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THURSDAY’S PRAYER!

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PRAYN AND FASTING PIC

THURSDAY’S PRAYER…

Abba Father, we come before You today, In the Magnificent, All Powerful Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus, rejoicing, praising and thanking You for blessing us to see a brand new day. We thank You, Father for another opportunity to embrace and enjoy the abundance of Your Mercy, Your Grace, Your Power and Your Peace!

Father, we come now thanking You for the blessed honor and privilege that You have given us when You determined to choose us to be Your very own children! Now we can confess with delight and joy that You are The God of our Salvation, our Deliverance, Breakthrough and Provision. We’re eternally grateful that because You know our frame, Your faithfulness and compassion yet allows You to look beyond our human frailties, faults and iniquities to see and minister to all of our need!

We praise You for renewed strength, understanding and power that comes from a heart open to, depending and relying only on You.

We praise You that because no man can come to the Father except You draw them, therefore Father we ask that as Your eyes continue to search the hearts of mankind that you draw and save the lost, and reclaim every back-slider and that You will direct their footsteps and place them and settle them into Your ordained church home today.

Father, we pray for those who are unsaved, put a spirit of Godly-repentance to say “YES” in their heart and in their mind that they will come today and receive You as their personal Lord and Savior!

Lord, we ask You RESTORE the “YES” in the heart and mind of every backslider and allow today to be the day that they come back to You and come back to YOUR church.

Father, we pray believing that you will touch our brother, touch our sister whose body has been afflicted by sickness and disease, especially the spirit of cancer and rebuke and cast it out at the root, for Your Name Sake. Lord, your Word declares that your stripes have redeemed and healed us and we’re yet standing on your promises that the prayer of faith shall save the sick and raise them up, In Jesus Name!

Lord, we life in a world today where the very elect are being constantly bombarded by intimadation and threatening persecution from a god-hating rebellious society of people, we also acknowledge that the Earth which You have created is wrestling to escape the corruption of a sinful nature therefore, we humbly lift up before Your Throne, every believer who is yet holding on to Your Hand by faith today, that You will release Divine power, Supernatural strength, consolation, health, provision, prosperity and protection.

We ask also Daddy, that You will preserve us thru the tests that we must go thru and keepus constantly aware of YOUR PRESENCE; fully-confident that You will bring us out wholly restored, renewed, refreshed and with the reward as You have promised us in Your Word!

Father we lift up our spiritual leaders, asking a special blessing upon each and every one of them who are yet standing on the wall proclaiming Your Word under the conviction and anointing of Holy Spirit. We pray that you will Grace them to be the examples in their homes, churches and community that will cause everyone who comes into contact with them to fall in love, trust wholly in and to live their lives serving You, Our Heavenly Father.

We ask Heavenly Father, that you will stir up the hearts and minds of those who are professing Your Name so that they will have a desire to increase their personal, intimate relationship with Creator God through fellowship of Holy Spirit that they might prove what is the perfect and acceptable will of The Lord Jesus!

Lord, we pray that every demonic-induced spirit of temptation, addiction and fear be defeated by Your Anointing and that the Spirit of Love, Power and Sound-mindness be released now, in Jesus Name!

Father, we now wait in confidence and quietness, trusting wholly that all workers of iniquity are trembling and suddenly departing in shame, turning their backs from Your people, because You have heard the voice of our weeping, our supplications and received our prayer as a sweet savor coming up before Your Sovereign Throne of Grace and Mercy!

Father, we thank You, honor and praise You now, for we know that it is done! In The Exalted Name of Jesus. Amen and It Is So!

ROCK STEADY, BABY!

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ROCK STEADY 4

SELAH Daily Devotions!

O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever. Let Israel now say, that his mercy endureth for ever. Let the house of Aaron now say, that his mercy endureth for ever. Let them now that fear the Lord say, that his mercy endureth for ever.

I called upon the Lord in distress: the Lord answered me, and set me in a large place.

The Lord is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me? The Lord taketh my part with them that help me: therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. Psalm 118:1-8 

Unless you just landed on Planet Earth early this morning, you’ve probably already recognized that real-life comes at you hard and fast!  It matters not whether you’ve been walking with Jesus for a long time or just recently made a decision to follow Christ.  Truthfully, none of us are excluded from life’s faith-stresses aka test and trials! In fact, The Holy Writ is ladened with numerous accountings to alert even the most sincerest of faith-talking-faith-walking-Christians among us, to expect trying times to pop-up when you least expect them!

The Apostle Paul describes life as a race, and we soon discover that it’s not a sprint, but a marathon! However, unlike The Boston Marathon, God doesn’t usually let us in on the specifics that we’ll encounter along the way that could potentially hinder, even derail our progress, ultimately keeping us from finishing our course.

Perhaps, it’s because the Omniscient One knows that if we had foreknowledge, most of us would re-calculate our journey to suit own will, or worst yet, start looking to external resources, other than GOD, to be our help!

Yes! We all experience those seasons when it feels like, while our lives are being torpedoed by Satan’s inferno darts, coupled with the tolls of living in this fallen world, even to the point where our own flesh turns against us and we ‘re almost persuaded that GOD has obviously just abandoned us in the valley of the shadows of death, hopelessly desperate to fend for ourselves, huh?

But, The Psalmist, David, having personally triumphantly trampled through turbulent terrains many times, extends to us this olive-branch of hope-filled-encouragement, don’t give up! Despite of what it looks like, never stop trusting God!

Why? Because David knew what Satan never wants us to know, that no matter what the enemy throws at you, we have a Forever Faithful Refuge on our side and HIS NAME IS JESUS!

The next time (and there will be a next time), the enemy tries to convince you that it’s over, defeat is imminent, there’s no place to run, no place to hide, everything you once stood on has now turned to sinking sand, trust and know that God Alone is your Impregnable Mountain of Righteousness!

Beloved, when darkness surrounds you, hiding His Face, press on, trusting His Heart to do whatever is necessary to keep you safely tucked in His Providential Care every minute of every day!

Don’t be afraid, little children! Remember, if Jehovah allows you to go to it, it means that He’s already gone before you, preparing Divinely designated rest areas along the road to comfort, renew and energize our spirit and soul!

GOD’S LOVE REMAINS—ROCK STEADY, BABY!

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

 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

GOD SENSE!

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GOD SENSE

SELAH Daily Devotions!

“Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the Lord have created it.” Isaiah 45:8
Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.
I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Surely, shall one say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed.
In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.” Isaiah 45:22-25 KJV

Oh, c’mon, jus think about it? This is not your first trip to the ‘it jus don’t make no sense” place! Check out your own personal testimony. You know that it could not have been nobody but GOD who blocked ‘that’ or even carried you through ‘it’! After all, who else was there with you? In the midst of the chaos, when you almost lost your mind, God stepped in to sustain you, delivering you, empowering you to triumph over tragedy!

Yet, the instant that life takes an expected shift, you tend to develop that acute case of spiritual amnesia, huh? Don’t get it twisted! Believe me, I ain’t even pointing a finger atcha! Let’s just say, “Been there! Done that AND might be RIGHT THERE NOW!”

Nevertheless, one must conclude that apparently, these Divinely-Orchestrated spontaneous-Hic-Ups are essential to develop your personal trust in The Faithfulness of The Invisible Savior! Every single detour has been designed to prove His Eternal Love and Providential Grace towards you not only in this world but in the Ages to come! Unfortunately, just when you need it the most, these great theological revelations are often entrapped by cloud-covered bouts of dismal desperation, anxiety, foreboding fear, dread and hopelessness!

Hence, what can you do when life comes crashing down all around you, and all of the circumstantial evidence points to your imminent destruction and certain demise? How can you persevere when life as you’ve known rapidly decays into a murky mire of ‘non-sense’?

Do what every other Blood-Washed-Born-Again, Baptized-Believer must do—turn to The ONLY One Constant, Creator and Sustainer of everything, your True Source of Blessings, Power, Wisdom, Strength, Honor and Glory—GOD—YOUR GOD! The GREAT I AM!

Logically, to put your eternal destiny in the testimony of a man, born of a virgin claiming that she’d been with no man, who walked the banks of The Jordon River, healing the sick, feeding  well over 5 thousand with two fish and five loaves of bread, opening up blind eyes, casting out demons and devils, resurrecting dead people, muting the wind and the waves, voluntarily executed on Calvary’s Cross, being buried in a borrowed tomb for the weekend until He was raised from the dead early Sunday morning; and now has returned to His Thone in Glory to pray for you and me, huh? #nowdatdontmakenosense! 

YET! REMEMBER HIS-STORY! GOD-SENSE!

SELAH!

“Have a WONDER-FILLED day!”

Ann Caffee

GODZ EXPECTATIONS!

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GOD'Z EXPECTATIONS

SELAH Daily Devotions!

 

Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil?  shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

Micah 6:6-8

Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. 2 Corinthians 2:10

 

For those of us, who truly love God with all of our hearts, spirit, soul and body, yet feel an intrinsic urging to apologize to Him each and every day because it’s a guarantee that at some point between the time you get out of bed and the time you crawl back into bed, you have inevitably fallen short of living up to God’s Righteous expectations of you, have I got some great news for you!

Given the fact that He is our Creator, God is perfectly justified in establishing specific standards of behavior for us to live by. Hence, it also stands to reason that because He has shown such unfathomable loving-kindness, tender-mercy and unmerited favor towards us, that the only reasonable response should be radical thanksgiving and faithful obedience! Yet, try as we may, left to our own efforts, we’re totally incapable of reaching this level of holy worship that God so richly deserves.

I mean, even on those day where we actually do some righteous things, they could never equal out all our unrighteous thoughts, words and deeds! So we certainly can’t gloat in our self-righteousness. However there’s yet Hope for our terminal dis-ease!

According to God’s Word, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32

Truthfully, my precious ones, what God really expects from each one of us, is failure! And from sixty something years of personal experience, I can testify, with absolute confidence, that we can surely do! Royally! Can I get a Hallelujah and Amen 3x?

Dontchakno?  It’s only when we come to the end of ourselves and acknowledge our weaknesses that God is truly glorified!

For without Him, we can do absolutely nothing, however through Christ’s strength, we can do all things.(Ref. Matthew 19:26, Philippians 4:13) As long as we think we’re capable of doing anything on our own, we deceive ourselves and deny God the pleasure of delivering us from any and everything that is trying to hold us captive. That’s why The Bible encourages the weak to say I am strong. (Ref. Joel 3:10) Therefore, with holy boldness, we humbly confess that the only thing standing between our strength and weakness, righteousness and wickedness, success and failure, is Jesus!

GLORRAAAA 2 GOD! Christ IN us, The Hope of Glory, guarantees our victory every single time! (Ref. Colossians 1:27)

WHO NU ACCOMPLISHING GOD’S EXPECTATIONS WAS THAT EASY, huh?

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee

DIVINE INTENT

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DIVINE INTENT

SELAH Daily Devotions!

“Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it?”
Isaiah 43:13

“They” say that The Holy Bible contains the words ‘fear not’ 365 times! That’s means there’s one for every day of the year. Apparently, the Holy Spirit is determined to convey how vital it is that believers maintain a certain stance of courageous faith in light of the imminent threats that shall come upon us to challenge our trust in God’s Sovereignty!

Jesus, The  WORD Incarnate, testifies that just as the world hated him they shall also hate us who have committed our personal faith and trust to Him . Yet, despite of the hostile environment in which we live, our Lord Jesus says, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

Yeah, that sounds good BUT! I hearya, ‘but I’m mortal and Jesus is God!’ Exactly! Satan, the Master of Deceit, never wants us to get this revelation. The enemies of God’s people are the enemies of God; therefore the devil has never nor shall he ever be a threat to GOD or God’s people! Didjaheardat? Bamm devil, the WORD is out!

Even on Satan’s ‘bestest’ day, it’s absolutely impossible for him to frustrate The Divine Will of God! The most wicked malicious contrivance of evil men are but a drop of water against the volcanic eruptions emanating from the finger-tips of The Almighty Hand of God! Hence, irregardless of how long—no matter how early in the morning and how late in the night, your enemies spends scheming against God’s elect, it’s always too short and to weak to stay the arms of El Shaddai!

God does not need any one or thing’s permission or approval to bless you! When God intends to bless you, who can stop Him? What God blesses no man can curse! Remember Balak? (Ref. Numbers 22) God is not intimidated nor deterred by the daunting eyes of your adversaries. While they’re plotting against a child of God, He’s already prepared to bless you right in front of their angry faces. “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Psalm 23:5

Truth be told, there’s nothing like eating a Porter House steak in front of someone who doesn’t want you to have a bologna sandwich, right? Can’t you just see the envy in your enemy’s eyes—not to mention how shamefully powerless they are to block your blessing? Talk about messed up, huh? The Lord of Hosts sits upon the circle of the whole earth, declaring to the world His Counsel against which nothing shall stand! No wonder Jesus says, ‘cheer up’! Oh Ggggllloooraaaaa!!!

Beloved, don’t be anxious about a thang! (Ref. Philippians 4:6) God has purposefully set up every circumstance you will ever experience to ensure that there are witnesses to the miraculous deliverance that He’s about to perform in your life! He will never leave your destiny in the hands of any other than Godself! (Ref. Jeremiah 29:11)

Rest assured, when JESUS SAYS YESSSSS—NOBODY CAN SAY NO! THAT’S WHATCHA CALL DIVINE INTENT!

SELAH!

“Have a WONDER-FILLED day!”

Ann Caffee

WOUNDED WARRIORS

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wounded warriors2

SELAH Daily Devotions!

“And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about a hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb; He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what He had promised, He was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.” Romans 4:19-22

As a remnant of the 20th Century Church, I’ve lived long enough to have a clearer understanding, why The God of The Bible adamantly commanded His Chosen Ones to resist amalgamating with those outside of covenant relationship with Him. (Ref. 2 Corinthians 6:17) And some of us thought that God just wanted to keep us from having any fun! Considering the way this world is headed, now we see the consequences of not distinguishing ourselves from unbelievers. Apparently, Father still knows best, huh?

Unfortunately, many who profess Christ, remain double-minded, straddling the fence, depending on the group they happen to be in the midst of. While God never intended us to conduct ourselves arrogantly, as if we are better than anybody else, yet as recipients of God’s Amazing Grace! Well, spiritually speaking, it does make us better-off!

What’s the matter Zion? Are we allowing the media’s reports of doom and gloom to mute our praise? If we’re walking around with our heads hung down and hearts inundated with fear and anxiety; worried about how we gonna make it, then what separates us from the Gentiles?

Abraham,The Father of our faith, found himself in a seemingly hopeless situation. Not surprising, Abraham tried to fix the problem by himself. He got Ishmael (the child of the flesh) when God intended to give him Isaac (the child of Promise).When the drama and chaos had escalated to the point that Sarah gave him an ultimatum (it’s either her or me) suddenly, Abraham had an epiphany “the only hope that I have of this thing ever working is Divine Intervention.” In other words, “I can’t do this, without Your Grace!”

OMG! Can we ever identify with Abraham! How many times have we been in a situation and we tried and tried, we cried and cried, murmured and complained, spent all we had and still came up short? It was not until we, like Abraham, made a conscious decision to stop depending on our inability, started relying on God’s Ability and turned it over to Jesus, that our hope was revived! As the text says, when all human reasoning for hope was exhausted, Abraham hoped on and God brought life into his dead situation. (Romans 4:17-18) Hence, when we come to the end of ourselves, God steps in and does what seemed impossible!

Stop listening to that devil telling you, “it’s too late, you might as well accept the situation for what it is –eminent defeat!” He’s still a liar! My precious saints, don’t allow your present (temporary) circumstances cause you to doubt the faithfulness of God’s Eternal Word. Don’t settle for seconds! If you are Abraham’s seed, you are the heirs of righteousness! So gird up the loins of your mind, being confident and fully persuaded that because The Christ in you automatically gives you a supernatural advantage over natural consequences! (Ref. Colossians 1:27)(Ref. 2 Corinthians 2:14)

Beloved, WHATEVER GOD PROMISES, HE IS WELL ABLE TO PERFORM! EVEN IF I CAN’T, GOD CAN!

SELAH!

“Have a WONDER-FILLED day!”

Ann Caffee

UNSHAKEABLE PEACE

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UNSHAKEABLE PEACE!

SELAH Daily Devotions!

 

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 

 

SOMETIMES! I wonder how much easier life would be, if in fact it was meant to be lived“Que sera, sera …Whatever will be, will be. The future’s not ours to see. Que sera, sera …What will be, will be“ ? However appealing this perspective might appear, at first glance, truthfully, God Who Sovereignly created us  in His Own Image,  never intended us to be merely robotic beings devoid of the ability to reason and make decisions based on our individual free will.  God deliberately fashioned and formed us to be fully capable active participants in working out His Plan for each of our individual lives.  In other words, life, according to God’s Purpose, is not a spectator’s sport!

How childish and immature it would be to think otherwise, huh? As my son once reminded me, reminiscing back to the days when the most critical decisions he had to make that day was, ‘is it gonna be Fruit Loops or Captain Crunch’? But now, finally, as all-grown-up adults,we no longer enjoy the privileges childhood innocence affords to casting off the burden of personal responsibility and accountability for our own actions unto unsuspecting parents, school teachers, coaches, counselors, professors, supervisors, pervasive racism, financially scrapped government institutions, corrupt politicians, over zealous police officers, the collapse of basic moral ethics and inevitable endangered decaying environmental resources. And we couldn’t wait for this?

God uses all of these, (and much much more) to train and transform us into the persons that He’s Divinely ordained us to be—a reflection of His Amazing Grace and Ominous Glory! The problem is, we’re hell-bent on thinking that God expects us to carry out this work, totally independent of His Sovereign Controlling Interest in the Process! And we all know how that eventually turns out, huh?

Hopefully, sooner rather than later, we having exhausted all our our own fire, are forced to acknowledge “This ain’t working, Lord. I need Your helllpppp! Lord, save me!” Thank God, Who steps right in, rolling up His spiritual sleeves, bears us up under The Power of Holy Spirit, places us back on The Potter’s Wheel, gracefully presses, pinches, prodding, pounding, purges and pushes us through the next phase in His process of Restoration.

When we pray and ask God to restore us, we must be willing to submit to the process. Here is where most of us miss it. We don’t want the pain, humility and the lack of control that’s often required in order to equip and empower us for the next level of spiritual growth and development. So often we, the unwilling participants, come kicking and screaming, murmuring and complaining, doubting and accusing God of miscalculating just how much we can bear.

Until finally, we surrender, committing our care to His Loving Hands, trusting His Purpose to be greater than our personal pain, embracing His Will rather than ours, finding more power than you ever imagined, are comforted by HIS UNSHAKEABLE PEACE!

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee