Tag Archives: Selah Daily Devotions

IT’S THE GOODNESS OF GOD!

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ITZ THE GOODNESS OF GOD

 

SELAH Daily Devotions!

 

And thinkest thou this O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgement of God? Or despisest thou the riches of His goodness, and forebearance and long-suffering; not kowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? Romans 2:3-4
A while ago, I heard a preacher confessing  that at one time he was an avid believer and willing partaker of one of the greatest lies that Satan has perpetrated. As he went on to talk about his early perception of God, I began reflecting back on the B.C. (Before Christ) in my own life, I humbly concluded, “You ain’t by yourself preacha!” If we would be honest, for real, a whole lot of us would have to raise our hands and say Amen 3X, Preacha!

How many of you once believed that somewhere, way out there, there was a Great Big Ol’ Angry God, watching and recording every single thing you did? And when you had accumulated that mystical, unknown number of sins, His Hand of Wrath would suddenly appear from heaven, striking you down with a big sledge hammer, crush you and fling your po’ soul straight into the devil’s hell! Oh, don’t play me like you never…

Perhaps you were with that other group—the self-righteous who ascribe to the lie that when they get themselves together, they fully intend to start going to church and but they’re not going to be no hypocrite, like all them other folk. They’re gonna be real about serving God!  And we all know how that’s gonna turn out, huh?

Just think about all those times He could’ve, should’ve, BUT didn’t serve you your just desserts. Remember all those unfulfilled promises you made (lies) just before He delivered you, again? How many times has God chosen to withhold justice and instead dispensed His Grace and Mercy towards us? WOW! Haven’t got a clue, huh? Neither do I!

Let’s be for real! You and I will never, ever be good enough to qualify as ‘acceptable’ to a Holy GOD—SO….get over you!  God already knew that we’d fall short numerous times.That’s why, before we were even formed in our mother’s womb, God’s plan of Salvation was already established!

Ephesians 2:8 declares, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:”! Didjaheardat? God never left it up to us! Salvation is God’s free gift.

That’s the GOSPEL! It’s called GRACE and it’s still available to WHOSOEVER will  humble themselves before God, acknowledge themselves as sinners who have no other Hope for Salvation but JESUS and accept His Amazing Gracious Merciful Forgiveness! NOW THAT’S THE GOODNESS OF GOD!

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee

 

 

IT’S TIME 2 PRODUCE

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IT'S TIME 2 PRODUCE

SELAH Daily Devotions!

 

Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord. Isaiah. 54:1

 

When I think of the word ‘barren’ I get an image of a desert, a wilderness, dry, desolate, unfruitful place. Obviously, The Prophet Isaiah could not be talking to God’s Chosen Ones. Or could he? I know this doesn’t quite fit in the New Millennium Church Prosperity Theology. After all, aren’t we the head and not the tail, above not beneath. Aren’t we the blessed coming in, and blessed going out, right?

Well, I don’t mean to intrude into your celestial comfort zone and burst your balloon, but for those of us who’ve been walking with The Lord for more than a week, can testify that sometimes real-life contradicts everything that we’ve ever heard, studied and believed about what it means to be “saved”.

Many times the saints believe because we love God and know that God loves us, the favor of God automatically guarantees a life of levitating thru this world on a flowery bed of ease; that is until life doesn’t produce the fruit of righteousness that we expect! That’s Barrenness! I’m talking about even after, we’ve made all of our faith confessions, planted faith seeds all across the nations; only to end up broker, busted and even more disgusted. Don’t shout me down, nah? #ijs!

What about when Prophet Lightning Buzz told you that your soul mate was on his way to you and up pops Sis. Rahab or Bro. Bozo and she or he snags the very one you just knew God said was yours? I’d call that a barren place!  #4REAL!!!

And what about this one, you make up your mind to stop robbing God and start paying your tithes and giving your offerings faithfully and consistently, and you still can’t make ends meet? Okay! Now you see what I’m talking about, huh?

Sometimes it appears as if God brought you into the L&D room, watched you suffer the pain, exposing you for everyone to see and then stitched up your womb and left the building!

O YE BARREN, HEAR YE THE WORDS OF THE LORD! “It ain’t what it looks like!” God uses our barrenness, to mature us and to prepare us to take possession of our heritage!

Perhaps, some of you have been wandering around the desert for quite a while, aimlessly drifting without direction or purpose. Have you considered that God’s been trying to bring you out, howevvrrrr, because you’ve refused to trust Him and keep trying to deliver yourself, you continue to go round and round in circles!  Beloved, might I offer an alternative perspective,  God had to make the brook dry up just to get you in position for your miracle!

Stop It! It’s time to go in and to take possession of everything that God has promised you.

Remember, your  next blessing is never in what you’ve lost, but it’s always in what you’ve got left! God can produce more in a famine than the wicked can in his wealth. It’s time for you to stop trying and start trusting.

O Ye barren; get ready to enlarge your tent! TRUST2KNO, IT’S TIME TO PRODUCE!

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee

STAND YOUR GROUND!

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STAND UR GROUND 2

SELAH Daily Devotions!

“Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Philippians 4:11-13

Once again, The Apostle Paul finds himself in a life-threatening situation, being unjustly accused by his former peers the Sadducees and the Pharisees, who now hold him in great contempt. Their hatred for Paul was so intense that they persisted, relentlessly, for several years to discredit and ultimately take his life. Regardless of how many times God frustrated their schemes, they were committed to his destruction. Kind of reminds me of the Devil, huh? And frightenly similar to the way some of the nation treated our President Barak Obama!

However, Paul’s accusers failed to recognize that Paul was a man on a mission for God! Since his Damascus Road conversion, the newly ordained Apostle had become so in tuned with the purposes of God that he refused to allow external circumstances to determine internal perseverance. Paul had discovered the secret of drawing on Christ’s power for strength rather than trusting in his own ability! Paul’s revelation that Jesus Is Lord, therefore in control of everything, gave him the fortitude to persevere in the midst of persecution, confident that none of these things will move me! (Ref. Acts 20:24)

In this day of 21st Century Christianity many of God’s people have been dupped by hefty doses of the more contemporized “Gospel Lite Theology”! Hence, in their minds, once you surrender your life to Christ, everyday is gonna be a tip-toe thru the tulips awaiting the Trumpet sound when they’ll be transported to the Pearly Gates of The Celesterial City. Unfortunately, real-life does not remotely resemble Hollywood’s version. Being a Christian does not promise we won’t experience test, trials and even tragedies. However, it does mean that God will be with us thru every single  challenge that we’ll ever face!

As we walk with The Good Shepherd, maintaing a consistent gratitude for what God has already done, a  hopeful expectation for the future and relying solely upon the All Encompassing Sufficiency of God’s Grace, we’ll learn to remain steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the Faithfulness of God’s Love! (Ref. 1 Corinthians 15:58)

I don’t care what’s or who’s threatenng to destroy your peace today arm yourself with the same Spirit of Faith that motivated, not only The Apostle Paul but our Ultimate Role Model of a man on a mission, The Lord Jesus Christ.

Oh, by the way don’t worry about threatening demonic forces who try to take you out, remember who created the bow and the archer! #ijs (Ref. Isaiah 54:16-17)

BELOVED, GOD HAS PERSONALLY POSITIONED YOU TO REPRESENT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN TO A LOST AND DYING WORLD! STAND YOUR GROUND AND SHINE ON! 

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee

HOW MUCH I OWE?

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HOW MUCH I OWE

SELAH Daily Devotions!

What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord. Psalm 116:12-13

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Romans 12:1-2

I’m not trying to start nuffin, BUT!  Have you noticed that ‘hoof-n-mouth disease’ has reached pandemic proportions amongst so many church-folkes? #ijs

Perhaps that’s why other folk seem to so easily tell you what you should do in any given situation, ‘because if it were me, I’d _____!” Someone once said, unless you walk in another man’s shoes, you’ll never appreciate the depth and weight of each footprint. Okay, I just made that one up, k? However, the point is, unless you personally experience each moment in every episode of that person’s journey, (which is virtually impossible) not from the perspective of a spectator, but as the starring participant, you can sympathize but not really empathize with them!

Even more perplexing is how long we struggle with submission to the commandments of The Only Savior as Lord of our lives! Could it be that we can never fully understand the passion of Jesus that caused Him, after being shamelessly mocked, brutally beaten, scorned and scourged all night then jokedly crowned with thorns, to make His way up Golgotha’s Hill, carrying that Ol’ Rugged Cross where His hands and feet were nailed, crucified for what you and I would do? Didjaheardat? #braintilt!

Awemazingly, the scriptures reveal that it was the Heavenly Father’s pleasure to see Jesus endure every second of this crushing death. (Ref. Isaiah 53:10)

Ever since the Garden of Eden, there are somethings that God never intended us to know. Why? Because He loves us too much to sit back and allow the fatality of sin to run it’s course, separating us from Him eternally? But, but? I know, that makes no sense at all!

We forget that His Thoughts are Infinitely higher than ours and His Ways are beyond humanity’s limited capacity of understanding. (Ref. Isaiah 55:9) Astonishingly, Jesus agreed to this before the foundation of the world, and while we were yet sinners! (Ref. Romans 5:8) The Life dying in order for the dead to live? WOW! That’s Grace, huh?

According to Romans 12:1-2, all that God expects for so great a salvation is for us to live out everyday, blessed, trusting in Him, as beaming reflections of His Love and Glory to a lost and dying world! Unfortunately, yet still many reckon that more than they are willing to give! (Ref. Luke 18:18-24)

However, there’s a remnant of believers who’ve sold out for the sake of The Cross and are gratefully committed to sacrifice their all to see more souls come into The Glorious Kingdom of God!

What shall U render? Well…HOW MUCH DO U OWE? #countupthecost

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee

GRATEFUL

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GRATEFUL

 

SELAH Daily Devotions!

Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?1 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. Matthew 6:30-32 

Whoa!!! Sometimes, you just got to put the brakes on life! Particularly in this 21st Century-go-getta- high-tech-higher-achiever-pop-culture! Relaxation is quickly becoming an ‘endangered art-form’ and if we don’t make it a deliberate priority, it’ll soon become extinct or at the very least an incidental phenomenon.

It’s easy to be enticed by the lure of the lust-filled-lifestyles of the rich and famous, especially when our own reality seems to be plagued with unrealized expectations layered by futility, frustration and disappointment. Commercialization, coupled with the collapse of viable standards of moral ethics within our communities favors the ideology of a self-centered-selfish-entitlement that fuels insatiable greed over contentment and gratitude towards GOD for HIS Faithfulness in meeting our basic needs.

The scripture  text describes the inevitable down-spiraling effect that such an attitude tends to harbor in the mindsets of those who live out their lives vicariously trying to compete and compare with the infamous “Jones’”. But those who know GOD and how GOD works, also know not to be so pre-occupied with ‘getting’ that we lose sight of what GOD is ‘giving’!

STOP! Failure to recognize GOD”S GRACE is generally ensued by Ungrateful Discontentment!  No wonder you can barely tell the saints from the aints, huh? #ijs 

Don’t worry about missing out on nothing. GOD’s GOTCHA! Relax and enjoy the PRESENT! BE GRATEFUL!

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee

B HAPPY…IN JESUS!!!

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B HAPPY IN JESUS 2

 

SELAH Daily Devotions!

 

Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:34

 

Many of us who have heard the 1988’s hit song, ‘Don’t Worry; Be Happy!’, written by Bobby McFerrin, remember that while it topped the charts in America’s Pop Music Culture, the song also came under the scrutiny of critics who felt that the lyrics were promoting a philosophy of denial to escape our unpleasant reality.

As Christians, we should be accustomed to the backlash often associated with our belief in the reality of The Invisible God!  Yet, when confronted by opposing views, we must remind ourselves that The Supreme One is always in control of every aspect of our being, and has promised to supply everything that we need to live abundantly in this present world! (2nd Peter 1:3)

Don’t get it twisted. We, the Body of Christ, are not denying the reality that we’re living in turbulent times. All over this world, people  are being inundated by the cataclysmic convulsions of the systems of this world causing epic fear, frustration and panic. We are certainly not suggesting that we’re to stick our heads in the sand and act as if we can mystically dismiss  what’s right before our eyes! Not at all, we’re still on earth, not Heaven!

However, what I am purporting is that because we know Truth, we confidently expect that someway–somehow you’re going to persevere  thru the tumultuous state of human affairs and  when you come out, you’re not gonna look like what you’ve been through! Remember, Goshen? (Ref. Exodus 9:26)

Today’s scripture reference reminds us how The Omniscient, Omnipotent, Omnipresent Master of our destiny takes care of the wildflowers who never spend a dime or a moment of time worrying and working, shopping and primping, and yet they’re fashionably arrayed such that would put the Parisian Designers to shame!

Unlike those who don’t know God as The Source of their life, health and strength, our personal faith history allows us to maintain a stance of  unwavering confidence!  As joint-heirs to The Kingdom of Heaven,  we don’t have to be so preoccupied and traumatized by what we’re going to eat or drink, how we’re going to keep a roof over our heads, how we’re going to pay our bills, that we lose focus on that we do know!  

Walking with our Shepherd, we’ve learned that reliance on His Faithfulness allows us to press courageously through any adversity, resting assured that the same God who delivered us in the past is the same God now—and is yet well able to carry us through this into our future victory again, and again!

Beloved, if God takes care of the birds of the air and flowers of the field, how much more will He provide for those created in His Own Image, huh? While sometimes  it seems as if the world is falling apart, remember, absolutely nothing happens except God allows! Fear not, little children! You’re never outside of God’s sight nor His reach. Our lives are hidden in Jesus and we’re sheltered under the Shadow of His Almighty Wings!  (Ref. Hebrews 13:5)

GOD’S GOTCHA! #didjaheardat?

SO? RELAX, DON’T WORRY ABOUT A THANG! BE HAPPY…IN JESUS!

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

 

THE LORD’S PLANTING!

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the-planting-of-the-lord

 

SELAH Daily Devotions!

To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified. Isaiah 61:3

 

How many times have you gone on a job interview and the prospective employer asked “Have you cheated on your spouse; are your child support payments current?  Have you ever lied, stolen, or gossiped in your life “? I hear a overwhelming,’NOT EVERRRR!’ Of course not! In fact, we have laws to protect us from these kinds of civil infractions, right?

Quite frankly in this 21st Century New Millennium Age, it’s all about your gifts and talents; and generally, people no longer give a whole lot of credence to a man’s character. #ijs! It’s all about getting it done! However, there’s a significant difference from Heaven’s perspective and ours!

God doesn’t need your gifts in Heaven! Jesus is there! He, The Living Word of God, is The Greatest preacher, teacher, psalmist, physician, counselor, architect, carpenter, interior designer, botanist, etc…Ever! Hence, God looks at the heart of a man to determine our eligibility for HIS usefulness! (Ref. 1 Samuel 16:7)

The Eternal Creator God has strategically planted us in specific locations in the earth, giving each of us a purpose and a destiny. We have been equipped and fitted, physically and spiritually, to carry out that which He has called us to do every single day, one step at a time. Jesus made it clear what we are to do while we’re here, “Go ye into the world and spread the good news, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of The Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Ref. Matthew 28:19)

We are commissioned by The Univeral Commander and Chief, The Lord Jesus Christ, to do His bidding and to recruit as many others as we can for the work of His Ministry, reconciling lost souls to our Heavenly Father! (Ref. 2 Corinthians 5:18)  While the harvest is indeed plentious; it’s hard to find good help these day!  WOW! #DIDJAHEARDAT?

This task can be daunting, not because of GOD! But because sometimes we get pre-occupied, trying to impress or fit in with everybody else, that we fail to maximize the creative potential that God has put in us!

Coud it be that some of God’s people have become so relaxed in the lap of self-serving apathy; intoxicated by the kings’ wine that we’ve neglected to share the“wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man’s heart? (Psalm 104:15)

It’s almost as if some of us have forgotten this is not our home! As Grand-Ma would often remind me, “Babygurl, I didn’t come here to stay!”

OUR MISSION, IF WE CHOOSE TO ACCEPT IT, IS TO OCCUPY THE FIELD UNTIL THE GOOD MASTER RETURNS! STILL PLANTED? #OMG!

 

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee

 

SACRED TRUST

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SACRED TRUST!

SELAH Daily Devotions!

 

Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. Psalm 91:14-15

Ever heard, (perhaps you’ve said it yourself) “I’ll forgive you, but I won’t forget!”? What I think the person’s really saying is, “To err is human, but trust is Divine”!

One of the most catastrophic casualties of any broken relationship is trust!

Personally, I believe that’s why God hates sin. Given the uncertainty of the expansive lapse of time and the incomprehensible impact of the devastationing consequences of their high-treason against El Elyon, any attempt to describe the weight  and wealth of this trusting intimacy and fellowship that Adam and Eve enjoyed with The Creator as unimaginable, would at best only be a severe under-estimation! #IJS

Nevertheless, The Bible does reveal sporadic glimpses into the pure delight of The Heavenly Father’s Heart strolling through The Garden in the cool of the day, the intimate communion with the most precious of creation, sharing secret Eternal Wisdom, proudly affirming and re-affirming man’s authority and dominion over all living creatures and expressing Loving-Providential Care towards that which was created in His Own Image!

Despite the palatable convenience and more advantageous point of view for man to deflate the effect of our transgressions, both in Heaven and in the earth, from God’s perspective sin corrupts! Therefore it demands separation from Holy. Hence, sin brutally interrupts the intimacy that God purposed between God-Self and humanity when He formed us! Thereby emphatically grieving the Holy Spirit of God! Yet, we have the audacity to describe our unrighteous infractions as ‘my little issue’, ‘a slip up’ or ‘to miss the mark’! WOW!

Fortunately for us, God’s love would not be denied! Today’s scriptures tells us that knowing the innate frailty and the proclivity of human flesh to fall hopelessly into the temptations of sin’s lure, The God of Compassion and All Comfort , determined to restore the sacred communion (trust) with His Family, sacrificed His Only Begotten Son, the 2nd Adam, to repair the breach ruptured by our rebellious nature. (Ref. John 3:16)

Even more awesome, is the reality that we, (the offender), have only to accept this free offer (made by the Offended), Salvation by Grace, by confessing a faithful-heart-filled prayer of repentance (Godly sorrow) and professing a solemn commitment to live each day of the rest of our lives wholly unto The Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! 

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. Ephesians 2:8-9

WOW! #didjaheardat? NOW THAT’S AWEMAAZZIN! 2 KNOW GOD IS 2 TRUST HIS LOVE! SACRED, huh?

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee

THE PERFECT STORM

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THE PERFECT STORM 2

SELAH Daily Devotions!

 

“One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.” Psalm 27:4-5

 

Aaawwwww…Fantasy! Believe it or not, that’s where many escape to when the painful realities of life become much more than a person can bear. Perhaps, this might explain why that 1965 Classic American Sitcom “I Dream of Genie” (staring Barbara Eden and Larry Hagman) drew such a faithful following!

Week after week families gathered around their b/w TV’s anxiously gasping for any momentary retreat from the real-time burdens facing our nation. I mean who wouldn’t jump at the opportunity to have anything their heart desired suddenly appear simply by swiping a lamp, right?  Yep, those were the good ol’ days, huh?

History records President Lyndon B. Johnson struggling to lead the nation through a multiplicity of vexing controversial challenges and at the same time maintain some semblance of the homeland security that many cleaved to so dearly.

Remember, The First Combat Boots landing in Viet Nam and the Dominican Republic, the arrest of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King along with 2,600 others in Selma Alabama for demonstrating against voter-registration rules. Malcom X was shot to death in a Harlem rally, while the newly recognized Afro-Americans were rioting in Watts and others were rudely awakened to the undeniable existence of racism in The Land of the Free? Yep! Yep! #thoseweredadays!

The point is, despite the torrid winds of time, we survived!

Truthfully, as long as we live and breathe on this earth, there will be storms of adversity. In today’s scripture text, the Psalmist offers a brilliant ray of confident hope, strength and encouragement to those who yet contend for the faith found only in an intimate personal relationship with The God of all flesh.

Having been victimized by jealously, hatred and malicious rejection from those closes to him on numerous occasions, David sticks out in history as a true, honest, God-revealing companion to the desperate and down casts. A recap of God’s servant’s life depicts one who repeatedly finds himself besieged by fear, doubt, betrayal, death and isolation from human kindness. Yet in the midst of chaos, terror and tragedy, The Shepherd boy/King, David discovers the Source of true solace under the watchful care of His Sovereign Lord!

Beloved, we’re living in a day in time where it’s easy to get caught up in the daily grind of hussle and bustle, striving for the world’s standards of successful accomplishments and accommodations! However,  in spite of those poignant pathetic prophetic voices declaring peace and prosperity, sometimes we are left trembling and shaken by the inscrutable ungodliness of the systems of this world!

Nevertheless, if we keep our eyes pointed Heavenward, we too can be blessed, revitalized and restored by that Peace that passes all understanding, swept over by the unspeakable joy and resting assured in the Presence of the One Savior and Lord that David delighted in, Jesus Christ!  THE PERFECT ANSWER TO THE PERFECT STORM!

SELAH!
 
PAUSE, PONDER, PRAY & PRAIZ!
 
Ann Caffee