Category Archives: Jesus Our Savior

BUT, GOD!

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BUT GOD!

 

SELAH Daily Devotions!

 

“Now it came to pass on a certain day, that he went into a ship with his disciples: and he said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth. But as they sailed he fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy.  And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, Master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm. And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him.” Luke 8:22-25

 

Oh, I know you’re saved, sanctified, filled with the Precious Gift of Holy Ghost and do speak in tongues as The Spirit gives utterance! BUT! Since you’ve been saved, have you ever felt like saying to God, “Lord, I know You say it’s an honor to be recommended by God to the devil, BUT…here lately, it seems that I’m the only one you’ve been pointing out. If You don’t mind, next time, could you please recommend somebody else!”

Have you ever considered telling God, “Jesus, the next time you decide to pull down the hedge around me and giving Satan a shot at me, I’d appreciate at least a heads-up!” No? Jus wondering!

Unless you just landed on Planet Earth early this morning or were born late last night, you already know that storms are a natural occurrence on the sea of life, whether you’re saved or unsaved! In fact The Holy Bible tells us “Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble.” Job 14:1 Hence, as long as there is breath in your body, you will experience some measure of adversity and affliction, temptation and trial, distress and disappointment and choas and calamity.

Today’s text shares a story of an average day in the lives of Jesus’ disciples and their response to an unexpected storm that popped-up out of no where. Sounds a bit too uncomfortably familiar, huh?

As the text opens, Jesus having finished teaching classes, traveling from town to town and village to village, decided to take some ‘down-time’ and go across the lake to the other side to escape the crowds that normally followed him. He told His disciples, “Let’s go to the other side” and went to catch a nap. The disciples also seemed to be enjoying the calm atmosphere as the boat sailed on the smooth waters. Until, suddenly a terrible windy storm arose causing turbulent waves to come pouring into their small vessel, threatening to capside at any minute, killing everyone on the boat. Someone thought to wake up Jesus and cried out, “Master, Master, can’t you see we’re about to drown?” As if The Omniscient One had vacated the premises!

The Scripture goes on to say that Jesus, standing up, spoke to the wind and the waves, “Silence, Peace Be Still!” to which they had no other recourse BUT to obey The Master Creator! Turning to His disciples, Jesus sorrowfully inquired, “Why can’t you trust me?”

My Precious Sistas and Brothers, perhaps Jesus is posing that same question to you today. I know it’s been rough out there. I know you have a mindset to follow Jesus all the way, to love Him with all of your heart, soul and body, yet still storms keep hitting your life on the left and the right. But Beloved, Jesus won’t jump ship like some other people might. Jesus has promised to stay with you all the way across the Lake of Life. No matter where you are today, Jesus is always with you.

There are some lessons that prove vital to your personal maturity and intimacy through understanding the attributes of the God Whom you serve you, that can only be learned in the midst of the storms!

Could this be why the astonished disciples inquired, “What kind of Man is this?”

So the next time that Ol’ Deceiving Tyrant comes slithering around, threatening to destroy your hope, joy and peace, jap-slap ’em with this, “I hear ya knocking…BUT! GOD!”

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee

 

 

ITZ ALL ABOUT THE CROWN

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itz-all-about-the-crown-2

SELAH Daily Devotions!

 

Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. Revelations 2:10-11

 

PARDON ME, again! I know this isn’t religiously correct, how—evrrrr sometimes, it’s just hard!

Here you are, as the ol’ saints used to say, ‘living all u know how 2 live for JESUS’, with everything in you clinging to The Testimony of God’s Faithful Witness, who is TRUTH, YET …EVERYWHERE U TURN, U GOT TROUBLE BREAKING OUT!!! #WHADA…???

