Category Archives: doubt

PUT A PRAIZ ON IT!

1 Reply

put-a-praiz-on-it

 

 

SELAH Daily Devotions!

And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord. And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. Luke 1:45-47

Have you ever wondered why it’s so much easier to clasp, with such enthusiasm, the worldly fables such as Hercules, Spider Man, The Easter Bunny, and Santa Claus and yet struggle to embrace the reality of The Unseen God? WOW!  Don’t shout me down, now…#ijs!

I suppose it has a lot to do with the other concept that folk have a tendency to deny, huh? Yall do know that everybody doesn’t believe that there’s a real devil that’s out to kill, still and destroy God’s most precious creation, humanity! Belief it or not, it’s still True! Nevertheless, our common enemy, Satan, knows that if we ever slip over into the realm of Faith to believe God, it releases God to do whatever He’s spoken over your life! Beloved, your potential to receive is only limited by what you’re able to believe! (Ref. Hebrew 11:6)

But Thanks Be To God! Our Heavenly Father, The Eternal Creator and Sustainer of Life has the uncanny ability to ignore what you and I think we know and do whatever HE purposes to do! Hence, therein lies the root of our challenge, looking beyond what we see and believing  and trust whateverrrr God says, huh?

The virgin, Mary’s statement typifies our innate tendency to swallow a camel but choke on a gnat! “How can this be since I know not a man” (Luke 1:34) But! We don’t have to be so hard on ourselves! We have lots of pressure from unseen forces to persuade us to focus on the insurmountable circumstantial evidence, personal deficits, past disappointments, failures and mistakes strategically designed to keep us from believing the Promises of God shall actually come to pass!

Howeverrrr! We must never underestimate The Immutable, Infallible, Absolute Reliability of The Word of God’s Power! (Ref. Hebrews 1:3) When God speaks, HE has the power to make it good! Every Word that God utters shall (cannot) fall to the ground. It MUST accomplish what it is sent to do and it shall not return unto Him void! (Ref. Isaiah 55:11)

If God has to interrupt nature to bring His Promise to pass, so be it! Ask Elizabeth and Zachariah! God had promised Israel that He was going to send The Messiah that they’d prayed for to deliver them from their oppressors and save His people from their sin ! Yet, when Zachariah heard the angel’s message that his wife, who’d been called barren, would conceive and bring forth his son, because of his doubt, he scoffed at this strange promise. “Now that don’t make no sense, how can such a thing happen? Therefore, God had to shut Zachariah’s mouth to keep him from spreading unbelief! Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. Proverbs 18:31 OMG! 

Sounds uncomfortably familiar, huh? Have you ever asked God for something but doubted that He’d do it?

Even if God goes silent for 400 hundred years, He doesn’t change His Mind! Trust to know…God remembers what He’s already told you, so don’t you forget! Like Mary, just keep calling those things that be not as though they already are! And watch God manifest it!  (Ref Luke 1:36) And in the fullness of time, God broke protocol and The Word became flesh and dwelt among us! (Ref. Galatians 4:4; John 1:14)

Beloved, God heard your prayers! Hold on to The Promise and leave the rest to Jesus! Is there ANYTHING too hard for God? ABSOLUTELY NOT! So defy and denounce Satan’s lies! Didjaknow?  Beloved, when you believe and trust God, you can wreak havoc and confusion upon the kingdom of darkness by praising JESUS…through the test!

NOW…OPEN YOUR MOUTH…OOOOHHH MAGNIFY THE LORD WITH ME AND LET US EXALT HIS NAME TOGETHER! IT’S ALL GOOD! #putapraizonIT!

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee

ARE WE THERE, YET?

1 Reply

R WE THERE YET

 

SELAH Daily Devotions!

 

Ye have compassed this mountain long enough: turn you northward. Deuteronomy 2:3

 

You’ve probably heard or seen the movie entitled “ARE WE THERE YET?”

Many of my fellow kinsmen in Christ have found ourselves trapped in this dilemma (whether or not we’re willing to acknowledge it publically or even privately). What am I talking about? In a hurry, but going nowhere fast! While many who  has professed a sincere desire to obediently follow after the heart of God, life has a way of teaching us that it’s not a ‘one and done’ phenomena but more like ‘a little by little’ process, huh?

