365 Daily Devotions

By GTAustin

What you are about to read has tremendous power potential!
The Bible says in Matthew 4:4 that we shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Notice that Jesus said "proceeds" in present tense, not past tense.

Do you believe God still speaks today? I certainly do! But how? He speaks to us in three basic ways:
1.Through His written Word: The Bible
2.Through the witness of His Spirit as He speaks to our hearts and minds
3.Through the words of others: This includes preaching/teaching and prophetic words.

Through the practice of prophetic preaching by leaders in the church, God speaks to His people. Some of those messages are for specific congregations and some are for the greater body of Christ. Contained on these pages are the contents of sermons and prayer meetings from many speakers over the past several years. They have been transcribed and refined to help us grasp the message. If we believe that God indeed continues to speak today, then His words are essential for life. This gives greater weight to what we hear from the pulpit week after week. Since most of us (including the speaker) cannot remember the messages from last week (much less last year), we have taken those "now" words and put them in a format that will remind and encourage us to guard that which the Lord has spoken to us.

• Language: English
• Publisher: GTAustin
• Release date: Dec 5, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310440595

GTAustin

Pastor Kermit grew up in the Texas panhandle, the youngest of five children. After working in the family business, at the age of 18, the Lord changed the direction of his life. Upon completing a B.S. in Business Management he enrolled in seminary where He earned his M.A. in Biblical LIterature. In 1985 he joined the pastoral team at GT as the Business Administrator. He has served as the Lead Pastor since 2003. He has been married to Cindy for 31 years. Four of their five children are married and the youngest is in college. In addition to serving as pastor for GT, Kermit enjoys gourmet cooking, traveling, and riding with Cindy in their 1969 Datsun Roadster, which he personally restored. They love the Austin area and consider it a privilege to be part of God’s work in the city.Read more: http://gtaustin.com/meet-our-pastor/

Book preview

January

JANUARY 1

Colossians 3:16 (NKJV) Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

WE GATHER TOGETHER

Chapter 3 of Colossians tells us to put on a heart of compassion, bearing with one another and forgiving one another. Colossians 3:16 says to let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

We worship here in the presence of the Lord, but we're also admonishing one another. Something happens corporately that doesn't happen to us when we worship individually. The relationship is both vertical and horizontal. Even if you're not here to be encouraging or to admonish someone else, your worship of the Lord will bless others.

Jesus says in Luke 18:1 that we ought to always pray and not lose heart. Keep praying. Keep pressing in. It's not that God answers prayer. He answers you! He's working in ways both seen and unseen.

As a body, we're praying that the coming year will be the greatest year of prayer in your Christian life. May this be the greatest year of unity and revival for churches in this city.

We're praying for that. We're also praying that this year will be the greatest year for the lost being saved. May this be the leading edge of the greatest harvest ever. Our prayers in the unity of our congregation are a sweet-smelling aroma before the Lord. Lord, hear our cry!

The church is Jesus' own institution. We are the Body of Christ. Is it tempting to view church attendance as optional, to regard your need for regular participation in corporate worship service as legalism? Recapture God's heart for His people to come together as a congregation to worship Him. Come back to the house of the Lord. It satisfies our spirits as no other activity can. It blesses the Lord when we gather as one to praise Him.

JANUARY 2

Nahum 1:7, 9b (GWT) The Lord is good. He is a fortress in the day of trouble. He knows those who seek shelter in Him. This trouble will never happen again.

MY JOURNEY TOWARD HEALTH AND HEALING

When I began my journey toward healing from cancer, I had no idea what people endure in radiation treatment. It's brutal. I also lost some hair, and I lost some weight. Thankfully, most of that is behind me. But I'll deal with the effects of this from now on because radiation affects the muscles. I'lI continue daily facial exercises for the rest of my life.

For a while I kept the mesh mold of my face that, five days a week for six weeks, was perfectly form-fitted to my body for each treatment. The doctor who created this particular radiation technology was actually my physician.

We'd been praying for my healing, and on Wednesday, March 11, as I was sitting in my apartment, God dropped a message into my heart: Once I finish radiation, I'll never have to face cancer again. The Lord confirmed that through two other witnesses: The mother of evangelist Andrés Bisonni dreamed I was healed, then my 9-year-old niece received a word from the Lord that I'd be fine. That reminded me of Isaiah 59:21 that says out of the mouth of children the Lord speaks prophetic words. While I'll use wisdom and return for checkups, I believe I'll never again suffer from this disease ever again, to the glory of God.

