Grace, peace, hope, perseverance in the faith, and love to you all. It’s Monday and it’s a holiday week. It is a new day and it’s also a second, third, fourth and even hundredth chance for us to walk our or faith.
This week, if you have a spare moment, write me back and let me know what you are thankful for in your life. Is it your family, your friends, your pets, your career, your church family, your growth in the Lord, your health or many other things? I would just love to hear from your heart.
Last month was the second Anniversary of Sacred Journey Devotionals. I’m thankful that God has allowed me to write and share each week. I have grown so much and I hope you have been blessed and encouraged by the devotionals. I love you all so much and I just wanted to say, “Thank You.”
Forever by Jason Nelson
I love you, but God loves you so much more. Be abundantly and exceedingly blessed, Family. Go with God, while praising and serving the Lord.
I pray that you are in a good and peaceful place this morning. I continually pray for you that your lives would be full of peace. I encourage you, this morning, to stay strong in your faith. I pray that you love yourselves enough to want the highest good for your life. May your life be a shinning light illuminating the glory of God.
Philippians 4:4-9
New International Version (NIV)
Final Exhortations
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Be abundantly blessed today. Go in peace while faithfully and joyfully serving the Lord.
I come to you this morning with a humble heart filled with joy and thanksgivings.
I invite you to read the scripture for today and may it go deep into every part of your mind, soul and spirit. Pray for me, as I continually pray for you.
Proverbs 3:3-8
New International Version (NIV)
3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. 4 Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your pathsstraight.[a]
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. 8 This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.
May God bless you and keep you. Go in peace, while faithfully and joyfully serving the Lord.
I pray that this message finds you full of hope and power from Him who is able, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
This morning’s devotional wont be long. The Holy Spirit put one scripture verse on my heart this morning. I pray that it will go deep into ever crevice of your heart mind, soul and spirit.
Ephesians 3:14-21
New International Version (NIV)
A Prayer for the Ephesians
14 For this reason I kneel before the Father,15 from whom every family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name.16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Be blessed, Family. Go in peace, while faithfully and joyfully serving the Lord.
I hope all is well with your heart and mind today. Today, if we haven’t already, many of us start making plans for the weekend. We plan where we are going to go and what we are going to do. Planning is a routine part of our lives. We have a sense of control and order. I know that I am good at time management because I plan out most of my day.
The only time I can’t plan is when the Lord says, “Wait.” That four letter word is one of the most powerful words known to man. Most of us dont like waiting, but at times it is our only choice, if we want to be obedient to the will and purposes of God. What does the bible say about waiting on God?
Romans 8:24-30
The Message (MSG)
22-25 All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it’s not only around us; it’s within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We’re also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don’t see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.
26-28 Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.
29-30 God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun.
I encourage us all to wait on God. The fullness of what will manifest will bring us so much peace.
God bless you all. I wish you well on your spiritual journey. Every person’s journey is both sacred and divine. I give honor to you, in the name of our Wayshower and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.
What is the fastest way to live an abundant life, in God? What good can come from a life of surrender? What is the purpose of raising our arms to God while we worship?
SURRENDER…..
The surrendered life is a life that yields peace, joy, hope, faithfulness and worship in God. The surrendered life is a life of trust. The surrendered life is a life that has placed its trust in a holy and anointed Savior and Lord.
Are you living a surrendered life? If not, what is keeping you from letting go?
Come on in…the Water is fine…
Luke 9:23-26
New International Version (NIV)
23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.25 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?26 Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
I love you with the amazing and everlasting love of the Lord.
I want nothing more than for each of us to grow and mature, in Christ Jesus. As we go about our day to day lives, walking out our faith. May we be ever conscious of why we do what we do. What is our motivation? Are we doing or saying something to please man or are we doing it to please our Father, God, who is in heaven?
May I encourage you to read Paul’s letter. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you through all Truth of the Word. Allowing wisdom, knowledge and revelation to order your steps.
May God add a blessing to the readers, hearers and doers of His Word, in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Colossians 2:6-23
The Message (MSG)
From the Shadows to the Substance
6-7 My counsel for you is simple and straightforward: Just go ahead with what you’ve been given. You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now live him. You’re deeply rooted in him. You’re well constructed upon him. You know your way around the faith. Now do what you’ve been taught. School’s out; quit studying the subject and start livingit! And let your living spill over into thanksgiving.
8-10 Watch out for people who try to dazzle you with big words and intellectual double-talk. They want to drag you off into endless arguments that never amount to anything. They spread their ideas through the empty traditions of human beings and the empty superstitions of spirit beings. But that’s not the way of Christ. Everything of God gets expressed in him, so you can see and hear him clearly. You don’t need a telescope, a microscope, or a horoscope to realize the fullness of Christ, and the emptiness of the universe without him. When you come to him, that fullness comes together for you, too. His power extends over everything.
11-15 Entering into this fullness is not something you figure out or achieve. It’s not a matter of being circumcised or keeping a long list of laws. No, you’re already in—insiders—not through some secretive initiation rite but rather through what Christ has already gone through for you, destroying the power of sin. If it’s an initiation ritual you’re after, you’ve already been through it by submitting to baptism. Going under the water was a burial of your old life; coming up out of it was a resurrection, God raising you from the dead as he did Christ. When you were stuck in your old sin-dead life, you were incapable of responding to God. God brought you alive—right along with Christ! Think of it! All sins forgiven, the slate wiped clean, that old arrest warrant canceled and nailed to Christ’s cross. He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets.
16-17 So don’t put up with anyone pressuring you in details of diet, worship services, or holy days. All those things are mere shadows cast before what was to come; the substance is Christ.
18-19 Don’t tolerate people who try to run your life, ordering you to bow and scrape, insisting that you join their obsession with angels and that you seek out visions. They’re a lot of hot air, that’s all they are. They’re completely out of touch with the source of life, Christ, who puts us together in one piece, whose very breath and blood flow through us. He is the Head and we are the body. We can grow up healthy in God only as he nourishes us.
20-23 So, then, if with Christ you’ve put all that pretentious and infantile religion behind you, why do you let yourselves be bullied by it? “Don’t touch this! Don’t taste that! Don’t go near this!” Do you think things that are here today and gone tomorrow are worth that kind of attention? Such things sound impressive if said in a deep enough voice. They even give the illusion of being pious and humble and ascetic. But they’re just another way of showing off, making yourselves look important.
I love you with the amazing and everlasting love of the Lord. Go in peace, while serving the Lord.
I pray that you woke up this morning with your mind and heart set on Jesus. Today is a brand new day, full of God’s new mercies, grace and blessings.
This morning, I want to encourage each of us to continually strive to grow in Christ. Let no area of our walk become complacent, but instead may we eagerly strive for new levels in our walk and understanding.
2 Corinthians 13:11-14
New International Version (NIV)
Final Greetings
11 Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.
12 Greet one another with a holy kiss.13 All God’s people here send their greetings.
14 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Family, let us all encourage each other and pray for one another. May your joy and zeal, for our Lord and Savior, lift you to the highest heights. Continually pray for our country, our leaders, and our families.
Pray for the hearts of each and every person, no matter their color, religion or culture. Pray that peace would overtake their hearts. I pray for the spirit of unity and love to saturate every dry and brittle soul. Love one another.
I love you with the amazing and everlasting love of Jesus Christ. Go in peace, while serving and rejoicing in the Lord.
I pray your strength, in the Joy of the Lord. Our God is faithful to stand for us. All we have to do is to believe that he is who he says he is. Allow God to be the one to fight your battles. As a family of faith, we have the honor of giving all of the praise, glory and honor to God. Then, once we have made our prayers known to God, we have to do two things. First, walk in obedience to the instructions we were given. Second, walk in faith knowing that God has already worked it out for our behalf.
Praise Report Alert:
Just last week, I was concerned about some financial issues. I gave it over to God and thanked Him, in advance, for replacing my mourning for joy. Not only did God provide what I needed, but he tripled the blessing, so that no one but Him could get all the glory.
As you listen and watch today’s worship video, read aloud the scripture passage below from the prophet Isaiah.
Isaiah 61:1-3
New Living Translation (NLT)
Good News for the Oppressed
61 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed. 2 He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the Lord’s favor has come, and with it, the day of God’s anger against their enemies. 3 To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his own glory.
I love you with the amazing, powerful and everlasting love of the Lord. Go in Perfect peace, while serving and praising the Lord.
Family, I’m so excited for us today. Today is one more day that we have the chance to tabernacle and fellowship with God. Today, as we are filled with God’s Holy Spirit, we have the sweet opportunity to know God’s heart.
Several years ago, before life got crazy busy, there was a small group of us that use to gather at each others house and have intimate times of fellowship, worship and edification in the Lord. Having that intimate time with God blessed my soul so much and I grew and matured, in the faith. The worship that would come from those small house gatherings made me feel as though I was sitting in the very lap of God.
I believe the time of the small gatherings are beginning to return. They are filled with people that hunger and thirst for God. They are filled with people that want to continue to learn and grow, in an effort to be available for the work God has for them to do. It is so important to be ready when God calls is into action on His behalf.
I encourage you, if you have the opportunity, to either be a part of or create your own local group of believers who can edify and sharpen each other. Small groups of 10, 20, 30 or even 40 people do not replace the larger church body, they enhance it. Take every opportunity you can to learn, grow and then lead.
Hebrews 10:19-25
New Living Translation (NLT)
A Call to Persevere
19 And so, dear brothers and sisters,[a] we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus.20 By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place.21 And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house,22 let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.
23 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.
Enjoy today’s small group worship video. May it help you to grow and be encouraged as you serve the Lord.
I love you with the amazing and everlasting love of the Lord. Go in peace, while serving the Lord.
Sacred Journey Devotionals - Where Christianity and Metaphysics Meet 