Two of the greatest deterrents to successfully reaching our goals are contentment and indulgence! I’m not trying to negate the validity of The Apostle Paul’s revelation “Not that I speak in respect to want, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content (Philippians 4:11) GOD FORBID! However, if we linger here too long, our contentment becomes a comfort zone that could potentially diminish our hope, dreams and drive for attaining better…there!

God promised to bring His Chosen people into their good land, flowing with milk and honey! But they got so comfortable going around Mount Horeb that they were willing to settle for a piece of God’s Promise! This was unacceptable! So God intervened reminding them that not only is partial obedience is disobedience but it also robs Him of the opportunity to fully express His Glory!

Oh yeah, the Israelites were free from Egyptian slavery. They’d seen with their own eyes Pharaoh and his army drowned in the Red Sea! That’s all good, right? But God had told them GREATER WAS COMING! Now,  we can’t keep pointing our fingers at them Israelites without looking back over our own lives and recognizing how many times we settled for less than God was offering. Remember when they said, ‘a piece of a man is better than NO MAN at all’, huh? How did that work out for ya? Okay?

Have you noticed how the New Millennium church has gotten away from praying for deliverance these day?  Don’t shout me down, yall! #ijs! Perhaps, it’s because true deliverance requires discipline! And we all know, ain’t nobody got time for dat! We want everything now! So to appease our conscience we settle for indulgence, ‘I ain’t what God wants me to be, BUT…at least I ain’t where I used to be’! Huh? Don’t  you look at me with dat tone of voice!

But Thanks Be To God Who is still able to redeem the time! God said, “It’s time to head northward! Shake the dust of compromise off your feet and keep it moving—FORWARD”!

Didjaheardat? God IS reminding us that “the race is not given to the swift neither to the strong, But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved”Matthew 24:13  Hence, as long as you have breath in your body,  you have a chance to possess everything GOD Promised, as long as you don’t give up. Oohhh Glorraa!!!

Beloved, today God is inviting you to exhale the fear and doubt and inhale the Breath of His GRACE and getta steppin!

It’s timeout for just singing about it! Pull yourself up out of the pit of complacency, procrastination and stagnation and GO GET UR BLESSING!

Why settle for little when God’s promised you BIG! ARE YOU ‘THERE’ YET? SERIOUSLY?

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Cafee

TO KNOW HIM!

Leave a reply

TO KNOW HIM

 

SELAH Daily Devotions!

 

That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death…Philippians 3:10

 

At some point in our lives we’ve all had those ‘fair-weather friends’ who’ve solemnly pledged,“I got your back, my bro”! Only to discover that during the lean times, your comrades were no where to be found. Then you probably can imagine how God feels about ‘fair-weather saints’,huh?

Truth be told, our grandiose testimony doesn’t carry much credence when your body is strong and healthy; you’ve got a great job that you don’t mind getting up early and staying up late, you got enough stashed in the bank to cover all of your needs and then some; your wife’s treating you as the Lord of the Manor, the kids are obedient, well-mannered, excelling academically even honoring you in the market place.

BUT! When you run into the sanctuary, just glad to be in the number one more time; can’t wait to lift your voice and raise your hands to The God of your Salvation, and bless His Name just like you don’t have a care in this world, knowing that folk are watching you in amazement because they know that at that very moment all hell is breaking out in your life—now that’s a testimony!

Think about it! The only reason that you can praise Him in the midst of the furnace of affliction is because you’ve already been through the fire and the floods. Not only have you survived the storms but through a consistent prayer life with The True and Living God, you’ve discovered that Everything That The Bible claims Him to Be IS the sho’ nuf’ truth!

The Omniscient Creator knows that some folk will try to dupe Him (as if that were possible) pretending to be faithful and committed, until they get that need met or that condition resolved then they no longer desire His Presence. Hence, God also knows those who willingly submit to Him not just for weekend visitations, but grant Him Full-Custody of their entire beings even suffering with Him that they might reign with Him!

