Have victory today!

{Daily Selah}

Everybody has an issue with something, whether the issue is sin or the issues that come along with living life. Nobody has it perfectly together and no one does life perfectly. 

The only One who ever lived a sinless live was the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet, His life wan't perfect in the sense that He didn't have it easy. He was loved by some and attacked by many others. He was homeless during His ministry, and traveled the same dirty, dusty streets as everyone else. 

Hebrews 4:15 says Jesus has faced every problem we will ever face and dealt with every temptation we will ever deal with. 

Right now, in this moment, He wants you to have His victory in your life. Are you dealing with some sin you just can't seem to get past? A family problem? A health problem? Financial problem? 

In 1 John 5:4, we are given a precious promise.

For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. 

And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

In Christ, the victory is already ours. We just have to claim it and walk in it.  He has already overcome and He wants us to do the same. 

Believe His promises. Stand on the unchanging truth of His Word. 

The song below by Mandisa is a great reminder of the fact that, in Christ, YOU ARE AN OVERCOMER!

Have victory today! 

{Daily Selah} is a mini-devotional, a pause to ponder about the Lord and how He wants us to live. 

Determined to know HIM

What are you determined to do right now, tomorrow, next week or with the rest of your life? 

Our determination is a direct result of our desires. 

What kind of desires do you think motivate a person who is determined to make a name for themselves? Or, person who is determined to be wealthy?  

The apostle Paul said he had a determined purpose. What was it and what desires motivated his determination?  Let's take a look...

[For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [[a]which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death (Philippians 3:10 AMP).

Paul's determined purpose was to know the Lord Jesus Christ.  

What desires motivated his determination?

Paul said he wanted to "become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly..." 

Why?  Look at the verse again.

Paul wanted to know resurrection power in his life and to be made more like Jesus, even in His death.

In Galatians 2:20, Paul expounds on this experience of becoming, as the KJV says, "conformable unto His death."

I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Living dead to our selfish, fleshly desires is the only way to "come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection."

"The same power that conquered the grave lives in me," the song below says.  That's true for every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, but its only as we know Jesus more and more, allowing Him to make us more like Him, and dying to our fleshly desires that His resurrection power will become evident in our lives. 

There are areas of my life that need to be molded more and more in the image of Christ. The same is true of every believer - if we're honest. We have to remember that Jesus shed His blood to purchase our redemption AND our victory! 

Paul's determined purpose was to know Jesus - to know the wonders of His Person, the wonders of His power, and the wonders of that power expressed in and through his own life to the glory of God the Father. 


Determined to know HIM.


Father, thank you so much that "the same power that conquered the grave lives in me." Lord, give me a  greater desire to live in resurrection power and a greater determination to know Jesus and the wonders of His person.  In Jesus' Name, amen. 

{Daily Selah} is a mini-devotional, a pause to ponder about the Lord and how He wants us to live. 

*How do you know? Just ask

{Daily Selah}

My youngest son started his first job at the beginning of summer. He was so excited to get his first paycheck. 

On his first pay day, we drove by a man standing on the corner with a sign similar to the one in the photo.  We went to the store and, in the parking lot, my son said he wondered if he should give the man some money. Then he asked, "How do you know?"

He wanted to know how you know if someone is legitimately in need or  if they're going to take the money you give them to use it to buy drugs or alcohol. I suggested praying about it and said, "Let the Lord show you what he wants you to do."  We prayed together in the car and I asked the Lord to give my son wisdom and discernment to hear His voice and to keep his heart tender. 

We did a little shopping and when we got back to the car, my son had made a decision.  We drove back to where the man was standing, and I parked the car. My son, normally shy by nature, walked right up to the man, shook his hand and said, "Jesus told me to give this to you." He handed the man some money and talked for a few moments then  said, "I'm going to be praying for you," then came back to the car. 

I was never more proud of my son than I was in that moment. It is awesome when you see the Lord working in your children's lives and see them respond in faith and obedience. 

That day, my son asked a very important question.

How do you know?

How do you know which way to go, what to say and what to do? 

Discernment.

What is discernment? The dictionary will give you a definition but God's definition is different. (He defines most things differently than the world does.)

Godly discernment is simply heeding His voice. 

Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me" (John 10:27).

We, His sheep must listen to the voice of the Shepherd as He says, "This is the way, walk ye in it" (Isaiah 30:21). 

He is the still, small voice we hear when He wants us to know something is right or something is wrong. WE need to block out all other distraction so we can hear clearly what He is saying to us. 

One day some men came to Moses with a problem, expecting him to fix it. I love the way he responded.

Stand still, and I will hear what the Lord will command concerning you. (Numbers 9:8)

He was saying 2 things with this statement. First, he basically said, "Hey, guys! Be quiet for a minute! I need to hear what God has to say about this." And, secondly, Moses realized that human wisdom didn't have the answer for this. He knew that the discernment he needed could only come from God.

In James 1:5, we are told where to get this wisdom and discernment. It doesn't come from within, or from our natural intelligence, nor can we somehow acquire it on our own.

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

So how do you know? Just ask. 




Father, I'm so thankful that You have all knowledge, wisdom and power. Your ways are higher than mine and You know the best way for me to go.  Help me to daily seek wisdom only from You and to be still and listen to the still, small voice of Your Spirit and to walk in obedience to His leading. In Jesus Name I pray, amen.  

{Daily Selah} is a mini-devotional, a pause to ponder about the Lord and how He wants us to live.