You may be experiencing a situation you never thought would happen to you. You wonder if you'll make it through. You wonder what the future holds.

We don't know what's to come, but we do know the One who holds the future within His strong, able, trustworthy hands. Draw near to Him, and He will shelter and comfort you.

Father, I ask You to strengthen and sustain me through Your Word and by Your Spirit. I don't have to know the future because I know who holds the future. I declare nothing will come my way but what You, Lord, will cause me to overcome. Your Word says that if I keep my mind focused on You, You will keep me in perfect peace. I receive that peace right now in Jesus' name, amen.

JANUARY 3

1 Peter 4:12-14 (NKJV) Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.

GOD AND THE HARD PLACES

Have you ever asked why? I think that's okay. As long as we are facing God, we can ask why and God is not offended. But when we turn our back on God, those same questions become accusations because we're not trusting Him.

I asked God why I was afflicted with this awful disease called cancer. I don't have all the answers; I don't know why. But I do believe God has redeemed this situation.

Corinthians 4:17-18 in the Amplified Bible says: For our light, momentary affliction (this slight distress of the passing hour) is ever more and more abundantly preparing and producing and achieving for us an everlasting weight of glory (beyond all measure, excessively surpassing all comparisons and all calculations, a vast and transcendent glory and blessedness never to cease!), since we consider and look, not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are visible are temporal (brief and fleeting), but the things that are invisible are deathless and everlasting.

We live in a broken, sinful world. Sin and disease came into the world as a result of the sin of man. But we don't just succumb to it. We don't just live with it. Jesus came to forgive us of our sins and heal us of our disease.

But in the meantime, it's a mean time. We'll struggle and wrestle against the brokenness and effects of sin and sickness in our world until Jesus comes back. We look forward with great joy and anticipation for His return when He sets this world aright!

Hallelujah! He is coming!

JANUARY 4

2 Corinthians 1:8-11 (The Message) We don't want you in the dark, friends, about how hard it was when all this came down on us … It was so bad we didn't think we were going to make it. We felt like we'd been sent to death row, that it was all over for us. Instead of trusting in our own strength or wits to get out of it, we were forced to trust God totally—not a bad idea since He's the God who raises the dead! And He did it, rescued us from certain doom. And He'll do it again, rescuing us as many times as we need rescuing. You and your prayers are part of the rescue operation….

ENDURING THE FIERY TRIAL

Every time we see the effects of sickness, we cry out to the Lord that we're ready for His Kingdom to come. We're ready for Him to rule and reign so He can take all the injustices and make them justices, so He can take the wrong and make it right.

We'll go through fiery trials. Pastor Rick Warren says that everybody is in one of three situations: Just coming out of a fiery trial, in the middle of a fiery trial or getting ready to go into one. The Scriptures tell us one thing is certain: We'll all face fiery trials!

My battle against cancer was the hardest trial I've ever faced. Sometimes I couldn't even pray. All I could do was utter the name of Jesus because I hadn't the strength to formulate thoughts. I was weak, tired and emotionally numb. I didn't know where to start or what to pray. Have you been there before?

I know the Holy Spirit still communes through us. But when you get to the point where you can't even pray, chances are that God has an intercessor praying for you. And I realize that when I lacked strength to pray for myself, many, many times the prayers of others were carrying me. The strength I found wasn't mine; I hadn't earned or deserved it. Strength came to my body because people were praying and interceding for me. When you're faced with a fiery trial, never, ever try to weather the storm alone. Recruit others who will stand with you in prayer. You'll sense the peace that passes understanding as fellow believers come boldly before the throne of grace, that you may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

You will overcome!

JANUARY 5

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NIRV) So I am very happy to brag about how weak I am. Then Christ's power can rest on me. Because of how I suffered for Christ, I'm glad that I am weak. I am glad in hard times. I am glad when people say mean things about me. I am glad when things are difficult. And I am glad when people make me suffer. When I am weak, I am strong.

LESSONS FROM THE FIERY TRIAL

I want to share some things that I learned having walked through the trial of contending against cancer. While I wouldn't ever want to go through that again, I am forever grateful for what I learned in the process.

First, I'm not nearly as Christlike as I'd thought. When you suffer a lot, weaknesses become exposed. I'm thankful the Lord exposes them. He loves me enough to not leave me in that condition. Attitudes and heart issues still need to come under the Lordship of Jesus Christ as He conforms us to His image.

Second, my empathy quotient needed to go way up. Empathy is feeling compassion for others. I've always had a heart for those who are suffering, but this trial heightened it to a new level.

If you're going through a difficult time, my heart is with you more than ever before. I am thankful for that. As a pastor, it's wonderful that God has allowed me to experience something that would draw my heart closer to you when you're going through difficult times.

Third, I learned I can endure a lot more than I ever before would have imagined or believed. I hope you never have to go through such fiery trials, but if you do, I'll tell you now: You can do it. You're going to make it. You're going to walk in victory through this trial you're experiencing. That's not because you have strength but because you can do all things through Him who makes you strong.

JANUARY 6

John 15:1-2 (NIV) I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.

PRUNING THE BRANCHES

We live in a broken world. I believe cancer comes from the devil who sent this attack as part of his big scheme to steal, kill and destroy. I do not believe that God gave me one of the most insidious diseases on the face of this earth. Not one time have I blamed God.

But I have asked Him why, and that's okay. It's one thing to ask, Why did this happen? and another to say, God, why did You…? This moves us to pray even bolder prayers against sicknesses that plague us.

God is always there. John 15 talks about pruning branches that bear fruit. God used this illness as a pruning in my life so I can bear even more fruit. This winter we cut out the dead wood from our peach tree. We also cut out live branches that were growing in the wrong places—places that weren't going to be fruitful. We know that action will produce a bumper crop of peaches.

The gardener is never closer to the vine than when he's pruning it. God wants to use you to minister to other people. If you focus on blame or the pain, you'll miss opportunities that God brings your way to let His grace flow to other people.

Remember Joseph's reply to his brothers who betrayed him: You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. (Genesis 50:20 NLT) During your pruning process, pray that God will take every evil thing the enemy has tossed your way and turn it around to advance the Kingdom. You'll be amazed at how God will use you for His glory!

JANUARY 7

James 5:16 (NIV) …Pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

SUSTAINED BY PRAYER

We can miss God opportunities because we're so caught up in our own problems. At Houston's M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, almost everyone I met was dealing with some form of this horrible illness. I learned about divine appointments where God causes your path to cross someone else's for His glory. Not one person refused an offer of prayer—not even those who didn't believe in the God of the Bible. My wife, Cindy, asked a Kuwaiti Muslim family at the hospital, May I pray for you in the name of Jesus? The wife said, Yes, you may. Cindy laid hands on her and prayed.

I learned so much about the truly amazing body of Christ. Many were fasting and praying in my behalf. Many prayed in Austin, Dallas, Houston, and my hometown of Fritch, Texas, as well as in Missouri, California, El Salvador, Romania, Japan and beyond.

Thursdays were the best days of the week for me. Day after day of radiation utterly zapped my strength, but I believe Wednesday night prayer meetings infused strength into my body.

We are going to make the devil sorry he ever afflicted me. We aim to reach as many people as possible with God's love and grace, praying for as many as we can. Every day in that hospital we ministered to somebody and had so many chances to share the gospel. After I prayed for a patient named Bob, he received a great report that his cancer hadn't spread. We believe that report is evidence of God's mercy upon him. Lord, give us all such divine appointments.

Are you looking for those divine appointments? As you go through your fiery trial, God wants to use you! Even if you're facing a trial, try to find someone else to help. It's amazing the healing power that comes to you while reaching out to those in need. If you're physically unable to go minister to others, make a prayer list and spend your time interceding. You'll be blessed as you bless them.

JANUARY 8

Daniel 3:25 (ESV) Look! Nebuchadnezzar shouted. I see four men, unbound, walking around in the fire unharmed! And the fourth looks like a god!

GOD'S ENDURING PRESENCE

If you're going through a difficult time right now, God is with you. He will carry you when you need to be carried. He will always be with you. You will not stop, or fail, or falter. You'll keep walking, and you'll come through this fiery trial to the glory of God and to the benefit of your soul and your spirit.

Your fiery trial right now may be physical, financial, spiritual or relational. It may be of some other nature. Catherine Marshall wrote this: God allows us to have disappointments, frustrations, or even worse, because He wants us to see our joy is not in such worldly pleasures as success or money or popularity or health or sex or even in a miracle-working faith; our joy is in the fact that we have a relationship with God.

In the midst of my fiery trial, I shared with Cindy, my wife, that at times I didn't know how I was going to make it. Even worse was when I said that I didn't even know if I wanted to make it. I experienced moments when I was so low I had no desire to go on. That may sound unspiritual and weak, and I acknowledge that I was indeed weak.

If you've told yourself you don't know how you'll put one foot in front of the other and keep going, I'm here to share with you this truth: You are going to make it. Even when I didn't know how I was going to get through my fiery trial, God began to impart strength once again. And He'll do the same for you. Even when you're too weak to do anything for God, He's still with you carrying you. Rest in His arms!

JANUARY 9

Exodus 4:2 (NKJV) "So the Lord said to him, 'What is that in your hand?'

He said, 'A rod.'"

WHAT'S IN YOUR HAND? (1)

Early on, God told Moses he would deliver a nation. Moses is a man full of confidence and privilege with more opportunity to change Egypt on his own strength than any other Hebrew. Early on he tries to make that change on his own strength. It doesn't go well. He kills an Egyptian.

Moses ends up on the backside of the desert, not a place of influence where he can change the nation. Forty years later he's tending goats and sheep. He has no confidence. He's lost his vision and hope because life has passed him by. He gives up on delivering the nation.

But in Exodus 4 God appears to Moses in a fiery bush, repeating his destiny: Moses will deliver God's people. Moses wonders why anybody would listen to him. God asks Moses, What's in your hand?

A herdsman's staff, a stick made of three to six feet of wood, is in Moses' hand. God tells him that He's picked Moses' common instrument to use through him. Through the rod of God, seas part, miracles and signs and wonders happen, and deliverance comes. That's because in Moses' hand, it's God's rod.

God doesn't need your IQ, influence, eloquence, or anything you have in the natural. He needs what's in your hand. In 1 Samuel 17, David is also isolated on the backside of his family. Goliath is 9 feet 9 inches tall, born to make war, and he challenges the Hebrews to bring out their best champion.

David is an unlikely candidate. While Moses lost confidence, David's family holds him in low regard. But rather than mope in the desert, David worships, praises and writes Psalms to God. David's confidence is in the Lord.

David ignores his brothers and presses to know why this Philistine speaks defiling words against their God. David responds by volunteering before Saul, who deems him a nobody unfit for the task. Goliath is huge and trained. David is too small to wear Saul's armor.

When God puts a flame and a passion in our hearts and we commit to do God's warfare, we're tempted go about it like those who are naturally qualified.

But David sheds the armor that doesn't fit him. Instead, he uses instruments common for a shepherd: stones, a slingshot and a staff are in his hands. And with that he kills the giant.

What's in your hand?

JANUARY 10

Mark 9:41 (NKJV) For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.

WHAT'S IN YOUR HAND? (2)

When the Lord burdens you with a task, you want to do it now. I can't imagine the huge disappointment in Moses' life when he, too, tries early on to fulfill what God calls him to do. In my own life, I've wanted things that were noble and just. But God told me to quit being covetous of what I didn't have and to simply use what's in my hand. I told the Lord as a young man that I would minister. He told me, Yes, but not now.

So I made an inventory on a legal pad: I have a good education, a reasonably good mind, a legacy as a fourth-generation Pentecostal, a wonderful church, wonderful people in my life, a great family. Being faithful to what's in my hand has tempered my covetousness.

In the Apostle Paul's hand is the ability to support himself as a tentmaker while he ministers. In Moses' hand is his staff, but that alone wouldn't bring water, cause a military victory, or divide the Red Sea for Israel. But when released to God, it becomes God's staff in your hand: It brings miracles.

If you take what's ordinary in your hand and begin to obey God for the extraordinary, you are exercising faith. God takes an ordinary staff and slingshot and turns them into something extraordinary.

God cares about your work. The word reward is used 30 times in the New Testament. In Revelation 22:12, Jesus says, My reward is with Me to give to everyone according to his work. Behold, I am coming quickly, bringing My reward. Jesus won't give it equally but according to the work of each one.

Many times, though, we take a few things in our hands and discard what we are weak in rather than seizing upon opportunities. We pick and choose what we want to use. But often He wants us to pick the very thing we feel least confident in and use that.

What's in my hand? I practice law. But also God has called me to help plant churches. I'm going to be faithful in both.

The Lord will work miracles if you'll give the situation to Him. He'll bring forth miracles because it's His rod, not yours.

Step out in faith without fear. It's a new day and a new year. Put forward what you have. The Lord can put His miraculous touch on it.

JANUARY 11

Acts 2:22 (NLT) People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through Him, as you well know.

GOD'S PEOPLE ARE OPEN

The church must be open for God to release miracles, signs and wonders. In the Great Awakenings, revivals in Europe, and outpourings of the Spirit elsewhere, supernatural occurrences were commonplace. Unusual things accompanied the preaching of John Wesley and George Whitfield. The Cane Ridge Revival of 1800 in Kentucky brought shaking so powerful that women's long hair came undone from their buns and snapped like a whip.

Quakers got their name because they shook as they prayed and entered God's presence. Such occurrences have continued. Pentecostals long have been called Holy Rollers, a term considered derogatory. Certainly excesses occurred, but that which is of the Lord can be worn as a badge of honor.

At times God gives miracles, signs and wonders in response to a need—specifically, miraculous healings. Luke 18 describes Jesus' encounter with a blind beggar en route to Jericho. When he learns Jesus is passing by, he cries out for mercy and healing. Jesus grants a miracle—restoring the man's sight—in response to the need.

I became partially deaf in one ear. Doctors said any return of my hearing would occur slowly at best. One Sunday I was sitting in the worship service listening to a sermon that wasn't even on healing. Suddenly my ear popped. My hearing returned 100 percent.

When our daughter Katie was 14 months old, her leg was turned out. Her doctor said the condition delayed her walking. If the leg didn't grow properly she'd need a brace to learn to walk. That Sunday, we had a prayer counselor pray with us and lay hands on her. Each day she improved. By Friday she was walking. God responds to faith!

Do you need healing? Do you need faith to believe for your healing? Surround yourself with those who believe. Immerse yourself in the Word: read it, listen to it on tape, CD, podcast or the Internet. Watch Christian television programs. Make sure you attend church services as often as possible because faith comes from hearing the Good News…. (Romans 10:17 NCV)

JANUARY 12

Acts 4:30 (ESV) Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.

THE FAITH TO RECEIVE

God responds to faith. Acts 14:9-10 tells of the instant healing of a man who had been crippled for years. Seeing he had faith to be healed, Paul commands the man to stand up. The Scripture says the man leaped and walked.

Some people receive healings from the Lord because they have faith to believe. You may notice that some people always seem to receive a blessing. Maybe it's because they come to God in a childlike way rather than filtering everything through doubt, questions and analysis. They tell the Lord, God, I just believe You can do whatever You say.

The mind is a wonderful thing, but it can hinder God. You must believe to receive salvation. Without believing, you don't receive eternal life. That belief involves your mind, which can cooperate with God or work against Him.

In Matthew 15 the Canaanite woman has no right to ask God for anything. The Jews are certainly not happy that she's asking Jesus to heal her daughter.

In verse 26 (NKJV) He says to her, It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs. What an insult! Talk about a racial slur! But Jesus isn't doing this to offend the Canaanite woman but to test her. Yes, but even but the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master's table, she replies.

Jesus is amazed. He tells her that because of her faith, her daughter would be healed.

You may need healing now. Let us together believe God for that healing. Remember, He's told you this: I am the Lord who heals you. (Exodus 15:26 NLT)

JANUARY 13

John 14:12 (NKJV) Most assuredly I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.

THE TEMPORARY AND THE ETERNAL

We enter our church sanctuary and see the building: the stage, walls, chairs and carpet. But the Bible says that everything we see is temporary. A world exists that's far more real than what we see with our physical eyes. What we don't see is eternal.

Miracles, signs and wonders bring glory to God. In John 3:2 Nicodemus visits Jesus by night and says, Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.

Steve Van Winkle tells how his dad, as an unsaved young man, gave a ride to church to a wheelchair-bound woman. A visiting evangelist stood in front of her and said, I command you to walk! And she did! God was in that meeting. Steve's father got saved.

Mark 16:17 (KJV) says these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.

This verse is full of the supernatural. These signs follow those who believe.

Do you believe? Unbelieving believers don't embrace the full gospel. They don't believe in healing today or the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

An administrator's spouse at our children's school had a heart attack. Doctors put stents in his heart but said the damage appeared significant. God spoke to my wife, Cindy, and me that we were to lay hands on him and pray in faith. Though these people would consider our actions foolish, we prophesied over his life. Miraculously, he had no heart damage, which he attributed to God touching his life.

Miracles, signs and wonders bring glory to God. They point to a greater reality. Don't look at what you see; look for what you cannot. What is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Cor. 4:18 NIV)

JANUARY 14

James 4:10 (Amp) Humble yourselves [feeling very insignificant] in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you [He will lift you up and make your lives significant].

HUMILITY AND THE SUPERNATURAL

Miracles, signs and wonders foster humility. Many of these supernatural occurrences offend the mind. If your mind is never offended, you aren't really seeing what God wants to do or what He's doing. If your mind isn't challenged, you aren't truly flowing where God wants you to flow.

These are strong statements. But this I believe: God offends the mind to expose the heart and our inner motives. He resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.

In Luke 5:4-8 Jesus tells Simon Peter to launch out to the deep and let down his nets. But Peter, a seasoned fisherman, has toiled all night with fishing partners in two boats and has caught nothing. Now it's daytime. They've just cleaned their nets and will have to scrub them again.

But Peter isn't offended at Jesus' instruction. He steps over that barrier and says, Nevertheless, at Your word I will let down the net. When he does, those in Peter's boat catch so many fish that they call their partners for help, filling both vessels so full that they begin to sink. Peter falls at Jesus' knees and says, Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man.

Doesn't this seem like a strange response to the most amazing catch of his life? He's a fishing pro who casts nets for a living. Shouldn't he be jumping up and down celebrating? You'd think they'd all be ecstatic. Praise God! I've got the mortgage covered for the next three months! He doesn't say, Hey, we can sell this and put money in the bank and buy beef!

Yet because of this supernatural in-breaking, Peter's heart is humbled. His pride is broken. This is precious and pleasing to God. In humility Peter falls on his knees because it brings glory to God. This response is to a need as well. They haven't faith for it. Jesus has only recently begun operating under His supernatural power. He's helping their embryonic faith develop. When Isaiah sees God's glory in Isaiah 6:5, he responds in a similar manner: Woe is me for I am undone. This is humility: Understanding who I am in light of who God is.

Walk in humility, expecting miracles, signs, and wonders!

JANUARY 15

1 Corinthians 1:27 (NKJV) But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise.

FROM ANGER TO OBEDIENCE

In 2 Kings 5, Naaman, the leader of a foreign army, has leprosy. He stands at the door of Elisha's house. Elisha sends him a messenger telling him to wash in the River Jordan seven times and his flesh will be restored and clean.

But Naaman is furious. He turns away, enraged. Naaman is an important person who's come a long way to see Elisha. He wants Elisha to come out, wave his hands and heal him. But Elisha refuses to even come out and greet him. There are better rivers in Damascus than the Jordan, Naaman complains. Can't I just wash there? Because his mind is offended, he comes close to missing his miracle.

God isn't working the way Naaman thinks He should. He's not following the pattern Naaman believes He ought to follow. God offends Naaman's mind to expose his heart.

Thank God for the humble servant who challenges Naaman: If he had asked you to do something great, wouldn't you have done it? Had Elisha requested something complex or that he turn somersaults and jump off a bridge, would Naaman have complied? The servant asks Naaman, What do you have to lose? Why not do it?

Naaman reconsiders. He dips in the Jordan. The seventh time he's healed.

God doesn't want to hurt your pride. He wants to kill it. Nobody likes to look foolish or silly. Sometimes, however, when revival, miracles, signs and wonders occur, you may look foolish. I'm not promoting that. I don't want you to look foolish at all. But avoiding looking foolish may cause you to miss out on something God wants to do in your life. I'd rather you look foolish and receive from God than look dignified and walk away as dry as a piece of wood.

When unusual things happen, don't judge too quickly. God may be challenging you. He wants to use you in greater ways so that you're His instrument, participating in miracles, signs and wonders. God wants to use you, but you must remain humble. The outpouring of the supernatural isn't about you, the vessel. It's all about Him, the Source.

JANUARY 16

John 14:11 (Amp) Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me; or else believe Me for the sake of the [very] works themselves. [If you cannot trust Me, at least let these works that I do in My Father's name convince you.]

OUR RESPONSE

God sends miracles, signs and wonders to confirm the Word. But some say, I hear you, but I don't need that. How sad to think that you don't need the very things God wants to perform. I need and want all of God I can get.

Examine why you think you have no need of supernatural blessings. You'll find Him through the Word, Bible study, and Spirit-filled services where God moves many times and signs and wonders may unfold. These will stretch and challenge you.

Others say, I don't want that. This reveals pride, which is even worse. The only reasons for rejecting supernatural occurrences are connected: fear and pride. Pride is likely at the root of fear.

A third type of person says, I don't believe in that. That's a dangerous place to be. With all love and compassion, I must say that disbelief denies the foundation of the Bible: the unusual things that took place in Scripture and the history of revivals and Great Awakenings. If that's you, I pray there will be repentance. Replace disbelief with the statement, Lord, I don't understand it, but I'm open to Your Spirit.

The fourth type of person says, Bring it on, Lord! I want to stay and pray! The early disciples found themselves opposed by the natural government and Jewish leaders. They prayed for boldness and miracles, signs and wonders (Acts 4:29). Clearly, it's biblical. If they prayed for them in the early church, shouldn't the church pray for them today?

Lord, give us Holy Spirit boldness and not human brashness. Father, confirm Your Word by stretching Your hand to heal the sick in the name of Jesus. Grant miracles, signs and wonders through the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ. May we not be afraid of the unusual things that happen in the Kingdom of God. Help us learn from our brothers and sisters worldwide who walk in the supernatural. Help us swallow our pride, humble ourselves and say, Lord, we are desperate for You. In Jesus' name, amen.

JANUARY 17

2 Corinthians 12:9 (NKJV) And He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

FINDING CHRIST AMID THE CHALLENGES

The favor of the Lord is upon you. He wants to show you His kindness, graciousness and goodness. He also wants you to challenge yourself, to trust Him in all your ways.

If your belief rests on who you are and where you've been, you haven't been challenged. When you're challenged, the power of God is perfected in your weakness. His power isn't complete in your strength. The fervency and power of your prayer is made perfect in your insecurities.

Thank God for the challenges we face in life. We cannot trust our money or our skills, but when we trust Him, our faith is made complete. Your power is complete and sufficient for the day.

Thank Him for the thorn in your flesh. Thank Him for His sufficiency. We pray our thorns will be removed, but He says His grace is sufficient and that His power is perfected in your weakness.

There's power in thanking God. His favor and power are released when we acknowledge our insufficiency. The strength of the Lord is released, not by might, not by power, but by His Spirit.

If you're struggling over your own insufficiency, and if you're willing to step into His sufficiency, He will intervene. Allow Him to be your sufficiency. When you call upon Him, your passion increases as His sufficiency comes into your heart. If you trust the sufficiency that only He can provide, His peace will come. Have a passion for God, whose sufficiency is complete in you.

You're carrying burdens that you must release to Him. The issue is this: Will you allow Him to step in and be your sufficiency?

His strength is made perfect in your weakness!

JANUARY 18

John 2:5 (NKJV) Whatever He says to you, do it.

MOVING WITH GOD

God is always moving and wants us to move with Him. We must be ready to make changes in the Spirit. In transition, in moving between places, always go with Him.

The Israelites were traveling from Egypt to the Promised Land. Life was much easier when they were moving in the Spirit. When the cloud settled, they could settle.

We don't have a cloud, but we have the Holy Spirit. In every venture of life, you never know when God will call you to something you aren't expecting. You come to a decision: Do I go? Yes or no?

You must have a hearing heart. At a moment's notice He says, This is the way, walk in it. Sometimes you know that God is telling you something, but even so, you don't know what lies ahead.

In Hebrews 11:8, Abraham obeyed God even though he didn't know where he was going. Isaiah 42:16 (NKJV) says, "I will