God’s Promises

 Scripture:

“Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭41‬:‭10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Observation:

God speaks through Isaiah here and tells His people not to be afraid or discouraged because He is with them. He states that He will strengthen and help us. He will hold us up with His victorious right hand. What I see here is that God says He is with His people and therefore they have nothing to fear or be discouraged about. He promises to uphold us with his victorious right hand.

Application:

When we are walking with God, there is nothing to fear or be discouraged about. There are countless promises in His word that are directed at His people. Sometimes life gives us plenty of opportunity to be discouraged and afraid, but we have great and precious promises from the Lord. We must learnt to trust His word above the situations of life. It must go beyond our head knowledge in drop int our hearts that our Father loves us and will take care of us.

Prayer:

Lord God, You are incredible! You give us the strength we need. You fight our battles and defend us from our enemies. You prepare a table before us in the presence of our enemies. Thank You for Your promises. You You for giving me inner strength and courage. You are the best and I appreciate You. You are faithful. Help me to walk in greater levels of faith and trust in You and Your word.

Yours Forever, 

Jeff

Generous People

 Scripture:

“But generous people plan to do what is generous, and they stand firm in their generosity.” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭32‬:‭8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Observation:

Isaiah tells us here that generous people plan their generosity and then stand firm in it. When a person has a truly generous spirit, they plan and look for ways to be generous. They are intentional about their generosity. Standing firm in their generosity tells me that others won’t understand a truly generous person. The generous will stand firm, even when others see no value in it.

Application:

I want to be a generous person more and more in my life. I realize this morning that it takes planning to be generous. I have to be intentional about it or it will never happen. I can’t be swayed from generosity. I must be strong in my commitment. In order to be generous, I must come completely out of debt and live a simple life so I have more to give. 

Prayer:

Father, You are generous and I want to be more and more generous in my life. I want to be a blessing to others around me. As You bless me, I will be a blessing. You told Abraham that You would bless those who bless him. Let my life be a fountain of blessing. Let me give more in my latter years than I could have imagined in my former years. Open the river of finances over my life and show me how to plan to walk in generosity.

Yours Forever,

Jeff

Return and Rest

 Scripture:

“This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength. But you would have none of it.” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭30‬:‭15‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Observation:

God speaks to His people here through Isaiah and tells them that their salvation was going to be found by returning to Him and resting in Him. He told them that in quietness and confidence was their strength, but they didn’t want to follow Him. His offer is still the same today. When things are going wrong around us, we must return to the Lord and let Him fight our battles. Walking before Him in quietness and confidence in Him and not ourselves, always wins!

Application:

Our relationship with God affects every area of our lives. Our walk with Him is the most important thing in our lives. When we mess up, we must return to Him and rest in Him. That means we have to trust Him to do what needs done instead of working out our own lives without Him. God likes it when we depend on Him. It is called faith. We must learn to trust God more than we trust ourselves. This is one of the hardest lessons in the Christian life.

Prayer:

Lord God Almighty, You are great and glorious. You are incredible! Help me to trust You more. Help me to walk in step with You every day and to walk quietly and in confidence that You will take care of me in every area of life. Thank You for Your incredible provision recently. You are amazing! Help me to live a life that pleases You and teach me to rest in You.

Yours Forever,

Jeff

Perfect Peace

Scripture:

“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭26‬:‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Observation:

Isaiah tells us that God will keep us in perfect peace when we trust Him and our thoughts are fixed on Him. Fixing our thoughts and trusting God are not as easy as they seem to be, but they produce incredible results for us. 

Application:

We can’t work hard enough to have true peace. We can’t fight a battle in our mind for peace. Peace comes from learning to trust God and fixing our thoughts on Him. The more we trust God and fix our minds on Him, the more perfect peace we will have. Practically speaking, worship helps us focus our thoughts and fix them on the Lord. We must train our brain to focus more and more on the Lord and not on our situations.

Prayer:

Lord God Almighty, You are great and glorious! You are high and lifted up. Help me to trust You more and to fix my thoughts on You. Teach me to meditate on Your goodness and to trust Your leadership. Let me walk in Your peace as I pursue these things.

Yours,

Jeff

Authority and Spiritual Fathering

 Scripture:

“I will dress him in your royal robes and will give him your title and your authority. And he will be a father to the people of Jerusalem and Judah. I will give him the key to the house of David—the highest position in the royal court. When he opens doors, no one will be able to close them; when he closes doors, no one will be able to open them.” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭22‬:‭21‬-‭22‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Observation:

God is speaking here through Isaiah and telling His people that he was raising up Eliakim to be a father to the people of Jerusalem and Judah. He was saying He was also giving him spiritual authority. “I will give him the key to the house of David - the highest position in the royal court. When he opens the doors, no one will be able to close them; when he closes doors, no one will be able to open them.” These are generally words used to describe God Himself. 

Application:

Authority comes with spiritual fathering. When God calls a person to become a spiritual father, He also gives them to ability to open and close doors for people. This is a very powerful thought, but one that needs understood. As spiritual fathers, we have the keys to make things happen for people. We have authority to serve our children, but also to open doors for them.

Prayer:

Father, You are amazing! Help me to walk in step with You and to be a good father to those You have given me. Teach me to walk in authority and to open doors and close doors for my sons and daughters. Show me each step to take. I walk to only walk where and when You want me to. In my own life, open doors and close doors as I approach them. Show me which ones to open and which ones to close.

Yours Forever,

Jeff

God’s Got a Plan

 Scripture:

“The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has sworn this oath: “It will all happen as I have planned. It will be as I have decided.” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭14‬:‭24‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Observation:

Isaiah brings the word of the Lord for Assyria, which ends up being a word for all of us. He gives a message from God saying, It will happen as I have planned. It will be as I have decided.” Those words are powerful. They can be very serious words concerning God’s judgment like in this case. They can Alamo be words of His blessing. The bottom line is this; What God says is going to happen… Is going to happen! It will all happen as He has planned.

Application:

As a believer, verses like this give me great hope and comfort because, no matter what goes on around me, I know God has a plan and His plan is going to happen just like He decided. Nothing gets past Him and nothing goes over Him. He allows what He allows and He brings to pass what He brings to pass, but in the end, what He wills is going to come to pass. When we don’t know what to do we should seek God because He always has a plan.

Prayer:

Lord God Almighty, You are great and glorious! You are majestic and powerful! Your word never fails and Your will is always accomplished. Help me to trust You more and more, even when I don’t see or understand what You are doing. Teach me Your ways and align my thoughts to Yours.

Yours Forever,

Jeff

Don’t Judge by Appearance

 Scripture:

“He will delight in obeying the Lord. He will not judge by appearance nor make a decision based on hearsay.” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭11‬:‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Observation:

One of the aspects of God that we often neglect to talk about is His justice. He is not only our savior, He is our judge. This verse is actually speaking about Jesus when He comes again to reign and rule the nations. We see here how He will judge. He will not judge by appearance, nor make a decision based on hearsay. Something can appear very right, but the Lord will look right through that and get to the truth. 

Application:

If this passage is about Christ and His second coming, we must also look at our own lives because we are His representatives on earth right now. I have to ask myself, “Do I judge by appearance or make decisions based on hearsay?” As a representative of the Lord on earth today I must get through the media, the hype, the spin, the lies and deception and find out truth. We cannot be influenced by corrupt people or false news reports. We must learnt to trust the Lord completely and realize that much of what we see around us is an appearance or hearsay. We must be people who find the facts for ourselves instead of being swayed by what we see around us.

Prayer:

Father, I want to live like Jesus. I want to judge fairly and with truth. I don’t want to be led by what “appears” true, but by what is true. I don’t want to be led by hearsay, but by the word of the Lord and by truth. Give me more discernment and fine tune my sensitivity to Your voice. Guide me so I can clearly and accurately lead Your people.

Yours,

Jeff

Conspiracy Theories

 Scripture:

“The Lord has given me a strong warning not to think like everyone else does. He said, “Don’t call everything a conspiracy, like they do, and don’t live in dread of what frightens them. Make the Lord of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life. He is the one you should fear. He is the one who should make you tremble.”  ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭8‬:‭11‬-‭13‬ ‭NLT

Observation:

I love the words of Isaiah here. He tells us that the Lord gave him a strong warning not to think like everyone else.  He basically says that we should fear God above any conspiracy. He says we shouldn’t fear any man or any government’s plans, but to fear God and tremble before Him. To combat this, He tells Isaiah not to think like everyone else does. 

Application:

Especially during this election season in the United States, many are fearful of what will happen to us if the wrong president is elected in. There are many conspiracy theories flying around and many warning about each candidate if they get elected. Our trust is not in any candidate but Jesus. He is the one we should fear. He is the one in control. We are to trust Him and not be pulled into thinking like everyone else. Our thoughts are not worldly thoughts. We are to be focused on the Lord. 

Prayer:

Father, help me to stay focused on You and Your power. Help me to think differently about politics and conspiracy theories. Teach me to walk in Your ways and to trust You above any political party. Let me fear You and not the future. Your perfect love casts out all fear. Help me to bring this perspective to others in a way that will let Your church be strong.

Yours Forever,

Jeff

Communicating God’s Words

 Scripture:

“Harden the hearts of these people. Plug their ears and shut their eyes. That way, they will not see with their eyes, nor hear with their ears, nor understand with their hearts and turn to me for healing.”” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭6‬:‭10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Observation:

This verse comes at Isaiah’s calling into prophetic ministry. He had just seen the Lord in all His glory and then received this commission. Today we say the goal of a minister is to open people’s eyes and ears to the Gospel. His calling was to plug the people’s ears and shut their eyes, so they wouldn’t turn to God because God wanted to judge them. 

Application:

We must be people who are willing to say what the Lord wants us to say and not just what makes sense to us or makes us feel good. As a man of God, I must deliver the message God wants to give to His church. Sometimes that is going to be positive, sometimes that may be corrective. My job as a pastor is to feed sheep what they need and not just what they want. My first audience is the Lord God Almighty and He needs to hear me speaking what He puts in my heart. My allegiance is to God, not people.

Prayer:

Father, help me to speak what You are speaking. Help me to speak on Your behalf what Your people need to hear. I want to represent You well in my generation. Help me to hear Your voice clearly and to communicate well what You are speaking. Let my voice be aligned with Your voice. Use my life for Your glory.

Yours,

Jeff

Protection in Judgement

 Scripture:

“Tell the godly that all will be well for them. They will enjoy the rich reward they have earned!” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭3‬:‭10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Observation:

In the midst of Isaiah prophesying terrible destruction and judgment on Jerusalem and Judah, he reminds the godly that all will be well for them. In the midst of prophesying to the nation about being in the place where they have no more beautiful clothes, resources, or money, he says that the godly will enjoy their rich reward. Even in judgment of a nation, God can protect and bless His true people.

Application:

Many Christians get so concerned about the future of the United States and the destruction that may come because we have fallen away from the Lord. Many are afraid because they see God’s judgement coming. As believers, we have nothing to fear. If we have walked with Him and remained humble before Him, He always protects those who are faithful to Him. We can trust our God and our relationship with Him. Our job is to walk humbly before our God and walk in obedience to Him at all times. Then, we have nothing to fear about Him judging our nation. He will protect what is His.

Prayer:

Lord God Almighty, You are faithful to those who are faithful to You. You bless those who follow You completely. Thank You for Your incredible protection throughout my life. You have blessed me in so many ways. You are my rock and my salvation. My life is in Your hands. I trust You to take care of me in good times and in bad times. Help me to walk in humility before You at all times. Teach me Your ways and help me to walk in them.

Yours Forever,

Jeff

Full Surrender

 Scripture:

“But you should keep a clear mind in every situation. Don’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Work at telling others the Good News, and fully carry out the ministry God has given you.” ‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭4‬:‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Observation:

Paul is writing this letter to his son in the faith, Timothy. He tells Timothy to keep a clear mind in every situation. This is great advice from someone who had led through many difficult things in the Body of Christ. Second, he tells him not to be afraid of suffering for Christ. In those days, that was simply part of the calling. The third instruction was to work at telling people the Good News. We should be about it every day. Lastly, he tells him to fully carry out the ministry God had given him. 

Application:

I want to live by these words of encouragement from Paul. I don’t want to leave anything undone that God asked me to do on this earth when I die. There are many opportunities before me right now. I need to know which ones to step into and which ones to let go. I need a clear mind and an ear to know what is God and what is not. I don’t want to miss out on anything God has planned for me. I also don’t want to do more than He asks. I want to see the Good News proclaimed in every region of the earth.

Prayer:

Father, I given myself to You with all my heart. Open the right doors and close all other doors in my life. I want to fulfill what You have for me, but I don’t want to do things just because I can. I want to do precisely what You have for me. Teach me to know the difference. Show me how to fulfill every calling on my life. I want to see You move in this generation stronger and stronger. 

Yours Forever,

Jeff

Real Love

 Scripture:

“Many waters cannot quench love, nor can rivers drown it. If a man tried to buy love with all his wealth, his offer would be utterly scorned.” ‭‭Song of Songs‬ ‭8‬:‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Observation:

Real love cannot be bought. There are artificial things in life that can be bought, but they are never the real thing. God is love and those who love are like Him. Love is given without price and appreciated all the more because of it. Love has incredible value, yet comes freely in our lives. We should appreciate those we love more and realize that what we have cannot be purchased anywhere else.

Application:

You can buy a high, but you cannot buy real love. You can buy things that will bring you temporary satisfaction, but real love cannot be purchased. Jesus gave us His incredible love when He died for us on that cross. My wife has loved me faithfully and walked with me for over 35 years and loved me when I have let her down. Real love brings security. Real love doesn’t need a high, but is demonstrated through actions. Love is powerful and we should let it flow from our lives as Christ did.

Prayer:

Father, let me walk in Your love and Your power. Teach me to love like You love. Help me to understand how to demonstrate Your love to the world. Work through me. Love through me. Use me for Your glory. I am Yours. Let the incredible power of love operate in and through my life. Don’t let me get bitter, but to love at all times.

Yours,

Jeff

Foxes in Marriage

 Scripture:

“Catch all the foxes, those little foxes, before they ruin the vineyard of love, for the grapevines are blossoming!” ‭‭Song of Songs‬ ‭2‬:‭15‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Observation:

Solomon is writing about lovers and how they interact with each other. He tells us here to catch all the foxes before they ruin the vineyard of love. There are always little foxes who want to try to steal, hurt, damage, etc. the love between a man and his wife. We are to get rid of the foxes so our love can flourish.

Application:

Finances is a fox, if not taken care of, they can ruin a marriage. Communication and honesty are foxes, if not done properly, they can destroy a marriage. Inappropriate conversations with those of the other sex are foxes that can destroy a marriage. We must eliminate the things we know have the potential to destroy a beautiful marriage. 

Prayer:

Father, help me to do my part to make my marriage great. Help me to eliminate whatever I do that irritates my wife instead of blessing her. Let me know how to balance things to better work together with her. I long for a great marriage. Help me to do my part in making it great. Help me eliminate any foxes that enter into our relationship.

Yours Forever,

Jeff

An Example

 Scripture:

“Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.” ‭‭1 Timothy‬ ‭4‬:‭12‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Observation:

Paul tells his spiritual son Timothy here that he is to be an example to all believers in five ways: 1. What you say. 2. The way you live. 3. Your love. 4. Your faith. 5. Your Purity. As leaders in the body of Christ, we are to be an example to others through our personal lives. We can’t just preach and teach, Our lives must be an example of what we teach and preach.

Application:

Our lives will always impact people more than our teachings. We can be excellent communicators, but we we don’t live what we teach, we are just a clanging cymbal that sounds good, but the effects are gone very quickly. If we want to make a lasting impact on people’s lives, they must see a person and not just hear a message. People need to see Jesus with skin on.

Prayer:

Lord God Almighty, You are incredible and I love you much. Help me to live in a way that pleases You and is a visual demonstration of what I teach and preach. Help me to be a living example of a blessed life. Help me to walk in a way that is worthy of the calling on my life. You are amazing and I want to represent You well.

Yours,

Jeff

Paul’s Purpose for Teaching

 Scripture:

“The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith.” ‭‭1 Timothy‬ ‭1‬:‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Observation:

Paul tells his son in the Lord, Timothy, that the purpose of his teaching was that all believers would be filled with pure hearted love, a clear conscience, and genuine faith. As a pastor, my teaching should be like Paul’s. My goal should not be imparting something interesting, or moving people emotionally, but so they would be filled to overflowing with love, have a clear conscience because they are living right, and to have genuine faith. 

Application:

As a speaker and pastor, my goal doesn’t need to simply be to get a point across, but to people walk in love, obedience, and faith. That’s the end goal of teaching and I need to make sure that is the reference point I use when preaching a sermon or teaching. It needs to be about the growth of the individuals sitting in front of me.

Prayer:

Father, help me to teach Your people well. I want to see lives changed through teaching Your Word. I want to see people walk in higher levels of love. I long to see people live right. Lastly, I want to see people increasing in faith on a regular basis. Let my teaching bring about these things. Lord, unless You do the work through me, I cannot make these things happen. I am totally dependent on You.

Yours,

Jeff

Contentment

Scripture:

“Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don’t have. Just dreaming about nice things is meaningless—like chasing the wind.” ‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭6‬:‭9‬ ‭NLT‬‬ 

Observation:

In this passage we are told to enjoy what we have rather than desiring what we don’t have. This is meaningless. Godliness with contentment is great gain. We should be thankful for where we are and for what we have. We are all at different places in life and we cannot compare ourselves with others. Wishing we had more, never brings more. Wisdom, hard work, and thankfulness for what we have, brings more. 

Application:

I need to learn to be content while waiting for the blessing of God. I need to learn to enjoy where I am, on the way to where I’m going. We must never allow ourselves to think bigger and better things will bring us contentment. Contentment is learned when you have nothing. Then you appreciate the blessing God sends your way later.

Prayer:

Lord God Almighty, help me to walk in contentment each and every day. Help me to live a thankful life before You. Thank You for doing so much in my life throughout my years. You have shown Yourself strong so many times. Help me to trust You more and myself less. Teach me Your ways. You are incredible and I want to say I appreciate Your intervention in my life so many times. You are amazing!

Yours Forever,

Jeff

A Bubbling Brook

 Scripture:

“Wise words are like deep waters; wisdom flows from the wise like a bubbling brook.” ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭18‬:‭4‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Observation:

This simple Proverb is deep. It tells us that wise words are like deep waters. Deep waters you can swim in, you can dive into, you can find a lot of fish, and you want to dive down into them to see what is down deeper. He goes on to say that wisdom flows from the wise like a bubbling brook. This simply tells me that it never stops flowing from some deeper place or some reserve somewhere.

Application:

I am amazed by wise people. They truly are like a fountain, always producing life giving and satisfying water. As I get older, wisdom has become very valuable to me. I long to be a source of wisdom for those around me. I want to bring wisdom to the table in every conversation. I want wisdom to flow out of my life like a river. I want to know what to do in each and every situation. When others are struggling about what to do, I want to provide direction, vision, instruction, and wisdom. God is the source of all wisdom, so I must seek Him and walk with Him daily.

Prayer:

Father, I want to be a source of wisdom to those around me. Let wisdom flow from my life like a fountain. You are the source of wisdom so help me to stay in step with You at all times. As I leave for Argentina today to help with a crusade, use me for Your glory. Touch Zarate for Your glory. Let many come to Christ and be saved, healed, delivered, and changed. Bring new life to people.

Yours,

Jeff

Tongue Control

Scripture:

“Those who control their tongue will have a long life; opening your mouth can ruin everything.” ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭13‬:‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Observation:

I love the Proverbs. They are short and to the point. These little couplets of gold are awesome! In this one, those who live long are those who know how to control their tongues because opening your mouth can ruin everything you have worked for. 

Application:

We, and we, alone are tasked with controlling our tongues. Doing so leads to long life and blessing. We must learn to speak what needs spoken, but to control our tongues when necessary. In order to do this, we need to walk in step with the Spirit. He will let us know when to keep talking and when to be quiet. I don’t want to ruin things because I opened my mouth at the wrong time or said the wrong thing. Once words leave our lips, we can’t really take them back.

Prayer:

Father, help me to control my words and to be led by You in all things. Shoe me when to speak and when to be silent. Show me how to respond in every situation. I want to live with the wise and know what to do in each and every situation. Show me wisdom and teach me to implement it in my life.

Yours,

Jeff

Trust in God, Not Self

 Scripture:

“Trust in your money and down you go! But the godly flourish like leaves in spring.” ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭11‬:‭28‬ ‭NLT

Observation:

This simple proverbs is really powerful. When we decide to put our trust in money, or anything else, we are taking trust away from God. He wants us to trust in Him for everything. He loves when His people have faith in Him. Those who do are described here as flourishing like leaves in Spring. Leaves flourishing in Spring is a natural process that happens every year. Godly people can expect to flourish!

Application:

We are wired for self-preservation. It is very natural for us to trust ourselves and what we can provide. We trust what we can see, but God wants us to trust Him. Those who understand this, and walk in it, will flourish. Faith is a choice and a determination. It is putting our reliance, not on what we can do, or the money we have saved, but in Him to take care of us. We should use wisdom, but trust God as out primary resource.

Prayer:

Father, teach me to trust You more and more. Show me Your ways and teach me to trust, not in my money or myself, but in You. Help me to live an obedient and godly life that will cause me to flourish like leaves in Spring. You are incredible and I have seen the evidence of Your blessing in my life. Take me to new levels of trust in You.

Yours,

Jeff