April25

............	A Word In Due Season APRIL 2025 4/1/25 SALT AND LIGHT Scripture: Matthew 5:13 & 14 "You are the salt of the earth ... You are the light of the world." Our greatest purposes on Earth is to glorify our Heavenly Father. Jesus made a declaration of several godly characteristics that we are to maintain in our daily lives in order to accomplish that purpose (Verses 3-11). We call these characteristics the beatitudes. We are to be poor or humble in spirit, mournful or able to feel and be stirred, meek or teachable, hungry and thirsty for righteousness, merciful, pure in heart; peacemakers, and also have the ability to endure false accusations and persecution for righteousness' sake. Think of these "beatitudes" as the attitudes that we need to be. We are challenged on a daily basis to respond to life situations, and sometimes we may react differently than what Jesus set forth in the beatitudes. When this occurs we need to make an attitude adjustment and allow God to change our heart. Jesus taught that in all situations we are to react as He did and not as the situation demands because we are to be as salt to the earth. Salt causes thirst. When people see our responses and notice that our actions glorify God, it becomes like salt to them and makes them thirst for the inner peace and joy that we have. When we fail to display the examples that Jesus set forth, however, our lives become as salt that has lost its savor or saltiness. Jesus said that salt in this condition is good for nothing. When our lives do not have spiritual flavor, they become worthless and do not bring glory to God our Father. Jesus also said that we are to show forth His light in our lives. Our light is to shine in our own houses as we display a private and personal witness to those closest and nearest to us. Our light should also be as a light on the hill that shines before men who are in the market places and around the world. Yet, we cannot manufacture or create our own light. Our light will only shine as bright as the light of God's life that is within us. We have an awesome responsibility as we live before others. If we allow the salt in our lives to be compromised or fail to display the light of the Lord, it will be as though our witness is hidden under a bushel. Salt causes thirst and light draws men out of darkness. We must keep watch over our attitudes so that we can be the vessels that God has ordained us to be. When our life is as salt and we are full of God's light, our lives will glorify God and lead others to Him. +++ 4/2/25 THE LORD GIVES WISDOM Scripture: Proverbs 2:6 "For the Lord gives wisdom: out of His mouth comes knowledge and understanding." Someone once said, "Worldly wisdom is a futile attempt to know more and more about less and less until one finally learns everything about nothing." This may be true about worldly wisdom, but there is a higher wisdom that God gives. God's divine wisdom, knowledge, and understanding cannot be bought with money or obtained by mere human effort or ability. Instead, it is gained by hearing the words that come from the mouth of the Almighty God who is full of wisdom. True wisdom begins with having a reverent fear of the Lord. Proverbs 2:1-5 tell us that there are several things we must do to gain wisdom and emphasizes that "if" we do these things, "then" we will understand the fear of the Lord. We must search for wisdom as we would search for a hidden treasure, leaving nothing unturned. We must seek for it as silver, making every effort to obtain it just as we would do to earn a paycheck. This means putting pleasures aside and showing up at God's throne daily to seek His wisdom with diligence and energy. Our voice must cry out to God, expressing our desire for knowledge and insight. As God begins to share His wisdom and understanding, we need to incline our ears and pay close attention. We must receive His Words into our hearts and not become like those whom Jesus spoke about in the scriptures who have ears, but do not hear. God's Words must also go beyond hearing and receiving. When we hear and receive His Words, we must then apply our hearts to understand. We must allow God to direct our thoughts and minds so that we can make effective use of the wisdom that He shares with us. Finally, we must hide God's Words and wisdom in our heart so that they are there when we need them. Proverbs 4:8 declares that wisdom and understanding will preserve, promote, and bring honor to you. Others will notice wisdom in your life because it will be like an ornament of grace and a crown of glory upon you. Wisdom will also be life and health to all of your flesh. This is God's desire for you. Listen to God’s Words so that you may obtain His wisdom and then receive His promises that wisdom creates. +++ 4/3/25 GIFTS AND CALLING Scripture: Exodus 31:1-4 (NRS) "The Lord spoke to Moses: See, I have called by name Bezaleel ... to devise artistic designs ..." We recognize the name of Moses, a man who was chosen by God for a special work, which was to bring God's people out of their bondage in Egypt. This exodus and mighty deliverance was a journey that lasted forty years and everyday they experienced miracles, wonders and supernatural provisions. Yet, most of us would not recognize the name of Bezaleel who traveled with Moses and this entourage of millions of people. Because Bezaleel's name only appears a few times in the scriptures, we may think that he was insignificant, but the truth is that he was also chosen and called by God to do a special work. God not only called him but also filled him with His Spirit and gave him great wisdom, ability, and skill to construct the Tabernacle and everything that it contained. Bezaleel even made the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 37:1). We hear much about the Ark of the Covenant, but little if any about this man who actually made it. God was so particular with the design for the Tabernacle and the things within it that He called Bezaleel by name to make sure that he would be the one to devise the artistic designs. God chose Bezaleel and then validated his call and assignment to Moses. Can you imagine how Bezaleel must have felt as he left Egypt and wandered around the wilderness? He may have thought that his artistic gift would never be used again. Yet, God had a wonderful plan for him and used him to create beautiful things to be used in worship even in the midst of the wilderness experience. God commissions all of us for particular works and it is not our place to second-guess His choices. We may think that His gifts and calling only include the spiritual things like preaching, teaching the Bible, or being a missionary. Yet we see in this scripture that God also anoints artists for His purposes because God loves art and beauty. In fact, God paints every sunrise and sunset, which are new and fresh each day. He also creates the magnificent colors of the rainbow and the glorious silver lining behind the clouds. Even the beauty and wonders of the moon and stars at night are credited to His awesome artistic handiwork. God has gifts and callings available in every category of life and He can use the least of us for His glorious purposes for He is the artist of our souls. We need to prepare ourselves and be willing and obedient to answer when He calls. We must not allow our current circumstances or our lack to dictate our God ordained destiny. We must understand