Tag Archives: Faithful

HE LUVS ME!

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HE LOVES ME

 

SELAH Daily Devotions!

“And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.”
(Genesis 3:8)

Back in the olden days, there was a street game (yes we actually played outside) and while the name of the game escapes me, I do remember the rules. We’d find a fresh yellow flower, which was no small feat in the hood, and then we’d proceed to slowly pull each individual golden petal apart from the stem while chanting the words,“He loves me…He loves me not…He loves me…He loves me not…HE LOVES ME!
 
That’s exactly how some of us authenticate our relationship with Jesus! When our circumstances are all good (just as we like them}, “He loves me”. When situations abruptly shift beyond our comfort level and/or ability to control, “He loves me not”!
 
Let’s consider our first parents, Adam and Eve. When they obeyed the voice of God, they enjoyed paradise—living life to the fullest. Everything they desired was theirs for the picking without their even asking. However, the moment they began to doubt God’s faithfulness and willfully defied God’s instructions they were thrust into an environment that God never intended for them to experience. The confident intimacy of God’s Presence was ruptured! For the first time, they found themselves radically disconnected, desperately attempting to hide themselves from the Eternal Source of Life and Love! The enchantment they once knew was displaced by dread, fear, guilt, shame, doubt and insecurity! 
 
But The Eternal God of Love, refused to let go! The Omniscient Creator came looking for Adam.  
 
Where are you Today? Are you discouraged and feeling detached from The True Source of Power, Peace and Hope? Are the cares of this world or the heavy burden of un-confessed sin tempting you to hide from your Only Savior, Jesus? 
 
Come out from there! Lift your heart towards The King and be ye reconciled! (Ref. 2 Corinthians 5:20)
 
When God sees us, He’s looking through Lovingly Blood-Stained Eyes!  Trust for sure, Beloved…Yes, HE LOVES ME, AND YOU! 
 
SELAH!
 
Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!
 
Ann Caffee

GOTTA LUV HIM

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GOTTA LUV HIM

 

SELAH Daily Devotions!    

Your mercy and loving kindness, O Lord, extend to the skies, and Your faithfulness to the clouds, Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; Your judgments are like the great deep; O Lord, You preserve man and beast. How precious is Your steadfast love, O God! The children of men take refuge and put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.  They relish and feast on the abundance of Your house and You cause them to drink of the stream of Your pleasures. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light do we see light. O continue Your loving-kindness to those who know You, Your righteousness (salvation) to the upright in heart. Let not the foot of pride overtake me, and let not the hand of the wicked drive me away.  PSALMS 36:6-11

 

Really, I don’t want to be just another voice flippantly spewing Pentecostal clichés, but  hear the sincerity of my heart’s cry… “WHEN I THINK OF THE GOODNESS OF JESUS, AND ALL THAT HE’S DONE FOR ME, MY HEART CRIES OUT HALLELUJAH, I THANK GOD FOR SAVING ME”!

It’s totally mind-boggling that the Creator of the universes actually cared enough for ‘us‘ to sacrifice His Only Begotten Son in order that we might be adopted into His Family! (Ref. Isaiah 53:10)

Looking back I never imagined that I’d be a Child of The King. I was one of ‘them’ who used to laugh and joke about ‘yall’ Christians. In fact, I can distinctly remember, blatantly ignorant proclaiming, “I know  me and all my friends gonna be parta’n down in Hell!”

All the while, completely unbeknownst to me, Satan was plotting to destroy me! BUT GOD had predestined Purpose for my life! Before the foundation of the world, God set in Eternity, His appointed time to fulfill my Destiny!  (Ref. Romans 6:5)

No wonder, we so easily identify with The Psalmist’s losing himself in the midst of exaltation, worship and praise at The Magnificence and Marvelous Works of God!  Truthfully, GOD can’t be praised enough!

O the Wonder of His Glory to allow ol’ wretched men, to approach His Throne, surrendering our bankrupted lives in exchange for His Loving-Kindness, Tender Mercy and His Saving Grace!  I still don’t know how or why!  But—I’m soooo glad He did!

We can only conclude, ‘HE’S A WONDER’!  GOTTA LOVE HIM!

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

UNSHAKABLE LOVE!

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UNSHAKEABLE LUV

 

SELAH Daily Devotions!

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” (John 3:16-17)

EVER since man left the Garden of Eden, God has been trying to show us how much He loves, misses and how badly He wants us to come Home to Him!

He spoke to a man Abram, through His Prophets, through visitations, dreams, signs, parables and innumerable unexplainable events. Finally, He spoke to us in the Person of His Only Son, Jesus! (Ref. Hebrews 1:1-3) Jesus, if you will, is GOD’s Illustrated Sermon, preached by The Father of All Creation, because LOVE refused to let go!

