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A New Dimension in Prayer
It should never escape the minds and hearts of any believer that prayer to God is meant to be an expression of our total lives in Christ. The habit pattern for many of us, though, is to portion off our lives into categories. We label most of it as stuff we can handle, and other…
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Deeper Gratitude and Adoration for God
Dear Heavenly Father, Isaiah 26:3(NLT) says, “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!” There have been many days that I have allowed situations to cause my thoughts to stray away from Your Word. You warn us not to look on the prosperity of the…
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God Will Show You What He Can Do!
Proverbs 19:21(NLT) says, “You can make many plans, but the LORD’s purpose will prevail.” Making many plans is what we humans do. We’re constantly making decisions and choices that we think will lead us where we want to go. God tells us in Proverbs 19:21 that we can certainly do this, but we must always…
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Take It By Faith!
Dear Heavenly Father, In Ephesians 2:10, You call the creation of humanity Your masterpiece. You tell us that we are Your finest work, and You created us as brand new creations in Christ Jesus. You want us to do the good things that You planned for us, and You planned these good things long before…
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What Matters Most
Dear Heavenly Father, In 1Corinthians 12:28(NLT), You tell us, “Here are some of the parts God has appointed for the church: first are apostles, second are prophets, third are teachers, then those who do miracles, those who have the gift of healing, those who can help others, those who have the gift of leadership, those…
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Can’t Nobody Do Ya’ Like Jesus!
Charlotte called her dad a very mean dry alcoholic. When they were children, before he got sober, he would whip her and her other siblings frequently for no reason. She said when she asked him why he was punishing her, he said if he whipped one, he had to whip them all. They were terrified…
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Truly Walking in Freedom
We have big problems these days, and it’s not just on a micro level, but on a macro one. We’re seeing the enemy’s plots on a very large scale and his tactic of divisiveness and lies is more transparent than ever. But society is revealing to us that there are very few people with their…
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A Light in Dark Places
Dear Heavenly Father, There are times when I feel lost, abandoned, cheated, lied to, and underestimated. I feel sometimes You don’t hear my heart crying from confusion. I know that’s not the case, but in that moment of sadness and depression, my emotions feel more real than the reality that You’re always with me. We…
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Your Call
Dear Heavenly Father I heard a great teacher say something that was so spot on, and it spoke to my spirit in a new way. He said, “The only way God can use you is if we are willing vessels”. I know that You do not use people in a sense of usurping their free-will…
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Stay Armored Up!
1Peter 5:8-9 (NLT) cautions the believer against the tricks and tactics of the enemy. It says, “8 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. 9 Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of…
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Like a Tree Planted by the Waters
Dear Heavenly Father, You tell us in Hebrews 4:12-13 (MSG), “God means what he says. What he says goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey. Nothing and no one is impervious to God’s Word. We can’t get away…
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God Chose Us!
Dear Heavenly Father, The Old Testament prophecy that is written again in Acts 2:17(NLT) says, “‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.” This prophecy is being fulfilled in…
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Our Holy Calling
Dear Heavenly Father, Through the Apostle Paul, You tell us in 2Timothy 1:9(NKJV), “who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.” You’ve given us the privilege and responsibility to…
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Motivated by God’s Love
Dear Heavenly Father, Regarding Saul, the King of Israel who was handsome, well-built, and tall, You told Samuel in 1Samuel 16:7(NLT), “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The LORD doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”…
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Windows and Doors Knocked Out
Dear Heavenly Father, Sometimes we forget that one of our missions in life should be to learn the spiritual lessons that You have designed for us. Through the Apostle Paul, You tell us in Romans 5:3-5(NLT), “3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us…
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Decluttering Emotionally
This year went by in a whisper, and with another new year approaching, we need to take a little inventory. We need to access what worked for us in the past year and what didn’t, so we can make some changes. Resolutions are the go-to in order to get this done and start everything off…
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Consistent in Our Commitment to God
Dear Heavenly Father, I’ve been thinking about this word consistency. It is defined as conforming to the application of something with steadiness, regularity, and stability. When I think about this word, I am reminded of what You told us in 2Timothy 1:7, that You didn’t give us a spirit of fear, but You’ve given us…
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You Make Our Lives a Thing of Beauty
Dear Heavenly Father, Thank You for giving us the Gift of Holy Spirit. Thank You that He dwells on the inside of us, where he can help us most. Because of the Holy Spirit, we can walk in Your power and love in a greater way. In Acts 2, on the day of Pentecost, the…
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Don’t Let Guilt Steal Your Confidence
Romans 8:1(NKJV) says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” Condemnation is a word that we associate with a state of no longer being useful for anything. When something is condemned, we instantly think about a…
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Too Timid to Claim What’s Yours…Don’t Be!
John 10:10(NKJV) is a verse of scripture that most believers know, but many of us have not gotten to a place where its truth is actually manifested in our lives. Jesus declared in this verse, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may…
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Too Fast Too Soon
Dear Heavenly Father, I was a little puzzled by something a person shared with me. She hasn’t been dating her boyfriend very long, only a few weeks, and already he says that he loves her. When I cautioned her about moving too fast too soon, she became defensive and said she didn’t understand my point…
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Don’t Put the Blessing before the Relationship
Dear Heavenly Father, Your Son said in John 15:7(NLT), “But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!” You have promised that if we stay close to You and do the things that You have commanded us to do, then…
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It’s Already Yours!
“Hannah was in deep anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to the LORD.” (1 Samuel 1:10, NLT) Hannah’s Cry of Anguish Hannah knew a thing or two about emotional pain. She was loved by her husband, Elkanah, but she wasn’t his only wife. Peninnah, the other wife, had children, but Hannah did not. In that…
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Daughters of the King
Dear Heavenly Father, Your Word tells us in Proverbs 12:4, “A worthy wife is a crown for her husband, but a disgraceful woman is like cancer in his bones.” Some of us, especially young women, underestimate the degree to which You hold Your daughters to this standard—the standard of Godliness that is worthy of a…
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Afraid He’s Going to Take It Away
We can be so stuck in the mode of struggle and strife that we can’t imagine what a life of peace and rest looks like. This happens when we become conditioned by fear because of the attacks waged against us by the enemy. It is indeed the devil’s intention to cause us to respond to…
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The Fallen Woman
I, like so many of those who knew her, believed that Twawni Davis was destined for great things. In addition to her model good looks, she was the most talented individual I had ever known, and as a young person I was always mesmerized in her company. Of course, she dated the most handsome, popular…
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Never Cling to A Man
Dear Heavenly Father, Ephesians 2:10(NLT) tells us, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Thank You for letting us know how You see us, Dear Father. We are Your glorious creation—Your masterpieces, and through Jesus Christ,…
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He Works in Mysterious Ways
Dear Heavenly Father, You tell us in Isaiah 55:8-9(NLT), “8 My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts…And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. 9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” You also tell…
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Spread Too Thin
Whether it’s on our jobs, in our family life, or in our lives period, many of us are guilty of spreading ourselves too thin. We are trying to get too many things done in a limited amount of time. This can cause us to compromise the quality of our lives and work, because we’re taking…
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God’s Perfect Timing
Dear Heavenly Father, In Psalm 56:1, the psalmist, King David, cried out to you and begged for your mercy. He said that people were hounding him, and his enemies were trying to attack him all day long. Many of us know how this feels. Life can seem like a perpetual stream of hiccups and mishaps.…