September 7, 2014. 'IN THE YEAR OF DROUGHT'

Sunday September 7, 2014.

'...He...will not be anxious in the year of drought...' Jeremiah 17:8 NKJV

'In the Year of Drought'

The mother of eight children came home one afternoon and noticed it was quieter than usual. She looked in the living-room and five of her little darlings were sitting in a circle, playing with five of the cutest skunks you've ever seen. Instantly she began to scream, 'Run, children, run!' Each child grabbed a skunk and ran in different directions. Instead of helping, her screams scared the children so much that they each squeezed their skunk... That day she learned-it's always too soon to panic! In tough economic times the difference between peace and panic depends on who you are trusting in. When you've done all you know, give it to God-and don't take it back! We live in a fear-filled world. If you read the headlines and not the Scriptures, or listen to the 'shock jocks' instead of those who strengthen your faith, you'll experience what Jesus described as 'men's hearts failing them for fear...' (Luke 21:26 KJV) As a redeemed child of God you live by His rules, under His protection, supplied by '...His riches...' (Philippians 4:19 KJV) Here's a promise you need to stand on: 'Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord... For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit.' (Jeremiah 17:7-8 NKJV) 'In the year of drought', don't panic. Instead, trust God to come through for you.

Taken from the Word for You Today Devotional

September 6, 2014. JOSEPH'S COATS

Saturday September 6, 2014.

'Then Pharaoh...clothed him in garments of fine linen...' Genesis 41:42 NKJV

Joseph's Coats

To be used by God, you must wear the two coats Joseph wore-namely, those of favor and integrity.

First, the coat of favor. 'Now [Jacob] loved Joseph...and he made him a coat of many colors.' (Genesis 37:3 KJV) Like Joseph's multicolored coat, the favor of God will cause you to stand out in the crowd; it will open doors, protect and promote you. The Bible says, 'For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous; with favor You will surround him as with a shield.' (Psalm 5:12 NKJV) Secondly, the coat of integrity. Joseph left his physical coat in the hands of Potiphar's wife when he refused her advances but not his coat of integrity. 'When Joseph went into the house to do his work... she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me. But he left his garment in her hand, and fled...' (Genesis 39:11-12 NKJV) Your temptation may be different from Joseph's. You may be tempted to gossip, cut corners on a job, lie to save face, or claim credit for something you didn't do; whatever it is, you'll be tested. And your character will be revealed. Passing the test of integrity is what qualifies you to be used by God. Dr Joseph Parker, the great English preacher and contemporary of Charles Spurgeon, said, 'An un-tempted minister will never do us any good, and an untried one will talk over our heads.' When your hour of testing comes, the thing that will hold you steady and get you through is knowing, standing on, and speaking God's Word. That's why the Psalmist wrote, 'Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.' (Psalm 119:11 NKJV)

Taken from the Word for You Today Devotional

September 5, 2014. WHEN A CHILD DIES

Friday September 5, 2014.

'...I shall go to him...' 2 Samuel 12:23 NKJV

When a Child Dies

The first child David had with Bathsheba lived only a week, then died. Heartbroken, with his thoughts towards Heaven, David said, '...I shall go to him...'

When a child dies, numerous questions arise. For example, first, will I see them in Heaven? Yes, David's story confirms it. Picture a shepherd leading his flock to greener pastures. The journey requires crossing a river. The sheep stare at it, paralyzed with fear. So the shepherd picks up a lamb, carries it over and sets it on the other side. At first its parents are upset, but eventually they overcome their fear and become willing to follow the shepherd through the waters to a glorious reunion on the other side. Think: when what you value most is in the next world, the appeal of this one diminishes with each passing day. Secondly, we may ask, will I know them in Heaven? Yes, on the Mount of Transfiguration the disciples knew Moses and Elijah even though they'd died centuries before. Would we know less in Heaven than we know on earth? Paul writes, '...Then I shall know just as I also am known.' (1 Corinthians 13:12 NKJV) Finally, we may ask, what will they do in Heaven? The Bible says that in Heaven, '...His servants shall serve Him.' (Revelation 22:3 NKJV) Have you ever said to yourself, 'I wish I could do better'? In Heaven, you will. You'll be at your best-forever.

Taken from the Word for You Today Devotional

September 4, 2014. AIM, SHOOT, AND KEEP SHOOTING!

Thursday September 4, 2014.

'...Strike the ground...' 2 Kings 13:18 NKJV

Aim, Shoot, and Keep Shooting!

When the king of Israel needed a strategy for defeating the Syrians he turned to the prophet Elisha, who told him: 'Take a bow and some arrows.' 'So he took himself a bow and some arrows. Then he said to the king of Israel, Put your hand on the bow. So he put his hand on it, and Elisha put his hands on the king's hands. And he said, Open the east window, and he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot, and he shot. And he said, The arrow of the Lord's deliverance and the arrow of deliverance from Syria; for you must strike the Syrians at Aphek till you have destroyed them. Then he said, Take the arrows, so he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, Strike the ground, so he struck three times, and stopped. And the man of God was angry with him, and said, You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck Syria till you had destroyed it! But now you will strike Syria only three times.' (2 Kings 15-19 NKJV)

What are you asking God to do? To save someone you love? To provide finances? To help you break a habit? To succeed in your career? Find out what He has promised you in His Word, and use those promises like arrows. Aim them at your problem, shoot, and keep shooting until God moves on your behalf. If this story teaches you anything, it's this: there are situations in life when faith and persistence not only determine your victory, but also the extent to which you win. So aim, shoot, and keep shooting!

Taken from the Word for You Today Devotional

September 3, 2014. BY GOD'S GRACE YOU CAN OVERCOME

Wednesday September 3, 2014.

'...If God is for us, who can be against us?' Romans 8:31 NKJV

By God's Grace You Can Overcome

Some of the world's greatest people have faced the world's greatest challenges, but have overcome them. Cripple a man with polio, and you have Sir Walter Scott. Lock a man in prison, and you have John Bunyan. Raise a man in abject poverty, and you have Abraham Lincoln. Subject a man to bitter religious prejudice, and you have Benjamin Disraeli. Strike a man down with paralysis, and you have Franklin Roosevelt. Have someone born black in a society filled with racial discrimination, and you have Booker T. Washington, Harriet Tubman, Marian Anderson and George Washington Carver. Make a man the first child to survive in an impoverished Italian family of 18, and you have Enrico Caruso. Have a man born to parents who survived a Nazi concentration camp, paralyze him from the waist down when he's four years old, and you have the incomparable violinist Itzhak Perlman. Call a man a slow learner and mentally challenged, write him off as beyond education, and you have Albert Einstein. Helen Keller was born blind and deaf, yet she graduated from college with highest honors and impacted the world. Margaret Thatcher, England's first and only woman Prime Minister, lived upstairs over her father's grocery store. For a while her childhood home had no running water and no indoor plumbing. Golda Meir, Israel's first and only woman Prime Minister, was a divorced grandmother from Milwaukee. What do these people teach us? That success doesn't depend on our circumstances, but on overcoming our circumstances. And with God on our side we can do it! Paul, one of the world's great overcomers, wrote, 'If God is for us, who can be against us?'

Taken from the Word for You Today Devotional

September 2, 2014. RESPONDING TO FAILURE

Tuesday September 2, 2014

'A righteous person may fall...but he gets up again...' Proverbs 24:16 GWT

Responding to Failure

You can tell a lot about somebody by how they respond to life. Everybody gets knocked down, but how fast you get up again is what counts. Verla Wallace says: 'Failure teaches us things we can't learn any other way... Treat it as a visitor allowed to deliver unpleasant news, but don't let it take up residence... All failures are not equal. For example, when a beautiful, talented young woman is the first runner-up in a Beauty Pageant, some say she failed. Yet some people would give their right arm to be named the second most attractive female in a national competition. It's a matter of perspective... [examine] your failures and weigh them according to their importance in the overall scheme of things...I once received a 'D' at college... it's ridiculous, but that sticks in my mind like a pebble in my shoe. Why do I fixate on that and not the fact that it happened during the term I carried nineteen credit hours, worked part-time, got engaged, and spent six weeks in the college health center with mononucleosis? When I put the experience in context, it loses its power to undermine my confidence. Failure teaches us what's important. I have a friend who was downsized out of a job... It caught her by surprise because she was good at her work. "I tended to be full of pride," she says. "I got away with it because I was so successful. Losing my job...humbled me. With pride you have no permission to fail. It's a heavy yoke...and I don't wear it any more. I feel lighter in my spirit without the burden of having to be perfect."'

Taken from the Word for you Today Devotional

September 1, 2014. WORKING IN THE KINGDOM (3)

Monday September 1, 2014

'The father [or mother] of a righteous man has great joy...' Proverbs 23:24 NIV

Working in the Kingdom (3)

The hardest work is sometimes the most overlooked work. A husband came home from work one day and the house was an absolute mess. Clothes were strewn all over the floor, dirty dishes filled the sink, the kids were crying, the beds were unmade, the bathroom smelled badly and the TV set was blaring. When he asked his wife what was going on, she replied, 'You know how you ask me every night what I did all day? Well, today I didn't do it.' If you're a stay-at-home mum or dad, God considers your work to be important. It's more important to the future than just about any other profession - because you're determining the quality of the next generation. Martin Luther said, 'What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in Heaven for our Lord.' One day God will say, 'Well done,' to parents who cared for children - bathing them, feeding them, cleaning up after them - when they were tired and thought nobody was looking. Somebody is looking. Somebody is keeping track. It is worth it! You are the one who makes your work significant - not the other way round. When you discover the gifts God has given you and the passions He has placed within you, and put them to work in the service of values you deeply believe in - you are 'working for God' in the truest sense. So each day ask God to make your work go well. And try to identify the larger picture in your work that makes it a 'calling'.

Taken from the Word for you Today Devotional