IN TIME OF NEED

Consider one of the most powerful promises in all of God?s Word:

?God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea?. Though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof?. There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early. The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge?. He maketh wars to cease? (Psalm 46:1-7, 9).



What a marvelous word. I?ve read this passage over and over, dozens of times, and I?m still overwhelmed by it. God?s Word to us here is so powerful, so immovable, he tells us, ?Never again do you need to fear. It doesn?t matter if the whole world is in turmoil. The earth may quake, the oceans may swell, the mountains may crumble into the sea. Things may be in complete chaos, a total uproar all around you.



?But because of my Word, you?ll have peace like a river. While all the nations rage, powerful steams of joy will flow to my people. It will fill their hearts with gladness.?



Right now, the whole world is in a fearful time. Nations are trembling over terrorism, knowing no region is immune to the threats. Personal troubles and sufferings are mounting. Yet, in the midst of it all, Psalm 46 echoes to God?s people the world over: ?I am in your midst. I am with you through it all. My people will not be destroyed or moved. I?m going to be an ever-present help to my church.?



God knows we all face deep needs; we all encounter turmoil, temptations, times of confusion that cause our souls to quake. His message for us in Psalm 46 is meant for just such times. He is saying that if we give in to fear, becoming downcast and full of despair, we?re living absolutely contrary to his reality in our lives.



It?s vital that you grasp what the Lord is telling us in this Psalm. Our God is available to us at any time, day or night. He?s continually at our right hand, willing to speak to us and to guide us. And he?s made this possible by giving us his Holy Spirit to abide in us. The Bible tells us that Christ himself is in us, and we are in him.



Daily Devotions by David Wilkerson

Devotion on Faithfulness

If you live in the prosperity of TOMORROW today,
You may live in poverty tomorrow.

Wednesday 9/2/2009
He who cultivates his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless people and pursuits will have poverty enough. A faithful man shall abound with blessings, but he who makes haste to be rich [at any cost] shall not go unpunished. —Proverbs 28:19, 20 YOU AND I live in a time when credit cards and home-equity loans and second mortgages make living beyond our means all too easy. It may even be that you have reason to think your business is about to turn the corner or that the promotion is on the way. Living on that speculative prosperity today is a dangerous game to play. And living on the empty promises of fast, easy money is a certain ticket to poverty. God's principle for prosperity is that you work hard in obedience to His will for your life. Land, for instance, will yield only in proportion to the labor of the farmer. The more faithful the labor, the greater the blessing—God's promise is abundance. But if you are caught up in finding an easy way to get what you desire you'll be distracted from being faithful to God's will for your life today. Return to faithfulness now, before judgment comes.

He Increases Your Strength

Today´s Verse:

"He gives power to the faint and weary, and to him who has no might He increases strength [causing it to multiply and making it to abound]" (Isaiah 40:29, AMP).

Today´s Word:
In the Bible, Joseph went through seasons of difficulty. He was rejected by his family, sold into slavery, lied about, mistreated, abandoned, falsely accused, and thrown in jail. But through it all, Joseph never gave up. He kept pressing through and doing the right thing even though the wrong thing kept happening. The Bible says in Psalm 105 verse 18, as Joseph laid in prison in those chains of iron, his soul entered into that iron. In other words, as Joseph just kept on fighting life through, his soul became as strong as that steel. God developed a supernatural strength in him that no one could take away.
If you are going through difficulty today, God wants to increase your strength. He wants to increase your power to overcome. He wants to make your inner man as strong as steel. When you keep standing, keep believing, keep doing the right thing, you are opening yourself to God´s supernatural strength. That´s when you know you are growing in Him. Be strong today. Keep pressing forward because God is at work increasing strength in you so that you can live in victory in every area of your life!
Prayer for Today:
Father in heaven, today I surrender every difficulty to You. I release the questions, hurts, and frustrations. I choose to trust You and do the right thing. Increase Your strength in me so that I can live in the victory You have in store for me. In Jesus´ Name. Amen.

Prayer

Battle Above the Clouds

Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days.Daniel 10:12-13

Prayer is a mysterious force, and the spiritual realm is a battle zone. Daniel prayed earnestly for three weeks, and his requests were granted early in the process. But his answer was somehow held up by demonic opposition in the heavens, and it took the archangel Michael to break through the resistance and secure the blessing.

The Bible warns, "We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12).
We'd probably be surprised to know how much spiritual warfare surrounds the transmissions of our prayers and their answers from heaven. When we pray earnestly and nothing seems to happen, we must remember that delay is not denial. We're to keep on asking, to keep on seeking, to keep on knocking. We're to address our prayers to God the Father, praying in the Spirit and in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We can pray through to victory.
The story of every great Christian achievement is the history of answered prayer.E. M. Bounds

Run Another Load

Run Another Load
By Gina Parcells,

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9 (NASB)
Devotion:
Laundry ... I'm running another load right now. It seems like once I have washed, dried, folded, and put away the clothes, I discover someone has slipped yet another dirty item into the hamper. The thing about laundry is, its just never-ending.
I've considered taking a sabbatical from the never-ending task, but I'm certain it would accumulate into a heap causing a pervasive stench in my house. Then, I'd hear grumbling from the masses about how they have nothing to wear and, of course, I would cave. My sabbatical would ultimately lead to my own panic as I surveyed the overflowing hampers.
So, no laundry sabbatical for me. Instead, I accept the need to wash clothes regularly. And I do it. It's better for everyone that way.
You know, God has that constant laundering thing going on too, except He's cleansing our hearts instead of our clothes. I'm sure He would rather we not dirty our hearts with sin, but He knows we do and He is always willing, day or night, to cleanse us.
The problem is sometimes I'm unwilling to put my stinky garments in His hamper to be washed. I have favorite sins, like favorite shirts, that I'm resistant to take off. Sometimes, I just wear my sin day in and day out, and the idea of confessing it and asking for grace doesn't even cross my mind. It's like He has a pile of clean clothes ready to go, but I walk right past them.
Fortunately for us, God never takes a cleaning sabbatical, and He doesn't get overwhelmed when our sin hampers seem filled to capacity. In fact, you can dump ten loads of sin in front of Him and He'll wash them all. He's a pro with the delicate cycle. If we can mess it up, He can clean it up ... We just have to ask. As our key verse states, if we confess, He will faithfully forgive.
Dear Lord, I confess to You _________. Thank You for Your faithfulness to cleanse me now, and every single time I come to You. Please help me to recognize my sin and to remember to seek Your forgiveness daily. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Application Steps:
Read Psalm 32 as if you wrote it to God.
Spend time asking the Lord to search your heart and reveal if there is any offensive way in your heart (Psalm 139:23-24). Use these times of listening and confession as a regular part of your prayer time each morning.
Reflections:
What keeps me from regularly confessing my sin?
What can I use as a trigger to remind me to spend time confessing my sin everyday?
Power Verses:
Psalm 51:2-4, "Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight." (NIV)
Psalm 51:10, 12, "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me." (NIV)
Proverbs 31 Ministries

Jesus I Trust You

Jesus I Trust You

Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Mathew 6:34
Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Devotion
Can we imagine just for a moment that we have a small door key in our hand. I believe that faith is the key in our walk with God. When we have our house key with us and the door is locked, we are not worrying about how we will get into the house. The same is true with a car door as long as we have the key to unlock the door, there are no worries. Faith is just a decision that we make to trust God and not worry. It's a small thing in our hands, but when we hold the key of faith, God can open many doors. We just keep earnestly seeking him and trust without worry that he is working all things for the good. Sometimes I just say out loud, “Jesus I trust you.”