Now, understandably, given the limitation of our perverted perception of love, this Love makes absolutely no sense!

It’s almost unbelievable! But GOD’s ways are higher than ours and HIS thoughts are greater than ours. Therefore, humanity struggles to comprehend the infinite capacity of our Creator’s faithful, committed and unshakable love for us! Agape, GOD LOVE, can only be revealed through the Power of The Holy Ghost! (Ref. Romans 5:5)

At best, here’s a working definition of‘ ‘agape love’; “it’s The Love that’s just enough to meet you where you are, but is too full with compassion to leave you there and is only satisfied by lifting you up to where He is!’

It’s The Love that says, I don’t care what you do, what you don’t do, MY Love will never stop loving you! Just trust MY Love! Now that’s The Gospel of Jesus Christ!

You see, I’ve learned that threatening folk with hell to make them love Jesus is not enough to make them repent before GOD! I mean, you can’t win souls to Christ if you only tell them how bad they are and never tell them how Good Jesus is! It’s the goodness of God that leads people to repentance! (Ref. Romans 2:4) Now Ain’t that good news? Saints, datz The Gospel!

When people understand that ‘No-thing’ shall separate you/me from the LOVE of GOD IN CHRIST JESUS–It’s life-changing! (Ref. Romans 8:38-39)

Now, 4 the LUV OF GOD, why don’t cha’ run and tell that! God Love is For Ever Faithful! Datz UNSHAKEABLE LOVE!

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee

 

ALWAYS & 4 EVER!

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ALWAYS AND 4 EVER

 

SELAH Daily Devotions!

 

For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. Isaiah 50:7

 

There’s never been a point, place or space in time where God is not! God IS and will ever BE—for He is ETERNALLY GOD! #didjaheardat?

To souls wearied and wounded from matriculating through the sporadic-tumultuous terrains of life, this  statement has proven to be the Source of great comfort and strength. At the same time, it’s the sting of predictable debilitating destruction and defeat against the insidious attacks to the forces of evil!

The primary mission of the Kingdom of darkness is to cause the people of God to abandon their hope and personal trust in The Eternal Father by any means necessary! Satan’s disciples strategically set up obstacles to ensnare believers with confusion, fear and doubt designed ultimately to contaminate their faith, causing them to re-evaluate the Reliability of trusting in an invisible, yet all emcompassing True and Living God!

Problem is, all too often, it’s the personal testimonies of triumphant victories down thru the years that continue to rigorously validate God’s Faithfulness, fueling the Believer’s Hope of Eternal Glory!

Finding ourselves knee-deep in the midst of this 21st Century Anti-Christ culture, there’s no shortage of opportunities to throw in the towel and tap-out on the Promises revealed in the Sacred Writ, resolving that they’re no longer relevant in this self-centered, self-righteous, intellectually astute, Hi-Tech, contemporal society!  

However, such thinking is only logical to those who have foolishly opted to avoid the reality of The Omnipresent Omnipotent God! Nothing ever happens that catches God off-guard. Hence, He is Alpha and Omega!  The Omniscient Creator, Sovereignly orchestrating the affairs of  humanity from eternity past, thru present into eternity future,  determined that His Purpose shall never be frustrated by the  inherent iniquity of flawed-fickled-fleshy-lust-filled mankind!

Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two inchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of The Hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this Hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. Hebrews 6:17-19

 

Beloved, standing firmly on the Immutability of God’s Word, gives us the leverage to embrace every situation with confident assurance that we’ll never alone and God is always in control. Therefore, our Heavenly Father is always Present  to help, constantly undergirding our inabilities with His Infinite Excellence!

Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. (Deuteronomy 31:6)

Remember, My child, when the odds are stacked against the righteous—GOD’S AT HIS BEST! FAITHFUL…ALWAYS AND FOREVER!

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

THAT’S LIFE!

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THAT'S LIFE

 

SELAH Daily Devotions!

 

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:5-6 
 

There’s one thing that each of us faces as we tread through this 21st Century, both believers or unbelievers, and that’s ‘The uncertainty”.  Yes, it’s pretty much a guarantee at some point during our day we will all face some degree of uncertainty.  Whether it’s wondering if we’ll have a job tomorrow,  will there be a massive storm or will the sun be shining, what will the traffic be like, what will I come home to, will I have the finances to take that much needed and earnestly anticipated vacation?
 
Life always entails a mist of mystery that one might reckon to a confusing road trip. Sometimes, we might know where we want to go, but we’re rarely aware of the congestion, structural delays, not to mention the inexplicable road signs that seem to hamper our getting from where we are to where we’re going.

