Tag Archives: DAY

A GGRREAT-GOD DAY!

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A GOOD GOD DAY 3

 

SELAH Daily Devotions!

 

Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Philippians 4:4-5

Good morning Lord!

Thank you for this day that You have made! (Ref. Psalm 118:24) According to Your WORD, my #1 Priority today, is to glorify and celebrate YOU! It sounds like you’ve invited me to party with you all day.  Although, You’re the One throwing the party, strangely, I feel as if I’m the Honored Guest. WOW!

As I embrace this brand new day considering WHO You are and WHAT You have promised to do for, in and thru me, my heart-joy springs up erupting into eternal hope, confidence and peace. I shutter in pure amazement, pondering the depth of your Love and Compassion towards me. O the Wonder of Your never-ending loving-kindness overwhelms me with such comforting securing Grace!

I revel in Your unrivaled Greatness and I’m no longer intimidated by my smallness, frailness nor past failures! Suddenly, I become intensely aware that I am surrounded by The Mountain, The Fortress that can’t ever be shaken nor penetrated! This awesomeness is not easily described, due to the severe limitations of my finite intellect and verbal capacity. I find myself gasping at the mere suggestion that I AM the object of such affection. Yet this Truth encompasses my spirit, soul and body and I embrace my wholeness and completeness, as I dwell in the Presence of The All-Knowing, All-Loving, Caring, Creator-Giver, Father of All-Life!

I linger longingly in Your Sanctuary, fearing the inevitable interruptions and mysterious distractions that await me as I meander through this day. Nevertheless, I acknowledge that it was for this cause—that I may spread the Good News to some lost and weary one, that there is Hope beyond this world and that The Master is on His way—that I am called to Your Kingdom.

Today, I concede, confidently trusting and committing myself into Your Hands; resting assured that You are faithfully leading and guiding me, triumphantly and victoriously over every situation that I may confront along the way!

Strapped in The Full Armor of Your Righteousness with my feet clad in The Gospel of Peace—I forge forward rejoicing in my GGGRRREAT-GOD DAY!

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee

TIME AND CHANCE

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TIME AND CHANCE

 

SELAH Daily Devotions!

 

The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favor to men of skill; But time and chance happen to them all.  Ecclesiastes 9:11

This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24
Wake Up! God’s got a blessing with your name on it, it’s called ‘TODAY’!

God has endowed every one of us with personal power! It’s called CHOICE, huh? Hence, no thing or no one has the power to determine your response to a brand new day of life! You can choose whether to approach it with joyful celebration and gratitude or you can drag the burdens of disappointment, failure, defeat and guilt of yesterday into today!

Now, I hearya, ‘uuuhhh, obviously you have no idea what I’m going thru, sista!’ You’re absolutely right, but GOD does! He also knows everything that you will face each and every tomorrow! Since He’s in absolute control of all creations, why not trust Him to handle the details of each moment. Rest assured, it’s all working together for your good! ( Romans 8:28)

Now, let me warn you, it’s gonna feel strange, at first but datz okay! Once you experience that peace that surpasses all understanding, you’ll agree that in the long run, it’s well worth whatever it costs! Can you imagine waking up every day filled with the enthusiastic anticipation of embracing another opportunity to experience God’s Glory, Grace and Praise? Instead of pulling the covers over your head,  overwhelmed by a cloud of foreboding fear, worry, dread, discouragement, defeat, murmuring and complaining, WHY NOT wake up with an attitude of gratitude for what God’s already done, is doing now and ernestly hopeful for what He’s about to do? #ijs
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As a disciple of Christ, from the moment you open your eyes you can direct your day by calling those things that be not as though they were! (Romans 4:17) Today, choose to enjoy this wonderful gift of present and keep moving forward into this new day! After all,  the CEO of Life is living on the inside of you.

The Ol’ Saints used to sing, ‘Everyday with Jesus is sweeter than the day before!’ And don’t get it twisted, they lived through some very distressing times. Remember The Great Depression? Yet, amidst their adversity, they learned how to trust and depend on The Lord. With every triumph they gained courageous confidence that God was well able to keep them thru and bring them out of anything that would unfold during the course of a day!