that God is in control and that His gifts and callings are without repentance (Romans 11:29). At some point, even in the desert wilderness or place of hopelessness, God will validate our gifts before others and He will call us out by name to do the work that He has designed for us to do. +++ 4/4/25 THE POWER OF HIS MIGHT Scripture: Ephesians 6:10 "Finally, my brothers, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might." Physical battles are not won when we are engaged with the enemy in combat. Instead, they are won long before we reach the battlefield. It is the preparation and training season that makes the difference in the outcome of any battle. If a soldier wants to be the victor in battle, he must become familiar with his weapon, understand the battle strategy, and know his enemy well. He must also be aware of his own strengths and weaknesses in order to be victorious over the strengths and weaknesses of his enemy. Spiritual battles are the same. They are not won as we are engaged in conflict with the enemy of our soul but rather when we are on our knees in prayer before the Heavenly Father. For it is only in the presence of the Lord that we are able to gain the strength that we need to conquer the enemy. Like the military soldier, we too must be familiar with our spiritual weapons. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they are mighty and with them we can pull down the strongholds of the devil. We must understand that our battle strategy, or fighting the good fight of faith, is "not by might, nor by power, but by the Spirit of the Lord (Zechariah 4:6)." We must also know the enemy of our soul well. He appears to us as an angel of light, but in reality, he is the spirit of deception, seeking whom he may devour as he comes to kill, steal, and destroy. Finally, it is important to be aware of our spiritual strengths and our spiritual weaknesses. The weakness within us will turn into strength when we rely upon the supernatural power of the Lord. What is your particular battle today? Is it in your health, finances, relationships, or in the workplace? Whose armor have you put on to engage in that battle? Are you relying on your own knowledge or are you putting on God's belt of truth? Are you standing in your own self righteousness, which is as filthy rags, or have your put on His breastplate of righteousness? Are you trying to work out your own solutions or are you walking in the Lord's shoes of peace and wearing His helmet of salvation? Or are you holding up God's shield of faith and using His Word as your sword of the Spirit? Your faith must be in God and not in yourself or your own abilities, for without the Lord, you can do nothing. Your only weapon is the Word of God, for it alone can stop the voice of the enemy. When we come to understand these things about spiritual warfare, we will become more than conquerors because we will realize that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. God supplies us with spiritual armor, but we must put it on. When we use what God has provided, we will be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. ++ 4/7/25 JESUS IS OUR DOOR Scripture: John 10:7 "Then Jesus said to them again, … I am the door of the sheep." The shepherd was a familiar figure in Jesus' day. He had many duties to perform but one of his main responsibilities was to protect his sheep from any harm. Shepherds allowed their sheep to graze in the open pastures during the day, but before the sun went down they gathered them into a safe place, which was called a sheepfold. After the shepherd had gathered all of his sheep into the sheepfold in the evening, he would lay his own body down across the entrance. This was a common practice amongst the shepherds. The shepherd's body became like a door, which guarded the sheep. Nothing could pass through the entrance of the sheepfold without going through the door, which meant that nothing could get to the sheep without first encountering the presence of the shepherd. Jesus spoke these comforting words to us because we are the sheep of His pasture. He lovingly cares for us in every way. He leads us into green pastures so that we can be nourished and beside the still waters so that our souls can be restored. He does not quit there, however. Instead, He is also our way into the Kingdom of God or our door into the sheepfold, for no one can come to the Father except through Jesus. Like the sheep inside the sheepfold, we may have no idea what is on the outside of the safety that our Good Shepherd provides for us. Yet, Jesus is aware of every peril that seeks to destroy us and He places Himself between us and all danger. We never have to fear the unknown because nothing can get to us without first encountering the Lord’s divine supernatural presence. We deal with doors every day and most of us check to make sure that they are secured when we go in and out. A few years ago, I had a door that was not very secure. It was safe as far as keeping the rain and creatures out of the house, but it was too old and worn to protect me in the time of real trouble. When the fierce winds of a hurricane came my way, the door could not fulfill its purpose. And even though it was locked and braced with a makeshift board, it still blew open as the raging winds of the storm passed by. The door that Jesus offers us is not like this, for He, Himself, is the door and He is faithful and dependable. His presence provides safety and security beyond our natural comprehension. The Lord is the Good Shepherd and He will not flee when the enemy attacks and He will not collapse in the midst of the storm. Even when facing the cross, Jesus willingly laid down His own life for us. It is a great assurance to know that we are safely hidden away from harm, for the Lord is our door and His presence is between us and any danger. This thought should give us sweet peace and destroy any terror in our soul. +++ 4/8/25 DREAMS WORTH LAUGHING AT Scripture: Genesis 18:14 "Is there anything too hard for the Lord?" God told Abraham and Sarah that they would have a son in their old age and both of them laughed when they heard the news. If God were telling the truth, this meant that Abraham would be 100 years old and Sarah would be 90 when the child was born. This news seemed too good to be true. God responded to their laughter by saying, "Is there anything too hard for the Lord?" Their natural situation had become impossible for them to have children, but the scriptures declare that "the things which are impossible with men are possible with God" (Luke 18:27). Abraham and Sarah were not dealing with medical science but with the almighty God who had created all life. If this miracle working God had made Adam from the dust of the earth and then created Eve from Adam's rib, surely He could perform a miracle for them. For nothing is too hard for God. God also asked Jeremiah the same question that He asked Abraham, "Is there anything too hard for Me?" Jeremiah declared, "Behold, You have made the heaven and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You" (Jeremiah 32:17, 27). If we could just believe like Jeremiah that "nothing is too hard for God" and expect miracles from Him, we would see great and mighty things happen in our lives. However, we often look at the promises of God's Word and then look at our lack and our difficult situations and we feel that the promises are impossible for us to obtain. Big dreams will not come to pass in the natural unless they are envisioned in the spirit. God desires to plant a dream and a vision in your heart that is so big, that like Abraham and Sarah's promise, it is worth laughing at. God wants you to attempt something so great that unless He intervenes, it is bound to fail. You must give God something to work with. Dream a big dream and hold on to it. Remember that nothing is too hard for God if you believe in Him because God deals with impossibilities. +++ 4/9/25 HIDDEN IN GOD Psalms 31:20 "You shall hide them in the secret of Your presence ..." God makes the provision of His presence available for those who fear Him and trust Him. This is a precious promise and true at all times, but we often do not realize it until we face the most difficult seasons of our lives. When we are desperate and find ourselves separated from all human props and are forced to lean only upon God and God alone, His presence becomes very clear. God takes away our treadmill of existence, our schedules and routines, and our set patterns of thinking. He brings us into a new mysterious place where we are unable to analyze and calculate our efforts and plans. All of our old thoughts fall to the side, and with no human direction, He brings us into a place of total surrender. All we know is that God is with us, leading us, and that we must stay close to Him to survive. In the hardest of places, God makes His presence known and we discover His sufficiency and greatness. In the dry barren desert, we find that He is The Living Water who will quench our thirst. In our spiritual famine, He is the true Manna and The Bread of Life. In the midst of all of our confusion and darkness, He manifests Himself to us as The Way and The Light. In material need, He is Jehovah Jireh, our provider. In sickness and disease, He is our Healer and River of Life. In danger, the Almighty God covers us with His feathers and hides us under the shadow of His wings. For every need, He is our Fountain of Miracles. These truths are real, but there are conditions to finding and experiencing God's presence. For God to hide you in His presence, it is necessary for Him to separate you from your distractions and isolate you to Himself. This is a hard season, but when you find that you have nothing to hold on to, He becomes more precious than silver and gold. He becomes your life and all that you will ever need. You come to discover that His very presence is your survival kit. As you search diligently for God, He allows you to find Him. When you knock, He graciously opens the door and invites you to come in to fellowship with Him. When you draw near to the Lord, He draws near to you. This is His promise. He surrounds you with His love and draws you closer into Himself. He is the God of all comfort and He is always near to hide you in the secret place of His presence. +++ 4/10/25 WAITING FOR GOD TO MOVE Scripture: Numbers 9:22 "Whether it was two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried ... the children of Israel ... journeyed not." God led the people of Israel through the wilderness with a cloud during the day and a pillar of fire by night. This cloud and fire assured them of God's presence and His protection from the Egyptians. Yet, they never knew how long the cloud was going to rest in one spot or when it was going to move again. They had to be ready to obey God's sign of guidance and move when He moved and stop and wait when He became still. This must have been a test to their faith and patience because it is easier to trust God when things seem to be moving and we can see something physical happening. Today, we live in a very fast paced world. Everything is drive through, fast food, and microwave. Our time is limited and we feel like we do not have moments to waste. We become very anxious when we have to stand in long lines or wait on anything, and waiting on God is no exception. Can you imagine Israel's plight? They were on a journey that should have lasted eleven to fourteen days, but they limited God and He kept them waiting on Him. After forty years, their waiting must have become very frustrating to them. This is a picture of our own life. Jeremiah 29:11 tells us that God has good thoughts towards us, to give us a future and a hope. However, to reach God's divine purpose and fulfill His perfect plan, we can only move at His command. We must follow as He leads, one step at a time, regardless of whether that means to go forward for a season or to stay completely still until God moves again. In either case, it is often difficult. When God says, "Go," we fear moving into the unknown. And when He says, "Stay," we become anxious and our faith begins to falter because we cannot see anything happening. Today, we do not have a visible cloud to lead us, but we have the witness of the Holy Spirit of God. Faith takes action, but faith often has to wait. If we want to experience God's greatest plan for us, we must move as we sense His presence moving and wait patiently on Him when He tarries whether it be days, months, or years. +++ 4/11/25 PUT ON THE NEW MAN Scripture: Revelation 1:5 "Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood." We can do nothing to wash our own sins away except to come to Jesus and "confess with our mouth that He is Lord, and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead" (Romans 10:9). However, once we have confessed our sins and have been washed in Jesus’ precious blood there are things that we can do to stay clean. Can you imagine putting your dirty clothes back on after you have taken a refreshing shower? The dirty clothes would cause you to still look and feel unclean. The Apostle Paul tells us that if we have been born again, we are a new person. We have been raised to new life through Christ Jesus and we are to set our minds on the things above and think differently. Once cleansed by the blood of Jesus, we are not to go back and put on the old filthy deeds that oppose the will of God in our lives. Paul lists these deeds in Colossians 3:8-9 and says, "Put away and get rid of all the old ways such as anger, rage, bad feelings toward others, curses and slander, foul mouthed abuse, and shameful utterances. Do not lie to one another, for you have stripped off the old unregenerate self with its evil practices." We are not to even consider putting these things back into our cleansed lives. Putting dirty deeds over a cleansed heart would be like putting dirty clothes over a cleansed body. The unclean sinful ways destroy our witness and testimony for Christ because people are not able to discern that we have been born again. Our outward sinful and unclean nature hides our cleansed and reborn spirit. We are to put on the new man, or to "clothe ourselves with the new spiritual self ... after the image and likeness of God" (Colossians 3:10). The next few verses tell us what our new spiritual clothes are to be. We are to put on behavior that is marked by tenderhearted pity and mercy. We are to be kind, gentle, and patience. We are also to be long suffering and have the power to endure whatever comes, with a good temper. We are to have a lowly opinion of ourselves and be ready to pardon and forgive others as Christ forgave us. Above all, we must "put on love...and let the peace of God rule in our hearts." The Apostle Paul speaks the same message in Ephesians 4:22-32. He says that we are to put off our former nature and old self, and we are to put on the new nature that has been created in God's image. Jesus redeemed and washed us on the inside with His blood but we are the ones who have to decide to put on the new nature that has been provided for us. +++ 4/14/25 PREPARING FOR GOD'S PLAN Scripture: Hebrews 11:7 "By faith, Noah being warned of God ... prepared an ark ..." In the book of Genesis, we find that God became very discouraged about the things that were taking place on Earth. In fact, Genesis 6:6 says, "It repented the Lord that He had made man on the Earth, and it grieved Him at His heart." For this reason, God decided to destroy man and every living creature, except for one man named Noah and his household because Noah was righteous in his generation and had found grace in the eyes of the Lord. When God chose Noah, He chose a man that walked with Him and a man who was just and blameless among the people of his time. Noah was also a man that dared to be different. He followed God when it did not make any sense. Noah did not worry about what other men thought about him as he made provision to build a huge ark, hundreds of miles from the water. Noah boldly spoke God's words and warned of a flood that would come even though rain had never fallen before upon the land. He obediently cooperated with God's plan. God said, "This is what I want you to do and this is the way I want you to do it." God gave every measurement and provided every detail, and Noah did everything according to God's instructions without question. It took Noah 120 years to prepare for God's plan, but he persevered until the ark was finished. Noah was not just involved, he was fully committed to God's plan. It made no difference to him whether he understood everything or not. He had a reverential fear of God and was determine to be prepared for God's great plan and to fulfill His purposes. There were no gray areas in Noah's faith. It did not matter to him how long it took or how old he became, he just continued to prepare for the destiny that was set before him. Noah trusted God in all things. God is still looking for that characteristic in men today and when God finds that kind of commitment, He commissions a work. He takes ordinary people and does extra ordinary things in and through their lives. When God imparts His hopes and desires into our hearts, they are designed to complete His purposes. Like Noah, we must dedicate ourselves to prepare for the destiny that is set before us whether we understand God's ultimate plan or not. For when the moment arrives, God can and will only use those who have obeyed His voice and taken the time to prepare according to His words. +++ 4/15/25 TRUSTING GOD IN TIMES OF TROUBLE Scripture: Psalms 121:1 "I will lift up my eyes unto the hills from whence comes my help." The psalmist speaks of the blessings and help that come from God when we place our trust in Him. He says that God will keep us stable in all situations, whether by day or night, for the same God that led Israel out of Egypt with the cloud by day and the fire by night is also watching over us. This almighty God who is the maker of the Heaven and Earth never slumbers or sleeps. He constantly watches to guard us from the enemy and to preserve our body and soul wherever we are and wherever we go. In times of trouble, there is a special hill that we can look to for all of the help that we need. It is the hill called Mt. Calvary where Jesus suffered and died for you and me. When we have grief and pain, we can look to that hill because it was there that Jesus carried our sorrows. "He was stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted." Isaiah 52:14 says, "His appearance was so marred" that He could hardly be recognized. Jesus was also a man who was despised and rejected by other men and He was acquainted with much grief (Isaiah 53:3-4). We can also look to this hill called Mt. Calvary for our spiritual cleansing and salvation because it was there on the cross that "Jesus was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities." As we look to this hill we can find peace and well being, because as Jesus bore the crown of thorns upon His brow, the "chastisement of our peace was laid upon Him." Through the anguish that Jesus suffered, He provided us with a glorious peace that passes all understanding. When we have physical ailments, we can look to Him for our healing, for on the way to Mt. Calvary, He was beaten and scourged. Scripture tells us that because of the thirty-nine stripes that Jesus bore in His own flesh, we are healed. This hill is also a special place of refuge when we are facing great difficulties and unstable situations. On this hill "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by being made a curse for us" (Gal. 3:13). Obey the instructions of the psalmist and lift up your spiritual eyes and look. You will not only see the hill called Mt. Calvary, but you will see Jesus, the Son of the Living God, who is your help and your only hope. Be blessed, for with His own life, Jesus paid the entire debt that you owed. +++ 4/16/25 THE SECRET OF PEACE Scripture: Philippians 4:6 "Be anxious about nothing." The Word of God gives us clear instructions about keeping our hearts and minds at peace. It tells us that if we would pray about everything that the peace of God would prevail in our lives (Vs. 6-7). The secret of peace is having faith in a faithful God, yet we find this difficult at times. It seems that we can exercise more faith in the natural things than in the Almighty God who created them. For example, we place more faith in the postal system than we do in our own prayers to God. We mail precious documents, checks, and sometimes even cash with great faith. We put these items in a paper envelope, which is not very secure and place a stamp on the outside that is worth only a few cents. We then put the envelope in the mail and totally commit our unguarded letter to the postal service. It may change hands hundreds of times as it travels thousands of miles across the nation or around the world. Yet, rarely do we consider that it may not arrive at its destination still intact. We have used the system so often that we assume that it will not fail. God wants us to develop this same kind of faith in Him and to know that He hears us and that He will answer our prayers. We must come to the understanding that even though prayer is a mighty force, it is still as simple as mailing a letter. When the requirements are met and the prayer is released, we can expect it to reach its destination and bring results. It may take some time as God works on our behalf, but we are not to give up or to think that He never received our petition. God set up this system called prayer and He is well able to oversee it. We just need to believe that God hears us when we pray and that prayer brings results. When we pray, we must exercise faith for our necessities and believe that we will be delivered from every adverse situation. We are to cast every care upon the Lord, once and for all, and expect Him to answer. A peace that passes all understanding will come to us when we make our request known unto God because when we share with Him, He becomes our partner. God truly does care for us and we are not to be anxious about anything. Worry is forbidden by our Loving Heavenly Father and it reaps no benefits, but a prayer spoken to Him in faith brings results and ushers in peace. +++ 4/17/25 AN ENCOUNTER WITH A HOLY GOD Scripture: Exodus 3:4 "And when the Lord saw that Moses turned aside to see, God call unto him out of the midst of the bush, Moses, Moses..." Moses was tending his father-in-law's flock on the far side of the desert. As he carried on his normal duties, the Lord appeared to him in the midst of a burning bush, yet the bush was not consumed by the flames that engulfed it. When Moses saw that the bush was on fire, he said, "I will turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burned up." Moses made a decision to forfeit his normal duties and schedule so that he could give full attention to what was happening. He laid aside every distraction in order to investigate this phenomenon. When God saw Moses' response, He began to talk with him and even called Moses by his name. Like Moses' experience, many times God intervenes in our life and tries to draw us close to Him. God may not set a literal bush on fire to get our attention or speak audibly from a flame, but He is there just the same, expending His energy as He makes an effort to communicate with us. He wants to share His sovereign plan, but does not speak until He knows that He has our full attention. He waits to see our response and watches to see if we will turn aside and come into His presence. God loves us so much and has so much to say. Yet, even though we sense His tender wooing, we very often neglect it. We allow other things to take precedence like a television program we want to see, a friend we need to visit, or some project we need to finish. Life is too busy and we fail to give attention to God as we should. The most significant encounters with God are those when He chooses to intervene in our lives in an effort to reveal Himself to us in a personal way. He comes to us because He has something to say. For a brief moment, God gives us the opportunity to approach Him and to stand in His presence on Holy ground. All we have to do is respond to His simple wooing, and when we do, His voice shakes the very mountains of our life. Yet, many times we miss this awesome opportunity to commune with the Lord because our hearts postpone His plans. We seek for a more opportune time and make plans to go to our prayer closet when it is more convenient for our schedules. We fail to realize that it is not the power of the closet, but the power of God when He reveals Himself in the closet. For Moses, it was never the bush; it was God in the bush. It was not the flames of fire that engulfed the bush, it was God's Holy Spirit burning, yet never consuming. The ground around the bush was not holy in itself. It was sanctified and made holy by God's holy presence. If you want to hear from God, you must not only seek for Him, you must respond to Him on His terms. I encourage you to turn aside at the Lord's bidding whenever and wherever it may be and allow Him to be God over your life. He will speak when He sees you turn toward Him, and He will sanctify and make holy the place and the moment. +++ 4/18/25 FORSAKEN BUT NEVER ALONE Scripture: II Timothy 4:16-17 "All men forsook me ... but the Lord stood with me and strengthened me." Knowing and serving God is a one-on-one personal endeavor. It is an individual life of obedience to the Father. Although we may worship with others, our personal relationship with the Lord is never a group effort. Very often it requires standing alone in our convictions and following the Holy Spirit when no one understands. Like the Apostle Paul, many voices may rise against us and our closest friends may forsake us when God begins to deal with us. As we follow God, the reasons for our actions may be questioned and our motives scrutinized. Simply standing in the midst of this adversity will become a test of our faith. Then, as we choose to follow God instead of giving in to the opinions of others, we usually find ourselves rejected and standing alone. This is the price of servanthood and the cost of freedom. Oswald Chambers wrote, "A servant of God must stand so much alone that he never knows he is alone." We must become so accustomed to this place of solitude that we do not think of it as being strange. It becomes our lifestyle. Like the eagle that soars alone, solitude must become our comfortable place. We must know that God is with us, for He has made a commitment to never forsake us or leave us alone. Paul knew very well how it felt to experience this place when he was beaten, stoned, and imprisoned. Yet, he never allowed these places of solitude to disillusion him or cause him to give up. When all men forsook him, Paul knew that God was standing with him and he found renewed strength in that belief. Even Jesus' Disciples abandoned Him in a crucial hour. When Jesus was taken from the Garden of Gethsemane, all of His disciples forsook Him and fled (Mark 14:50). Judas had openly betrayed Him. Yet, it seemed that at least one of the remaining eleven disciples would have chosen to stay by Jesus' side. After all, they were His closest friends. Even those that He had healed or delivered did not come to His rescue and the thousands that He had fed when He multiplied the loaves and fish were nowhere to be found. Instead, Jesus was despised and rejected of all men and forced to stand alone when it came time for Him to fulfill God's plan. Like Jesus, our passion must be fueled by God's will and His purposes for our lives, regardless of who it may separate us from or where it takes us. We can be sure that when all men forsake us, the Lord will stand with us and strengthen us. We must abandon ourselves to God and take refuge in His presence so that the greatness of His being can be birthed within our souls. +++ 4/21/25 TRULY PERSUADED Scripture: Romans 8:38-39 "For I am persuaded ... that nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Our relationship with the Lord is special. So our steadfast commitment to Him is very important and our love towards Him is to be complete in every way. He must be the Lord of all and must own every parcel of our heart. In fact, the scriptures tell us that we are to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, with all of our soul, and with all of our mind. There is to be no place in our lives that shuts out the Spirit of the Living God, for we are His temple and His abiding place. Likewise, we can also have an absolute confidence in God's love and commitment to us, for He loves us in every way that He requires us to love Him. In fact, He loved us so much that He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus, so that we could be redeemed. Then, His Son sacrificed His own life on the cross for us. This sacrificial love was the love of God that was manifest in Christ Jesus our Lord. Because Jesus loved us so much that He willingly gave His life for us, we can be assured that He will never leave us or forsake us. He is our Savior and Lord. He is also our fortress in trouble, our healer in sickness, our comforter in grief, our provider, our shelter from the storm, and our friend who sticks closer than a brother. The list is infinite, for He declared Himself to be the 'I AM.' This means that He is the All Sufficient One. The Lord is whoever we need Him to be or whatever we need Him to be. The Lord loves us with an everlasting love and regardless of what happens in our lives, we can be persuaded that nothing and no one will ever be able to separate us from His