Category Archives: Forever Faithful

BOTTOMS UP!

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BOTTOMS UP 4

SELAH Daily Devotions!

 

And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah. 1 Kings 17:15-16

 

We are a piece of work, huh? And living proof of the Loving Compassion of our Creator! #ijs

Seriously, no other god would put up with us for as long as The Living God of the Bible. Every morning we’re awaken to a brand new day filled with hopeful promises of  fresh Mercy and Grace. Every evening we lie down confident that He who never sleeps nor slumbers will watch over us, protecting and shielding us from dangers seen and unseen, sustaining our bodies, assuring that every particle of flesh and bone is in perfect alignment with its ordained purpose and functioning at the precise rhythm of its appointed origin, without any assistance from us. (Ref. Psalm 121:4) Awemaazin!

Nevertheless, at the first hint or threat that our circumstances aren’t going the way we think they ought to go, immediately we are stricken with an acute case of fatalistic-selective amnesia, forgetting that that Self-Same-God of The Universe Who has elected to be our Father also rules and reigns over the affairs of his most precious creation, humanity!

Unfortunately, our tendency to adapt to the world’s mindset that says, ‘if I don’t, nobody else will’, often lands us smack-dab-center–staged in the valley of despair victimized by fear of lack and hopelessly doomed to looming defeat and death. The truth of the matter is, God never intended us to live independent of Him in any area of our lives!

However, it’s the all-consuming task of our adversary, Satan, to keep us so pre-occupied with our personal comfort that it takes a conscious concerted self-determined humility to commit our entire being into the Hands of our Faithful Savior, fully trusting that He’s already provided everything that will ever be needed to prosper in this life and the life to come!  (Ref. 2 Peter 1:3)  OMG! #Didjaheardat?

As our scripture text unfolds, we see The Sovereign Teacher, using a season of severe drought and famine as the Lesson Plan, to test and strengthen the faith of both His servant Elijah and the un-named widow of Zarephath. The Prophet of God had oftentimes experienced the miracle working power of God’s Grace to deliver him triumphantly over his enemies. Yet when suddenly confronted by a new threat to take him out, finds himself hiding at the Kerith Ravine on the other side of The Jordan River being waited on by God-Sent Ravens. Then God orders him to leave that place and go to another place where he’d find a woman, who God had instructed to feed him. Being the obedient servant that he was, Elijah obeyed.  Howevrrr, unbeknownst to him, this woman was dealing with her own desperately dramatic circumstances. In fact, by the time Elijah got there, she’d made a decision to prepare this last meal for herself and her son after which they’d both die and it would all be over!

God is not limited to temporary situations, neither is His power diminished by our finite ability to accurately assess what, how, where or when He dispenses out miracles. Notwithstanding, God’s miraculous intervention is sometimes limited by our personal willingness to trust Him to do whatever He promises for us! Hence, we must take care to not miss our miracle because it doesn’t look like what we expect.

For instance, imagine if Elijah had allowed the outward appearance and the initial assumption of the woman’s distressing circumstances to direct his steps? He would’ve missed another opportunity to testify to the Glory of The True Source and Sustainer of Life! And, if the widow woman had allowed her wearied fluctuating state of emotions and even the reality of physical hunger to confine her to her own plan, she and her son would’ve missed their Divine Visitation!

The scripture also makes mention that God did not instantly pour down a whole barrel of oil and a full bin of flour. And we know that HE COULD’VE! However, each day The Good Shepherd supplied them with a sufficient portion of bread and oil from the bottom of the vessels! (Ref. Matthew 6:11) Apparently, it is the delight of our Heavenly Father to joyfully greet and so graciously meet the needs of those who offer their personal trust and confidence to Him one day at a time!

REMEMBER…THEY DID EAT! FROM THE BOTTOM UP!

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee

THE BIGGEST LOSER!

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the-biggest-loser3

SELAH Daily Devotions!

“But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord; he is their strength in the time of trouble. And the Lord shall help them, and deliver them from the wicked and save them, because they trust in him.” Psalm 37:39-40

 

You know how Ol Slu Foot (dat devil) is constantly bombarding your mind with negative thoughts designed specifically to sabotage your peace? Yeah, but do we really know why?

Most of what he does is just him acting out his frustration. You see, knowing what’s in store for him compared to what we have awaiting us, and having absolutely no power to stop what God has planned for our future frustrates hell out of him!

Oh don’t get it twisted; Satan is not GOD! He has no creative power! Therefore, whatever he’s doing is restricted to what he’s allowed to do by the Authority of GOD ALMIGHTY! The Bible says that he comes as a Destroyer! Unfortunately, down thru time, he’s become quite proficient in his endeavors by using the only resource available to him to accomplish his three-fold mission. (Ref. John 10:10) What’s his resource, you ask? Memories!

