THE BATTLE BELONGS TO GOD

 IN THE BEGINNING...THE WORD
DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR TODAY, MARCH 5, 2013

THE BATTLE BELONGS TO GOD

And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.
 To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel.
  Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.
  And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping the LORD.
  And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with a loud voice on high.
  And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.
  And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever.
  And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.
  For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.
  And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped.
  And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much.
  And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah; for there they blessed the LORD: therefore the name of the same place was called, The valley of Berachah, unto this day.
  Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for the LORD had made them to rejoice over their enemies.
  And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of the LORD.
  And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries, when they had heard that the LORD fought against the enemies of Israel.

Our battles belong to God.  We don't need to dwell in strife or deal with contention.  We need only to set ourselves and see the salvation of the Lord.  He will conquer in His time.  When we sing and praise His Holy name He is delighted and will move on our behalf.  Surely, everyone around will see and know that God is moving, and that He is for us.

Today, Praise the LORD; the battle is the LORD's

STRONG AND CAPABLE

IN THE BEGINNING...THE WORD
DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR TODAY, MARCH 4, 2013

STRONG AND CAPABLE


And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?
  And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.
 them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?
  And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
  And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.
  Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt:
  And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey. Exodus 3:11-17

We must know that we are strong and capable of accomplishing any task that God sets before us.  "Certainly, I will be with thee," says the Lord.  Just as he spoke to Moses so many years ago, God is speaking to his covenanted people, his church.  God has a plan, a purpose and a destination for our lives, but we must run in the power and presence of I AM.  For I AM is the Creator; He is the Originator of all things in heaven and in earth.  I AM is all knowing and all present.  There is no one, no time, no place outside of His Authority.  Moses became strong and capable of delivering the children of Israel from the bondage of the Egyptians once he knew the strength and ability of I AM.

Today, we are strong and capable because we know the strength and ability of I AM.

" And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits." Daniel 11:32

LET THE RIGHTEOUS BE GLAD

IN THE BEGINNING...THE WORD
DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR TODAY, MARCH 3, 2013

LET THE RIGHTEOUS BE GLAD

To the chief Musician, A Psalm or Song of David. Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him.  As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yea, let them exceedingly rejoice.
Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him. Psalms 68:1-4

Let us stand upon these scriptures, and let us be glad.  God is in the midst of a great work and we shall be rejoicing before God; we shall exceedingly rejoice.
Today, be glad!

THE KINGS CAME AND FOUGHT

IN THE BEGINNING...THE WORD
DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR TODAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

THE KINGS CAME AND FOUGHT


 Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds, to hear the bleatings of the flocks? For the divisions of Reuben there were great searchings of heart.
  Gilead abode beyond Jordan: and why did Dan remain in ships? Asher continued on the sea shore, and abode in his breaches.
  Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death in the high places of the field.
  The kings came and fought, then fought the kings of Canaan in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; they took no gain of money.
  They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.
 The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength.
 Then were the horsehoofs broken by the means of the pransings, the pransings of their mighty ones.
Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the LORD, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the LORD, to the help of the LORD against the mighty.
 Judges 5:15-30

When there is a need, the noble person will respond.  There are always selfish reasons to look the other way.  You may have other things to do.  You may act as if you don't know or see what is going on.
Nonetheless, using incredibly profound language, Jesus rebukes the man who gave an excuse after receiving a call to service: "And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.  Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:60).

Today, be kings!

DEPART FROM ME, YE THAT WORK INIQUITY

IN THE BEGINNING...THE WORD
DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR TODAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2013

DEPART FROM ME, YE THAT WORK INIQUITY

 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.  Matthew 7:21-23

What is it about the "wonder working," "prophesying," "deliverance ministry" that comes under the judgement of the LORD?  In these verses in Matthew, the problem is clear.  "Have WE not...?" the false prophets ask.  They did their wonderful works in and through their own power, deceiving others and deceiving themselves.  How could they deceive themselves?  I think the show was so amazing, the costumes so incredible, the results so believable that they thought their works were God's works.  They spent more time recreating themselves then humbling themselves; the Holy Spirit can only operate through a broken vessel. 

 Have you seen the cape they may throw on, or the props they may use?  Have you seen the light show, or the music that works wonders?  It is all very captivating--unfortunately.  What a rude awakening these workers of iniquity will have when they come face to face with the true and living God.

It is a perfect time to embrace Grace.  Let us be determined to seek Christ Jesus and celebrate, study, accept His perfect work of redemption on the cross of Calvary. Let us allow His resurrection life to live within us as the Holy Spirit prepares us for good works and  eternal life with God. 

Today, let us do the will of the Father.  

HOLINESS BOASTERS?

IN THE BEGINNING,,,THE WORD
DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR TODAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2013

HOLINESS BOASTERS?

 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:Not of works, lest any man should boast.  Ephesians 2:8,9

They were standing there, telling me that they were Holiness.  "What does that mean?" I tried to inquire.  "We don't drink; We don't dance; We don't go to the movies; We don't wear makeup..." And on and on it went.  They were very proud, and that was the problem.  They had somehow convinced themselves that they were, by their works, sanctified and holy.  Something in their flesh needed to add a little more to the cross.  They needed to boast of their holiness. And that was the problem, too.  It was all theirs.   

But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. Isaiah 64:6

Today, GRACE!

LET LOVE RULE

IN THE BEGINNING...THE WORD
DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR TODAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2013

LET LOVE RULE

Quicken me after thy lovingkindness; so shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth.Psalm 119:88

Make me alive by your love, LORD.  Cause me to live through your goodness. Make love rule in my life.  Let me not be given to striving, desiring only the upper-hand. Let me have no part with dissemblers, who dismember the body of Christ.  Work in me so that I choose the servant's way. Yes, my LORD, quicken me after your lovingkindness, and I will surely keep your Word.

Today, let love rule!