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GOD WANTS AMERICA, BACK!

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GOD WANTS AMERICA BACK 3

 

SELAH Daily Devotions!

 

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my ace, and turn from their wicked ways,then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14

 

WELL, AMERICA’S GREAT AGAIN, huh?  WOW!

Today despite of all the  predictions, our Nation has survived one more surprise attack, huh?  Who knu that the greatest threat to our national security would come from within the borders of our own democratic system? Nontheless, they say, ‘Liberty For All’, right? Well, I suppose that depends on one’s personal perspective. Nevertheless, we can agree on this, Freedom is not free nor is it cheap!

Hence,  I declare and decree, in Order to form a more perfect Unity, establish true Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain. establish, stand steadfast, immovable always abiding in THIS TRUTH, that despite all of these sophisticated technological security advancements of  the 21st Century,  the safest place in the whole wide world yet remains “smack-dabb” in the middle of GOD’S PERFECT WILL!!!

While many families are still struggling to cope and recover from the distress of 911, the increase in the random killings of young students,  senseless massacre of innocent kindergarteners at Connecticut’s Sandy Hook Elementary,  bomb blasts  abruptly interrupting The Boston Marathon , suicide bombings at airports globally, lunatics open-firing on random citizens out enjoying a matinee movie,  afternoon shopping at the local mall and evenings at their favorite restaurants or niteclubs,  those who arbitrarily invade the sanctify of Bible Study and Prayer Meetings, and to add insult to injury, now there’s the unprecedented diagnosis of post election stress disorder!  The devastating sociological effect of the culmination of  each of these obviously re-enforce the new-now reality! America has changed forever! Consequently, that somewhat bi-partisant-nonchalant-attitude that we once held viewing  media broadcasts detailing the slaughter of civilians in other countries has given way to a national sense of restrained anxiety and anticipation.

The false sense of serenity that our nation once enjoyed has now converted to sporadic rampant acts of violence, devastation and destruction. In the after mass, we see a socieity of proud Americans struggling to present a united front, clinging, crying, comforting, praying together in an attempt to let the world know “We’re proud to be Americans; United we stand and God bless America”!

Now don’t shout me down! Trust me, I’m just as patriotic as anyone. I am grateful that God destined me to be born in this country. However, first and foremost, I’m a Christian; a citizen of The Kingdom of God! Therefore I am compelled to plead on behalf of all my fellow countrymen, “America, bless Our GOD!”

None can deny that God has been so merciful to America. Time and time again, God has proven Himself to be so near to us. Our nation’s history confirms that God has continuously reached out to assure us, “My children, we are in this thing together…forever. I am here to help you. I am your shield and your buckler; I am as close as the very breath you breathe. I am fully and totally committed to you.” Unfortunately, just like the Israelites in Bible days, this nation has persisted in boldly rejected GOD’s Way, insisting on doing things our way, legislating unrighteousness!

Well can I offer my most solemn suggestion; my fellow Americans, instead of trying to pass the buck, we need to repent. Why spend so much time, money and attention pursuing false gods? We don’t need another God to save us! We just need to turn back to the One True Foundation of this great nation. It’s time to bend our knees, bow our hearts, and surrender our praise and worship to The True and Living God our Lord Jesus Christ. Clearly, everything that we will ever need is in Him.

What’s the point of having another National Day of Prayer if we have no intention of changing? I mean, can you imagine the stinch that’s seeping into The Throne Room of His Grace and Mercy? #yukyuk! Awemazingly, The Living God is waiting for His Chosen People to humbly cry out in sincerity to Him, (actually repenting) and return to the Rock of our Salvation!Remember, God has promised that in the midst of troubling times, we’d find Him to be a Very Present Help.

“Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of hosts.” Zechariah 1:3

WAKE UP AMERICA, IT’S WAY PASS TIME TO BLESS OUR GOD! GOD WANTS HIS AMERICA, BACK! #NUFFSAID!

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee

BACK 2 THE FUTURE

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BACK2 DA FUTURE2

 

SELAH Daily Devotions!

 

Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls, But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ Jeremiah 6:16

 

Okay! I gotta confess, our family might be a bit eccentric! But, c’mon, ever met anyone’s clan who wasn’t, huh?  YEAH, RIGHT! 

One of the personal proclivities of our household is the weekly (or daily for the patriarch) excursions to every thrift store within a 20 mile radius of our home. Overtime, the quest to recruit followers has been somewhat successful, amongst the older members of the family. However, the considerable efforts to pass down this soul rewarding heritage to future generations, have most often been met with extreme resistance! Obviously, the young’ns have yet to developed the palate necessary to distinguish (#appreciatethevalue) old from vintage!

Hence, may I submit for your consideration, that these same sentiments can  perhaps be attributed, spiritually, to the world at large! Don’t shout me down, now? Seriously! Given the spirit of this 21st Century Age of comtemporarized, unconventional, ambiguity, tolerance and self-motivated righteousness, apparently there’s little need and even less desire to conform to the irrelevant, antiquated dictatorship of The Holy Bible! After all, look what we’ve already done! Jus check out the mind-blowing accomplishments that we’ve attained just in the past 100 years, right?

To be honest, in a high-tech synthetic world of rockets, jets, cruiseliners, skycrapers and paved roadways, voice activated iphones and ipads…one might easily get caught up in a world where nature is generally overlooked! It’s no wonder that we tend to ignore The Creator and glorify creation! I mean, it’s kinda foolish to serve a God that you can’t even explain, when our sophisticated intellectual contemporary world appears to offer every kind of solutions to any problems that we face, right?

I’m sure you know by now that there’s always going to be plenty of folk around you who will tell you that ‘all you gotta do’ is keep on trying; pull yourself up by your bootstraps, and remember you da man 2 make it happen, right? But as good as that sounds, what do you do when you ain’t got no boots?

Life has a way of suddenly intruding upon, unannounced and uninvited, and dismantling the perfect 5-year plan that we’ve conjured up, leaving you at the crossroads of clueless, helpless and worse yet hopeless as how to recover and reconnect the broken pieces! It’s  usually at this point, that our Heavenly Father, reaches down into the pits of our vanity and depravity and draws us into a personal encounter with the Creator of Life, Love, Faith for Peace and Joy! It’s in this state that we discover that the true meaning and purpose for our being is to praise and glorify HIM!

As Holy Spirit begins to reveal Godself to you through The Word and intimate communion (prayer) the eyes of your understanding is enlighten and you recognize that the path for right living has already been marked out by God before the foundation of the world!

Unfortunately, even today, so few will choose to leave the glitz and glamour of the wide road, going their own way, and venture off to the old narrow pathways to follow in the footsteps of The OneTrue Shepherd! Those who have lost (or were never privvy to) God’s Perspective of their lives, tend to minimize the benefits of being set apart to manifest the Glory of God’s Mercy and Grace to a people living in a world filled with the emptiness of gross darkness, lost yet consumed with persuing a hell-bound life of eternal devastation and destruction!

Everyday, we’re forced to make numerous decisions, however there’re those which have eternal consequences. Are you going to choose the old ways (God’s) or will you continue forging on new paths of your own way?

Don’t get it twisted, JESUS is STILL the ONLY WAY LEADING TO PEACE AND REST FOR YOUR SOUL! #BACK2DAFUTURE!!!

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee

 

I WON’T TURN BACK!

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I WON'T TURN BACK

 

Selah Daily Devotions!

 

The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back, I gave my back to the smitters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I hid not my face from shame and spiting. For the Lord God will help me, therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I SHALL NOT BE ASHAMED. He is near that justifieth me; who will content with me? Behold the Lord will help me, who is he that shall condemn me? Isaiah 50:5-9

 

The Psalmist said, ‘Before I was afflicted, I went astray’. Well, King David, you’re not the only one! Can I get a witness? Before our ears were opened, before our personal encounter with The Divine Kind, before we met Jesus, all of us rebelled against God’s Righteous standards! Amen 3x!

But! Just like The Prophet Isaiah, when we finally heard that ‘un-mistakable’ Voice of Our Lord speaking to our heart, we turned our face to God and our back to Satan! We made the conscious, irrevocable determination to commit ourselves to The Redeemer, begin a new life, walk a new path, and emphatically denounced our former Task Master, declaring—I’m through with you!

However, I must confess! Much to my surprise, not everyone celebrated! In fact, some of the same folk that we used to kick it with backndaday ‘don’t treat me like they used to, since I laid my burden down’! Many of your peeps, who used to ‘have your back’ become back-stabbers or now avoid you like a bubonic plague. Don’t think it strange if some even set traps to get you to fall, just to let you know that you ain’t no better then they are!  #ijs For real!

But guess what? No one who walks away from the world ever comes up short. Nothing that you give up to follow Jesus is ever in vain. So don’t worry about your haters. Remember, you now have a Friend who sticks closer than any brother; and He has promised to never leave you or give up on you. (Ref. Proverbs 18:24; Hebrews 13:5)

Don’t try to defend yourself, just let your life speak for you! Trust me, some of those folk who walked away, they’re still watchin’. And guess who they’ll come to when they hit that pothole? EXACTLY! The ‘new and improved you’!

For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith. Hebrews 4:2

Precious one, God’s got your back! Just keep walking, unashamedly, looking unto Jesus! Trusting in His Promises, with all of your heart knowing that God’s got a plan for your life and I hearrrd  (in my best preacha voice) that what’s coming is better than what’s been! (Ref. Jeremiah 29:11) #Didjaheardat? #WOW!

So the next time that lying devil tries to make you doubt God’s faithfulness and derail your destiny—tell him—”Obviously, you’ve mistaken me for someone else! I ain’t Lot’s wife! I WON’T TURN BACK!” #BOOMMMM

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee

 

COME BACK 2 THE TABLE

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COME BACK 2 THE TABLE

 

SELAH Daily Devotions!

 
And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. 1 Corinthians 11:24-25

For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. 1 Corinthians 11:29

 

At our church, it’s every 1st Sunday! The table has been prepared by Deac, anticipating the moment when the scripture will be read and Pastor will extend the invitation to the congregation to come to the table and partake of the bread (wafer) and the wine (grape juice). The charge is given, to let every man examine his/her self and let them eat of that bread and drink of that cup, lest you bring a curse upon yourself by mocking the Body and The Blood of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! #heartpounding, huh?

Unfortunately, since we don’t know what’s residing in the hearts of our brothers and sistas, how many folk refrain because their own hearts have condemned them or not just because they don’t want others to think that they’re not in right-standing with Christ? Anyway, it’s not my business, right? #juswondering

Chances are even some God-fearing-sanctified-baptised-holy-walking-tongue-talking believers don’t really understand the significance of The Communion Table and wrongfully approach this feast as a religious traditon ritual. Hence, this is just something we do 1st Sunday! Oh, Precious Ones, there’s so much more taking place that meets the eye! Journey with me as the Holy Spirit lluminates the spiritual reality, intimacy and implications of this sacred fellowship with The Risen Savior!

The Communion Table is Divinely instituted to take us back to The Cross of Calvary and The Blood that was shed for the remission of our sin. When we come to The Table, we’re revisiting remembering the whipping posts where The Lamb of God was beaten with 39 stripes + 1  before He was nailed to an ol’ rugged Cross atop Calvary! While many who watched self-righteously believing that they were doing God a favor,  there were a remnant of others who knew that Jesus was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities and the stripes that He bore in His flesh were for our healing!

When we come to the Communion Table, remembering the Cross, you gotta come correct! Not in pride nor condemnation; but in joy-filled anticipation, humbled by Jesus’ humiliation! Come, humbled by Jesus’ Holiness, His Faithful submission to death, hell, the grave and to His Father’s Will–in order that we could have a right to eat the fruit of Eternal Life!

Come to the table, remembering the falability of your humanity and the infallability of His Divinity, acknowledging that not only do I need The Atoning Blood to get saved, but to stay saved!

The Word of God reminds us that there’s a devil who’s constantly plotting against us, determined to stop us from living holy and righteous before God. He’s always lurking about us, awaiting the opportunity to sneak up, entrapping you with that sin that so easily besets you, drapping your heart with burdens of guilt, shame and condemnation destroying your peace! He’s strategically scheming to flood your mind with fear,worry and doubt, drainining your spirit of the Jesus’ joy, strength and hope! But the Communion Table, reminds you that just One Drop of The sanctifying Blood applied to the door post of your heart and mind is enough to shake off temptation, depression, gloom and doom and lift you up out of the pit of hopelessness and dispair!

When you drink of The cup of Redemption, your strength is refreshed, renewed and your holy boldness is restored, empowering you to repel the firey darts of Satan. When you eat The Body, remember you now stand clad in The Full Armor of God, declaring to the kingdom of darkness, ‘I refuse to deny the Testimony of Jesus on The Cross – I gotcha covered, IT IS FINISHED!

Beloved, the next time you partake of the Communion Table, let the Blood cleanse your heart of the guilt by acknowledging that it was your sin that betrayed Jesus, even since you’ve been saved. The devil will choke on that, because you know He certainly was planning to throw that back in your face, k?

But be of good courage, that’s why Jesus suffered The Cross, once and for all who will receive Him as the propitiation of their sin. As you eat His Body and drink His Blood, remember, Jesus prayed, knowing you’d fail Him again before you leave this world. That’s why He asked The Father to send you The Helper to live on the inside of you to empower you to live faithfully and obedient to His commandments!

As you fellowship with The Savior, hear His plea, ‘All I want you to do, when you are converted is go strengthen your brother! Go tell them how much I still LOVE them! Go tell them about My Blood that frees them from sin! Go tell somebody how I saved, healed and delivered you! Go tell one somebody that if Jesus was able to saved me, a wretch undone, He can saved anybody! WOW! #didjaheardat?

Maybe you need to come back to the table? C’mon, THE BLOOD STILL WORKS!

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee

DON’T LOOK BACK!

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DON'T LOOK BACK

 

SELAH Daily Devotions!

 

How oft did they provoke Him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert! Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel Psalm 78:40-41

Ever notice how memories have a way of distorting reality.  Somehow, once we’re no longer ‘there’  WE  have this proclivity  to delete all of the bad and ugly stuff that happened to us?

Have you ever wondered why in the midst of our tests and trials, how easily our minds revert back to an earlier time and subconsciously embellishes those former times as ‘the good ol days’?

Today’s scripture text, ‘them’ Israelites illustrate this innately human response to selectively reminisce over the episodes of history, particularly whenever we’re faced with the fear of the unknown.  Hence, the grass always looks greener and better on the other side, right?

It was only about a month after God had miraculously delivered over a million former slaves out from the cruelty of Egyptian bondage, when they began to feel differently about their utterly hopelessly distressful past circumstances.  The moment they were faced with a challenge, they began to murmur against Moses and Aaron and to make matters even worse, they accused God of bringing them out of Egypt only to die in the wilderness!  

‘We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick: 6 But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.’ (Numbers 11:5-6)

…Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger” (Exodus 16:1-3) 

Somehow, they dismissed the reality, like we often do, that God had just lead His Chosen People to freedom, faithfully, supernaturally supplying everything they needed, yet they failed to appropriately appraise God’s Eternal Presence and Divine Favor based on unfamiliar temporary circumstances.

Saints, the truth is, nothing that you’ve been thru; nothing you’re going thru NOW should make you want to turn back. Remember what happened to Lots’ wife? (Ref. Luke 17:32)

Don’t make the same mistake that our forefathers made. Don’t limit your expectations of God to your former experiences! We forget that God has a panoramic view of our lives! What God has for you is always in front of you!!  Don’t worry about what you can’t see, remember GOD’s guiding us by His Eyes! So keep moving forward!  If He ever did it before, trust Him to do it again!

Our God “is well able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or thing, according to the power that works in us”. (Ephesians 3:20). 

Beloved, trust 2 Know…your future won’t  even fit in your past!  What God has prepared for you is always greater than anything you’ve been thru! 

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

Check the end of the Book–YOU WIN! DON’T LOOK BACK! 

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