All posts by Kimberly

Why Be Blessed?

Daily Devotional, , ,

BeattitudesLet’s break this down. What is being blessed?

In this instance scripture is referring to these two definitions:
supremely favored; fortunate AND blissfully happy or contented.

This is what Yahweh wants for us. He wants to bless us. In Matthew 5:3-12 we see what is labeled as “The Beattitudes”. The dictionary defines beattitude as exalted happiness. Exalted is defined as full of, feeling, or manifesting ecstatic joy or delight.

v 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Great is your reward in heaven.

Our issue is  that we’re not Kingdom minded. We’re earthly and worldly minded. We need to focus on our Abba Yahweh. He is our ultimate joy and delight.

Three questions:

  • Where’s your focus?
  • Where do you find your joy?
  • What’s your intentions?

The Bible teaches that with Christ in your heart, you can face the realities of life. Even though they are hard, the grace of God will give you greater joy and pleasure.
– Billy Graham

Three answers:

  1. Repent and get your alignment with Yahweh in order.
  2. Rejoice in Yahweh, not the world.
  3. Let Yahweh bless you, not the world.

Comment and share your story; share your prayer, and connect!

Sin Struggles

Daily Devotional,

Without discipline we will run amok. Even though sin is present we can avoid sinning.

Children of The Most High God are disciplined. Why? Because we struggle with sin. Without discipline we go on in sin living unrighteously. Discipline helps us realign our priorities to match Yahweh. Are you aligned righteously with Yahweh? If not, why?

Sin as defined by the dictionary is wrongdoing. Knowing and doing wrong. This could be a physical act or mental act. How so?

  • Physically we act out doing wrong. God’s word is full of examples of doing wrong. Go investigate for yourself. Do your own study.
  • Mentally we scheme against people we don’t like thinking of ways we can get revenge. Or, we have a bad attitude. There’s oodles of TV shows that perpetuate this mentality.

I’ve done it too. None of us is immune to the lies of satan. He deceives us with a play on words.

Yahweh disciplines us just like a father disciplines his children. Any suffering you’re going through, hang tight. There’s a lesson in it. Also, it builds your character and faith.

Three ways you can stay strong in the LORD:

  1. As you struggle: Pray. Seek Yahweh. Lift up your struggle and ask Him for what you need. His Word tells us ask and it will be given…according to His will. It can not be for selfish reasons. It has to be something that will honor and glorify Yahweh, not you.
  2. Read The Word: The more you’re in The Word the less you are bothered by your struggles, the more blessed and loved you will feel. You’ll find answers in His Word too.
  3. Seek community: Fellowship with other believers. Ask them to pray with and for you. You will be blessed more than you can imagine when you live for the LORD and not self.

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Abba Yahweh, I lift up the readers of this blog post to You. Anyone who is struggling, help them find their way to You and find answers and healing. In the Messiah’s holy name, amen.

Why We Are Wrong!

Daily Devotional,

Nobody likes to be wrong. Nor do we like to be told we are wrong.

Why is that? I’ll tell you why.

We’re a prideful people. We have a sense of achievement about life.

That pride leads to a deep ugly soul disease, as Billy Graham calls it. What’s the name for this disease? Not one of us is immune to it. It strikes every living being.

It is called “sin”. Even if you do not want to admit it, you sin. I sin. WRomans 3:23 imagee ALL sin. It’s part of our fallen human nature.

Romans 3:23-24 tells us this:

Everyone has sinned and fallen short of God’s glorious standard, and all need to be made right with God by his grace, which is a free gift. They need to be made free from sin through Jesus Christ.

We must confess our sin and repent to make ourselves right with God.

1 John 1:9 says this:

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

The next step for the unsaved is this:

Romans 10:9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and if you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you will be saved. 10 We believe with our hearts, and so we are made right with God. And we declare with our mouths that we believe, and so we are saved.

Yes, it’s as easy as that. The kicker, you must not live your old ways. Leave them at the throne of God. He’s already wiped them away. You get a fresh clean start with Jesus as your savior.

The only reason we would keep our sins and re-live them is because we’re believing the lies of satan. He deceived Eve in the Garden. He is still on the job deceiving us today. One major question I ask myself is this:

What does God’s word, The Holy Bible, say about this? Then I start reading His word, praying on it, and meditating on His word. It’s alive and living among us.

If you confessed, repented, and accepted Jesus as your Savior just now say this prayer:

“Father, I know that I have broken your laws and my sins have separated me from you. I am truly sorry, and now I want to turn away from my past sinful life toward you. Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again. I believe that your son, Jesus Christ died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer. I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of my life. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”

The next steps to take are:

  • Find a Bible believing, preaching, and teaching church to worship and fellowship with other believers. This is important because we need community to help us grow spiritually in our faith.
  • Tell others about your new faith in God that you’re saved.
  • As part of your profession of faith, get baptized.
  • Make sure to spend time daily (it doesn’t have to be all day, a few minutes or whatever you’re comfortable with) in God’s word and pray to God.

Please send me a message and share your story with me and so I can pray for and with you.

Taking Your Thoughts Captive

Daily Devotional, Marriage, Singles, , ,

My thoughts run amok. These thoughts interrupt my daily activities with sayings like: “you’ll never amount to anything”, “you’re not worthy”, “you’re not good enough”. Just to name a few.

These thoughts are self-defeating. They are discouraging and paralyzing.

Paul tells us in God’s word:

For though we live as human beings, we do not wage war according to human standards, for the weapons of our warfare are not human weapons, but are made powerful by God for tearing down strongholds. We tear down arguments and every arrogant obstacle that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to make it obey Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5

It’s a daily struggle. Listen to the video below. Even though this video comes from a marriage ministry, it’s contents affect everyone, married and single.

The adversary likes to get into our heads and deceive us with lies.

We fight back by being in relationship with God, The Son, and Holy Spirit by reading, living, and praying  in His word. Another way to fight back is being in fellowship with the Body of Christ, His bride. Jesus tells us in the word:

“Also, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about something and pray for it, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. This is true because if two or three people come together in my name, I am there with them.” Matthew 18:19-20

The adversary’s knees buckle at the sound of HIS great name: Jesus! Speak it out loud! Pray in it out loud! Praise HIS name out loud!

God said this of Jesus:

So God raised him to the highest place. God made his name greater than every other name so that every knee will bow to the name of Jesus — everyone in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. And everyone will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and bring glory to God the Father. Philippians 2:9-11

Your turn! What lies have the adversary been deceiving you with?

Prayer: Dear Father God, thank You for Your word and Your saving grace through Jesus death and resurrection leading to our Salvation. What an awesome gift. I pray that the reader of this post will see who great and awesome You are and surrender all those self-defeating thoughts and allow You to take them captive and free them from the prison the thoughts have put them in. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Gentle Love

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Day 23 – Gentle Love

ephesians_4_2-3 imageThis love also pulls from the Fruit of the Spirit. Many of the same qualities and characteristics apply to eros love. When we [marrieds] are humble, gentle, patience, working together, and maintaining unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace our eros love will be very active.

Spend some time in prayer with your spouses and work out anything that is an obstacle to your marriage. We all have at least one obstacle. Many times it’s as simple as an attitude we have about something. Allow the Holy Spirit to check you. Humble yourselves before God and allow Him to clear it up. I’ve been there. I know.

List of message series:

Day 1 – Love According to God Day 11 – Love One Another  DAY 21 – WE ARE COMMANDED TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER
Day 2 – Fruit of the Spirit  Day 12 – Love Everyone  Day 22 – Burning Love – Love in Marriage
Day 3 – God’s Love  Day 13 – Love Each Other  Day 23 – Gentle Love
Day 4 – Agape Love  Day 14 – Happy Valentine’s Day  Day 24 – One Mind  and Purpose
Day 5 – Who’s Your Master?  Day 15 – Free to Love  Day 25 – Love is a Verb
Day 6 – Life Eternal  Day 16 – Patience Love  Day 26 – Steadfast Love
Day 7 – His Great Love  Day 17 – Born of God  Day 27 – Love Forgives
Day 8 – More Than Conquerors  Day 18 – Born to Love  Day 28 – Love in Marriage
Day 9 – God, Who Gave Himself For Me  Day 19 – Love Your Neighbor & Your Enemy
Day 10 – Adopted  Day 20 – Love Your Neighbor as Yourself

Burning Love | Love in Marriage

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Day 22 – Burning Love | Love in Marriage

For the next four days I’ll share about eros love.
Eros is a passionate and intense love that arouses romantic feelings; it is the kind that often triggers “high” feelings in a new relationship and makes you say, “I love you”. It is simply an emotional and sexual love. Although this romantic love is important in a new relationship, it may not last unless it moves a notch higher because it focuses more on self instead of the other person. If the person “in love” does not feel good about their relationship anymore, they will stop loving their partner. Remember, love is a choice!

Song-of-Solomon image

Song of Solomon 8:6-7 Close your heart to every love but mine; hold no one in your arms but me. Love is as powerful as death; passion is as strong as death itself. It bursts into flame and burns like a raging fire. Water cannot put it out; no flood can drown it. But if any tried to buy love with their wealth, disrespect is all they would get.

Like previous messages, our love needs to be unconditional and unselfish. Loving with this kind of love [a burning passion] involves immense emotion. We must not allow our emotion to control our feelings. Many bad decisions and actions have been made under an emotional state. Seek Apape love first. Trust the Holy Spirit’s leading and guidance to really feel eros love. This type of love is expressed in Song of Solomon because eros love is from God. God created all types of love.

Prayer: Father Yahweh, I seek Your love overall. I pray that my love for my spouse is unconditional. I pray I choose to love my spouse without question, because You made love and You are love. When I love You, I love my spouse. Thank You for the love You give. I pray all this in the name of Jesus, amen.

List of message series:

Day 1 – Love According to God Day 11 – Love One Another  DAY 21 – WE ARE COMMANDED TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER
Day 2 – Fruit of the Spirit  Day 12 – Love Everyone  Day 22 – Burning Love – Love in Marriage
Day 3 – God’s Love  Day 13 – Love Each Other  Day 23 – Gentle Love
Day 4 – Agape Love  Day 14 – Happy Valentine’s Day  Day 24 – One Mind  and Purpose
Day 5 – Who’s Your Master?  Day 15 – Free to Love  Day 25 – Love is a Verb
Day 6 – Life Eternal  Day 16 – Patience Love  Day 26 – Steadfast Love
Day 7 – His Great Love  Day 17 – Born of God  Day 27 – Love Forgives
Day 8 – More Than Conquerors  Day 18 – Born to Love  Day 28 – Love in Marriage
Day 9 – God, Who Gave Himself For Me  Day 19 – Love Your Neighbor & Your Enemy
Day 10 – Adopted  Day 20 – Love Your Neighbor as Yourself

We are Commanded to Love One Another

Daily Devotional, ,

Day 21 – We are Commanded to Love One Another

John 15 imageJohn 15:9-17 says: As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

The Greek word, translated to “abide”, literally means “to stay” or “to remain”.

The meaning here is crucial because it places the responsibility for “abiding” on us. That is to say, that if we are not walking with God, it is not God who has abandoned us, but it is us who has abandoned God. Jesus, here, is urging us to not flee from God.

The “love” Jesus is talking about requires a decision to “keep (His) commandments”. Jesus examines “love” by its actions.

On one level, this criteria for “love” should impact many of our human relationships. No doubt, we will say that we love our children, that we love our parents, and that we love our spouse–the question is: do our actions support that claim?

Many of us are eager to love and to be loved, but we often want to love on our terms. Keep in mind that if God’s love for us depended on us living up to His expectations no one in the world would be loved by God. The type of love that Jesus has for His disciples is unmerited love. If we are to love others as Jesus loves us, we must not make our love for others conditional on their behaviour. God loves us unconditionally; so we are to love unconditionally.

Prayer: Dear Yahweh, Father, my prayer is that we would love one another with Your kind of love, not the love we love with. Teach us, O’ Adonai, Yahweh! In Your precious name, Jesus, amen.

List of message series:

Day 1 – Love According to God Day 11 – Love One Another  DAY 21 – WE ARE COMMANDED TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER
Day 2 – Fruit of the Spirit  Day 12 – Love Everyone  Day 22 – Burning Love – Love in Marriage
Day 3 – God’s Love  Day 13 – Love Each Other  Day 23 – Gentle Love
Day 4 – Agape Love  Day 14 – Happy Valentine’s Day  Day 24 – One Mind  and Purpose
Day 5 – Who’s Your Master?  Day 15 – Free to Love  Day 25 – Love is a Verb
Day 6 – Life Eternal  Day 16 – Patience Love  Day 26 – Steadfast Love
Day 7 – His Great Love  Day 17 – Born of God  Day 27 – Love Forgives
Day 8 – More Than Conquerors  Day 18 – Born to Love  Day 28 – Love in Marriage
Day 9 – God, Who Gave Himself For Me  Day 19 – Love Your Neighbor & Your Enemy
Day 10 – Adopted  Day 20 – Love Your Neighbor as Yourself

Love Your Neighbor as Yourself

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Day 20 – Love Your Neighbor as Yourself

In Matthew 22:37-39 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Jesus is quoting from Leviticus 19 (http://biblia.com/bible/ncv/Le19.9-18).

matt_22-39 imageNotice that loving our neighbor would include sharing with the poor and the alien; compassion and absolute honesty and justice in our relationships with others; impartiality; a refusal to be a party to gossip or slander; an absence of malice toward anyone and a refusal to bear a grudge; taking care never to put another’s life at risk and never taking private vengeance upon another. It is also interesting to note that when we have an issue with anyone, we should strive to make it right by going to him or her directly. James calls this the “royal law” (James 2:8). Our Lord taught that we should do to others as we would have them do to us (Matthew 7:12).

It is a fact that anyone who does not have a personal relationship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ will die in his sins and face eternity in hell. Therefore, we owe it to our neighbors to lovingly share with them the good news of the gospel. True believers have been forgiven, possess eternal life, and have blessings forever as the result of others who have shared the gospel with them. God’s love is evidenced in us as we communicate this precious gospel and love others as we have been loved.

Prayer: Dear Father Yahweh, I seek to be loving to my neighbor. I pray that I will share the gospel with those You put in my path. Thank You for Your gift of salvation and that I would share my testimony including my being saved and reborn. In the name of Your precious Son, Jesus, amen.

List of message series:

Day 1 – Love According to God Day 11 – Love One Another  DAY 21 – WE ARE COMMANDED TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER
Day 2 – Fruit of the Spirit  Day 12 – Love Everyone  Day 22 – Burning Love – Love in Marriage
Day 3 – God’s Love  Day 13 – Love Each Other  Day 23 – Gentle Love
Day 4 – Agape Love  Day 14 – Happy Valentine’s Day  Day 24 – One Mind  and Purpose
Day 5 – Who’s Your Master?  Day 15 – Free to Love  Day 25 – Love is a Verb
Day 6 – Life Eternal  Day 16 – Patience Love  Day 26 – Steadfast Love
Day 7 – His Great Love  Day 17 – Born of God  Day 27 – Love Forgives
Day 8 – More Than Conquerors  Day 18 – Born to Love  Day 28 – Love in Marriage
Day 9 – God, Who Gave Himself For Me  Day 19 – Love Your Neighbor & Your Enemy
Day 10 – Adopted  Day 20 – Love Your Neighbor as Yourself

Love Your Neighbor and Love Your Enemy

Daily Devotional, ,

LoveYourEnemy imageDay 19-Love Your Neighbor & Your Enemy

Matthew 5:43-48 “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.

We saw in previous day’s messages where God’s word tells us that if we do not love Him we don’t love God. God is love. He loved us all so much he gave us Jesus as our Savior. Jesus willingly gave His life for us. That’s love. The least I can do is love God and all people, because He does too.

When God sent Jesus as The Savior of the world He had in mind to show love to all people. He loves friend and fo. He tells us to also love not only our friends but also our enemies.

You’ve heard to expression: “Killing them with kindness” and “Keep a friend close, but an enemy even closer”? Even if you’re persecuted, you show love. The Bible is full of stories of this love being expressed. Read it for yourselves. Share what you find.

Prayer: Dear Father Yahweh, I pray that we can can love even our enemies, as You do. Help us be like YOU. In Jesus’ name, amen.

List of message series:

Day 1 – Love According to God Day 11 – Love One Another  DAY 21 – WE ARE COMMANDED TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER
Day 2 – Fruit of the Spirit  Day 12 – Love Everyone  Day 22 – Burning Love – Love in Marriage
Day 3 – God’s Love  Day 13 – Love Each Other  Day 23 – Gentle Love
Day 4 – Agape Love  Day 14 – Happy Valentine’s Day  Day 24 – One Mind  and Purpose
Day 5 – Who’s Your Master?  Day 15 – Free to Love  Day 25 – Love is a Verb
Day 6 – Life Eternal  Day 16 – Patience Love  Day 26 – Steadfast Love
Day 7 – His Great Love  Day 17 – Born of God  Day 27 – Love Forgives
Day 8 – More Than Conquerors  Day 18 – Born to Love  Day 28 – Love in Marriage
Day 9 – God, Who Gave Himself For Me  Day 19 – Love Your Neighbor & Your Enemy
Day 10 – Adopted  Day 20 – Love Your Neighbor as Yourself

Born to Love

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Day 18 – Born to Love

This next section I’ll be sharing about storge love, which is: a kind of familial and brotherly love. This is the love that parents naturally feel for their children; the love that members of the family have for each other; or the love that friends feel for each other.

romans 12-10 imageIn Romans 12:10 we find an interesting compound: philostorgos is translated as “be devoted.” The word combines philos and storge and means “to cherish one’s kindred.” Believers in Christ, children of the same heavenly Father, are to “be devoted to one another in love.” As part of God’s family, we should show loving affection toward each other and be prone to love.

I know. Sometimes it is tough. However, we must lay aside our selfishness and learn to be loving. Devoted even. Jesus did. So should we!

Prayer: Dear Father Yahweh, teach us to be devoted to one another in brotherly love, honoring the other before ourselves. Teach us to be like You! In Your precious name, amen.

List of message series:

Day 1 – Love According to God Day 11 – Love One Another  DAY 21 – WE ARE COMMANDED TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER
Day 2 – Fruit of the Spirit  Day 12 – Love Everyone  Day 22 – Burning Love – Love in Marriage
Day 3 – God’s Love  Day 13 – Love Each Other  Day 23 – Gentle Love
Day 4 – Agape Love  Day 14 – Happy Valentine’s Day  Day 24 – One Mind  and Purpose
Day 5 – Who’s Your Master?  Day 15 – Free to Love  Day 25 – Love is a Verb
Day 6 – Life Eternal  Day 16 – Patience Love  Day 26 – Steadfast Love
Day 7 – His Great Love  Day 17 – Born of God  Day 27 – Love Forgives
Day 8 – More Than Conquerors  Day 18 – Born to Love  Day 28 – Love in Marriage
Day 9 – God, Who Gave Himself For Me  Day 19 – Love Your Neighbor & Your Enemy
Day 10 – Adopted  Day 20 – Love Your Neighbor as Yourself