Posts with the category “daily-devotion”

"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." – 2 Corinthians 3:17The day you gave your life to Jesus, everything changed. You did not just receive forgiveness. You did not just secure eternity in heaven. You received the Holy Spirit. Your body became the temple of the living God. His presence is not far away. He is not distant. He is inside of you.But the Ho...  Read More

"Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father." – John 14:12God never intended for you to live a powerless life. When Jesus walked the earth, He healed the sick, cast out demons, and performed miracles, not just to prove who He was, but to demonstrate what life in the Spirit looks like...  Read More

"For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation ...  Read More

"The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent." – Exodus 14:14You are not alone in what you are going through. Whatever battle you are facing, whatever weight you are carrying, Jesus is right there with you. And He is not just near. He is ready to rescue you.Years ago, when I was in college, I worked as a lifeguard at a camp. Part of my training was learning how to rescue someone dr...  Read More

"Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us." – Ephesians 3:20When you lay something down, you are not just giving something up. You are making space for something greater. God never asks you to surrender without having something better in store. He is not trying to take from you. He is trying to bless you with the immea...  Read More

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths." – Proverbs 3:5-6Laying it down sounds good, but what does it really mean? It means you do not just lay things down before God. You lay them down in front of others too. That is where real freedom happens.One of the biggest reasons people strugg...  Read More

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." – Matthew 11:28You have to lay it down. That weight you have been carrying. That struggle you keep fighting. That habit, that hurt, that cycle that keeps repeating. At some point, you have to stop running and surrender.At Celebrate Recovery, we give out chips. I have a lot of them, and I am not ashamed of that. But the firs...  Read More

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." – 2 Corinthians 5:17None of us are exempt from struggle. We are all in this battle together. The enemy loves to isolate you, making you believe that no one else is going through what you are facing. He whispers lies that you are the only one wrestling with that temptation, that sin, that p...  Read More

"But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God." – 2 Timothy 3:1...  Read More

"Having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people." – 2 Timothy 3:5If you do not like what you are becoming, the world will tell you to change your behavior. Work harder. Try more. Fix yourself. But as a follower of Jesus, you know the truth. Behavior change is not the starting point. Belief is. If you want different results, you have to start with what you believe.Your...  Read More

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." – John 10:10In the middle of the Great Depression, a man named Mr. Yates was about to lose everything. His ranch in West Texas was struggling, his livestock were barely surviving, and the bank was on the verge of foreclosing on his land. He had nothing left.Then one day, a seismic crew knoc...  Read More

"So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God." – Galatians 4:7If you are a child of God, why are you living in spiritual poverty? Why do you struggle to walk in freedom when the Spirit of God lives inside you? Why do you settle for less when the King of Kings calls you His own?The answer is simple. You are grieving the Holy Spirit by refusing to walk in obedienc...  Read More

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." – Acts 1:8Imagine being the first person in your town to have electricity but only turning on the lights long enough to light your candles before switching them off again. That is exactly what happened to a woman in Ireland when e...  Read More

"Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen." - Luke 24:5-6Easter is not just a day to celebrate an event. It is a call to live in the reality of what happened when Jesus walked out of the grave. The stone was rolled away, death was defeated, and everything changed. But the question is, are you living like it?Too many people believe in the resurrection but still live ...  Read More

"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." - John 12:24Saturday was the day Jesus was buried. His body was wrapped in linen, sealed in a tomb, and placed behind a stone too heavy for any human to move. To the world, He was gone. His story was over. His impact had ended.Or so it seemed.There is somethin...  Read More

"But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed." - Isaiah 53:5Good Friday isn’t just another day. It’s the day everything changed. It’s the day the weight of sin, the punishment of rebellion, and the wrath of God all fell on Jesus instead of you.It should have been you.The betraya...  Read More

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God." – Colossians 3:16The Holy Spirit gives gifts to every believer, not so that we can boast, but so that we can build. These gifts are not for show. They are for the strengthening of the body of Christ and the advancem...  Read More

"Taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!" – Psalm 34:8You may not understand everything about the Holy Spirit, but once you have tasted and seen His power at work, there is no denying that you want more. Not more for recognition. Not more to impress people. Not more for the stage. You want more because you need the presence of the Holy Spirit in your home, ...  Read More

"Do not quench the Spirit." – 1 Thessalonians 5:19How many times has the Holy Spirit nudged you to do something, and you hesitated? Maybe He told you to pray for someone, to speak life into a situation, to take a step of faith, but fear held you back. You started thinking, “What if they think I have lost my mind? What if I do not know what to say? What if someone else is better suited for this?”Th...  Read More

"And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." – Ephesians 4:30The Holy Spirit is not just a force. He is a person. He dwells within you, leading, guiding, convicting, and empowering you. But when you live outside of God’s Word, His will, and His way, you grieve Him. You hold back the power He wants to pour into your life.Grieving the Holy Spirit hap...  Read More

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." – Acts 1:8The power of the Holy Spirit is not a theory. It is not an idea to study or a concept to debate. It is real, active, and available to you right now. When the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, it was not a quiet moment. It w...  Read More

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." – Acts 1:8If Jesus walked into the room right now and told you it was better for Him to leave so that you could receive something greater, would you believe Him? That is exactly what He told His disciples. In John 16, Jesus said i...  Read More

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." – Acts 1:8Imagine being one of the disciples after Jesus was crucified. You watched the one you followed, the one you believed was the Messiah, die in the most brutal way possible. Now you are hiding in an upper room, afraid for y...  Read More

"Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit." – 1 Corinthians 12:4Imagine it is Christmas morning, and there are beautifully wrapped presents under the tree with your name on them. Would you leave them sitting there, untouched? Right now you’re thinking, pastor, you’re crazy! I would open every single one, eager to see what is inside! No one would walk away from a gift meant for them an...  Read More

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." – John 14:27In what way have you been wounded so badly that there is not a moment it does not cross your mind? People say, “Just forgive and forget,” but they have no idea what they are talking about. Forgetting is not an option. You did not ask fo...  Read More

"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." – James 1:22If you have ever seen a circus elephant, you have probably wondered how such a massive, powerful animal can be kept in place by a simple shackle. As a baby, the elephant is tied to a stake in the ground, unable to move freely. Over time, it learns that when the shackle is on, it is stuck. It stops trying to break f...  Read More

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." – Romans 12:2You cannot think the same way and expect your life to change. You cannot keep believing the same lies and wonder why you feel stuck. Change does not happen by accident. It happens when you decide that eno...  Read More

"So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." – John 8:36Labels are powerful. Maybe you have been called something so often that you started believing it was true. You are not smart enough. You are not strong enough. You will never be more than what you are right now. These words start as someone else’s opinion, but over time, they stick. They shape how you see yourself. And if you are n...  Read More

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." – Romans 12:2If you have ever been to a doctor for pain, you have probably been asked to rate it on a scale from one to ten. It is a way to measure what you are experiencing. But when it comes to emotions, it is not t...  Read More

"Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth." – Colossians 3:2Have you ever felt overwhelmed by your emotions, like they have a mind of their own? One moment, everything is fine, and the next, something happens that triggers a wave of anger, sadness, or anxiety. It is easy to think that emotions just happen to you, but that is not true. Your emotions are shaped by you...  Read More

"For God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control." – 2 Timothy 1:7Your emotions are real. Fear, anxiety, sadness, anger, these feelings exist, and you have probably experienced all of them at some point. But just because you feel something does not mean it has to control you. The enemy wants to disturb your mind, trouble your heart, and agitate your emotions. If he can...  Read More

"And be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness." – Ephesians 4:23-24Your mind is powerful. It shapes the way you see yourself, the way you respond to challenges, and ultimately, the way you live. But what happens when your mind has been shaped by lies? What if the way you see yourself has been distorted ...  Read More

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." – Romans 12:2As a believer, you can’t put on a biblical worldview like a pair of glasses, switching between “church vision” on Sundays and “world vision” the rest of the week. That’s the problem so many people face. T...  Read More

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." - Romans 12:2 The way you see the world isn’t random. It’s shaped by what you’ve experienced, what you’ve been taught, the environments you’ve been in, and the encounters you’ve had. That’s why two people can look at ...  Read More

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." - Romans 12:2 Belief is powerful. It shapes the way you see the world, the way you live, and even the way you connect with others. Growing up, I spent summers in Pilot Mountain with my grandparents. My grandfather mad...  Read More

"Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts." - Zechariah 4:6 Modern psychology is finally catching up to what the Bible has told us all along. That is, the way you think shapes the way you live. Faulty patterns of thinking lead to destructive behaviors. Addictions, toxic relationships, crippling anxiety, and cycles of self-sabotage don’t start with behavior, they start w...  Read More

"For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he." - Proverbs 23:7 The way you think shapes the way you live. The thoughts you allow to take root in your heart become the reality you walk in. If you constantly dwell on fear, doubt, or shame, those things begin to define you, even when they’re not true. But when you receive the Holy Spirit, everything changes. There is a transformational reality happenin...  Read More

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." - Romans 12:2 What if the biggest shift you need in your life isn’t in your circumstances but in the way you see them? The truth is, when you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. So often,...  Read More

"Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you." - Isaiah 49:15 There are moments in life when it feels like God has forgotten you. You pray, you wait, you stay faithful, but nothing changes. The silence stretches on, and doubt starts creeping in. Did God forget about me? Does He even see me? Joseph...  Read More

"And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up." - Galatians 6:9 Obedience isn’t always easy, especially when the reward doesn’t come right away. You do the right thing, you stay faithful, you make sacrifices for God, and yet… nothing seems to change. The breakthrough doesn’t come. The doors don’t open. The blessing feels delayed. And in those moment...  Read More