, and He too is the great I AM. His Name is Jesus, Oh how I love Him! He has given us power to overcome all of the snares of the world, simply by His Name—the use of His Name, the praise of His Name, the respect of His Name, and the grace by His Name. The question still remains, “Do you know who you are in Christ?”

How do we instill this in the very core of our Soul, and in keep it in the forefront of our mind? We’re creatures of habit, so we can easily make understanding, using, and praising the Name of Jesus, a habit. I’ll start by looking at myself in the mirror and saying “I have power in the Name of Jesus”, as soon as I wake up in the morning. It’s said that it takes 21 days to form a new habit, so I have to commit to doing it each day for at least three weeks, and it’ll become a part of my being. You can try it as well, or make up your own creative ways to form this important habit. I think that there are too many of us who don’t reach our full potential in life, because we don’t understand the power in the Name of Jesus. We don’t fully understand that when we invited Him into our heart as Lord and Savior, He’s here to stay. He’s living on the inside of us, waiting for us to call on His Name. When we do, He makes intercession for us, to God, to make sure that our prayers are answered. Praise that Name! When we have that type of power on the tip our tongue, why do we struggle so much with the flesh?

The phrase “Name of Jesus” is written the most in the book of Acts. This book gives an account of the lives of Jesus’ Disciples and Apostles. These men worked diligently to spread the Gospel of Jesus, because they had to let the world know of this new found freedom. They baptized, healed, and cast out demons in the Name of Jesus. Did you know that you have the power to do that as well? All it takes is faith in the power of His Name. These servants risked their life to spread the Gospel, fighting to share the knowledge of salvation through Christ—this is our job too. The Apostle Paul wrote: I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge—God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Cor. 1:4-9)

If you don’t know Jesus as Lord and Savior, you don’t have power in His Name. I urge you to call on Him right now, and ask Him to be Lord of your life. When you do this, you’ll be freer than you’ve ever imagined. Your life will take on a new meaning, and you’ll be anointed with the Holy Spirit of God. What are you waiting for? Take a few minutes to take the God Quiz, and act now! My favorite verses today are: They shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. (Matthew 1:23, 21)

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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)

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PS

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

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Daily Devotional Day & Night

HAPPY TUESDAY!

Today’s scriptures are about putting in the work that goes with the faith we have in God. I know I remind us almost every day of the ultimate commandments—to Love God with all of our heart, and to love each other. I do that because it truly is all God requires from us, in order to live in peace, above the world and its problems. I also do it to reaffirm the fact that to love God is an action. To believe in Him is the first step, but with that faith we must work to help strengthen the Kingdom of God. The same goes for loving each other; we must work to make sure that people can see Christ in us. The bible teaches us that faith and works are to be in unison.

We’re here to serve God, so we must do what we could to spread the Gospel of Christ. There are millions of people, all over the world, who don’t know Jesus Christ. As we learned yesterday, we each were chosen to be children of God, and He has a will for our lives. We each may have a different calling, but ultimately the talents we’ve been anointed with all play a role, which is to ultimately lead people to Christ. God is amazing, and He has several ways to get through to people.

Jesus referred to us as “the church”. Before He died, He asked one of His disciples Simon who he thought that He was. Simon answered correctly by saying, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:16-19) The fact that Jesus was the Messiah meant that He was rebuilding the children of God, making all believers one with Him. We are now a great and Holy Church, which requires the assistance of each member, in order to function properly.

I think of my physical Church, and all of its functions, jobs, and responsibilities. It takes more than just prayer and a belief in what we stand for, but it takes work to keep it running. It wasn’t until I became a little more involved in my current church, that I realized this. Our Pastor is the leader of the flock—he was chosen by God to teach us His Word, and to care for His sheep. However, the Pastor cannot run the church by Himself, hence the need for Elders, different committees, ministry leaders, Deacons, day care service provides, etc. We each have to come together as a family, and work to keep our church afloat. Each job is as important as the next. All efforts work in unison, to offer the precious Word of God, to any and all who comes. For most Christians, the only “Word” they get is on Sunday mornings at church.

I hope this analogy helps you understand that God needs you. He’s chosen you for a reason, so it isn’t enough to just believe that He exists, but you must work to follow His will for your life. We must come together as a unit, and work on helping others see the light that is Jesus Christ. We must hunger and thirst for the Lord, which will lead us to work to find out everything there is to know about Him. We must work on making ourselves better, in union with the Lord. How many of us are stagnant in the Lord, and don’t feel like we’re growing? How many people want to change, and have it in their heart to be a good person, but find themselves falling short? That may be caused because you believe in Jesus Christ, have your mansion all ready to go, but you haven’t committed to serving the Lord. There are also those who have over committed themselves to service, and work so much that they completely miss out on their personal relationship with God. If that’s you, remember that even Jesus took time out of His busy schedule to spend some quiet alone time with the Lord.

As of today, I want you to commit to telling at least one person about Jesus each day. Try sharing a testimony or two with them, or just letting them know how much you love Him (Twitter and Facebook is allowed too, God allowed its creation for a reason). Work to achieve God’s will for your life. He will show you step by step what’s required of you, so be willing to completely listen. Working for God doesn’t always require a lot of busy work, or some elaborate ministry. If you clean homes for a living, clean those homes as if you were cleaning for Jesus Himself. If you’re a doctor, use extra care with your bedside manner, to make sure that people can feel God’s love through you. Remember, don’t rely solely on saying, Tweeting, or Facebook’ing about how much you love God, but let’s show Him by our works.

If you don’t know Jesus as Lord and Savior, then you especially need this message today. Before you can be a part of the church, you must first conquer the “faith” portion, and become a believer. It simply requires you confessing your faith in Jesus, and then inviting Him to be a part of your life, as Lord and Savior. Once you confess your sins and repent, you’re all set. If you want more information, take the God Quiz today. My favorite verses today are: We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)

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