I’m not trying to be flippant, neither attempting to diminish the level of frustration that we’re surely forced to endure, but if I might borrow from Frank Sinatra’s 1966 Hit Song, “THAT’S LIFE”!

It’s been my experience that The Divine Architect of our lives  generally doesn’t pre-announce the details of His Master Plan, nor does He tend to incorporate our suggestions (no matter how excellent we think they are), but works it all out, according to the Counsel of His own Will. (Ephesians 1:11-12) However, He does give us this confident assurance, that as we keep our focus and trust in Him, at the end of our journey we shall realize that every thing we’ve experienced has all been for our highest good and for His Greatest Glory! (Romans 8:28, Jeremiah 29:11)

My fellow sojourner, as we make our way along life’s terrain, remember that our every step and stop has been lovingly ordered by The Good Shepherd who has committed His Presence to be with us always!!

SO, EVEN WHEN WE DON’T KNOW WHY, WE DO KNOW HOW? THAT’S LIFE! 

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!
 
Ann Caffee

SINGLE VISION

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SINGLE VISION

SELAH Daily Devotions!

 

The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!
(Matthew 6:22-23)

 

Have you seen that optical illusion photo of Jesus where you’re instructed to stare at the four dots continuously for about a minute, then look away to the light and watch the darkness evaporate revealing The Face of Jesus?

DID YOU SEE HIM YET… still too dark, huh?

Belief it or not, that’s a challenge for most believers? I mean, seriously! How can we be expected to focus on The Light of the World, when we are constantly encompassed and distracted by such gross darkness? As with most of the things Our Heavenly Father expects of us, it’s not always easy, yet if we make a conscious effort to disciple ourselves, it is possible!

We must stick  to the Living Word of Truth; not just on crisis days, but every day; as if our very lives depended upon it. And it does! Beloved, remember we’re strangers sojourning through this life on our way to a Glorious Family Reunion. (Ref. John 17:16) Jesus prayed to The Father that He would keep us in this world until He’s sent again to fully restore us to The Kingdom. Knowing fully well that we’d be hated by His enemies, just like He was while he walked this earth; Jesus asked The Father to put HIS Light in us to ensure that His followers would never be without His Presence. (Ref. John 17:15; Matthew 5:14)

The Apostle John wrote, “But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. “ (1 John 1:7)

Remember, thou weary one, you are God’s Chosen! Despite the random patches of darkness, we are never abandoned. Jesus guaranteed that there will always be just enough light to guide us through these momentary afflictions! (Ref. Hebrew 13:5)

DON’T TRIP! STAY FOCUSED ON THE SON LIGHT! THAT’S RIGHT…SINGLE-VISION!

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee

ABBA’S HOUSE

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ABBA'S HOUSE 2

SELAH Daily Devotions!

“For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” 1 Corinthians 3:11

“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” 1 Corinthians 3:16-17

 

Have you ever heard a freshly born-again believer lamenting “if I’d only known how great Salvation was, I would’ve given my life to Christ a long time ago”? While this sentiment may shriek volumes of the tremendous gratitude with which every one of us who share this awesome privilege of becoming a part of The Kingdom of God, it might be more aptly acknowledged that as difficult or challenging our life B.C. (before Christ), there’s absolutely nothing within the scope of the un-regenerated man’s spirit that inspires him to seek God on his own! In fact quite the opposite is true. Since the down fall of our original parents, in the Garden of Eden, we’ve been known to invent unparalleled manner of deviant ways of escapism to avoid submitting to God’s Plan for our lives.

Nevertheless, according to The Holy Bible, God’s Love would not be denied! Before the foundation of the world, the entire plan of Salvation was initiated in the Mind of God and through the ministry of Holy Spirit that prompts us to draw nigh to the Heart of a Loving Creator and the Atoning Death, Burial and Resurrection of Jesus Christ! Thanks be to GOD,  GOD’s Grace is made available to all who will welcome Him into their hearts and lives.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” Ephesians 2:8

The Heavenly Father’s determination to build Himself a Sacred House, a Holy Temple, where He would dwell forever!  Sparing no expense, from the very foundation to the Chief Corner Stone, GOD continues day by day, lying new bricks! The Heavenly Father, takes particular care in adding luxuriously custom-built gold, silver and wood furnishings accentuated by exquisitely handcrafted sapphire, purple and scarlet colored silks and linen cloth tapestries, most befitting of The King of Kings and Lord of Glory, one soul at a time. Hence, while Salvation is free, it certainly wasn’t cheap!

To the absolute amazement of the world’s most renown high-class well-paid fashion experts, most of the pieces in God’s House were presumed castaways, throw-backs, out-dated, worthless and totally unsuitable for such Majestic Display! But The Master Architect/ Designer’s keenness, seeing the potential hidden treasures in the dirt covered cavernous lives of those created in His Image, digs down into the desolate places of our sin-clad spirits, picks us up out of the muck and the mire of our dark desperate pits, power washes us with the Flood of His Cleansing Blood redeems, refinishes, restoring us back into our rightful relationship as sons and daughters of The Most High God of All Creation where we now sit in Heavenly Places as Joint Heirs with The First-Born of Creation. (Ref. Ephesians 2:6)

Who knew? Certainly not the devil, or else he never would’ve crucified The Lord in the first place. (Ref. 1 Corinthians 2:8)

BUT GOD DID! CHRIST IN YOU…THE HOPE OF GLORY! WELCOME HOME TO ABBA’S HOUSE!

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee

 

DENY THE POWER?

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The Earth Slowly Burns - Americas

 

SELAH Daily Devotions!

 

Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. 2 Timothy 3:5

 

Never! Is probably the initial response of most professing-salvation-sanctified-sainted-souls, even at the mere suggestion that we’d be included in ‘those’. Right? BUT!  Have we ever considered the remote possibility, if you will, the collateral damage of being so pre-occupied with ‘getting’ that we lose sight of what God has already ‘given’?

Remember that Ol’ skool churrch song, “Count your blessing! Name them one by one! Count your blessing, see what God has done!”? Think about it? The Israelites were taught to sing songs that rehearsed their history as a daily reminder of God’s loving care, strength and power as He delivered them out of Egyptian slavery, lead them through the wilderness into The Promised Land! A practice, no doubt even in this bustling 21st Century culture, one might find tremendously buffering amidst the new norm of environmental chaos, anxiety and stress.

Just imagine the possible ramifications of a daily allotment of time designated specifically to reflecting upon all the many blessings that The Lord has already so mercifully and graciously heaped upon us. WOW! What inevitable–mind-blowing heart-filled  sense of Gratitude, huh?

Could this be what The Apostle Paul was alluding to “according to the power that worketh in us”? (Ref. Ephesians 3:20)

Could a grateful heart pave the way for that “Greater than” we could ask or imagine? Could our pre-disposed poverty-mindedness and perverted sense of unworthiness, steeped in false humility be denying God the opportunity to show-off in our lives? Could we be guilty of having a form of godliness? GOD FORBID!

HOW GRATEFUL IS YOUR HEART? IS THAT HOW GREAT YOUR GOD IS? DENYING THE POWER? NEVER, huh? #juswondering…

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee

TRIAL-SIZED gODZ!

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TRIAL SIZED gODS

 

SELAH Daily Devotions!

Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me. (Exodus 20:3-5)

I recognize that the sheer suggestion of idol worship tends to rattle the righteous indignation in the spirit of a true Believer! As followers of Christ, we know how despicably foul such worship is in the nostrils of The Holy God of Heaven and Earth. And for the most part, we’d never consider breaking this Commandment. After all, we don’t bow down before carved images of God nor do we display at the entrances or scatter stone replicas of God throughout our homes or businesses, right? Yet, will closer investigation of our lives reflect closely guarded idols formed in the recesses of our imaginations?

According to the scriptures  ‘O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.’ (Ref. Matthew 12:24) Hence, while man will attempt to hide the true intents, insights and purpose for being, ultimately, his lifestyle will reflect the secret things of his heart and clearly define where their loyalty lies!

Do we worship our personal ‘trial-sized’ images of God?

I see further explanation is in order! We have a tendency to make up our own images to represent who God is to us. The problem is we will never be able to fit “The All Encompassing Is-ness of GOD” into the small-minded-frail-framed-carnal-comprehension of our temporal-flesh. In other words, it’s absolutely impossible for us to fathom “Unlimited Presence, Power and Potential” within the limitations of our humanity!

While The Living God is Omnipresent, Omnipotent and Omniscient, HE can only be known through Revelation!

GOD reveals His character, His purpose and His plan for each of as we traverse through our individual life experiences. It’s the knowledge gained through following The Good Shepherd’s lead, cautiously climbing cloud-covered mountaintops and timidly trembling through the death-valleys of our everyday lives that we learn the rewards of faithful trust, patient obedience and the security of resting in The Eternal Hope! 

Today’s takeaway?

Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his… 2 Timothy 2:19

Therefore, Beloved, as you continue to set the Lord  before you, you shall walk in HIS Everlasting JOY! 

AMERICA, WHO IS YOUR GOD?

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee