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ARE WE THERE, YET?

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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

ARE YOU OVER YOU?

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R U OVER U

 

SELAH Daily Devotions!

And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Revelations 12:10-11

Wow! Overcomers! Now datz what I’m talking about, huh?  Everybody knows how we Pentecostals just love stomping the dust mites out when we hear them ‘Over-comers’ scriptures, right? But, exactly who are the ‘Over-Comers’?

Some may think that they’re those sacred saints, having renounced sin and Satan, forsaking all their worldly goods pledged absolute loyalty and devotion to Christ. And that’s right! Others may have proclaimed this state based on their willingness to separate themselves from ungodly associates choosing rather to walk alone than stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of the scornful, thereby freeing themselves from all that would disrupt their hallowed union with Christ. (Ref. Psalm 1) And, perhaps, that too would be true?

Unfortunately, none of our self-righteous acts guarantee nor entitle us to Eternal Life. If you think that you’ve been good enough to pay your own way to Heaven, you’ve already blown it. The scriptures make this absolutely clear, i.e. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:”  Ephesians 2:8 

And on those rare occasions that Holy Ghost was able to get hold of enough of your flesh to do something right, I doubt if it would even come close to all the times that your fickle-flesh over-ruled your spirit, huh? 

But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. (Isaiah 64:6)

May I submit, for your consideration, how few would be inclined to pursue this echelon of spirituality knowing in advance the real cost of this lofty attribute?

According to Revelations 2:10 “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.” True Overcomers are the ones who  faithfully endure the suffering through trials and tribulations and yet persevere, committing their way to The Blood of The Cross, giving Glory to Jesus that they might know the fellowship of HIS suffering and the power of HIS Resurrection. These are THEY to whom the Lord will reward with a Crown of Life!

The good news is, Jesus The Christ has already triumphed over every obstacle that blocked our access to The Heavenly Father–in our stead. His sacrificial death justified us, exchanging HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS for our unrighteousness—once and for all!  Now, it’s up to you to accept this amazing gift of Grace! So, whatchawaiting4? C’mon nah, get over you! 

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee

HE’S ALREADY THERE

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HE'S ALREADY THERE

 

SELAH Daily Devotions!

“Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.” Psalm 139:7-12

At any time, completely unbeknown to us, we could find ourselves pinned to the pendulum of time, swaying violently from side to side, moment by moment, being extended to the furthers spectrum of either end, coming desperately close to the edge of sanity!

While our faith is demanding absolute confident trust (despite the mounting circumstantial evidence) that our Heavenly Father is in complete control, our inner-most consciousness is being tormented by the constant influx of those taunting threatening “what if’s”.

Unfortunately, most of the time our hearts tends to lean toward the most pessimistic catastrophic conclusion. To further compound an already desperately fragmented state of mind, there’s that unmentionable guilt and shame for even doubting God’s accessibility, ability, availability and even His willingness to intervene on our behalf!

I know! We’ve all been there. That’s the other part of our grandiose soul-stirring testimony that we are usually reluctant to share.

Yet, The Psalmist so adeptly and melodiously blends together the dangling, mangling emotions that one endures finding themselves in such a unpredictable predicament; giving us a model by which to navigate our way through the turbulence safely to the after side of life’s contrary oceans.

Not surprisingly, having walked with God for a while now, the Answer is always the same for any hopelessly-helpless,critically-chaotic circumstance.

In the midst of overwhelming uncertainties, set your eyes on The One Constant Creator and Sustainer of the seen and unseen. Jesus Christ; The Bright and Morning Star!

ITZ DA TRUTH!  Anywhere and everywhere you are, God is already there!

The ol’ folk used to sanng, “He’s too high, you can’t go over; too low, you can’t go under; too wide, you can’t go around”! Hence, there’s not a spot in the known universe where God is not!

So you see, whether you’re coming, or going, or smack dab in the middle of an unsettle ling situation, there is unspeakable joy and enormous comfort and strength in acknowledging THE GOD OF ALL COMFORT’S  Reassuring Presence!

The Psalmist further validating the foundation of every Christian’s faith, recognizes that even the most seasoned saints encounter season of glaring darkness; yet God is not intimidated nor His Will hampered! He works The Night Shift! Because darkness and light are the same to God, He is always able to see us; even when we can’t trace His Hand, we can yet trust His Heart! (Ref. Psalm 139:12)

God is too Great to figure out; too Wonderful to predict; too Marvelous to ignore and too Amazing to deny!

So you must simply, trust and thank Him for guiding you safely pass our past, sustaining you in your present, and carrying you securely into your future!

DON’T WORRY ABOUT TOMORROW, GOD IS ALREADY THERE!

SELAH!

“Have a WONDER-FILLED day!”

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