Sistah's of the Spirit S.O.S. &
The Mighty Men of Valor M.O.V.
Ministries
Devotion
Doing the Word
James 1:22
James 1:22 But be doers of the Word obey the message .and not merely
listeners to it, betraying yourselves into deception by reasoning contrary
to the Truth. As a Christian, for a long time I didn't understand that
believers could know what God wanted them to do and then deliberately say
no. I'm not talking about those who tum their backs on Jesus and want
nothing to do with His salvation. I'm talking about those who disobey in
the seemingly little things and don't seem to be troubled by doing so. In
verses 23 and 24,James went on to say that if we only listen to the Word,
but don't obey it, it's like looking at our reflection in a mirror and then
going away and forgetting what we saw. But a doer of the Word, he says, is
like one who looks carefully into the faultless law, the law of liberty,
and is faithful to it and perseveres in looking into it, being not a
heedless listener who forgets but an active doer who obeys he shall be
blessed in his doing his life obedience v. 25 Whenever Christians are
faced with God's Word, and it calls them to action but they refuse to obey,
their own human reasoning is often the cause. They have deceived themselves
into believing something other than the truth. It's as if they think they
are smarter than God. When the Bible speaks about obeying the Lord, it is
not a suggestion. His Word doesn't ask,Would you like to obey? God
commands us to take action by being a doer of His Word, and when we are
obedient, He promises that we will be blessed. Dear holy Father, I thank
You for the instructions found in Your Word. I may not always like what I
read, and sometimes it may be difficult to follow You without hesitating,
but I know it is for my good. Please help me to be always obedient and to
bring glory and honor to You. Amen.
Christian life
To live the Christian life is to put your faith into practice through your life
style. To live the Christian life is to make love a reality in your attitude toward others. To live the Christian life is to stand firm in the Christian hope. May God fill us with his Spirit, enabling us to live the Christian life!
A New Direction
Bible reading
Psalm 10:17
Bible reading Psalm 10:17. O Lord,You have heard the desire and the
longing of the humble and oppressed;You will prepare and strengthen and
direct their hearts.Sometimes we come to an unhappy place in our lives. If
we examine ourselves on those days, we will most likely discover that the
things that make us most unhappy are the fruit of the choices that we made
earlier. Today can be a new start. I think God gave us twenty-four-hour
days because He knew that was all we could handle. His mercies are new
every morning can start over this morning and live today for the Lord.
Determine to follow wherever God leads you, and do whatever He tells you to do. You can expect better tomorrows when you live right today.
Growing into Maturity
Bible reading
2 Corinthians 4:18
We consider and look not to the things that are seen but to the
things that are unseen; for the things that are visible are
temporal brief and fleeting , but the things that are
invisible are deathless and -everlasting.
Even though Paul went through tremendous trials
and tribulations, he did not become discouraged because he
looked not to what was seen, but to what was unseen. We need
to follow his example. Instead of looking at what we see
around us, we need to look at what theHoly Spirit is doing.
He will lead us to focus on God’s answers instead of our
problems. Two people can read the Word and the person with
carnal, fleshly ears will hear it differently than a person
with spiritual ears. For example, 3 John 2 says, Beloved, I
pray that you may prosper in every way and [that your body
may keep well, even as l know your soul keeps well and prospers. Less mature, carnal Christians (still lured by physical pleasures and appetites) may get excited about the promise of prosperity and healing, because that is all they hear in this verse. They think, Wow! Praise God! He wants us
to prosper and be in health! But mature believers who are
sensitive to God’s holy intent for their lives will also
hear the part of the verse that says, even as your soul
keeps well and prospers. They hear with understanding that
God is going to give them prosperity and healing in
correlation with how their souls are prospering. Pray that
you will have ears to truly hear what God is saying and that
you will grow progressively into maturity as you continue to
walk with God. God’s word for you today: Ask God to open
your spiritual ears so you will hear the full meaning of
what He wants to say to you in His Word.
“I have talked with you from heaven.” Ex 20:22 NKJV
THE WORD FROM THE TOP
When God gave the Ten Commandments to His people, He said, “I have talked with you from heaven.” In other words, you have “the Word from the top.” End of discussion. Just do it! That being said, let’s spend the next few days looking at how the Ten Commandments apply to you.
(1) “You shall have no other gods before me” (v. 3 NIV). Have you seen the new all-purpose greeting card? The front says, “Generic card,” and the inside reads, “Happy whatever!” The first commandment was designed to stop us from going through life doing whatever we feel like. It grabs us by the collar and says, “Hold on, Jesus is supposed to be Lord of your life so put Him first!” (2) “You shall not make for yourself an idol” (v. 4 NIV). Now, most of us wouldn’t dream of worshipping an idol. But how about your loyalty to things that have no eternal value, like pleasure, power, position, and possessions? Isn’t that idolatry too? Anything that comes before God is an idol. (3) “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God” (v. 7 NIV). But just because you don’t use profanity doesn’t mean you honor the name of the Lord. As a believer you must honor God in your speech, your conduct, and your attitude. The truth is, you
are the only Bible many people will ever read. Paul writes, “Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This ‘letter’ is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God” (2Co 3:3 NLT).
Passive Minds.
Bible reading Ephesians 4:27
Leave no such room or foothold for the devil [give no opportunity to him .Perhaps the best way to interpret these words of the apostle Paul is to say it this way: Don’t give the devil an opportunity. There are many ways we actually give the devil an opening to pounce on us. One of those ways involves being passive. To be passive is the opposite of being active. This can be a dangerous problem because it means you aren’t on guard, you aren’t actively standing up, and you aren’t alert. One of the devil’s most deceiving tricks is to get you to do nothing and to feel content about it. I have found a wide variety of definitions for the word passive, but I describe it as a lack of feeling, a lack of desire, apathy, laziness, and lukewarmness.
Let me encourage you to stir yourself. Get active. You don’t want to give
place to the devil by doing nothing. If you make the effort to praise and
to read the Bible, you give God the opportunity to bless you. If you don’t
make the effort, you are inviting the enemy into your life. Get moving!
Start today.
Trust God's Grace Bible reading from book of Galatians 2:21
I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain. I discovered years ago that every time I became frustrated it was because I was trying to do something myself, in my own strength, instead of putting my faith in God and receiving His grace help. Receiving a revelation of God's grace was a major breakthrough for me. I was always trying to do something and leaving God out of the loop. tried to get healed, tried to prosper, tried to make my ministry grow, and tried to change every circumstance in my life that I did not like. I was frustrated because none of my trying was producing any good results. God will not permit us to succeed without Him. If He did, we would take the credit that is due Him. If we could change people, we would be changing them to suit our purposes,
which would steal their freedom to make their own choices. I finally
learned to pray for what I thought needed to be changed and let God do it
His way in His timing. When I began trusting His grace, I entered His rest.
Grace is always flowing to us in every situation, but it must be received
by faith. Lord, give me the understanding of Your grace that frees me from
doing things in my own strength. Help me to do my part and rest in the fact
that You will do the rest. Amen.
Don' Waste Your Pain Romans 8:28
Don’t Waste Your Pain
All things work together and are fitting into a plan for good to and for those who love God and are called according to His design and purpose. Romans 8:28 Life is full of unjust situations that can create a great deal of pain for you, especially in your
relationship with other people. You will experience some hurt and pain, but you don’t have to allow these experiences to destroy your happiness. You can’t always choose what happens to you, but you can choose how you respond to it. If you’ve been hurt, God can take your bad experiences and make them work for your good. Believing this truth is a positive decision that can help stop your pain. Choose to learn from the hurtful experiences instead of wasting your pain by allowing them to make you bitter. One way to do this is to overcome evil with good by making sure you don’t hurt others. It’s a good place to start!
Do You Worship or Worry?
Bible reading
Numbers 21:8
And the Lord said to Moses, Make a fiery
serpent [of bronze] and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten, when
he looks at it, shall live. In Numbers 21, we see that when the Israelites
were out in the wilderness, they were dying in large numbers because of a
plague of snakes that had come upon them as a result of their sin. Moses
went and fell down before God and worshiped Him. He turned his attention
immediately to God, not to himself or anyone else, to solve the problem. I
have discovered that throughout the Bible when people had a problem, they
worshiped. At least the ones who were victorious did. They didn't
worry—they worshiped. I would ask you today: Do you worry or worship? Moses sought God about how to handle the snakes. He didn't make his own plan and ask God to bless it; he didn't try to reason out an answer, nor did he worry he worshiped. His action brought a response from God. We know that the pole with the bronze serpent on it represented the cross and Jesus
taking our sin upon Himself on it. The message is still the same today:
Look and live. Look at Jesus, at what He has done, not at yourself and what
you have done or can do.The answer to your problem, whatever it may be, is to not worry but worship. Begin to worship God because He is good, and His goodness will be released in your life.
Experience God’s Peace and Rest Bible reading book of
1 Chronicles 23:25
The Lord has given peace and rest to His people this declaration of David speaks of a God who has faithfully given peace and rest to His people—down through the ages, and still today. In your busy world, your days are often filled to overflowing with all kinds of work and activities that can drain you of your physical energy and leave your mind reeling from the sheer volume. I'm sure it was the same in David's day. The pace may have been slower but the responsibilities were just as demanding and draining. But David knew the secret to receiving the goodness of God was thanking and praising the Lord both morning and evening. If you feel drained from a trying day, spend some quiet time with the Lord before you go to bed. Tell Him how much you thank Him and praise Him for being with you today and for the peace and rest you are about to experience as you lie down to sleep.