The Fruitful Word

1 d

Luke 1:28 "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."

God speaks of that which will be as though it is already come to pass.

The people to whom God has spoken form a list which stretches through history and Scripture: Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Jacob, Moses, Deborah, Gideon, Samuel, David, Solomon, Elijah…

The list goes on, stretching to the present time to include each of us. Just as they did, we sometimes struggle to realize that it is us He is speaking of when we receive His Word.

Luke 1:34 "How will this be?"

Each of us marvel in our hearts at what God is planting in our spirits.

We may have a dream, a vision, a word, a revelation or understanding of what God wants to do with us and through our lives, or simply a desire to see a victory in the life of someone dear to us.

It is what would bring us the greatest joy to see happen, but we cannot imagine how it would come to pass.

Luke 1:35 "The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you"

This is how God performs His work in each of our lives.

The invisible power of God works in our lives and our hearts in ways we cannot understand to cause changes in us which result in the very thing we felt was beyond our reach.

Luke 1:38 "I am the Lord’s servant...May Your word to me be fulfilled."

Our response can be accepting or argumentative.

Zechariah, although a priest, and while in the Holy of Holies ministering to God for all of Israel, struggled with doubt and voiced his disbelief.

He was not allowed to speak again until months later when he was willing to convey his agreement to the word spoken to him by the angel.

Others simply voiced their acceptance of what God proclaimed and left the doing of it in God's hands.

1 Peter 1
v.8 Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy,
v.9 for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Psalm 119:
v.18 Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in Your law.
v.32 I run in the path of Your commands for You have set my heart free.

Loving, gracious, and majestic God, You see far more than we can understand. You speak of what You know and give us encouragement and hope for the future through Your promises.

We pray for willing and accepting hearts to receive Your Word and let it take root and grow into a fruit-filled plant that You can take pleasure in.

Help us to be attuned to Your voice and willing to give all that You ask of us. Let Your will be done in our lives, Lord. We are Yours, an offering freely given from our love for You.

4 d

Proverbs 8:13

If anyone respects and fears God, he will hate evil. For wisdom hates pride, arrogance, corruption, and deceit of every kind. [The Living Bible]

If you respect the Lord, you also will hate evil. It is wise to hate pride and bragging, evil ways and lies. [International Children’s Bible]

“The [reverent] fear and worshipful awe of the LORD includes the hatred of evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way, And the perverted mouth, I hate. [Amplified Bible]

To fear the LORD is to hate evil. I hate pride, arrogance, evil behavior, and twisted speech. [GOD'S WORD® Translation]

#proverbs, #respect, #perverted, #arrogant, #wisdom,

6 d

Psalm 35:20

Their words have no ring of peace. They plan evil rumors and incriminations against those who live peacefully in the land. [The Voice]

They don’t speak words of peace. They make up false charges against those who live quietly in the land. [New International Reader's Version]

They do not speak in a friendly way; instead they invent all kinds of lies about peace-loving people. [Good News Translation]

They do not talk in a way that brings peace. Instead, they try to deceive people who want to live quietly. [EasyEnglish Bible]

#psalm, #rumors, #charges, #lies, #deceive,

1 w

So much of the time, we try to "exercise" our faith to get the solution to a looming financial problem or a lingering physical ailment.

We claim God's healing power and we raise our hands and our voices, then we pause and open one eye to see if we need to pray louder or longer.

Don't laugh -- we've all done it. God understands it. We are growing and learning a step at a time.

God does bless that way when we are new in our walk. In those times, we don't have years of experience with the Father to draw on, times of just resting in the knowledge of His love, moments of experiencing the sweetness of His presence.

The Lord will "do" for us until we can tune our hearts to His and let Him "be" all we need.

Physical healing is the bread of the children. It is important for growth in our spiritual life, and vital for strength in our spiritual walk.

Fiscal blessing is part of God's promise and a very real part of our inheritance in God's family. But these manifestations of God's power are elements of the material world, which is temporary at best.

Physical healing will not prevent physical death, but who will turn down a few more years with loved ones?

Being blessed with an income providing the financial resources to get out from under endless medical bills and repair bills on top of the usual costs for food and housing and clothing and transportation will cause us to give thanks and blessing to God and give testimony before others to His goodness and power.

Then there are those we read about in Scriptures who did not receive those material and temporal blessings of health and wealth.

It wasn't because they were weak in the faith; does anyone feel that Paul, with the "thorn in his flesh", imprisoned for the last years of his life, at times abandoned by his friends in the ministry, was lacking in faith?

We can go back to many of the prophets.

At one time or another, I'm sure each of us has wondered what it would be like to walk so close to God that He spoke to us with words that foretold the future, gave us visions that defy descriptions.

To actually see and be touched by angels flying about doing the direct bidding of God, seated on the throne, would be awesome, but it did not prevent Ezekiel from going into captivity.

Neither did it keep Jeremiah from being on short rations in Jerusalem while under siege and thrown into a mud-filled cistern when the water supply was running low.

Faith is the evidence of things not seen. Without faith, we cannot please God.

God is spirit, and He inhabits eternity. His true miracles are the changes He works in our lives.

To be born of the spirit, to be given a new heart, to have our minds renewed, these are eternal changes that will not fade away or be lost when circumstances change, and are priceless beyond measure.

To have peace that passes understanding in the midst of turmoil and chaos when others' hearts fail them for fear is to show God's power to a needy world.

If we point to a financial blessing we know is from God, then like Pharaoh's magicians duplicating Moses' signs, some men can show a big bank balance that they obtained by their own means.

If we describe how God healed us or our car or fixed the refrigerator when we laid hands on it and prayed, there are doctors and mechanics and repairmen who can talk about "spontaneous remission" and "electrical contacts" that vibrated back into place.

But like the final plagues that hit Egypt and exceeded the abilities of Pharaoh's wise men, the world cannot produce in its citizens the spiritual riches that we have as children of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Let's exercise our faith in areas of eternity, trusting God to do for us in the world what He wants.

We are here as long as He wants us to be, and He can use us in health and in sickness, in wealth and in want, to reach those who are looking for Him.

Our faith is never so strong as when we trust Him in the midst of the storm.

Father, You offer us more than we have, but it is hard to see until our spiritual eyes are opened and our understanding has developed to receive Your truths.

We pray for the eye-balm of the Spirit which gives us sight to reveal the more precious promises You have waiting.

Let us learn to trust wholly in You for our needs and leave the choosing of the day and hour in Your hands.

#devotional, #faith, #experience, #miracles, #eternal,

1 w

Proverbs 11:11

The good influence of godly citizens causes a city to prosper, but the moral decay of the wicked drives it downhill. [Living Bible]

When right-living people bless the city, it flourishes; evil talk turns it into a ghost town in no time. [The Message]

A city is honored by the good things that come to the faithful, but it is torn down by the mouth of the sinful. [New Life Version]

A city thrives through the blessing of those living right, but the words of a wrongdoer will bring it to ruin. [The Voice]

#proverbs, #prosper, #flourish, #ruin, #decay,