Seriously, none of us normal human beings enjoy suffering, right?
Nevertheless, life has taught you (and even the Word admonishes us) that those who Name the Name of Jesus must expect trouble. Afterall, even “Jesus learned obedience through the things He suffered”! (Ref. Hebrew 5:8)

“Yeah, but but butt”…I feelya, okay? Yet, according to The Scriptures, God has Sovereignly linked suffering and glory into the lives of those who have confessed their trust in His Plan for our lives. Remember the words of The Apostle Paul? “As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Roman 8:36

I know, sometimes that doesn’t help MUCH! BUT! We have this confident assurance that before God permits sporadic seasons of tribulations He sets an expiration date before the test begin! Aren’t U Soooo glad, trouble don’t last always!

Beloved, there’s always a greater purpose behind our pain! And no, it ain’t always God punishing you for your disobedience! For His own reasons, God has elected to allow test, trials and trouble along the landscape of our journey to draw us closer to Him, to purify, purge and position us to partake of His Divine Nature—HOLINESS!

“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

This life has a way of putting you through the ringer, huh? But God has decreed, that nothing you will ever experiene can separate you from His Love! “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39

Rest Assured, GOD KNOWS!

Today, receive His Words to The church at Smyrna, as your very own! Don’t allow fear of this temporary situation to deter you from your eternal goal! The King of Glory has declared and decreed that I AM ALPHA and OMEGA! I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU NOR FORSAKE YOU. LO I WILL BE WITH YOU ALWAY!  FOR WHO CAN STAY MY HAND! (Ref. Rev. 22:13; Heb. 13:5; Matt. 28:2o; Isa. 43:13) Didjaheardat? #WOW!!!

Precious ones,  endure persecution with fidelity, confident that “I AM THE RESURRECTION AND YOUR REWARDER! DON’T QUIT! YOUR CROWN AWAITS YOU!”

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee

SHUT UR MOUTH!

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SHUT UR MOUTH 2

SELAH Daily Devotions!

 

“For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.” 1 Peter 2:15

 

“GET ‘EM LORD!”

That’s frustration talking! Because, truth be told, sometimes, it’s just difficult to pray right! Like when you’re sincerely striving to walk circumspectly, pleasing God and hopefully provoke “one somebody” to pursue their own personal relationship with The Savior; and despite of all your well-doing, there’s that “certain” somebody! Apparently, their only purpose in life is to criticize, demean and spread all manner of false accusations about you. Oh, C’mon nah! Don’t yall leave me out there hang’n by myself!!! ‘Here’s the kicker, for reasons way beyond your understanding, God persists in nagging at you to pray for ‘them’! 

Kinda makes you understand how Jonah felt, huh?

This may shock you; BUT, personally, when I’m being attacked, wrongfully accused and my name is slandered, praying for them is not my natural first response!

However, as true followers of Christ, we don’t war like the world does. “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds”  (Ref. 2 Corinthians 10:3)  Difficult as it may be, we must realize that the genuine culprit is not that person we see with our natural eyes; but our real enemy is a notorious diabolical spirit-being! Satan himself!

Once you recognize this, it’s a game changer!  You can’t fight spiritual battles in the flesh. It’s a waste of time! You don’t have to argue, defend yourself or retaliate against them by giving them a taste of their own medicine! Granted, it might make your flesh feel a whole lot better. But if you really want to shut that devil down, just keep quiet and continue doing the good works that God has ordained you to do!  (Ref. Ephesians 2:10) Inn-ta-resting, huh?

That’s exactly what Jesus did, remember? When His accusers confronted Him, attacking His credibility and authority, He never said a mumbling word! His response was stay focused and stick to the Mission!

In other words, Jesus kept right on praying for those oppressed by the devil, delivering and casting out demons, laying hands on sick folk getting them healed and whole; stumbling up Calvary’s Hill caring that Ol’ Rugged Cross, temporarily surrendering to Death; being buried in Joseph’s borrowed tomb; ascending up to The Throne, where He poured out His Redeeming Blood upon His Father’s Altar and today continues looking down at Satan saying “Who got the last Word, now? You lying wonder!”

AND DAT DUMB DEVIL NEVER SAW IT COMING! HENCE, DON’T TRY TO GET EVEN…GET OVER!  #DIDJAHEARDAT? SHUT YOUR MOUTH!!!

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee

DON’T SELL YOURSELF CHEAP!

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DON'T SELL URSELF CHEAP!

SELAH DAILY DEVOTIONS!

 

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 1 Peter 2:9

 

Granted, given the peer pressure of this 21st Century society that we live in, it ain’t no easy task, howeverrr, sometimes, we just gotta learn how to appreciate ourselves for the fearfully, wondrously and gloriously made creations of God that we are! (Ref. Psalm 139:14) #ijs!!!

 For some of us, by the time you get to Jesus, you’ve already suffered years of psychological damage, mis-use and abuse. As the psalmist said, we’ve been ‘ buked and scorned, lied on, cheated, talked about sure as we’re born; slammed and crushed by life that you’ve subconsciously de-valued yourselves so much so that when you hear some preacher say ‘God loves you’, your initial response is an overwhelmingly cynical—REALLY? But the Good News is that God is not intimidated by  your fragile-self-incriminating state. He specializes in restoring broken things!

As you continue to feed on The Word of God, through the enabling Power of The Holy Spirit, your eyes are opened to Truth and astonishingly, you will begin to see yourself through the “blood stained” Savior’s eyes. As God’s relentless Loving-kindness and Amazing Grace begins to penetrate the callousness of your heart, you get a revelation of the Magnificent Compassion that your Heavenly Father has toward you. Honestly, It’s almost unbelievable!

Come to think of it, no one BUT The Creator can determine the true worth of His creation! Remember, God Himself  deliberately and intentionally chose you in Christ Jesus before the foundation of the world! Once you have accepted God’s Love, there’s no need to crave validation from anybody else. REALLY! 

NOW AIN’T THAT AWEMAAZING? 

ITZ DA TRUTH!  BELOVED, ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT REGARDLESS OF WHAT ‘THEY’ SAY,  IN GOD’S EYES YOU’RE INDELIBLY PRICELESS! DON’T SELL YOURSELF CHEAP!

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee

SEASONED SALT

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SEASONED SALT

SELAH Daily Devotions!

“Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. “ Matthew 5:13

WOW! Aren’t you glad that you’re saved, sanctified, living all you can to serve and please da Lord?

BUT! Before we go slappin’ 5 with our neighbors (or yourself) on the back, perhaps we need to take a closer look at today’s scripture text. Sometimes, WE—THE SAINTS—have a way of judging others by their actions BUT judging ourselves by our good intentions!

Whatchatalkinbout? It’s easy to make yourself come out smelling like a rose, as long as we’re comparing ourselves to one another! However, God never intended to make our own warped flesh the plumb-line for gauging His Righteousness!

Remember the story in the Bible of the Pharisee who went up to the Temple to pray, stood off by himself, looked across the room and seeing the tax collector, prayed “God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.” (Ref. Luke 18:9-14)

Have you ever noticed how God’s elect seem to develop a severe case of selective amnesia once they’ve been saved for any length of time! Perhaps that’s why The Apostle Paul left a not-so-friendly reminder to us. “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

Hence, “DON’T GET IT TWISTED…no matter how many right things you manage to do on a daily basis, at the end of your bestest day—every single one of us must acknowledge “that if it had not been for JESUS…where would I be.” (Ref. Romans 3:23) Truthfully, there ain’t none good but GOD!”

That’s why He sent Jesus! The Perfect role model for us to keep before us. Righteousness Personified! (Ref. John 3:16-17)

So the next time, you’re tempted to bask in your own self-righteousness, remember our frail-flawed-fickle human tendency to judge one another by outward appearances!  Precious one, check yourself ! And please recognize that God reads hearts! (Ref. 1 Samuel 16:7)

Jesus warned,  “For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:20
SO…BEFORE YOU START SENDING ANY POOR SOUL STRAIGHT TO HELL, BECAUSE THEY DON’T MEASURE UP TO YOUR STANDARDS, MIGHT I SUGGEST THAT WE MAKE SURE THAT OUR OWN SALT IS SEASONED WITH MERCY AND GRACE!

SELAH!

“Have a WONDER-FILLED day!”

 Ann Caffee