When Jesus is your Shepherd, it really doesn’t matter what happened yesterday, God is yet God! Never forget that The God of the mountain top is also the God of the valley! ( 1Kings 20:23-27) So, why not expect to be strengthened, encouraged, delivered and re-joyed! Make today another chance to do better, become more and get closer to Jesus.

WOW! 24 hours OR 1440 minutes OR 86,400 seconds! Spend it well! Remember, Time and Chance Happens To All of US!

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee

TRUTH OF CONSEQUENCES!

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TRUTH OF CONSEQUENCES

 

 

SELAH Daily Devotions!

 

Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions. Ecclesiastes 7:29

Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, 2 Timothy 3:5-6

 

One day in the winter of his life, King Solomon, God’s proclaimed wisest man in the world, sat pondering events, adventures and experiences of former seasons, and penned the words left in Ecclesiastes 7:29. Theologians have various perspectives on how and even if somethings happened that caused a quantrum shift in this young man’s overview of life. Since, I am unqualified to object or sustain either I defer the question to the more capable intellectual biblical scholars!

However allow me, with the aid of Holy Spirit, to share a few insights that I gleaned as I visited these texts. Hopefully, someone might find them useful for practical daily application. I am firmly convinced that every one of us born into the earth has at some point, looked up inquiring, ‘Why me, what’s going on and when is it gonna change for my good?’ But it’s alright, ain’t nobody here but you and me, ok?

It’s a whole lot easier to hide somethings in the closets of our minds, rather than openly subjecting them to the speculations of folk we need to impress and even more so advantagious to cover them up from self, huh? But somebody a whole lot smarter than I said, ‘You can’t conquer what you’ll not willing to confront’! Don’t you just hate those addages? LOL!

Recently, I was confronted by an opportunity to delve heart-first into a long-standing personal dilemma, ‘how is it that we, humans—save and unsaved—are able to justify our actions even while acknowledging that they’re wrong!’ I use that word wrong, because they say in this New Millennium Age, it’s more palatable than SIN!

Most of us have, at varying degrees, mentally assented to the reality of GOD! While there may be a multiplicity of individual opinions of Who,Where and What role does He play in our lives, I don’t think I’m way out on a limb with this assumption. The unregenerated soul cannot be expected to receive the things of God because they don’t know HIM. (Ref. 1 Corinthians 2:14) Problem is those of us who name the Name of Jesus Christ, are obviously able to conjure up in our minds an IMAGE of our own God. Beloved, trust2kno! I know better than anyone, I am far from a finished work! Hence, I say this not out of a superficious self-righteous spirit, but as a statement of observation over the past years of pastoring God’s sheep!

We all know that The Word of God is alive and speaks to us taking into full account our personal circumstances and situations! Nevertheless, there are inherent truths that flow through generations, that are immuable! Whether we understand, believe, agree or disagree! Truth is ABSOLUTE because God is Truth and God is Sovereign!

Can you imagine the angelic conversations, looking down from Heaven’s view, witnessing humanity’s arrogance, self-will, pride, power coveting, resistance to the authority as we perpetually deny the Soveignty of God? Probably not, huh? Perhaps even more perplexing to the heavenly host, is our prevailing response to the consequences of our disobedience. We got some nerve, blaming God when we reap the wages of doing what seems right in our own eyes. As if the clay can demand the potter to relent from His Purpose for His creation. (Ref. Jeremiah 18-19)

I guess, we never looked at it like that, huh? After all, God knows out hearts, right? It’s more self comforting to judge others by their actions and ourselves by our good intentions! After all, what would become of us if we looked in the mirror of God’s Word and saw ourselves as God sees. Why we might have to plead guilty to the myriad of alleged charges railed against us of repeated abuse of God’s Love, breaking His Commandments, gross dis-honor and negligence, denying His Right to rule over His creations, refusal to submit to His authority and Power as Eternal Soveign Lord God!

Well, when you put it like dat! Kinda makes you wonder, what’s your response to the ultimate question ‘WHO DO U SAY I AM’?

I’m not Holy Ghost, Jr. so I can’t tell you what King Solomen’s final conclusion meant or didn’t. I can only speak for myself. But! Think about it! At the end of the day, we’re all slaves; yet GOD honors us as Sons! #AWEMAAZZIN!

