Category Archives: Salvation

WHAT’S THE POINT?

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whatz the point

SELAH Daily Devotions!

“ I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts.
So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me. And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour.
Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 2:8-11

According to Biblical Historians, today’s scripture text was penned by the highly-acclaimed, wisest and wealthiest man in all of the known world, King Solomon! WOW! Here he is, King of the most powerful nation in the world during that time, Israel! The off-spring of Israel’s King, David, Solomon, having been hand-picked by GOD to carry on the lineage to The Seed promised to Abraham; privileged and honored to build The Temple where God promised to dwell in the midst of His people forever! I’d say King Solomon pretty much qualified as top-dog—back in dat day, huh?

The Bible tells of Solomon’s humble, earnest, passionate prayer of dedication of The Temple, that so touched the heart of God. He did not ask for wealth and fame, but for wisdom to lead God’s people in such a way that they would honor God before the other nations of the world. And because this prayer pleased God so much, God responded “I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour; so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days. And if thou will walk in my ways, to keep my statues and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy day” (1 King 3:5-15)

SO, WHAT HAPPENED to cause the smartest, richest man in the world, to get to where we find him in Ecclesiastes?”

Apparently, Solomon came to a point in his life where he began to realize that none of the glitz and glamour of this world’s luxurious creature comforts that one might accumulate, could ever fill that God-size void in each of us. Unfortunately Solomon spent a life-time of pursuing and getting; yet not recognizing and understanding that the true value, wealth and treasure of what was right before his eyes. GOD!

WHAT’S THE POINT?

In all thy getting, get understanding! WITHOUT CHRIST—LIFE IS NOTHING!

SELAH!

“Have a WONDER-FILLED day!”

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

WAITING 4 HOPE!

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WAITING 4 HOPE!

SELAH Daily Devotions!

“Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me. This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.” Lamentations 3:19-25

“Semper Fidelis”, are two Latin words that the wife of every single USMC member (active-duty or retired) recognizes! Perhaps you might’ve seen it plastered on the rear window or bumper as you’re driving down the road! Semper Fi (the short version) meaning “Always Faithful” is the motto exemplifying the code of conduct and character of these courageously loyal soldiers.

While many of us who have enlisted in The Army of The Lord, strive diligently to honorably discharge this same spiritual SOP,  all of us sometimes falter in our attempts to sustain such lofty moral excellency, only to find ourselves desperately isolated in the hornet’s nest of a godless nation!

Such appears to be the predicament of God’s Prophet, Jeremiah, aka The Weeping Prophet! According to our scripture text, Jeremiah’s passionate efforts to persuade his beloved countrymen to repent of their persistent back-slidding rebellious ways and turn their hearts back to The One True God, once again fell on deaf ears! Consequently leaving Jeremiah lamenting exhausted, slipping helplessly further down into a bottomless pit of discouragement and drowning in his own tears.

Truthfully, many a soul can identify with The Prophet!  After having repeatedly warned our love ones of the error of their sinful lifestyle and encouraging them to seek The Savior to escape imminent destruction , yet instead of being embraced with grace-filled gratitude, we end up rejected, ridiculed and cast off like a badly-told joke.

I thank God for recording this historical event for 21st Century Believers to glean powerful insights from the experiences of those faithful servants of old  as to how we might also overcome these same challenges in our lives!

Looking around him, seeing the terror of Satan’s threats and looming clouds of fear, destruction and death Jeremiah found no reason to hope. But! Looking up, remembering Who he served and Whom he belonged to, there was every reason to hope!

When your hope is rooted and grounded in the never-ending Compassionate Mercies and Faithfulness of The Almighty God of the Angel Armies, it will inevitably ignite a courageous confidence and assurance that not only is Our God more than able to keep me, but He shall deliver me out of every evil situation that ever confronts me! (Ref. Psalms 34:19)

Jeremiah’s hope emerges, out of the depths of a compassionate sorrow for his people who, adamantly refusing to submit to God’s Lordship, would endure the brutal wrath of God’s anger, being exiled to Babylon, nevertheless stood firm on The Rock of His Salvation, knowing that now is not always!

For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. Psalm 30:5

We too have this confidence!  No matter what or how bleak your circumstances appear to be, be still knowing that we have The Strong Deliverer–Christ in Us – Our Hope of Glory! (Ref. Colossians 1:27)   AT EASE, SOLDIER!  WAITING 4 HOPE!

SELAH!

“Have a WONDER-FILLED day!”

Ann Caffee

THE BIGGEST LOSER!

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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