Soul Prosperity: Keeping an Eternal Perspective in Your Day to Day Life

By Rhonda Lea Sinclair-Cochran

We can be happy in the Lord if we don’t have everything right or even together. We can celebrate our accomplishments of walking in love however small they may seem knowing God’s grace is making up the difference. Scripture teaches God’s mercies are new every morning. This book will bring day to day insight into the mercy of God, the faithfulness of God and the blessing of God through practical applications. It will challenge you to take the first step toward forgiveness or make the call to encourage someone God has put on your heart. It will inspire you to do the right thing when you don’t feel like being the bigger or even better person. These daily devotions will strengthen your character and your walk with the Lord as you learn godly principles from His word one day at a time.
Every day is a new day to choose to do things God’s way verses our own. He promises when we do, He will come along side us and enable us to be wiser, healthier and more successful. Who doesn’t want to get in on that kind of life? This book is not for someone who has no troubles, issues or concerns. It’s for the person with broken relationships. It’s for those with exhausted bank accounts. It’s for the ones who haven’t gotten everything together just yet but they really want to! This book is for the person who is grateful to the Lord for enough light to make it through one test or temptation a day and feel like an overcomer. If you want to experience God’s presence more in your daily walk this book is for you. If you want to catch God blessing you more often and if you want to be the kind of person that blesses God right back then read on.

• Language: English
• Publisher: LifeRich Publishing
• Release date: Dec 29, 2022
• ISBN: 9781489744401

Rhonda Lea Sinclair-Cochran

Rhonda and her husband, Arty live in Spicewood, Texas just outside of Austin and have founded It's All For Him Ministries. Rhonda has been committed to bringing insight and inspiration from the word of God into the daily lives of others since she was filled with the Holy Spirit in 1991. Rhonda serves in the church as a bible teacher and author. Her deep south, bible believing roots enable her to convey the message passed down to her from her parents and grandparent who lived out their faith in their daily walk with God. Above all her accomplishments, Rhonda considers her role as wife to husband Arty and mother of Kayla and Tyler her greatest gift and priority.

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January 2nd

God strategically places people

in each other’s lives

As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.

~Proverbs 27:17 (NIV)

Old Pentecostal preachers used to say, you can’t soar with the eagles and run with the turkeys. They understood that who you hang around has a direct influence on what you are able to accomplish. They also understood that there is such a thing as a divine encounter. It’s an encounter that produces good things in a person’s life. Can you recall any divine encounters over your life? Maybe a teacher that brought to life what you were studying at the time or an employer or coworker that helped you grow and excel in your skills and abilities. How about when you met your spouse? Or the first time you held a newborn baby? That is a divine encounter for sure! God strategically places people in each other’s lives. He says iron sharpens iron. That means when good people get together good things happen. Smart people build people up. They bring out the best in them. That is what healthy relationships are all about. We aren’t supposed to make each other dull by our negative attitudes and pessimistic outlook. We are supposed to sharpen each other by encouraging and loving unconditionally. Just like God loves us.

Moses prayed in Psalm 90:17 May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us- yes, establish the work of our hands. (NIV) As we go through our lives here on this earth we are going to need some favor, actually not just some favor. We are going to need boat loads of favor. Don’t underestimate God. He can bring favor in more ways than you can count, and divine encounters are one way He does that. Start paying attention to the people God puts in your path. There is a reason they are there. Be looking for how you can add to their lives. Jesus said we should do to others what we would have them do to us. Keep in mind that does not mean those we help will be the ones that the Lord uses to help us. We all have big jobs to do in this life and anyone who has ever served on a great team can attest that when everyone gets their minds off themselves, a lot more gets done. God also wants us to go be a divine encounter to someone today. He wants us to stick so close to Him we can be led by His Spirit and meet needs He has ordained for us to meet. He says He blesses us to be a blessing. God told Moses to order Joshua to do a very big job and then He said to encourage and strengthen him in it. That is what we need to be doing with the people around us. We need to encourage and strengthen them for the tasks at hand. Then we need to expect to see great things to come from them.

But commission Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead this people across and will cause them to inherit the land that you will see. ~Deuteronomy 3:28 (NIV)

January 3rd

Grace helps us become better people

For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say No to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age. ~Titus 2:11-12 (NIV)

The Lord doesn’t tell us that it is good discipline that teaches us to live good lives. It says it is grace. Grace can be described as God’s power and ability operating in us and through us as believers. God’s Holy Spirit administrates God’s grace in the earth during this dispensation. It’s the Lord’s grace that enables us to live supernatural lives and do supernatural things for His kingdom. We tap into grace to receive from God, and we tap into grace to become the people He has called us to be. Do you have a problem with ungodliness? How about worldly passions? Do you struggle with living a self-controlled, upright, and godly life in this present age? Maybe you know someone else that does. Well, there is good news. God’s grace is not only available, but it can be multiplied to us. 2 Peter 1:2 tells us Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord. (KJV) Multiplied grace is what we need to be able to make an impact in this world. That grace is exactly what Paul was talking about in 2 Corinthians 12:9 when he quotes Jesus as saying, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. (NIV) Paul had a revelation of the grace of God. He understood the power of Christ within Him. That revelation of God’s grace working within him revealed to him that God could and would make up the difference between Paul’s inabilities and the Lord’s abilities. That revelation is exactly how Paul was able to confess in Philippians 4:13 For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. (NLT) Paul knew it was not by his own might or power that people around him were coming to the Lord, repenting and living godly lives. It was by God’s grace through the Holy Spirit, just as the Lord had told Paul in Zechariah 4:6 Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty. (NIV)

Beating ourselves and others up when we don’t get it right is exactly opposite of what the bible teaches will bring change. It is mercy and love that transforms us into godly people. We received mercy and unmerited favor when we accepted Jesus as our Savior and received the grace that we needed to start living a godly life. The scriptures teach those who have been made free are free indeed. We have been made free from worldly behaviors to live godly lives in Christ Jesus. We are told to teach others what the Lord has to say about how we are to live. The best teachers are those who encourage their students in their capabilities. They are able to motivate because they inspire. Do you inspire others to live a self-controlled and godly life? Do you inspire others to walk away from the temptations to slander and criticize? Criticism and legalism will only perpetuate bad behavior. Mercy and forgiveness will provide a clean slate. God does it for us every day. His mercies are new every morning. Next time you have an opportunity to extend the long arm of the law, give mercy a try and see if it doesn’t bring more restoration and reconciliation in your life and in the lives of those you love.

For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. ~2 Corinthians 5:19a (NLT)

January 4th

To see changes we need

to make changes

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life. ~Proverbs 13:12 (ESV)

Hope stretches our faith beyond appearances to the possibilities. Hoping for God’s best is an attitude we should all maintain if we want to overcome our adversities and celebrate our lives. There is no doubt we are surrounded by both adversities and adversaries. That is why it is so important to pray our model... aka...the Lord’s Prayer. We are told to ask God to lead us not into temptation but to deliver us from evil. God knows and we must recognize our natural tendency to grasp the unprofitable things verses putting our hope in the promises of God. Left to ourselves we will fulfill our own desires when our hope has been deferred. We will begin to look for ways to make our world right again ourselves instead of patiently trusting God to turn our circumstances around or allowing Him to change our mind about our circumstances. Stepping out on our own causes us to put our hope and ultimately our faith in what the world can produce for us which will never fulfill our spirit man and it will only fulfil our souls for a little while. When we put our hope in the promises of God, He tells us that kind of hope is an anchor for our soul. Our soul is made up of our mind, our will, and our emotions. Those three parts of us have to get on board with our spirit to thwart the enemy from planting doubt and unbelief into our hearts. Hope in God holds us steady in the storm and keeps us in a firm position while we watch for the promises of God to be realized in our lives.

For hope to be fulfilled change must happen and the key ingredient to change is risk. We have to be willing to let go of what we have or even what we think we know today for God to bring change and increase into our lives. Simply put- to see changes we need to make changes. We all want to see change but when it comes to making change we grab on like a bulldog! When we look at where we are as something we have attained, we will be more likely to try to hold onto it. But when we look at ourselves in all of our greatness as something God has brought us to, we are ascribing Him the glory and abasing, or humbling, ourselves will not be hard because we can trust God to make us all He has created us to be. We must get a vision for the future and where God has promised to lead us and not let where we are today skew our perception of where we want to be tomorrow. Don’t get stuck in the wilderness just because you have fresh manna raining down and water flowing from a rock every day. There is milk and honey like you have never tasted over in the Promised Land. Nothing is impossible with God when we put our hope and faith in God alone. The Lord tells us in the book of Proverbs that hope deferred makes the heart sick. Many of us have sick hearts because we are not willing to make the changes necessary to see our hopes fulfilled. Take a risk and trust God. They say doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is insanity. What changes do you need to make to see some dreams fulfilled in your life? There is great power when we change our lives and attitude to line up with God’s word and put our hope in Him!

But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you. ~Psalm 39:7 (NIV)

January 5th

What have you asked Him for?

But because Jesus lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood. Therefore, He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them. ~Hebrews 7:24-25 (NIV)

To be saved completely isn’t just a one-way ticket to Heaven. It encompasses redemption from every aspect of the curse and fall of mankind. God has reconciled us to Himself and restored to us all that He prepared for us before we were ever born. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross at Calvary that day was more than meets the eye. It was a master plan of an all-encompassing redemption including much more than we will ever comprehend. God says that no eye has seen, nor ear has heard, nor mind has conceived what He has prepared for those who love Him. Do you love God? Then you should be expecting unfathomable blessings and favor according to the Word of God. Jesus wants to help you today with whatever it is that you need. We are told in Mark 16:19 After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was taken up into heaven and He sat at the right hand of God. (NIV) Guess where Jesus is right now. You got it! He is at the right hand of God. The right hand of God is a position of power and authority.

The work Jesus did on the cross brought you into a right relationship with God, your Holy Father, but His work did not stop there. He tells us in His word the Jesus is making intercession for us. Intercession is an action. It’s the act of pleading or petitioning on behalf of another person. What is Jesus interceding for in your case? A stronger love walk? More faith? A better paying job? Healing? Jesus is interceding for whatever it is you have asked Him for as it lines up with God’s will for your life. The question is…what have you asked Him for? We are told in the book of James that we have not because we ask not. This very well could be one of the biggest areas where we as believers drop the ball. We go to our family and tell them about our needs and problems, or we go to our friends for advice but how many of us are going to God? Taking time to get a vision, dream big and petition the Lord is imperative to our success. When do you take the time to get before God and specifically ask Him to provide or intervene? We should not count on the Lord hearing us talking to everyone but Him about our concerns and then just step in because that’s not how God works. He is gentle; He doesn’t push His way into our lives, He wants us to come to Him and He wants us to come to Him in faith knowing that He is a loving Heavenly Father and believing that He is ever ready to intervene and show Himself strong on our behalf. If you went around the playground or the office telling everybody what a great dad you had and how much He loved you and bragged on all the wonderful things He did for you, do you think that would make him mad? Or do you think that would make his heart swell? Well, what are you saying about your Heavenly Father today? What are you saying to Him? No matter what the need, desire or burden is that you have today, whether great or small, turn it into a prayer. Take it to the Lord and ask for His help, He always lives to intercede for you!

And may these words of mine, which I have prayed before the Lord be near to the Lord our God day and night, that He may uphold the cause of His servant and the cause of His people Israel according to each day’s need.

~1 Kings 8:59 (NIV)

January 6th

God helps us overcome temptations

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. ~2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV)

The bible tells us all scripture is designed, furnished, and preserved by God to perfect the child of God. One of the biggest tactics of the enemy is to keep God’s children away from God’s word. If the enemy can’t keep you from learning what God has to say He will try to keep you from believing it. We have to believe God’s word in faith. We have faith in gravity and other natural laws of the universe that we are able to see and understand with our own human reasoning, but God and His word supersedes what we know or can reason in our own mind. God’s word is the foundation of our faith, and it is where we draw our authority by knowing who we are in Christ, and it is where we draw our power over the enemy. Scripture teaches we will overcome by the blood the Lamb and the word of our testimony. Our words must line up with God’s words in every area of our lives if we want victory in every area of our lives. But even more importantly those words that line up should be coming from a heart of knowing faith, not from our mind’s agreement to it. We read in Matthew 4:4-11 how Jesus fought every temptation the devil brought to Him in the wilderness with "It is written". Satan tempted Jesus with the same temptations that we are exposed to every day; the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. God promises us in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that He will help us overcome temptations and He has done that by providing His word and His Spirit in you to bring His word to remembrance. He says No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. (NIV)

If we do not know what God has to say or we do not believe what He says, we are not able to endure and overcome temptations. That means we will walk in defeat instead of victory. Living an overcoming life is what we are both blessed and called to do. If we do things God’s way, we walk in His blessing’s verses having to have a miracle around every corner. Spend time with God in His word and find out what He has to say about what is going on in your life. Jesus promised in John 14:26 the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. (NIV) When you fill your heart with the Word of God you are prepared to resist temptation because the Holy Spirit will rise up within you and remind you of the exact word from God that you will need to defeat the devil. We need to become proficient at defeating our enemy by Jesus’ power and authority so that we can help those around us do the same. Aren’t you tired of losing ground with bad habits and bad attitudes? You don’t have to be. God says He has provided supernatural weapons to help us walk in victory every single day of our lives.

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

~2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (NIV)

January 7th

Our call in Christ

Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. ~Ephesians 5:1-2 (NIV)

The world today has many different ideas about what love actually is. There have been songs upon songs written to try to define love from how it makes us feel to how it causes us to act, but contrary to popular belief love is not a feeling or an action. Those are by products of what love actually is. Love is a person. The bible teaches God is love. He is the real deal. He personifies love and Jesus is our example of God, in the flesh. Jesus demonstrated God’s love because He was love incarnate. Everything He did was in love from healing the sick to laying down His life for mankind. He was a giver and not just of His power and resources. He was a giver of Himself and His time. Nowhere in the bible does it teach that Jesus did not have time to demonstrate God’s love to anyone. He might have retreated to the mountains for rest and time with the Father, but Jesus was sinless. That means He never stepped off the love walk. Even in His anger and tearing down of the market they had turned the temple into, Jesus was loving the Father and loving those who were being led astray by the religious leaders of their time. His ultimate demonstration of love was to sacrifice His life on the cross for our sin to restore us to a right relationship with our Holy Father.

Jesus laid down His life for us and wants us to lay down our lives for others to be a witness for Him. He knows we aren’t perfect and that we step off our love walk every day, but the Lord takes the mistakes we make and turns them into lessons using them to polish us and make us shine. Are we doing the same for those around us? Or are we talking behind their backs or beating them up about what they can’t get right? God is the master of restoration and wants His children, who are also known as His ambassadors on this earth, to be masters of restoration. To love like Jesus did we have to make a decision and that decision is to sacrifice our will as a demonstration of our love for God and mankind. That is exactly what Jesus did for us and the bible teaches us it was a fragrant offering to God. Sacrificial love requires commitment. Commitment means making a choice to give up other choices. When we accept Christ’s sacrifice and ask Him to be the Lord of our lives, we are telling Him we will make a commitment too. When we make that commitment, He comes alongside us and helps us to become His disciples and obey His commands. 1 John 5:3 tells us "This is love for God: to obey His commands and His commands aren’t burdensome." (NIV) Are you a disciple of Jesus? If so, are you submitting your will to His and loving others sacrificially? Jesus said in John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this; that he lay down his life for his friends. (NIV) Human nature say’s love, preserve and take care of yourself, but when we become a child of God, we take on His nature. Commit yourself to bringing the love of God to a lost and hurting world. This is the great commission from our Heavenly Father.

You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.

~Galatians 5:13 (NIV)

January 8th

Hold firmly to the faith you profess

My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. ~2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NIV)

2 Corinthians 12 is where Paul discusses his infamous thorn in the flesh. There have been many speculations of what exactly Paul’s weakness or thorn in the flesh was. My grandfather used to tell me if that had been the important part of the chapter, God would have put it in there. He believed the message was not to find out what tormented Paul, but to discover what torments us and to come to terms with it. That’s what Paul did, he trusted the Lord that no matter what came his way, God’s grace was going to be enough. Paul believed that the more he was able to come to terms with His weaknesses, the more He would lean on God’s strength and the more He would see the power of God operating in His life. Therefore, when insults, hardships, persecutions and difficulties came his way, he was able thank God in them. What do you believe you are incapable of? That is a great place for faith to begin. If we could make it all happen ourselves, what would we need faith in God for? Yet that is how we act most of the time. You know you can overcome because you have already overcome so much. We grow from faith to faith. You might not remember overcoming your apprehensions and fears to get on the swing but the next thing you knew you were ready to start swinging higher. Overcoming fear and living by faith is our destiny as believers. When we step out in faith, receiving God’s peace and resting in His victory, we attract others to Him. That’s what the Lord meant when He said we must come to Him as a little child. We must come to Him with childlike faith! Do others see you living an overcoming life? If not, it’s not God who isn’t coming through. It’s your faith in God.

It’s time we see more of God’s power operating in our lives. It’s time we start believing that no matter what comes our way today, God’s grace will be enough for us to make it through. God knows all about our weaknesses even before we do, and He still promises His grace will meet us where we are and make up the difference for what we are not. I heard a pastor one time say that he had a man come to him who was having a difficulty with quitting smoking. The pastor told him every time he lit a cigarette to thank the Lord that He was helping him to quit. So, the man did. The pastor said it didn’t take long for the power of God to show up in that weakness for the man. We believe what we say. We put our faith to work when we confess our weaknesses and couple them with the understanding that God loves us and wants to help us become all He created us to be and to conform to His image. God’s power will show up in our lives every time if we will just trust that His grace is sufficient. Hold firmly to the faith you profess!

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet He did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. ~Hebrews 4:14-16 (NIV)

January 9th

An audience with God

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. ~Hebrews 12:11 (NIV)

Self-control or self-discipline is a fruit of the Spirit. It’s evidence that God is working behind the scenes in a person’s life. The Holy Spirit works alongside us coaching and comforting us as we learn to discipline ourselves. To discipline yourself means to choose your thoughts and actions carefully and it includes managing your emotions. God does not expect us to become robots, but He does expect us to be disciplined and disciplined by the guidance He gives us in His word and by His Spirit in every circumstance. We don’t have to accept or take every thought that pops into our head. If we did, we would be in trouble because there are millions of thoughts popping into everyone’s head every single day, thoughts of doom, death, and disaster. What is the first thing you think about when you hear an ambulance siren? Have you ever had to cast a thought down then? We have an enemy, and He is alive and well, but He is not in charge. In 1 John 4:2-3 the Lord teaches us This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. (NIV) In other words your thoughts need to line up with who Jesus is and the position that He holds. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to our Lord Jesus Christ. Do you believe that? It is imperative that you do to live a victorious life and to be disciplined by the Word of God.

Being disciplined by the Word of God is much harder during the storms of life or when our faith is being tried, but the rewards of choosing to do the right thing and trust God no matter what we face are indescribable. The Lord tells us in Hebrews 10:35 Do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. (NIV) Investor’s understand this principle. They know making a good financial decision at the perfect time can create a windfall. The same is true for our spiritual lives. Holding on to our faith when everything around us says we are going down or falling apart will get us an audience with God and open the windows of heaven. The bible teaches us in 2 Chronicles 16:9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong in behalf of those whose hearts are blameless toward Him. (AMP) Your heart is blameless toward God every minute of every day because of what Jesus did for you on the cross. We just need to show we believe that truth by acting like it! We are told in 2 Corinthians 10:5 take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ. To make your thoughts obedient to Christ you need to know who Jesus is and the office that He holds. We learn this by studying the word of God and then we choose our thoughts wisely because we know that our thoughts precede our actions. The only way to navigate through this world successfully is by progressively becoming more acquainted with God in His word. Don’t be the kind of person that only seeks after God when times get hard, that will only make it harder to get through the difficult times. Seek God every day and by His Spirit He will provide the wisdom you need to live a disciplined life.

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.

~2 Timothy 1:7 (AMP)

January 10th

Give God your morning

In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation. ~Psalm 5:3 (NIV)

David said God hears us in the morning, He hears our hearts as we wake. He knows our innermost thoughts as we begin to mentally prepare for our day. The morning should be our best time because we are rested and fresh and ready to take on what the new day has to offer. Many people claim they aren’t morning people, but before they start actuating that for themselves, they might want to look at what they are doing the evening before. When we eat right and are well rested, our mornings can be a wonderful time for us to spend with God and give Him the first part of our day. God calls it the first fruits. The first fruits are the most important because they are the tithe. The tithe is the first part or a tenth of all our increase. We can tithe our time just like we tithe on any other increase in life. It’s important that we stop and reflect on that principle because time with God is irreplaceable. Our time with God builds our faith and faith in God’s love and goodness towards us is way more precious than gold or anything else we could ever attain with our time. We are called to be holy and to be holy we must conform to the image of God and our lives must be regulated by His Divine Precepts (aka His Word). How is that ever going to happen if we never spend any time with Him or know what He has said?

When we are young, we don’t usually wake up in the morning thanking God for another day, but when we grow older…well that is a different story. The bible teaches with age comes wisdom. Being thankful for our time with loved ones and our time to be able to work and our time to make things right where we went wrong comes with age also. When we take the time to get in God’s word, read a devotion, listen to uplifting music or all the above, it enables us to put our best foot forward as we face all the opportunities and adversities that each day is sure to bring. Time with God will keep us from living the same defeated life over and over or worse yet going backwards! Our only choice as believers is to move forward so we should do it well and to do it well we need God’s counsel. The bible teaches us that Jesus got up early to spend time with God and pray. That fellowship gave Jesus the faith and God the opportunity to perform miracles that brought freedom and healing to those Jesus encountered throughout His day. We need to be available to God for those same purposes, don’t we? Jesus said in John 14:10 it is the Father, living in me, who is doing His work. (NIV) How is your relationship with God? How much effort do you put into hearing from Him? If you are born again, His Spirit lives in you and He wants to be a part of everything you do. It’s time we make a commitment to seek God’s wisdom and His will first thing every morning. Give God the first fruits of your time. He empowered Jesus to make a difference in this world and He will empower you to do that also if you will give Him the opportunity.

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed. ~Mark 1:35 (NIV)

January 11th

Take Heart

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. ~1 Peter 5:8 (NIV)

The Lord tells us that we are to be alert and of sober mind. A sober mind is vigilant, ready, and cautious. Do those traits describe your spiritual preparedness? Are you ready for trials and temptations? Have you made up your mind that you are going to overcome in every situation because the Lord is with you? Jesus said in this world we are going to have trouble. Plan on it and prepare for attacks from the enemy just like you would prepare for anything else you were sure was going to happen. Identify where he gets you off your rocker. Start looking for ways he steals your peace and causes you to doubt God. He attacks in our mind, through our emotions, in our bodies and through the words and actions of others. Scripture teaches the enemy has come to steal, kill and destroy. That is just the opposite of what the Lord wants to do in your life. Jesus says He came to give us abundant life. When was the last time you experienced trouble? It probably wasn’t too long ago! But there is good news. Jesus didn’t stop at telling us we were going to have trouble. He finished that statement by telling us to take heart because He had already overcome the world. Your victory in every situation has been secured. Isn’t it a whole lot easier to be prepared for the battle when you know going in you already have the victory? That is the promise Jesus made to us. We already have the victory. So, we need to take heart and be confident!

Taking heart is a whole lot more than talking the talk. We have to walk the walk. The Lord tells us in James 1:22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. (NIV) It’s not enough to just proclaim the word of God. We must apply it to our lives and live it. We have to believe it and then act upon it. If you believe Jesus’ word to you that you can take heart because He has already overcome everything you will ever face, then what are you worried about? We can’t run around saying God will help us and finish the statement with I just don’t know what I’m going to do. You aren’t going to do it, remember? It’s done! God tells us in Hebrews 6:12 imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised. (NIV) Patience is walking constantly and consistently in the faith that God is God and He has done what He said He would do no matter what everything around you looks like. Some people like to say it’s not letting your feathers get ruffled. How many times a day do you let your feathers get ruffled? Jesus said in John 14:1 Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. (NIV) Who is letting their heart get troubled? Who is letting their feathers get ruffled? We are! Jesus said, don’t let. How do we do that? We accept God’s word as truth, and we encourage ourselves and each other that it is going to be through faith and patience that we inherit the promises of God. You have the victory so stop magnifying your problems and start magnifying your God. Don’t let your feathers get ruffled, whatever you are going through, you are a child of the living God who always keeps His word. He has overcome the world, just for you and me!

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. ~John 16:33 (NIV)

January 12th

Has your communication

become corrupt?

Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. ~Ephesians 4:29 (KJV)

It’s easy to fall into a rut spending more time talking about others, their problems and even our problems rather than talking about the magnitude of possibilities that stimulate hope and minister grace to our hearers. Ephesians 4:29 is often quoted to discourage bad language, and although there should be no place for bad language in the life of a Christian, I believe Paul is talking about something much deeper when he refers to corrupt communication. Corrupt communication is dishonest, crooked, and distorted communication. Anything we say about ourselves, others, or the circumstances we see that is contrary to God’s word should be considered corrupt communication. When we say, God would never forgive me, that is corrupt, because God’s word says He forgives all your sins. When we say, I just can’t love that person, that is corrupt, because God’s word tells us the love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts. When we say, I don’t have enough, that is corrupt, because God’s word says He will meet our needs according to His riches in glory. When you look at your communication in light of what God’s word says we are all guilty of not trusting in what Jesus has done through His work on the cross and His resurrection. But that doesn’t mean we have to stay that way. We can choose to plant God’s word in our heart and let His Holy Spirit speak to us, guide us, and remind us of Gods perspective instead of speaking from our own. When we view our world from our own perspective, we see everything broken and crooked. But when we view the world from God’s perspective, we see His sovereignty in every situation.

Just like one corrupt file in a computer will prevent an entire program from working until it has been repaired, corrupt words that are contrary to God’s word coming out of the mouth of a believer must be repaired so that we can function properly. God wants us to use our mouths for mutual edification, not corrupt communication. The Lord tells us in Romans 14:19 Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. (NIV) This is not merely a suggestion, God takes our words seriously and so should we. By words the world was formed and by words your world is formed. Have you made every effort in your communication to do what leads to peace and mutual edification? Our conversations should encourage and promote peace and if we will listen to the Holy Spirit, He will prompt us to stop when our conversation takes a turn towards corruption. When someone comes to you and shares their sickness, share your healer! Before you share a hardship or a need with someone take it to God. Then when and if you find yourself talking about it you can confirm it is in God’s hands and encourage yourself and your listener of your faith in God’s ability and willingness to act on your behalf. You can remind yourself and others that you know God has heard your prayer and that you are trusting Him to bring to fruition all the hopes and dreams that He placed in your heart before you were ever born! David prayed in Psalm 141:3 Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips. (NIV) Ask God to set a guard over your mouth and bring faith and blessing with every conversation, not corruption.

The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, the heart of the wicked is worth little. ~Proverbs 10:20 (NKJV)

January 13th

It isn’t you sticking with God,

it’s God sticking with you!

But I say, walk and live [habitually] in the [Holy] Spirit [responsive to and controlled and guided by the Spirit]; then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh (of human nature without God).

~Galatians 5:16 (AMP)

Oftentimes we believe that if we have enough willpower, we can fight off every temptation that comes our way. But the truth is, sometimes willpower works and sometimes it doesn’t. Willpower is only our best friend when things are going well. For most of us, willpower tends to jump ship when we start getting weary. Have you ever noticed the easiest time to declare you are starting a diet is right after a big meal? That’s because there is no room for temptation when you are full. It’s like going to the grocery store hungry. Who doesn’t spend more because everything they see looks good? There isn’t any sense in even trying to stick to a plan when you go to the grocery store hungry. We have to face the truth about ourselves, and that truth is that our true strength does not lie in our own ability. When our mind and emotions gang up on our will, we need the Holy Spirit to win that battle. Our minds are proficient at formulating thoughts that can give us plenty of reasons why we shouldn’t do what we know we should and when our emotions step into agreement with our mind and start talking to us too, our willpower is doomed!

A person’s soul is made up of their mind, will and emotions. And our soul would love to run our lives, but the Bible says we are to be led by God’s Spirit. We are never told in God’s word to be willpower-led, we are told to be Spirit-led. Determination and willpower are necessary to a successful life, but alone they won’t be enough. Determination gets us started and willpower can keep us going for a little while, but those alone will not bring us through to success. Zechariah 4:6 says ’Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit’, says the Lord of hosts. (NASB) Don’t turn to willpower in your time of need, turn to God. His power can energize you for every commitment and help you to see it through. Have you ever started something and just couldn’t muster up the desire or motivation to finish it? That happens a lot when we take on a commitment in our own strength or in our own time. It also happens when we try to continue in something the Lord wants us to let go of. Sure, God will help us through, but wouldn’t it have been better to move with God than to lean on ourselves and our abilities? We all need someone a lot stronger and a lot more stable than ourselves to lean on every day to be able to accomplish all God has called us to do and that someone is the Holy Spirit. Subject your will to the Holy Spirit, let Him show you when, where and how. Allow patience to prevail. Don’t jump out ahead and don’t let your mind and emotions talk you into believing you can accomplish anything worthwhile in your own strength. God has equipped us for everything He expects us to do. He has given us His Holy Spirit. We need to follow Him. Commit today to lean on God and you will succeed in everything you do.

Not in your own strength for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure. ~Philippians 2:13 (AMP)

January 14th

Only God can redeem your time

If it is true that you look favorably on me, let me know your ways so I may understand you more fully and continue to enjoy your favor.

~Exodus 33:13a (NLT)

Time with God will change you from the inside out. It builds up your inner man and enables you to become a more joyful person. David says in Psalm 16:11 You fill me with joy in your presence. (NIV) When we spend time in God’s word, we find out who He is and what His desires are for us. We build our relationship with Him and come to know our heavenly Father more and more. That is the very thing the enemy is going to come against. He knows what time with God means in the life of a believer. It gives God the opportunity to teach us how to live an overcoming life. Time with God enables Him to show us that the dreams and desires of our heart were placed there by Him, and He wants to bring them all, every single one, to pass. Can you see why the enemy wouldn’t want you to spend time with God. When we are tempted to allow distractions to take away from our time with God, we have to remind ourselves that our time with God is an investment. David asked the Lord in Psalm 90:12 Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. (NIV) The bible refers to David as a man after God’s heart. We should be after God’s heart too. We should be seeking to maximize the time we have been given by walking with Him and seeking His wisdom for every area of our lives from our relationships to our jobs to our finances!

Time is a resource we have that we cannot get back. We can invest our time, but only God can redeem our time. When we experience God redeeming our time, we are experiencing a miracle. He can enable us to do more with less. He is able to restore the years that have been stolen! He redeems our time by turning chaos to order in our lives. He teaches us to become all He created us to be. The Lord says His word is a light to our path. Spending time with God should be of utmost importance to us. In this world we are dragged to and fro with all types of responsibilities and duties that only make a temporal impact on our lives. God wants us to learn to cultivate activities that are going to change our lives for the better and eventually help us encourage others to change their lives as well. None of us know how much time we have on this earth. We tend to take time for granted. Let’s commit to change that. Let’s commit to taking time today to evaluate what activities we are investing our time in. If those activities are not drawing us closer to God and His will for our life, we can be assured that they are not going to produce lasting results. Ask yourself if the opportunities to spend your time are divine or if they are a distraction. If you have become distracted, ask God to redeem that time. When God told Moses he had found favor in His eyes, Moses understood that God was telling him he could ask for anything his heart desired. Moses responded by saying that his heart’s desire was to become more intimately acquainted with God. Make that your heart’s desire today as well and you will be investing your time wisely.

With my whole heart I seek you; do not let me stray from your commandments. I treasure your word in my heart, so that I may not sin against you. Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes. ~Psalm 119:10-12 (NRSV)

January 15th

There is no freedom in making excuses

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. ~1 John 1:9 (NIV)

The word for sin in both Hebrew and Greek means to miss the mark illustrating that something is off target. When we sin, we get off target and miss the mark of God’s will for our lives and the only way we can get back on track is to confess our sins and come into agreement with the Lord. God tells us if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us of our sins. When we agree with God and admit our faults, He promises to forgive us and cleanse us of all unrighteousness. To be righteous is to be in right standing with God. Confession was designed for us, not God. It gets the proverbial monkey off our back and enables us to stand before God with a clear conscience in humility when we believe His word that through our confession we are cleansed of all unrighteousness. We cannot experience freedom in our relationship with God or with others if we make excuses for our wrong actions. But we can have ultimate freedom when we learn to walk in obedience. Jesus said in John 8:31-32 If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. (NIV) Holding to Jesus’ teaching is much more than knowing it, the truth sets us free when we apply it to our lives and live it! We need to stop arguing and reasoning with ourselves and the enemy about what God has said and start submitting to His truth.

Open honesty will always bring power to change. God loves it when we are open and honest, because that is true humility. It is the exact opposite of pride. When we try to hide or cover up our sin that is pride which eventually gets us into trouble. Don’t try to hide your faults or failures, go to God, and confess them. He knows all about them anyway and still says in Jeremiah 31:3 I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. (NIV) If you are tired of that nasty habit that the enemy is using against you to cause guilt that eats you up inside or if you are feeling condemnation and frustration with yourself for not being able to turn the other cheek in conflict or if you are drained from the fight and pressure of the devil throwing every single thing you have ever done wrong in your face then you need freedom, and God wants to give you that freedom when you come to Him and agree with Him that you need a Savior. Go to the Lord with your weakness and grab on to the promise with earnest expectation that He will "give strength to the weary and increase the power of the weak" (NIV) just like He told you in Isaiah 40:29. Stand before Him without a word. He wants to tell you that He doesn’t condemn you. He wants to assure you that there will come a day when your issue is not a struggle, that you will have freedom and healing from every single thing that the enemy is accusing you of. He said He would bring the good work He started in you to completion. Trust Him for that! God’s grace will enable you to make every change you need to bring the freedom Jesus died for you to have so grab onto hope in Him with both hands and trust in His perfect timing. Your righteousness has been established through Christ for eternity!

Where is another God like you, who pardons the sins of the survivors among his people? You cannot stay angry with your people, for you love to be merciful. ~Micah 7:18 (TLB)

January 16th

Be committed to your walk with God

Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. ~Daniel 6:10 (NIV)

Daniel had enemies who conspired to create a law in the land where he was living that stated he was only allowed to worship their king and their local gods. In that day, not obeying the law meant death. After the king signed off on the decree, Daniel had to make a decision. He could either continue to pray and worship God and trust Him with the outcome or adhere to the new law. Each and every one of us have antagonists that come against us daily that the enemy tries to use to hold us back from doing what the Lord wants us to do. The same was true for Daniel, who was living as an exile in a foreign country. But Daniel was committed to his walk with God no matter what the cost. Scripture tells us he got down on his knees and prayed and gave thanks to God three times a day. Daniel refused to compromise his walk, his worship and his time with God even when the consequences could prove to be grim. Eventually, Daniel was thrown into a den of lions, but the bible tells us in Daniel 6:22 that God shut the mouth of the lions and Daniel came out unharmed.

Our daily lives are filled with circumstances orchestrated to keep us from walking with God, praying and giving thanks to Him as well. Some of us have gotten too busy to make God a part of our lives, some of us are scared of what other people will think if we do and some of us are even mad at God because at one point or another, we believe He wasn’t there for us. All these excuses aren’t going to bring about the miraculous deliverance Daniel experienced. We are literally in no position to walk in bondage. We have been called to take the gospel to everyone we meet. If you know Jesus, then you have a commission. Sometimes that commission calls us to take some risks. The Lord tells us in Galatians 5:1 It is for freedom that Christ has set you free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened by a yoke of slavery. (NIV) Slavery occurs when we stop trusting in Christ and start trusting in our works. We are children of promise, heirs of Abraham and Sarah. God said kings will come from them and that means kings will come from us. Our descendants are their descendants, and we are a blessed nation. Abraham had one aspect of the covenant to fulfill and that was circumcision. The aspect of Gods covenant that we are now expected to fulfil is to love. We are told in Galatians 5:14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: ‘love your neighbor as yourself’. (NIV) When we walk in love we walk by the Spirit and our freedom is perpetual. God is able to guide us, and we are able to trust Him with our outcomes. Hold fast to God today. Don’t let anything come in between your relationship with Him or others. As you continue to pray and give thanks, trust Him as your deliverer.

The Lord said, "Surely I will deliver you for a good purpose; surely I will make your enemies plead with you in times of disaster and times of distress. ~Jeremiah 15:11 (NIV)

January 17th

Anchor your soul

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

~2 Corinthians 4:8-9 (NIV)

Life hurts, both directly and indirectly. Paul says, we are hard pressed on every side. Have you ever felt pressed on every side? How about crushed? Perplexed? We all do. Paul goes on to say that we don’t despair though. Despair means the complete loss or absence of hope. What a great God we serve. No matter what is going on in our lives we don’t have to despair. That is what separates us from the rest of the world when we are hard pressed on every side. It’s hope! We have a hope that many people do not know anything about much less understand and we have the ability to keep our hopes up because our hopes do not rest in what we can finagle in our mind or what we can finagle in our circumstances. Our hopes rest in the Almighty God who says in Jeremiah 1:5 Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart… (NIV) Scripture teaches our hope is an anchor for our soul. Our hope is what keeps us from being tossed to and fro by the storms of life. Is your soul anchored?

Anyone who has spent much time on a boat knows it’s not always as much how you drop the anchor, but where you drop the anchor that keeps you stable. The Lord says in Philippians 2:14-16 Do everything without complaining or arguing…then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. (NIV) Holding firmly to the word of life is how you anchor your hope. We anchor our hope in the word of God. It’s that rock that we need to hit to