Ever notice how the devil keeps bringing up your past mistakes and past failures? He specializes in accusing you of what you did or should’ve done and didn’t! Well, this morning I was reminded of a message I heard years ago. The Man of Gawd told the saints, that “When the devil starts messing with your mind about your past, just remind him of his future!“ WOW! Deep huh?

Psalm 107:2 says, “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so! As a born-again, Blood washed, Holy Ghost-filled, Child of The Most High God, we have been appointed, anointed and authorized to call those things that be not as though they are. (Romans 4:17) The problem is, most of the time we fail to exercise our power and continue to call those things that are as though they’ll always be. #4REAL!!!

Beloved, you don’t have to be intimidated by the devil. Jesus is the perfect example of walking in the overcoming life! Remember how Jesus dealt with Satan in the wilderness? (Ref. Matthew 4:1-11) And guess what, you can do the same thing that Jesus did!

Don’t be skuarred–take a stand! When believers say what God says by faith, it blows the devil’s scheme right out the water. When the devil starts dredging up your past, you better recognize that it’s time to go ol’ skool R&B on that bugga and, “Say it Loud…I’m Saved and I’m Proud!

Saints, you have to let the devil know that we know, What we know and in Whom we believe! Our God has an amazingly glorious future planned for our lives and it’s ALL good and not evil! (Ref. Jermiah 29:11)

The next time the devil tries to destroy your peace, put him in his rightful place, under your feet. Let him know in no uncertain terms, ‘Hey devil, all that stuff you keep bringing up, it’s ALL covered—under The Blood! Oh, and by the way devil, I peeped the end of the story and it ain’t looking all that good for you.

In the end, I win and you’re still a loser! It looks like you got Hell to pay!”  LOSER!!!

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee

 

UNSHAKEABLE PEACE

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UNSHAKEABLE PEACE!

SELAH Daily Devotions!

 

For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Romans 8:18 

 

SOMETIMES! I wonder how much easier life would be, if in fact it was meant to be lived“Que sera, sera …Whatever will be, will be. The future’s not ours to see. Que sera, sera …What will be, will be“ ? However appealing this perspective might appear, at first glance, truthfully, God Who Sovereignly created us  in His Own Image,  never intended us to be merely robotic beings devoid of the ability to reason and make decisions based on our individual free will.  God deliberately fashioned and formed us to be fully capable active participants in working out His Plan for each of our individual lives.  In other words, life, according to God’s Purpose, is not a spectator’s sport!

How childish and immature it would be to think otherwise, huh? As my son once reminded me, reminiscing back to the days when the most critical decisions he had to make that day was, ‘is it gonna be Fruit Loops or Captain Crunch’? But now, finally, as all-grown-up adults,we no longer enjoy the privileges childhood innocence affords to casting off the burden of personal responsibility and accountability for our own actions unto unsuspecting parents, school teachers, coaches, counselors, professors, supervisors, pervasive racism, financially scrapped government institutions, corrupt politicians, over zealous police officers, the collapse of basic moral ethics and inevitable endangered decaying environmental resources. And we couldn’t wait for this?

God uses all of these, (and much much more) to train and transform us into the persons that He’s Divinely ordained us to be—a reflection of His Amazing Grace and Ominous Glory! The problem is, we’re hell-bent on thinking that God expects us to carry out this work, totally independent of His Sovereign Controlling Interest in the Process! And we all know how that eventually turns out, huh?

Hopefully, sooner rather than later, we having exhausted all our our own fire, are forced to acknowledge “This ain’t working, Lord. I need Your helllpppp! Lord, save me!” Thank God, Who steps right in, rolling up His spiritual sleeves, bears us up under The Power of Holy Spirit, places us back on The Potter’s Wheel, gracefully presses, pinches, prodding, pounding, purges and pushes us through the next phase in His process of Restoration.

When we pray and ask God to restore us, we must be willing to submit to the process. Here is where most of us miss it. We don’t want the pain, humility and the lack of control that’s often required in order to equip and empower us for the next level of spiritual growth and development. So often we, the unwilling participants, come kicking and screaming, murmuring and complaining, doubting and accusing God of miscalculating just how much we can bear.

Until finally, we surrender, committing our care to His Loving Hands, trusting His Purpose to be greater than our personal pain, embracing His Will rather than ours, finding more power than you ever imagined, are comforted by HIS UNSHAKEABLE PEACE!

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee