Category: Devotions

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Daily Devotion

Resistance is Futile

“Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.” Jonah 3:1-2

It is pointless to ignore God. You can be thrown all the doubt, opposition, discouragement and disbelief in the world but God’s voice will be louder. Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us to “Trust in the LORD with all you heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.” Doing that alone will get you past anything you or someone else can say to you. Isaiah 54:17 says this in Amplified: “But no weapon that is formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall show to be in the wrong. This [peace, righteousness, security, triumph over opposition] is the heritage of the servants of the Lord [those in whom the ideal Servant of the Lord is reproduced]; this is the righteousness or the vindication which they obtain from Me [this is that which I impart to them as their justification], says the Lord.” Therefore condemn every voice that comes against what God has told you to do because we are to have faith and trust in God always; don’t allow yourself to be misguided by your own doubt and the fickle opinions of others. Because sometimes truthfully, other people’s responses could be out of jealousy, hatred, or just plain ignorance–I know for a fact because I have witnessed a lot of that lately!

I came to terms with this desire to serve God and just do whatever He asked of me shortly after my surgery. As I began to listen, things just seemed to happen that would serve to do everything but encourage what God wanted me to do. I doubted that what I was hearing was from God, and even found scriptures that I thought supported my decision to not go forward. But God kept calling, getting louder, sometimes even convicting me of what He wants from me. Two Sundays ago, I broke down and listened to the voice that told me to share my testimony and my calling. Even now, I have family (which I had been forewarned about) giving their opinion of what God has directed me to do. Rather than entertain their dissension—because they are only being used by the devil—I laugh because I wholeheartedly know that it is pointless for me to even give them a second thought. Even this past Sunday after hearing a sermon in which God was speaking directly to me, the only thing the devil kept playing in my mind was the part that served to act as a distraction and deterrent. But I resolved that I will listen to God and God alone and let Him lead instead of entertaining those that were not sent by Him. In the end, God will have his way whether you try to weasel out of it or not!

In the book of Jonah, we all know that Jonah openly and deliberately disobeyed God. At the opening of the story, God issues a decree similar to the one above and Jonah instantly flees in the opposite direction. (Jonah 1:1-3) God immediately set into place a series of events to cause Jonah to yield to God’s request: Jonah flees towards Tarshish on a ship and God causes the seas to be rough. Jonah admitted to the men on the ship that the cause of the storm was his fault for running from God; in turn he gets them to throw him over the ship and they turn to God and worship him. He is swallowed by the “great fish” and is kept there for 3 days until Jonah cries out to God. The fish throws him up on dry land and God again issues the above request. Jonah obeys, and then the people of Nineveh turn back to God and God forgives them.

Other prophets like Ezekiel experienced death threats, being outcast and ostracized by the people, and rejected altogether. But quite frankly, I’m more afraid of what God will do to get me to be obedient or what He can do if I do not…what about you???

“For the message God delivered through angels has always stood firm, and every violation of the law and every act of disobedience was punished.”
Hebrews 2:2

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Daily Devotion

Gain Peace by Praying for Your Enemies
 
"But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which spitefully use you, and persecute you;"  Matthew 5:44
 
 It took me praying for someone else for 7 days and I finally somewhat understood what this meant.  As you can recall, I encountered some difficulties last week.  But this morning my linesister sent out a scripture from Psalm on giving God the praise.  My own devotion said to shout praises to God, then the song I was listening to was saying to praise God.  So I shouted in my car, "Thank you God because I have the victory!"  See this morning, my supervisor returned to work and I had not yet spoken to him.  I prayed before getting out of my car that I had the victory and peace.  I sat at my desk and even as one of the maintenance staff walked in on me, I was praying that I had peace and that everything would work out; I said a special prayer for my supervisor.  About 5 minutes later, my phone rang for me to come over to his office.  So my anxiety increased, I started busying myself and had to calm down.  I called for prayer, prayed and I still had to calm down some more.  But I remembered my proclamation from earlier, that I already had the victory.  So I waited 2 hours later to go and talk to my supervisor.  And then God gave me some insight.  Through praying for my supervisor, I allowed myself to feel compassion as he told me things about his own family.  How his mother passed away with complications due to Parkinson's disease and how much she meant to him.  He told me of how his physically abusive father caused him to draw closer to her and his grandmother, who passed from colon cancer.  Then I knew why I had such difficulty to begin with, in relation to my getting permission to work from home to spend time with my father; indirectly, his own indifference to his father caused him to transfer those feelings–because every time I said something in relation to my father I would get a no.  It seemed like nothing I could say would change his mind.  But because God still reigns, I see the blessing God gave me in allowing me to spend time with my father; I was able to value every moment I had because of my supervisor's refusal to help me.  Now I won't have ill feelings towards him.  I was given a chance to get to know my dad with intentional focused attention and truly understand why he was the way he was; and in turn, love him more.  I was able to peel back the layers and the walls built over the years and truly draw close to my dad and in that one moment, realize that the time I had with him was precious and is something I will never forget; something my supervisor has not been able to have.
 
Praying for those that wrong you has a weird (DIVINE INTERVENTION) way of helping both parties.  In most cases, you may not get a swift action like that.  But truth be told, I had prayed for my supervisor before, just not consistently.  You have to consistently pray–1 Thessalonians 5:17 says NEVER stop praying–and make your requests known to God. (Ephesians 6:18, Philippians 4:6).  Even when the road seems dim and bleak, don't stop praying until God has brought His will to pass.  I allowed that anxiety to affect my sleep last Friday because I simply did not understand why my supervisor was being that way to me.  I had never wronged him, been offensive or anything.  Now, because I understand why he was the way he was to me, although it doesn't excuse the way he said things, I forgive him.  After our conversation, I left with peace because in spite of all of that, I knew that God had made me victorious by revealing what I had in my dad.  I would not have even gone into his office had it not been for God making it alright.
 
So folks, get that peace and get down on your knees and pray for that road block of a person in your life.  You never know how God may use you in that person's life or how that person may inadvertently help you.
 
"Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them!" Having said this, he fell asleep."  Acts 7:60
"BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD."   Romans 12:20