God strategically use times of inconvenience to prove your level of trust. Sometimes, He even delays your deliverance to test your commitment to Him. According to The Master’s Plan, purpose trumps pain! God’s concern for building character outweighs our desire for creature comforts! Really! WOW!

Is your knowledge personal or is it vicarious? Is He The God of Abraham, Elijah, or Mama’s and Grandma ‘nem? Or can you lift up your voice and bow your heart knowing that this same God, is in fact living and reigning over your life also? How far are you willing to go to know HIM?

Oh, you may not know all of the Greek or Hebrew names for God, but can you touch The Great High Priest and release His virtue in the midst of your devastating situation? Do you just enjoy being in His Presence and not even asking for a thing? Do you seek Him before the catastrophe hits your life, like the ol’ church used to say ‘just storing up your timbers? #IJS

If by chance you don’t know Him, like dat,  I invite you to start seeking Him today! I can promise you that if you call on Jesus out of a sincere heart, He will be found! Precious ones, Get to know the One Who knows, yet loves and thought you were to die for, k? That’s the Gospel Truth! #SERIOUSLY

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee

YES LORD!

2 Replies

YES LORD!

 

SELAH Daily Devotions!

For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us. 2 Corinthians 1:20

For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. Hebrews 4:2

 

WOW! Just thinking about backndaday, when the Saints gathered on Sunday afternoon for Holy Convocation! Talkin’ about The Grand Ole Church of God In Christ. I’m here to tell ya, did we ever have some sho nuff churrch huh?  I remember how I felt when the Elder would approach the pulpit and begin bellowing out our International COGIC Anthem, “YES LORD!”  Still not sure whether it was meant to call the church to order, calm the shoutin saints down, to take up the offering or what. But what I do know is that just hearing those words that were first uttered from the mouth of our Founder, Charles H. Mason, always took our worship into another dimension of God’s Presence!

Unfortunately, you don’t hear that song sang much anymore. At least not in the same manner, huh? Don’t shout me down now! #ijs

The Holy Spirit just said, ‘that’s because My people aren’t saying ‘YES’ to Me that much anymore!’ OMG! Honestly, that really doesn’t suprise me! There’s so much noisey chatter going around the Christian Community these day, folk aren’t sure what’s of God and what’s not! One side of the church is saying, “It’s a new day and we’re no longer under The Law, we’re under Grace”! The other side is saying, “If you don’t have a new house, drive a certain car, live in a certain zip code, the favor of God is not on your life because you don’t have enuff faith!” And hardly anybody is preaching what God expects of those who claim His Son as Lord and Savior! (Ref. Micah 6:8)
We’re living in a day-n-time when every man wants to do what seems right in their own eyes. If we don’t like what that preacher’s preaching, we can keep driving until we find one that affirms and validates what we want to do, right? To make the transition easier, we can even search the internet until we find one that suits our lifestyle and e-church!

Problem is, while times have changed, The Word of God HASN’T! IT IS ETERNAL!! While the world is busy legislating and flaunting their rebellious unrighteousness, it’s  virtually impossible for mere man to dismiss the boundaries and rules for living that God has established! Jesus is Lord! Saints, there’s another side of God’s Holiness that the world (and some of the church) has completely rejected! ‘The Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord takes vengeance and is filled with wrath” (Nahum 1:2)

Hence,  it may seem as if God has turned His face away from this world and is allowing everything to fall apart, however God wants us to know that everything is falling right in place! Remember, Goshen? “They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.” Exodus 10:23

What does God want us to do? It’s simple, walk with HIM! Trust HIM, agree with HIM! Regardless of how the circumstantial evidence appears to contradict The Promises, have faith in The Immutable Word of God! (Ref. Proverbs 3:5-6)

Set your face toward Jesus and just keep saying ‘YES LORD’! #didjaheardat?
SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee

 

GOT JESUS?

Leave a reply

GOT JESUS

 

SELAH Daily Devotions!

 

And all things are of God, who has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation. To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and has committed unto us the world of reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19
  

Okay, so…just about everybody’s a ‘Christian’ now, huh?  Does kinda make you wonder, why Jesus hasn’t come back for the Church! But that’s none of my business! #ijs

My oh my, do we just love to congregate behind the four walls of the sanctuary. And yall know how much we love to testify and prophet-lie amongst like-minded-kindred- spirits! 
 
But, who’s responsible for taking this marvelous revelation out into the streets?Remember, the world—is not our enemy—it’s God’s Harvest, right?
 
“And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:11)
 
NO, SERIOUSLY…GOT JESUS? 
 
SHARE JESUS? 
 
IF NOT YOU, THEN WHO?
 
IF NOT NOW… THEN …WHEN?

Jus wondering, who’s gonna be in heaven bcuz you cared enough to share your faith in Jesus Christ?  …WOW!

Who’s going to end up in the devil’s eternal hell, bcuz you didn’t dare to share The Truth? OMG!

 Uuuhhh, need I say more?  GOT JESUS?

 

SELAH!
 
Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!
 
Ann Caffee

 

 

TRUTH OF CONSEQUENCES!

1 Reply

TRUTH OF CONSEQUENCES

 

 

SELAH Daily Devotions!

 

Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions. Ecclesiastes 7:29

Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, 2 Timothy 3:5-6

 

One day in the winter of his life, King Solomon, God’s proclaimed wisest man in the world, sat pondering events, adventures and experiences of former seasons, and penned the words left in Ecclesiastes 7:29. Theologians have various perspectives on how and even if somethings happened that caused a quantrum shift in this young man’s overview of life. Since, I am unqualified to object or sustain either I defer the question to the more capable intellectual biblical scholars!

However allow me, with the aid of Holy Spirit, to share a few insights that I gleaned as I visited these texts. Hopefully, someone might find them useful for practical daily application. I am firmly convinced that every one of us born into the earth has at some point, looked up inquiring, ‘Why me, what’s going on and when is it gonna change for my good?’ But it’s alright, ain’t nobody here but you and me, ok?

It’s a whole lot easier to hide somethings in the closets of our minds, rather than openly subjecting them to the speculations of folk we need to impress and even more so advantagious to cover them up from self, huh? But somebody a whole lot smarter than I said, ‘You can’t conquer what you’ll not willing to confront’! Don’t you just hate those addages? LOL!

Recently, I was confronted by an opportunity to delve heart-first into a long-standing personal dilemma, ‘how is it that we, humans—save and unsaved—are able to justify our actions even while acknowledging that they’re wrong!’ I use that word wrong, because they say in this New Millennium Age, it’s more palatable than SIN!

Most of us have, at varying degrees, mentally assented to the reality of GOD! While there may be a multiplicity of individual opinions of Who,Where and What role does He play in our lives, I don’t think I’m way out on a limb with this assumption. The unregenerated soul cannot be expected to receive the things of God because they don’t know HIM. (Ref. 1 Corinthians 2:14) Problem is those of us who name the Name of Jesus Christ, are obviously able to conjure up in our minds an IMAGE of our own God. Beloved, trust2kno! I know better than anyone, I am far from a finished work! Hence, I say this not out of a superficious self-righteous spirit, but as a statement of observation over the past years of pastoring God’s sheep!

We all know that The Word of God is alive and speaks to us taking into full account our personal circumstances and situations! Nevertheless, there are inherent truths that flow through generations, that are immuable! Whether we understand, believe, agree or disagree! Truth is ABSOLUTE because God is Truth and God is Sovereign!

Can you imagine the angelic conversations, looking down from Heaven’s view, witnessing humanity’s arrogance, self-will, pride, power coveting, resistance to the authority as we perpetually deny the Soveignty of God? Probably not, huh? Perhaps even more perplexing to the heavenly host, is our prevailing response to the consequences of our disobedience. We got some nerve, blaming God when we reap the wages of doing what seems right in our own eyes. As if the clay can demand the potter to relent from His Purpose for His creation. (Ref. Jeremiah 18-19)

I guess, we never looked at it like that, huh? After all, God knows out hearts, right? It’s more self comforting to judge others by their actions and ourselves by our good intentions! After all, what would become of us if we looked in the mirror of God’s Word and saw ourselves as God sees. Why we might have to plead guilty to the myriad of alleged charges railed against us of repeated abuse of God’s Love, breaking His Commandments, gross dis-honor and negligence, denying His Right to rule over His creations, refusal to submit to His authority and Power as Eternal Soveign Lord God!

Well, when you put it like dat! Kinda makes you wonder, what’s your response to the ultimate question ‘WHO DO U SAY I AM’?

I’m not Holy Ghost, Jr. so I can’t tell you what King Solomen’s final conclusion meant or didn’t. I can only speak for myself. But! Think about it! At the end of the day, we’re all slaves; yet GOD honors us as Sons! #AWEMAAZZIN!

IT BEHOOVES ANY /ALL OF US TO REMEMBER THAT BABYLON WILL BE JUDGED IN ONE DAY! WOW! TRUTH OF CONSEQUENCES!

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee

THE WONDER OF GOD!

1 Reply

the-wonder-of-god-3

 

SELAH Daily Devotions!

 

And David said unto him, Fear not: for I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father’s sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father; and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually. And he bowed himself, and said, What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am? 2 Samuel 9:7-8
 

“Why me?”
 
How many times have we found ourselves spurting this out? Whether out of a sense of cynical-rhetorical contemptuousness or an overwhelming comeback to the lusciousness of God’s unexpected favoritism, we can all identify with Mephibosheth’s response to King David. (Ref. 2 Samuel 9) Especially, since none of us can honestly claim that we deserve to be so blessed in the first place, huh? Truthfully, any good that we do is generally accidental. So as far as standing up to the standards God’s of Righteousness, we are all lame in both feet! (Ref. Romans 3:23)
 
But that’s the whole point! It’s the Wonder of God’s unmerited goodness that sets us apart from the rest of the world!
 
Knowing us from the inside-out, not just what you did–but why,  your Heavenly Father blessed you anyway! Despite all the justifiable circumstantial evidence to support our accuser’s objections, The Eternal Judge over-rules them, dismissing the case, covers you in His Robe of Righteousness, leaving them (and sometimes even us) scratching their heads, dumbfounded and paralyzed uttering in amazement “What jus happened?” 
 
Creation clearly demonstrates God’s propensity for details. Behold, how marvelously God pieces the individual segments of our lives to fit perfectly jointed together for our highest good and His Greatest Glory! (Ref. Romans 8:28) His Handiwork, often mysteriously hidden behind the clouds, weaving the highs and the lows, the strides and the falls, the haves and the have nots, lovingly bonding the momentary to the eternal, paints a collage that captivates the attention of that passerby to stop and ponder; taking much needed periods of reflection, introspection, covetously inquires “Why not me?”
 
THANK GOD for that day when, like Mephibosheth, we finally get it! Casting off fear, we fall prostrate before our Benevolent Faithful King in humble obedience, with everlasting joy, declaring “For you O Lord are my Everlasting Hope!” (Ref. Psalm 16:5)

GOD SO LOVED ME?  I KNOW IT MAKES NO SENSE, BUT…YES HE DOES!  AND HE ALWAYS WILL!
 
SOOOO., WITH ABUNDANT JOY WE GRATEFULLY  SUCCUMB TO THE WONDER OF OUR GOD!
 
SELAH!
 
Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!”
 
Ann Caffee

POWER BELONGS 2 GOD!

2 Replies

POWER BELONGS 2 GOD

 

SELAH Daily Devotions!

 

In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah…God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God. Psalm 62:7-8,11
 

Over the past 50 years, we’ve seen a whole lot of changes. Our society has evolved from being agriculturally dominated, thru industrially dominated, into an age where information technology dominates. Some of you remember what it was like growing up in the country. You worked hard and you played hard; but through it all you were able to maintain a healthy balance between the physical labor of working the fields and the ease of drinking a cold glass of lemonade sitting on the porch come Sunday afternoon.
 
Then, the war came, and many of our brothers went off to war leaving the familiarity of the farms for foreign soil, forcing those left behind into factories working the machinery building weapons, mass production of crops, meat, clothing, etc. The dirt roads and shotgun houses were replaced by concrete paved streets and skyscrapers. The Industrial Age had taken over and the ease of those Sunday mornings vacated and swapped with washing the car, 2 hours at the gym, 3-mile runs, kids soccer games, karate tournaments, or at the very least, I gotta get my stuff ready to go back to work next week!
 
As wars and rumors of wars escalate, so has tension, stress and the push for greater technological advancements. The factories have basically come to a hault as the focus shifted away from meeting the needs of common folk  onto which nation will gather the most information proving who’s the best of the best; who’s going to be the first country to put a man on the moon, mars of take over a yet undiscovered universe; who’s gonna build the biggest bomb, and who’s gonna conquer outer space once we blow up this planet. YEAH BABY, WE’VE COME A LONG WAY, huh?
 
Who nu? Here we are in the 21st Century, and for many we got what we wanted, but at what cost? The laughter of our children in the yard jumping double-dutch, playing football, the swish of the ball dropping through a wooden loop, the clicking sounds of cardboard or plastic between the spikes of bikes, roller skates racing down the streets have been silenced by the noise of doors being slammed by rebellious children barricading themselves in their rooms; whispering, texting and yes, even sexing on $500 cell phones/ipads or the clicking of remote controls to $700  video games played on 75-inch flat screen TV’s! Owww Wheeeeee, don’t shout me down now!
 
While we, the parents have bought into the propaganda being dupped with the misguided philosopy, “I’m gonna make sure that my baby has it better than I did”, we’ve created a generation of young people who seem to get everything in life they want, yet have nothing to live for. Meanwhile, many of them are engaging in disruptive habits that scream, “LIFE’S A BEACH! I hate myself, and I hate you too. So why not make a pact to commit suicide, or I’m bored so let’s go shoot up a bunch of folk we don’t even know.”
 
Honestly! If you’re not prayerful, it’s easy to allow all the hell of this world to consume your whole life.  Yall don’t believe it, huh?  Well, it’s gotten to the point now that even the most seasoned saints may ponder the Satanically-induced thought of cutting your own wrist, just to escape the peril of these wicked times. 

BUT GOD! Knowing everything that humanity would experience, left it on record to console those who would become weary in well-doing, ‘while we’re in this world—we are not of this world!’ Although, we are not exempt from test, trials and persecution, we are never alone! (Ref. Hebrews 13:5)
 
Precious Saints, when it looks like there’s no point to living for God (aka) living holy and you’ve come to the end of your rope, that’s your clue—not to give up but to take a stand—tie a knot in the rope and hang on! Cling to the Hope of your calling, Jesus Christ—The Living Word of Life! (Ref. Ephesians 1:18)
 
Remember He Who has called you is Faithful and True (Ref. 1 Thessalonians 5:24; Revelations 19:11) and He Yet Reigns! POWER BELONGS 2 GOD!

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!
 
Ann Caffee
 

 

GOD LASTS!

1 Reply

GOD LASTS!

 

SELAH Daily Devotions!

 

He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:29-31

 

The Apostle Paul describes life as a race. However, sometimes we tend to forget that real life is not a sprint, but a marathon! Unlike a physical marathon,  rarely are we privy to advanced knowledge of our designated course. God doesn’t let us in on the specifics that we’ll encounter along the way that could potentially hinder, detour, derail our progress and ultimately keep us from finishing our course.

Whether you’ve been walking with Jesus for a long time or just recently made your decision to follow Jesus, none of us are exempted from faith stresses, test and trials! Hence, The Prophet alerts us, professing faith-walking Christians, to expect trying times.

Our Omniscient Fathers knows that even the young and physically strong, struggling with doubt, unbelief and fear, will become weak and faint. God also recognizes those seasoned in the Savior’s ways experience times where we’ve reached the end of our rope, become weary in well doing, stumble and even fall out of the race momentarily.

Isaiah prescribes the antidote for those seasons when you’re forced to trample through turbulent terrains and valleys surrounded by the shadows of death seemingly alone to fend for yourself, don’t stop—keep it moving; press on, trusting that every minute of every day, you’re never outside of God’s view or His Presence and Power!

The Prophet’s words  yet ring out to 21st Century Saints of The Most High God, assuring us that Jehovah, our Provider, has already gone before us, preparing designated rest areas along the road to renew and energize our spirit and soul!

Beloved, your God is not a dead-beat absentee Father! God never intended us to be struggling to handle things on our own, burdened and burnt out by the cares of this world. Every morning He invites us to come, as a little child running boldly to your Daddy, entrusting all your cares to Him, fully persuaded, absolutely confident that ABBA FATHER CAN DO ANYTHING BUT FAIL !

Now Beloved, rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him; don’t fret yourself! (Ref. Psalm 37:7) Everything’s coming together in your life, JUST LIKE GOD PLANNED! 

REMEMBER, GOD IS NOT A MAN! GOD DOESN’T COME AND GO! GOD’S LOVE REMAINS LOYAL! HENCE, GOD LASTS!

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee

 

EMPTY HEARTS & OPEN HANDS

1 Reply

EMPTY HEARTS OPEN HANDS

SELAH Daily Devotions!

I went out full and the Lord hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?  Ruth 1:21

 

Personally, today’s text is one of the most saddest scriptures in the entire Bible. These words, uttered from the lips of Mother Naomi, can’t help but resonate in the wounded  hearts of any one of us who’s ever had their life, brutally interrupted by tragedy!

It doesn’t matter if you’re a seasoned saint or a rank sinner, none of us wake up in the morning anticipating that today is the day that my life as usual will be ravaged by an out of the black catastrophic event. Yet tragedy is an uninvited, unbiased, self-imposing and most certainly unwelcomed guest that arbitrarily shows up anywhere , at anytime, at any one of our doors!

While The Bible clearly tells us that as new creations in Christ, we ought not to look at the things which are seen but rather, through the eye of faith, we’re encouraged to focus our attention on those things which are invisible to the natural eye. By the way, faith in God does not suggest that we deny that our current circumstances are challenging, but rather because we know that it’s only temporary, we must not allow fear and panic to rob us of The Eternal Hope we have in Jesus Christ! (Ref. 2 Corinthians 4:18)  Nevertheless, when tragedy strikes your life, it’s difficult to see real-time in an eternity perspective!

Mother Naomi’s words depict the pit of a woman’s soul devastated by despair and terrorized by hopelessness due to circumstances that were not of her own doing! Have you ever been victimized because of someone else’s choices? As you read Naomi’s story,  you discover that doing the right thing doesn’t exempt you from bad things happening to you. (Ref. Psalm 34:19) However, you’ll also recognize that you’re not the first person to have their life’s dreams crushed leaving your soul vacant and despondent!

While this may offer the faithful a glimmer of hope, sometimes the pressure of all the present circumstantial evidence stacked against us, blinds us from the spiritual reality that GOD is yet seated on The Throne, and has not lost–nor relinquished one iota of His Omnipresence, Omnipotence and Omniscient Glory!

That’s the point! The real root of the enemy’s constant plotting against God’s Chosen is not to steal your husband, wife, house, car or job. The bottom line is, the devil wants to destroy your trust in our Heavenly Father!

My precious ones, whatever you do, don’t allow the devil to intimidate you. Before you give up and throw in the towel,  REMEMBER.THE DEVIL IS A LIAR! And if he lies, he’ll steal, and if he steals, he’ll kill! (Ref. John 10:10a)

Now, the question is, who are you gonna trust?

IF YOU REALLY WANT TO PLEASE GOD, YOU’VE GOTTA TRUST HIM, EVEN WHEN YOU HAVEN’T GOT A CLUE WHAT HE’S UP TO!

Reach out to your Heavenly Father, trusting that He Who makes all things, holds all things together! That’s what Naomi did! She made a decision to go back to Bethlehem! Back to the Land of Promise! Not only did she reconnect to her relative, the Land-Lord, Boaz, she became the Great-Grand Mother of  Israel’s Greatest King, David, the descendant of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! WHEN NAOMI OPENED HER HEART TO GOD, HE FILLED HER HEART AND HER HANDS! Hence, is your heart opened to God’s Plan or yours?

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee