Good morning, Beautiful Beams of God’s Light:

Its Friday!! Praise God for another amazing week and almost another amazing month. I truly have no idea where the month of September went so fast. One thing is for certain, God was with us every step of the way.

The world can be challenging some days, but having a daily relationship with the Lord makes all the difference.

Sometimes, people tend to forget about God unless they are facing a crisis. For others, a daily relationship with the Lord is not only necessary, it is essential.

Do you have a favorite hobby? I love nature. In my free time, I love being able to spend time around animals, flowers, and water. It brings me so much joy. I dont make time for it every day, but when I do, I am so happy. Hobbies are for spare time, but I would love to start making it a habit. I want to consciously make it a part of my life.

What is your spiritual relationship with Jesus like? Is it a spare time thing or a habitual daily journey? Do you spend time with God when you have nothing else to do? Is God a hobby or a habit?

2 Peter 1:5-8 

Contemporary English Version (CEV)

⁵ Do your best to improve your faith. You can do this by adding goodness, understanding, ⁶ self-control, patience, devotion to God, ⁷ concern for others, and love. ⁸ If you keep growing in this way, it will show that what you know about our Lord Jesus Christ has made your lives useful and meaningful.

May the peace of the Lord be with you always.

Rev. Marcia Davis

Good morning, Family:

This word that the Holy Spirit put on my heart is strong, this morning. I know that most of you know the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. I need you to pay special attention to what Martha said and what Jesus did, and said, as a reply to her.

This is what God wants the world to HEAR, this morning:

There is nothing that is too big for God. Your past doesn’t scare God. Your addiction doesn’t scare God. Your sin doesn’t scare God. All that he wants is the opportunity to free you from a life of sin, death, and bondage.

When you hear God calling YOU OUT of the things that try to bind you and kill you, be responsive and obedient. Jesus has the power to free you from the thing or things that snare you and have become a stronghold in your life.

Insert your name in the story below.

God is calling you forth to an abundant life. Dont allow anyone to say tell you that your past “stinks,” like Martha told Jesus about Lazarus. When God brings you out, he brings you OUT, with new clothes and new smell. No matter what, you are a NEW CREATION.

Jesus told those that knew Lazarus the closest to unwrap him and let him go. Why did he do that? Jesus could have unwrapped Lazarus himself. Jesus wanted those closest to him to see the transformation for themselves. In other words, dont keep this man bound up. You may not want to forget who the old Lazarus used to be, but I have made him new. Now, “YOU, UPWRAP HIM AND LET HIM GO!!!!”

P. S. Jesus wept, because he was angry that the people didn’t believe he was who he said he was, after all this time. He used Lazarus as proof that he and the Father were ONE.

John 11:39-44

New Living Translation (NLT)

³⁹ “Roll the stone aside,” Jesus told them.

But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested, “Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.”

⁴⁰ Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?” ⁴¹ So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. ⁴² You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.” ⁴³ Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” ⁴⁴ And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!”

I love this song by Jeremy Camp. Every time it comes on the radio, I turn it up as loud as I can. The name of the song is Word of Life, but I call it the Lazarus Song.

May the peace of the Lord be with you always. 

Rev. Marcia Davis

Good morning, Family:

What a joy and honor it is to praise the Lord. Next month, Sacred Journey Devotionals will be three years old!!!

Giving glory to God never gets old. I’m so thankful that I get to share the Lord with the world.

Romans 15:6 

New Living Translation (NLT)

⁶ Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Have you ever just stood and given the Lord a standing ovation. Right now, I open my mouth and clap my hands.

Lord, I praise you with all of me.

Hallelujah God!!!!

Rev. Marcia Davis

Thank you, Jesus!!!! You have been faithful and good. We give you all the glory, praise and honor. 

Thank you for imparting your joy onto us. We bless your name. May everyone we encounter today see your joy shinning through. 

Psalm 5:11

(New International Version)

(But) Let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you.

Romans 15:13

(New International Version)

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

May the peace, love and joy of the Lord be with you always.

In His Amazing love and grace,

Rev. Marcia Davis

Good morning, Family:

Have you ever been in a season, or time in your life, where your spirit was full of the Lord and you were ready to face the world? You and God were in fellowship every day. Then you did something to get off track in your spiritual routine, with the Lord, and it left you open to the attack of the enemy and the desires of your flesh.

This is why we must die to ourselves daily. Otherwise, our fleshly carnal nature will try to take over. It is only through the power of the risen Savior that we have the ability to overcome sin. We were born into sin, through Adam, but those of us who call on Jesus dont stay that way. We are born into a new life with Christ.

We must get out of our own way. It is not a weakness or a crutch to call on Jesus. It it by His name that we are saved. Humble yourself  and ask God to Deliver You. 

This is what Paul said:

Romans 7:21-25

New Living Translation (NLT)

²¹ I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. ²² I love God’s law with all my heart. ²³ But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. ²⁴ Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? ²⁵ Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.

Go in peace and serve the Lord. 

Rev. Marcia Davis

Good morning, Precious Family:

Happy Mid Week. One more day we have been blessed to see. One more day to share God’s love, hope, peace, joy and grace with the world. Yay us!!! Use today wisely. Each day is a token of grace. 

Some days, I truly need all of those things from God. There have been times in my life, I have gotten myself into a situation, that I truly could not see my way out of….BUT GOD!!!

The words “BUT GOD,” have changed my life. God showed up when I thought I was drowning. He showed up when I had almost lost all hope. He showed up when I was just about to….BUT GOD. 

Ephesians 2:4-10 

Contemporary English Version (CEV)

^4-5 But God was merciful! We were dead because of our sins, but God loved us so much that he made us alive with Christ, and God’s wonderful kindness is what saves you. ⁶ God raised us from death to life with Christ Jesus, and he has given us a place beside Christ in heaven. ⁷ God did this so that in the future world he could show how truly good and kind he is to us because of what Christ Jesus has done. ⁸ You were saved by faith in God, who treats us much better than we deserve.  This is God’s gift to you, and not anything you have done on your own. ⁹ It isn’t something you have earned, so there is nothing you can brag about. ¹⁰ God planned for us to do good things and to live as he has always wanted us to live. That’s why he sent Christ to make us what we are.

May the peace of the Lord be with always. 

In His amazing Love,

Rev. Marcia Davis

Good morning, Family:

Meditate on this world today:

Ephesians 3:14-21

New Living Translation (NLT)

Paul’s Prayer for Spiritual Growth

¹⁴ When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, ¹⁵ the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. ¹⁶ I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. ¹⁷ Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. ¹⁸ And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. ¹⁹ May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

²⁰ Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. ²¹ Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

May the peace of the Lord dwell with you always. Go in peace, while serving the Lord.

Rev. Marcia Davis

Good morning, Family:

I greet you with abundant love, peace and joy, in Christ Jesus.

God, our Father, is the Great I Am. There is nothing that he can’t do or be for you. Whatever you need from God, he is the Great I Am. You are NOT ALONE. Even in the darkest moments, God is there.

This morning, I want to share a scripture verse with you. We all know it very well. I’m going to share it in a translation that some have not used, or are not familiar.

The Contemporary English Bible translation brings the Word of God to every day people. Today, no matter what you are facing, God is with you.

Exodus 3:14-15

Contemporary English Version (CEV)

^14-15 God said to Moses:

I am the eternal God. So tell them that the Lord, whose name is “I Am,” has sent you. This is my name forever, and it is the name that people must use from now on.

May the Peace of the Lord be with You. 

Rev. Marcia Davis

Good morning, Divine Family of Faithful Believers:

What an amazing gift we have received, through Christ Jesus. We have been reconciled with God the Father. We can forever enjoy a life united with God, through the perfect sacrifice of the Lamb of God. Jesus was the last and final sin offering for the world. All we have to do is to believe in him and we shall be saved. 

The deliberate and loving journey of Christ to the cross was filled with sacrifice, hurt, betrayal and pain. The good news is, we already know how the story ends. Sometimes, however, certain parts of the story are extracted and those extracted pieces take on a life of their own. 

One such example is Friday the 13th. What is the biblical origin? In an on-line article by History.com, according to biblical tradition, 13 guests attended the Last Supper, held on Maundy Thursday, including Jesus and his 12 apostles (one of whom, Judas, betrayed him). The next day, of course, was Good Friday, the day of Jesus’ crucifixion.

The seating arrangement at the Last Supper is believed to have given rise to a longstanding Christian superstition that having 13 guests at a table was a bad omen—specifically, that it was courting death.

Though Friday’s negative associations are weaker, some have suggested they also have roots in Christian tradition: Just as Jesus was crucified on a Friday, Friday was also said to be the day Eve gave Adam the fateful apple from the Tree of Knowledge, as well as the day Cain killed his brother, Abel. 

Now, I truly believe some of this is a stretch. The most important thing to remember is this…..IT DOESN’T MATTER AND HERE IS WHY!!!! 

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)

^16-21 This means that our knowledge of men can no longer be based on their outward lives (indeed, even though we knew Christ as a man we do not know him like that any longer). For if a man is in Christ he becomes a new person altogether—the past is finished and gone, everything has become fresh and new. All this is God’s doing, for he has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ; and he has made us agents of the reconciliation. God was in Christ personally reconciling the world to himself—not counting their sins against them—and has commissioned us with the message of reconciliation. We are now Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were appealing direct to you through us. As his personal representatives we say, “Make your peace with God.” For God caused Christ, who himself knew nothing of sin, actually to be sin for our sakes, so that in Christ we might be made good with the goodness of God.

THE END…

Family, put your fears to rest. The old is gone. Rejoice and serve the Lord with gladness.

In Christ, alone,

Rev. Marcia Davis

 

Good morning, Family:

What an amazing day this will be! You may ask me, how in the world do I know what kind of day it will be? Well, I am making a choice. No matter what comes my way, today, I choose joy.

There is an old children’s song that we used to sing in Sunday school. The song has these words, “I’ve got the joy, joy, joy down in my heart, down in my heart to stay.”

What has caused the joy? What created the joy? Is it money? Is it fame? Is it notoriety? No, the joy that is “down in my heart” is a joy that didn’t originate from me. It is a joy that comes from having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Even if I have a day that does not turn out perfectly, I can still have JOY, because I know that God will use a non-perfect situation for my growth and His glory. So it is a win-win situation!!

James 1:2-6 

New International Version (NIV)

Trials and Temptations

² Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. ⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. ⁶ But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

Ok, so get your joy shoes on and get ready to do your joy-dance, as you listen to today’s worship video from For King & Country entitled “Joy.”

Go in peace, love, and joy while serving the Lord. 

Rev. Marcia Davis