IT BEHOOVES ANY /ALL OF US TO REMEMBER THAT BABYLON WILL BE JUDGED IN ONE DAY! WOW! TRUTH OF CONSEQUENCES!

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee

IF U THINK…U CAN THANK!

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IF U THINK, U CAN THANK

 

SELAH Daily Devotions!

 

“When I think of the goodness of Jesus, and all he has done for me,my soul cries out Hallelujah! I thank God for saving me!”

 

We’ve all heard that; some of us have even testified it ourselves. How many of us were clueless that this was really a verse of a song, and not a scripture? But datz okay! Regardless of it’s roots, reciting these words has pulled many drowning souls out of the depths of hopelessness and despair!

The master of deceit, Satan, flourishes in our proclivity towards selective amnesia. Whether it’s a self-induced defense mechanism or some type of ego-boosting-denial-syndrome, I don’t know. However, if we’re honest, every single one of us could testify we’ve scaled some mountains higher than we thought possible and drifted through seemingly impossible storms that “NOBODY BUT GOD kept us alive!”

Truthfully, that’s exactly what terrifies Satan the most. He knows that if we ever take the time to really think about how often The Power Twins, Mercy and Grace, showed up, just in the nick of time delivering us from danger, destruction and even death, praise and worship is imminent! And of course, that’s the absolute last thing the devil wants to endure is a bunch of happy trusting believers rejoicing and lifting up The Name of Jesus!

Well, guess what devil, you might as well pull out your earplugs, because God is raising up a nation of your worst nightmare,  reformed doubters-complainers, an honest-to-goodness -genuine BELIEVERS! Oh Yeah! We’ve come through some fires, been through some storms but we can truly say that God was with me all the way!

In fact, come to think of it,  everytime that I cried out to Him, Jesus heard me and saved me out of all my troubles! ( Psalm 34:6) And because of my personal history, I have learned how to lean and depend on Jesus! Therefore, I truly and profoundly declare and decree (with both hands raised) “I WILL BLESS THE LORD AT ALL TIMES, HIS PRAISE SHALL CONTINUALLY BE IN MOUTH! (Psalm 34:1)

And guess what else, if you think I’m gonna keep this to myself, you must be an ol’ fool! I’m about to tell everybody, ‘come and see what the Lord has done for me!” THINK ABOUT IT…U GOTTA THANK HIM, huh?

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee

 

 

IT’S A NEW DAY!

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IT'S A NEW DAY!

 

SELAH Daily Devotions!

 

Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth, Shall ye not know it?   I will even make a way in the wilderness, And rivers in the desert?  Isaiah 43:19

Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,” says the Lord of hosts. Zechariah 4:6

 
 

I still remember when I would curse the breaking forth of the morning. It only meant another day filled with excruciating pain, sadness, discouragement and disappointment–just like all the others. It is no stretch of the imagination to figure out who had perpetuated those thoughts, okay?  But that was B.C. (Before Christ came into my life)!!!!  But by The Grace of God, today I stand as a living testimony to reality of The New-Life-Giving Power of God! (2 Corinthians 5:17)
 
Yessirreee Bob, this old gurl’s gotta  new attitude!  Coming from an extremely negative environment, I thought that this was just the way of the world. However, once I accepted Jesus, I learned that God’s Salvation’s Benefit Package included a completely different attitude, faith!  Yeah Baby, this new faith attitude is the heritage of the saints, the children of God! 
 
Once you recognize that you’re really in a personal relationship with the True and Living God, it’s actually possible for you to embrace each day with  joy, hopeful anticipation and confident assurance that this is a great day because God made it! Seriously,  it’s a new day!
 
Before you open up your eyes or your feet hit the floor, you have the power to dictate your day.  You can say,‘Good Lord, it’s morning already or Good Morning, Lord’. You choose whether to approach your day with joyful celebration and gratitude for  another opportunity to experience God’s Glory, Grace and Praise for what He’s already done, is doing now and for what He is about to do or you can claim fear, discouragement and defeat by murmuring and complaining. 
 
Don’t get it twisted. Even as a disciple of Christ, everyday is not the same; however each day you’re becoming new as you grow in the Wisdom, Knowledge and the Grace of God! That’s right saints, the new you makes the decision to enjoy this wonderful gift of present by refusing to allow past sins, past failures, past wounds and past disappointments, to keep you from moving forward into this brand new day! Didjaheardat?
 
The Ol’ Saints used to sing, ‘Everyday with Jesus is sweeter than the day before!”  Don’t fool yourself, they lived through some very distressing times. Remember, The Great Depression!  Yet, amidst their adversity, they remained convinced that God was well able to keep them thru and to bring them out of anything that would unfold during a day!
 
When Jesus is your Shepherd, it doesn’t matter what happened yesterday.  God empowers each new day with new mercy, new grace and new faith to believe that today is the first day of the best of my life…because today is MY new day !

Soooooo, I decree and declare that Today, I have the mind of Christ! I believe that God is making a way out of no way, for me! Today, I believe that God is up to something that He’s never done before. Today, I expect to be strengthened, delivered and re-joyed! Today is another chance for me to do better and become more because today is another opportunity to get closer to Jesus!

Now if that doesn’t jumpstart your day, you better check your vitals and make sure you’re still living! OOOHHH GLORRRAAAAA!

HEY YALL, LIFE GOES BETTER WITH CHRIST! O HAPPY EVERYDAY!  IT’S A NEW DAY!

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee

STICK WITH WHAT U KNOW

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STICK WITH WHAT U KNOW

SELAH Daily Devotions!

 

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the Lord your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place. Since you were precious in My sight, You have been honored, And I have loved you; Therefore I will give men for you, And people for your life. Fear not, for I am with you. Isaiah 43:2-4

 

Time is hurling towards Eternity at the speed of life! And sometimes, life comes at you hard, fast and furious, huh?.

I mean, it can’t actually be 21 years ago? I blink and I’m sitting at my daughter’s bedside in the L & D Unit, only slightly aware of her antagonistic glares, but not the least bit daunted away from my mission. Time after time, warning her of each impending contraction (as if she really needed to hear me tell her).

Was it really that many hours past before the birth of the most beautiful baby girl this side of heaven, Lil’ Miss Dasia? I can still summon up that joy and sheer magic just witnessing this small Wonder of God’s Glory. It can’t be 21 years ago or can it? One moment, she’s sitting on the front steps waiting for Pop-Pop; her first starring role in a kindergarten play; going to the Senior Prom; crossing the stage receiving her High School Diploma; packing up the car; going off to college and now few months shy of graduation…WOOOAH! I guess it must be, huh?

We treasure memories like those, right? Nobody expects those unannounced choatic interruptions. I mean; like waking up the morning refreshed, satiated in anticipation of what adventures are waiting to be unfolded during the course of this new day; totally oblivious to the impact of that 11:49 mid-day phone call, that 5:22 rush-hour accident on the Beltway, or that 2:15 a.m. Police knocking at your door, invading your normal routine everyday as usual life in a way you never thought possible!

Suddenly! By the time your head hits the pillow again, every ounce of hope has been ripped out of you, fleeing to a place waaaaay beyond reach. That peace you enjoyed earlier that day somehow has become lost in the maze of extreme anxiety, depression, and hapless desolation. While something inside of you wonders, was that this morning?

Life has a way of slapping you smack-dab-in the middle of your face, no matter how strong you may think you are. There’s no way to be prepared for something like this, saved-sanctified-Holy Ghost filled or not! Yet not one of us is exempt from the threat of drowning in an unexpected out of the blue situation. And of course, The Tempter doesn’t miss any opportunity to exploit our crisis and destroy our faith in what we do know.

The Israelites faced a similar dilemma in 2 Chronicles 2:12. Surrounded by their enemy with no way out, King Jehoshaphat did the only thing he could do, he cried out to The Lord. “O our God, wilt Thou not judge them? For we have no might against this great company that cometh against us, neither know we what to do; but our eyes are upon Thee.”

Hopefuly, we all can glean from this example. Challenged by those “we don’t know why or what to do situations”, focus on what you do know! We do know WHO!

We know God is yet God! We know God is Omnipresent, Omnipotent and Omniscient! We know God is Ruler of All Creation! We know God is in complete control! We know He’s always Present with us and that All Power Belongs to God! We know God knows everything about everything! We know His love is unconditionally faithful and irrevocably established forever! We know He’s Solemnly committed Himself to caring, comforting, protecting and restoring our righteousness, peace and our joy!

Don’t get lost in the quarry of the unknown. STICK WITH WHAT YOU KNOW!

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES!

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WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES

 

SELAH Daily Devotions!

“Behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2)

What is ‘The Gospel’?

Today, we hear so much stuff preached under the auspices of ‘The Gospel’ that it’s no wonder that a lot of folk are confused. In its purest essence, The Gospel is ‘The Good News’! I’ll go all out there and say that it’s ‘the bestest ever’ news that anyone can get in this life time!

Discovering that one day, before you or I were born, a man named Jesus, paid the penalty for a crime for all of man-kind, is life altering. Even more astounding, is the fact that He, Who was completely innocent of all charges, took the blame for us who were absolutely guilty!

Although, there were no cameras in the court room that day, but it’s been clearly documented (The Bible) that when the charges against HIM were read, Jesus never uttered a single word in His own defense but stood silently before His accusers, ready and willing to take the judgment and the punishment upon Himself rather than allow us to be condemned!

When the verdict came in and the gavel was slammed down, instead of you and I who should’ve been judged and sentenced to prison for life for our guilt and shame, Jesus was convicted and condemned to death on Calvary’s Cross!

That day, as recorded in history, because of Jesus, the prison doors that would’ve held all of mankind captive were broken wide open, releasing us from eternal damnation and freeing us to live forever in The Kingdom of God!

Oh Happy Day! Knowing that God loves us so much that He was willing to sacrifice His First-Born Son Jesus, to become sin that we might become righteous is almost unbelievable! But ! If we will believe it anyhow, we shall escape the penalty due for our own sin and be adopted into the Family of God!

Finding out that this deal is still on the table; available to anyone, talk about Good News! No matter who, what, or where you’ve been; be it prostitute, murderer, drug dealer, thief or even a churchgoer who never actually asked and received Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, you’re still eligible! That’s Awesome!

Today is A New Day! By confessing that we’re sinners and trusting in The Life of Jesus Christ, we can begin, again! That’s the Good News!

When Satan tries to remind you of what you used to be, just inform him “Look stupid, obviously, you’ve got the wrong man!” Then, direct him to The Book! “If any man be in Christ Jesus, He is a NEW creation, old things are passed away; behold hold all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

The door is open! What are you waiting for? What a difference a day makes!

SELAH!

“PAUSE, PONDER & PRAIZ!”

Ann Caffee

 

LIVING YESTERDAY

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LIVING YESTERDAY

 

SELAH Daily Devotions!

“This is the day which the Lord hath made, rejoice and be glad in it! ” Psalm 118:24

 

“The Good ol’ Days!” WOW! Remember? But what is it about memories? Either time has a peculiar way of tainting our perspective or our minds automatically default to selective-perception when the moment ends.

Somehow, we remember that gut-wrenching pain (that you were utterly convinced was terminal) and the high that would get higher and the groove getsgroovyur; the music never stopped; the laughter would become heartier and the flood of tears would never subside; the mornings came too soon and the nights were eternal; puppy love would grow into a couple, a family and divorce and you’d just…and recess lasts for a lifetime…and then! IT’S TODAY and you’re still alive! #wannacheckurpulse?

Whatever happened, good, bad, ugly and indifferent; you survived it all!

Release the coulda’s , woulda’s, shoulda’s! Smile triumphantly over conquests and the sweetness of successes! Sigh sheepishly over the guilts and regrets—then thank GOD for all the second chances!

“You can’t alter your past, but you can always take your past to the Altar!” (unknown)

Thank GOD for the Sufficiency of yesterday’s Grace and Hope-Filled tomorrows!

BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, THANK GOD FOR THIS BRAND-NEW BLESSED DAY! DON’T WASTE A SECOND OF IT! LIVE TODAY AS IF IT WERE YOUR LAST!

SELAH!

“Have a WONDER-FILLED day!”

Ann Caffee