great love. Life is not a one time event, but a series of experiences. As I look back, my life is much richer because of my own personal life experiences. It is true that things were not always easy and circumstances were not always good, but in the midst of it all I discovered that God's Word really is true and that all things do work together for good. There have been many disappointments and times of total despair, but they taught me that God is the healer of the broken heart. There was a long season of hopelessness in my life, but during that season I learned that God never gives up. When I was down, He lifted me up and helped me to be able to endure to the end. There have been times of physical pain and financial lack, but I found that God's grace was always sufficient for me. He never allowed more upon me than I could bear. There were places where the shadows of death dominated my life, but the Lord never left me alone. Instead, we walked together through those dark valleys. In the end, my strength has been increased by the challenges that I have faced. My faith in God's promises has grown stronger because I had to believe His Word to make it through every trial. My trust in God has been established and is now unshakable because I found that I could truly and totally depend upon Him at all times. My wisdom has increased because I have discovered that I do not have to lean upon my own understanding. God knows more about me and my situation than I do and His ways and thoughts are much higher than mine. My compassion for others has grown deeper because of the trials and adversities that I have passed through. I know the anxieties of their hard places. My empathy for them is also greater because of the things that I have suffered. I can now actually feel their pain and understand their grief. I have not always understood everything that was happening in my life, but I have seen the unfailing faithfulness of the Almighty God. And like the writer of this scripture, I have also come to be persuaded that nothing and no one will ever be able to separate me from God's incredible love. +++ 4/22/25 COMFORT IN DISTRESS Scripture: Psalms 119:50 (NRS) "This is my comfort in my distress, that Your promise gives me life." When distress comes into your life, and it will, you can find comfort in God's Word. Isaiah 40:8 tells us that "the grass will wither and the flowers will fade, but the Word of the Lord shall stand forever." God's Word is eternal. It never withers and never fades away. In the midst of conflict, His Word remains stable and unmovable and in every circumstance, it refreshes the soul and revives the spirit. There is life in every word that God has spoken and there is hope in every promise that He has made. The scriptures were written for our learning and instruction and it is through the patience and comfort of these Words that we have hope (Romans 15:4). Job was a man who suffered many afflictions, yet despite the pain, he never denied the Words of the Holy God. Job found much comfort as God spoke to him, and he determined that even if God were to slay him, he would still trust God. Even in the face of death, Job trusted God and found comfort in His promises. David also declared that he had hid the Word of God in his own heart so that those Words would keep him from sinning against God. Words themselves are very meaningful and God's Words are powerful. If you want to be rescued from temptation and comforted in the times of affliction, you must learn the scriptures. You must also store the Word away in your heart in the same fashion that David did and trust in the Word as Job did. Establish a Word account in your heart just as you would establish a bank account for your finances. As with a bank account, you cannot draw God's Words from your heart if you have not deposited them there. Neither can you find comfort in His Word if you have not learned what the scriptures teach. You must memorize and hide God's Word and promises in the secret chambers of your heart so that you can be refreshed and revived as the Spirit of God quickens His Words to you. If you do not consume God's Word on a regular basis, you will suddenly find yourself overdrawn with nothing fresh to lean upon. With your Word account depleted, you will lose hope, become discouraged, and suffer defeat. In these stressful times, you cannot allow that to happen. God's Words are guaranteed to give life and designed to give light. Allow Him to plant them deep within your soul so that you can find hope and experience comfort in the seasons of distress. +++ 4/23/25 DISPOSSESS IN ORDER TO POSSESS Scripture: Numbers 33:53 "You shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it." God led His people out of Egypt with a great promise. He told them that there was a land before them that was exceedingly rich. In fact, He said that it flowed with milk and honey. God gave this Promised Land to His people, but they had to go in and possess it themselves. This meant that before they moved in and took over, they had to dispossess the inhabitants that were already living there. To make matters worse, some of the inhabitants were giants and some of the cities were surrounded with walls. The challenge looked fierce, but God promised to go with them and fight for them. We have many promises from God that are written in the scriptures. These words are exceedingly rich and they cover everything that we will ever need. God's blessings are waiting to be possessed. Yet with every promise, there comes a challenge. There are giants that must be overcome and there are walls that must be torn down. These strong forces are not easy to dispossess, but we can trust God to be with us each step of the way. He wants us to possess the blessings that He has made available. We must be steadfast in our efforts and remember that when the giants get too big and the battle gets too rough, the Lord will fight for us. For every promise that God gave to us, He gave us an instruction on how to possess that promise. He told us that He wanted us to prosper and be in health, even as our soul prospers (III John 2). If we want to live in God's hope for prosperity in our lives, we must dispossess the spirit of poverty that resides in our soul. Dispossessing poverty comes by obeying God's Words concerning our financial means. The scriptures teach us that we must work hard, be wise and frugal with our funds, and share with others by giving tithes, offering, and alms. If we want to possess good health, we must obey God's laws that concern our physical bodies. Good health does not come without responsibility. We must eat right, get plenty of rest, exercise, and deal with stress in the proper manner. We cannot possess health until we dispossess the bad habits that plague us. If we want to remain pure and holy before God, we must dispossess the ungodly thoughts that linger in our minds that would lead us to commit sinful acts. At the first sign of temptation, we must resist the devil and flee. If we want to possess peace in our lives, we must dispossess strife and disallow division to rule and reign in our hearts. If we want to overcome addictions, we must dispossess them by refusing to give in or to give up. We must cast down imaginations and every thought that exalts itself against the spirit of Christ so that we can be transformed into His image. The Promised Land is ours for the taking, but we must be like Joshua and Caleb. We must have faith in God and voice our victory before the battles begins. With God's help, we will be able to possess the land, for He is bigger than any foe that needs to be driven out. The plan is simple. Dispossess the enemy so that you may possess God's promises. +++ 4/24/25 MORE IMPORTANT MATTERS Scripture: Matthew 23:23 (NIV) "You have neglected the more important matters of the law --- justice, mercy and faithfulness." Jesus spoke boldly to the religious leaders of His day and condemned them for strictly adhering to the law but not taking care of the more important matters. They were indeed paying their tithes, even on the smallest of herbs, but at the same time they were neglecting the law of justice, mercy and faithfulness. Their good works were only done so that they could be seen by others. They distorted their faces to announce that they were fasting and would sound trumpets in the streets when they gave their gifts to the church. Yet, they had no mercy when it came to those in true need, for they took financial advantage of the widows and neglected to care for their own elderly parents. In their hearts, the religious laws were far above the spirit of love, mercy and grace. They made no exceptions to the law even when exceptions were necessary so that the goodness of God could be presented to the people. They even found fault with Jesus when He healed people on the Sabbath day because they were bound by the law of the Sabbath. Jesus, on the other hand, was unlike these religious leaders. Although He taught the scriptures in the Synagogue, spent time with the doctors and lawyers, fasted, prayed, and did the other spiritual things that they did, He never allowed Himself to get bound up with the religious laws. He did not condemn the law but He came to fulfill it, and through His awesome works He displayed love, mercy, faith, and compassion to those who were hurting. He did not move away from the woman with an issue of blood when she touched Him although the law said that she was unclean and that it was a transgression for her to be in public. Jesus did not condemn the woman caught in adultery or the woman at the well who had been married five times and was now living with a man who was not her husband. Instead He brought forgiveness, healing, and restoration to these women. Jesus also dined and fellowshipped with the tax collectors and thieves in order to win them to God. He even chose unlikely and imperfect men to follow Him as His Disciples in ministry. Jesus' destiny was not cheap. It came with the great price of His life. So while He was here on Earth, He used His time and efforts wisely and paid attention to the more important matters of life. Jesus cared for the needs of people. He strengthened the weak, fed the hungry, healed the sick, and taught the scriptures to the meek. He came to serve and not be served. Jesus has given us the same mandate and commissioned us to do the same works that He did. We are to follow the laws of the land and obey the laws of God, but like Jesus, we too are to give heed to the more important aspects of the law. We are to love the unlovely and lift up the fallen. We are not to neglect the true needs of people, but instead we are to respond in love by fulfilling the law of justice, mercy, and faithfulness. +++ 4/25/25 HELP IN THE TIME OF NEED Hebrews 4:16 "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in the time of need." God's promise of mercy and grace for the time of need is offered to each one of us individually. Under the old covenant, the priests were the only ones who could enter into the Holy of Holies and they could only do that once a year. When Jesus was crucified the veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom signifying that every believer could go into the Holy presence of the Lord. No longer did they have to depend upon their priest, for they were provided direct access to God through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. The writer of Hebrews now tells us that we not only have the privilege to approach God but that we can do it with boldness and without fear and trembling. Whatever you are facing today, God gives hope in all situations. He offers you healing, prosperity, forgiveness, and blessings in many other areas. These provisions of God are not only sufficient, but they are also personal. God wants all of your needs met. We would fill up many pages if we began to list all of the good things that we know God has in store for us. Yet, Ephesians 3:20 tells us that His bounty is beyond our knowledge. It says that God is able to do exceeding abundantly more than we could ask or think. His promises are faithful. They have been signed with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and dated nearly 2000 years ago when He hung on the cross and declared, "It is finished." Although God's provisions are there waiting for us, it remains our responsibility to go before His throne of grace to receive them. James 4:2 tells us that we have not because we do not ask, and that when we do ask, we ask amiss. It is time that we consider our real needs and also the enormous price that has been paid to meet those needs. The work is finished! We can come to God at any time for any thing. Let us not waver in our faith but come boldly before God's throne of grace in the time of need believing that He will answer our prayers (James 1:6). +++ 4/28/25 DEALING WITH OUR OWN SHORTCOMINGS Scripture: Matthew 7:3 "Why worry about the mote or speck in the eye of a brother when you have a beam or a board in your own?" As I read this scripture, I was reminded of a time when I was judging another brother in the church. The matter was so important at the time, but now I cannot even remember what it was about. One night I went to bed praying that God would correct this man and show him his faults. The next morning, my son told me that he had a dream about me. God is so amazing. My son had no idea about the struggle that was going on within my own heart. As he related his dream to me, he said that there was a huge pile of railroad ties stacked in our front yard. I was trying to move them, one by one, to the back yard so that they could not be seen. I did not want to get rid of them; I just did not want anyone else to know that I had them. As I carried each one to the back yard, I had to go around the corner of the house. Unfortunately, each time I tried to get through the narrow passage, I would knock some of the bricks off of the side of the house. I was doing a lot of damage to my nice house in an effort to hide the railroad beams. Of course, my son had no idea what the dream meant, but I immediately recognized that it had to do with my attitude towards my brother in Christ. I was judging him for something that was smaller than the critical spirit that I was harboring in my own heart. I was also trying to hide my spiritual short comings from the world. As I heard this dream, God immediately spoke this scripture to me. Jesus said, it is so easy for us to pick out the faults in others and disregard our own faults. We look for the smallest particle of dust, and when we find it, we judge it, gossip about it, and often sow discord trying to correct it. We fail to realize that we will be judged with the same judgment that we judge others. In reality, when we are critical and judge others, we are destroying ourselves just as I was destroying my own home in the dream when I tried to hide the railroad beams in the back yard. We must come to realize that when we harbor a critical spirit, we damage ourselves physically, mentally, and emotionally. We knock the bricks out of our own life, one by one. This does not mean that we are not to use Godly discretion and discernment. We are instructed to know others by their fruit. We are also to consider ourselves and understand that our first mission from God is to remove the board from our own eye so that we can see. When our hearts are made pure and the negative beams are destroyed, Jesus will be able to use us to help others with their problems and to show them how to get rid of the "specks" that are in their lives. Then as we approach them with love instead of condemnation, we will truly be able to minister to them. +++ 4/29/25 FORGIVENESS Scripture: Luke 4:18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me ... to preach deliverance to the captives." Satan's battlefield is your mind and one of his primary weapons is deception. If he can get you to believe his lies, he can hold you captive by your own thoughts. He does not approach you with giant lies that are the size of trees because he knows that you would recognize and reject those thoughts. So, he starts with tiny seeds of doubt. He then feeds and nourishes those small seeds of doubt until, little by little, he is able to work his plan of deception in your life. John 10:10 says the devil is a thief that comes to steal, kill, and destroy. When the devil's work is left unchallenged and unchecked strongholds are established in your life, which enables him to hold you in bondage with his tormenting thoughts. The good news is that Jesus came to the earth and was anointed to preach the gospel of truth. John 8:32 says, when you know the truth, the truth will make you free. One of Jesus' messages was about a man who had been forgiven of much. Yet, this same man refused to forgive another man that owed him little. Because the man who had received much forgiveness refused to forgive the man who owed little, he, himself, was turned over to the tormentors (Matthew 18:21-35). Jesus was showing us that we reap what we sow. If we want forgiveness for our sins and transgressions, we must likewise forgive others for their transgressions against us. When we fail to forgive, we place ourselves in a position to be tormented just like the unforgiving servant. Jesus is anointed to set you free, but you must act on the truth which He speaks to you. He says, "Forgive, if you want to be forgiven. Forgive, if you want peace in your life." Forgiveness is a choice. You have the power and authority to cast down imaginations and every thought in your life that exalts itself against the Spirit of Christ. This includes the thoughts of unforgiveness that rage in your mind. As you take those thoughts and submit them to Christ, they will have to bow in obedience to His command. It may be hard for you to forgive because of the circumstances that you have endured, but Jesus will help you. The choice is yours. You can be set free or you can stay chained in bondage by the devil's deception. The devil tries to hold you in deception by telling you that you cannot release the past. He knows that if you refuse to forgive, he will own a portion of your heart. That portion of your heart that he owns will remain in the torments of unforgiveness and will inflict great emotional pain. Bitterness will also move in and hold you captive. Jesus is preaching deliverance to your captive spirit. You cannot go on with life until you forgive and let go of the pains that are in your heart. You cannot keep revisiting those hurts. You must let go. When you do, Jesus will be able to set you free by the anointing of the Holy Spirit and your victory will be sweet. +++ 4/30/25 A SHIELD FOR ME Scripture: Psalm 3:3 "For Thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of my head." As I was driving the other day, I noticed a big spider on the hood of my car. Somehow it was able to resist the force of the wind and to stay there right in front of me. Normally, a spider that close to me would have brought fear to my heart, but in this situation I had no anxiety because the car's windshield was between me and the spider. This thin piece of glass was my protection and I knew that the spider could not harm me physically. Therefore, it could not torment me mentally. As I watched the spider, this scripture came to my mind and I thought of the many times that the Lord had been a shield for me in life's circumstances. I also realized that there were many other instances in my life where His protection prevailed without me even being aware of it. Several years ago my oldest son and I had a bread ministry to the poor in one of the neighborhoods on the outskirts of Houston. Every Tuesday night, rain or shine, we loaded up our vehicle with bread and pastries and went from house to house sharing the physical bread and the spiritual bread of God’s Word. One of the elderly women that we visited each week warned us of the shootings that were happening on the streets in the vicinity. She always asked us to pray with her that God would clean up her neighborhood and rid it of evil. Yet, we still remained unaware of the problems that plagued the area and it never occurred to us that we were in imminent danger. Just after one of our visits, the police raided the area and arrested eighteen people for drugs and posted their pictures in the local paper. Sometime later when I was ministering in the prison half way house, one of the girls who was arrested in the raid recognized me. She told me of the dangers that had surrounded us when we were there. The police were suspicious that we were delivering drugs in the bread and the drug dealers thought we were working undercover for the police. This was overwhelming to us because we were just simply trying to obey the mandate of the Lord and be a blessing to the people. In our innocence, God had placed an invisible shield about us and protected us from all harm, physically and mentally. My son and I prayed every time before starting out on our mission to help the poor and evangelize the lost. We asked the Lord to lead us as we went up and down the dark streets. We had no cell phones or any means of protection but we were always walking behind our Shepherd. The Lord, Himself, was our shield and was between us and every present danger. Because we were obedient to His voice, souls were saved, the hungry were fed, and our prayers, which were joined with the prayers of the elderly woman, were answered. God did clean up her neighborhood. Just like this incident, we face personal situations everyday where we need the Lord to be a shield for us. We need Him to surround us with His love when others reject us, to surround us with peace when there is confusion in our lives, to fill our hearts with joy when we are overcome with sorrow, to give us courage in the midst of danger, and to lift us up physically when we cannot go any further. We must remember that God is always there for us and be encouraged by this psalm that David wrote. When he spoke these words, he was fleeing from His own son, Absalom, who was trying to kill him. David bravely said, "For Thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of my head." +++ Copyright © 2025 Mary Padgett Ministries. 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