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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | January 23rd

📖 Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people restored? [Because Zion no longer enjoyed the presence of the Great Physician!] —Jeremiah 8:11 AMPC

God is our Great Physician. He tells us in Exodus 15:26, I am the Lord that healeth thee.” He was Israel’s Healer then, and He is our Healer today. Jesus shed His Blood so that we can be free from sickness and disease (Isaiah 53:5, I Peter 2:24). When Jesus was on the earth, He went about teaching, preaching, and healing. Everywhere Jesus went, He went about healing the sick. He never turned anyone away who requested healing. He was simply doing what He saw His Father doing. Sickness came when sin entered the earth. God has broken the power of sin from over our lives and because of that, He has set us free from sickness (I Peter 2:24). God wants us well. Our health can be restored when we enjoy and receive from the presence of the Great Physician! 

#HeisourHealer #dailydevotional #GreatPhysician #vcccharlotte

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | January 22nd

📖 Jesus knew what the Pharisees were planning. So he left that place, and many people followed him. He healed all who were sick, —Matthew 12:15 ERV

Jesus was aware that the Pharisees were meeting to figure out how to destroy Him. He didn’t complain. He didn’t cry. He didn’t ask “Why me God”? He simply left that place and continued to do what He was sent to do. He didn’t allow the plot and schemes of the enemy to deter Him from His mission. He continued on his journey to heal all who were sick. Jesus was a man of focus. He was a man of discipline. It didn’t matter what went on in His life, He never deviated from His purpose. We must do the same. We must not deviate from our purpose. No matter what happens in our lives, we must stay focused! 

#Ourmission #devotional #Donotdeviate #vcccharlotte #Ourpurpose

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | January 21st

📖 He who keeps the commandment [of the Lord] keeps his own life, but he who despises His ways shall die. —Proverbs 19:16 AMPC 

God’s ways are higher than ours. He gave us His Word so that we can go up higher in Him and in life. God desires for our lives to get better. The Word of God tells us that “the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day” (Proverbs 4:18). Our path (lives) is to get brighter and brighter (better and better). It starts with keeping God’s commandments. Now we aren’t just talking about the ten commandments (that is a great place to start though), we are talking about being a doer of the Word of God. Whatever God tells us to do in His Word, we do it. When He tells us to love our neighbors as ourselves, we love our neighbors. When He tells us to come out from among them (the world) and be separate, that is what we do. It is always to our advantage to obey God. This is how we keep our lives.  

#obedience #vcccharlotte #doersoftheWord #devotional 

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | January 20th

📖 My Lord God in heaven has plenty of good and valuable things. Because you belong to Christ Jesus, God will give to you everything that you need. 
—Philippians 4:19 Easy English Bible

As believers we are to look to and depend on heaven’s resources. The mistake that many believers have made is that they look to their own resources and live a life that falls short of the life that God has for them. We are citizens of heaven. We are in the family of God. Because of these truths, we can access the good and valuable things that God has in store for us. God tells us that He has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:4). We receive from heaven, but the resources come through the earth. We have to take our eyes off the earth if we are going to receive from heaven. Heaven is our source. The earth is just the channel in which we receive from Heaven. Keep your eyes on God. Keep your eyes on His Word. God will give to you everything that you need when you put your trust in Him. 

#familyofGod #vcccharlotte #keepyoureyesonGod #devotional

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | January 19th

📖 How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert! Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. They remembered not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy. —Psalm 78:40-42 KJV

Have you been limiting the Holy One of Israel in your life? Many times, God desires to do so much more than what we are currently experiencing because of unbelief. Jesus could only heal a few sick folks in His hometown because of their unbelief. Unbelief hindered them from receiving, and it will do the same thing in our lives if we allow it. God desires to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we could ever ask or think. Let’s not hinder God in any area of our lives. Let’s allow Him to do more in our finances, our health, our relationships, and any other area of our lives. God wants to show Himself strong in our lives, let’s allow Him to do so. 

#abundance #LetGod #devotional #vcccharlotte #dontlimitGod

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | January 17th

📖 I wrote you in my [previous] letter not to associate [closely and habitually] with unchaste (impure) people—

Not [meaning of course that you must] altogether shun the immoral people of this world, or the greedy graspers and cheats and thieves or idolaters, since otherwise you would need to get out of the world and human society altogether! 

But now I write to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of [Christian] brother if he is known to be guilty of immorality or greed, or is an idolater [whose soul is devoted to any object that usurps the place of God], or is a person with a foul tongue [railing, abusing, reviling, slandering], or is a drunkard or a swindler or a robber. [No] you must not so much as eat with such a person. 
—I Corinthians 5:9-11 AMPC 

Your associations can determine your destiny. If you hang around losers, you might become one. If you hang around winners, you might become one as well. We don’t want to associate closely and habitually with immoral and impure people. Their ways may rub off on you. We know that no matter where we look, we will see the ungodly, but we don’t have to make them our best friends. Paul goes as far as to say don’t even eat with those types of people. Galatians 5:9 tells us that, “A little leaven (a slight inclination to error, or a few false teachers) leavens the whole lump [it perverts the whole conception of faith or misleads the whole church]”. The Bible also tells us that “evil communication corrupts good manners”. Let’s stay free from the influence of the world. Let’s do what the Word tells us to do: So, come out from among [unbelievers], and separate (sever) yourselves from them, says the Lord, and touch not [any] unclean thing; then I will receive you kindly and treat you with favor. (2 Corinthians 6:17) 

#Godlyinfluences #vcccharlotte #purity #devotional  

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | January 16th

📖 I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time [appointed] for every matter and purpose and for every work. —Ecclesiastes 3:17 AMPC

“There is a time appointed for every matter and purpose and for every work.” Many times, we emphasize finding the will of God for our lives. It is important for us to know what we were put on this earth to do. Even though that is key, it is also important for us to get the right timing. When are we supposed to start that business? When do we pursue that degree? When do we get married? When do we purchase a home? God has a timing for the major events in our lives and we must stay in tune with Heaven so that we don’t miss God’s timing. God wants to lead and guide us in every area of our lives, including God’s timing. Our success is not only in finding the will of God but also knowing His timing. There was a timing to Jesus coming to the earth. There was a timing concerning Moses and the delivery of the Israelites. There was always a timing to the major events in the Bible and there is a timing to the major events for our lives. You want to walk in God’s best, walk in God’s timing.

#vcccharlotte #God’stiming #devotional #listen #intune

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | January 15th

📖 Do not, therefore, fling away your fearless confidence, for it carries a great and glorious compensation of reward. 

For you have need of steadfast patience and endurance, so that you may perform and fully accomplish the will of God, and thus receive and carry away [and enjoy to the full] what is promised. 
—Hebrews 10:35-36 AMPC 

Confidence is a very important character trait. It is especially important that we keep our confidence in God. Our confidence in God will cause us to walk in steadfast patience and endurance. Walking in patience and endurance will cause us to fully accomplish the will of God and receive everything that God has promised us. The more confident we are in the ability of God, the more solid we become in our walk with God. It doesn’t matter how long it takes; we know God is coming through. Confidence in God and His Word is an assurance that we will experience the promise that we are believing Him for. No matter how long it may seem, we know we will experience the healing power of God. We know that we will experience the breakthrough that we have been believing God for. We are not moved by time; we are moved by our confidence in God. He will come through. II Chronicles 16:9 tells us that, “the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong in behalf of those whose hearts are blameless toward Him.” When you have confidence in God’s ability, you can say, “Look no further God! You can show yourself strong on my behalf!” When you demonstrate that confidence in Him, the breakthrough is on the way. The healing is on the way. The need is being met. Confidence in what you can’t see (God and His ability) will cause a manifestation of what you want to see. (the reality of the promise of God)  

#confidenceinGod #vcccharlotte #patience #devotional #willofGod 

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | January 14th

📖 Let each one [give] as he has made up his own mind and purposed in his heart, not reluctantly or sorrowfully or under compulsion, for God loves (He takes pleasure in, prizes above other things, and is unwilling to abandon or to do without) a cheerful (joyous, “prompt to do it”) giver [whose heart is in his giving]. —II Corinthians 9:7 AMPC  

God is a big-time giver. Have you thought about everything He has given us? He has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness (II Peter 1:4). He gave His only Son (John 3:16). Jesus said, “it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom”. Jesus also said that the Father would give good gifts to those that ask Him (Matthew 7:11). God is a giver, and He expects His children to be givers as well. Ephesians 5 tells us that we are to be “imitators of God as dear children”. In the above Scripture, it tells us that God takes pleasure in, prizes above other things, and is unwilling to abandon or to do without a cheerful, joyous, prompt to do it giver. A person whose heart is in his giving. God delights in that type of giver because that is the type of giver He is. Jesus even said that “whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” God wants us to bless people the way He blesses. We are blessed to be a blessing. We are blessed so that we can better imitate our Father. 

#give #vcccharlotte #blessothers #devotional #Hischildren 

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | January 13th

📖 And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good (suitable, pleasant) and He approved it completely. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day. —Genesis 1:31 AMPC 

After God finished his six days of creation, He looked at everything that He had made, and He approved it completely. One version says that He looked at “everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good (KJV)”. There was no sickness or disease in the earth when God originally created it. There was no sin, and there was no curse. Everything He made was good and He approved of it.  
 
God has not changed. The Bible even tells us that God “takes pleasure in the prosperity of His servant (Psalm 35:27).” God delights in our prosperity. He wishes above all things that we prosper and be in good health, even as our soul prospers (III John 2). Jesus even said that He came that we might have life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10). If there are things in your life that aren’t “good,” God has given you the ability to change it. He has given you authority, His Word, and faith to overcome. Don’t continue to settle for anything but God’s best for your life. God’s will is for you to flourish and to thrive. It always has been, and it always will be. 

#prosperity #creation #dailydevotional #Bible #vcccharlotte 

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | January 12th

📖 And they said one to another, Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly. So they had brick for stone, and slime (bitumen) for mortar. 

And they said, Come, let us build us a city and a tower whose top reaches into the sky, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered over the whole earth. 
—Genesis 11:3-4 AMPC

When it comes to conquering large tasks, we must be willing to reduce the big goal into smaller goals. You cannot build a city until you first bake a brick. Many times, we look at the goal or the task in its entirety, and we don’t focus on the smaller tasks that will ultimately cause the big goal to be accomplished. One man once said, instead of focusing on building a wall, start by focusing on laying one brick at time, because eventually, you will have a wall. It's the same way with life. Instead of focusing on building a great life, why not focus on having a great day? Take it one task at a time. One day at a time. As time goes on you can look back and look at the progress that has been made. Before you know it, you’ve lost weight. You’ve read the book. You’ve saved the money. Whatever the task may be, it can be accomplished, the key is consistency. You cannot build a city until you first bake a brick. 

#devotional #vcccharlotte #focus #goalsetting #accomplishments #consistency

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | January 10th

📖 And he replied to Him, Teacher, I have carefully guarded and observed all these and taken care not to violate them from my boyhood. 

And Jesus, looking upon him, loved him, and He said to him, You lack one thing; go and sell all you have and give [the money] to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come [and] accompany Me [walking the same road that I walk]. 

At that saying the man’s countenance fell and was gloomy, and he went away grieved and sorrowing, for he was holding great possessions. 
—Mark 10:20-22 AMPC

The rich young ruler had the right motives, and he had the right heart. He wanted to inherit eternal life. He had kept the commandments from his youth. He only had one problem; he couldn’t let go of his riches. His unwillingness to walk away from his wealth revealed that his wealth really had him. As believers, we cannot allow anything to come between us and God. There cannot be anything in this world that we treasure more than our relationship with God. We cannot love anyone or anything, more than we love God. We must refrain from having idols in our lives. God should be number one in our lives, and nothing should take His place. Let us learn from the rich young ruler. Let us not allow anything in our lives to jeopardize our relationship with God. We must love the Lord our God with all of heart, with all of our soul, and with all of our strength (Deut. 6:5). 

#eternallife #vcccharlotte #richyoungruler #devotional #relationshipwithGod

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | January 9th

📖 Long ago when the Israelis escaped from Egypt, from that land of foreign tongue, then the lands of Judah and of Israel became God’s new home and kingdom.

The Red Sea saw them coming and quickly broke apart before them. The Jordan River opened up a path for them to cross. The mountains skipped like rams, the little hills like lambs! What’s wrong, Red Sea, that made you cut yourself in two? What happened, Jordan River, to your waters? Why were they held back? Why, mountains, did you skip like rams? Why, little hills, like lambs?

Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, the God of Jacob. For he caused gushing streams to burst from flinty rock. —Psalm 114 The Living Bible

No obstacle can stand in the way of an individual who walks with God. The Red Sea, the mountains, and the Jordan River all fled from the Lord. We know that this Psalm is more figurative than literal, (except the Red Sea and the Jordan River), but the point remains the same. God will remove kings for our sakes. He will bring down the mighty, if needed. He will go before us and make the crooked places straight. There is nothing that can hinder us or stop us with almighty God beside us. A man of God once said that if “Godzilla, Rodan, and Mothra were walking down the street with us, we would have no fear because of who was walking with us”. Well, we have one mightier than a few Hollywood monsters walking with us. We have the Creator of the universe with us. Fear needs to be a thing of the past. If God be for us, who can be against us? 

#havenofear #LetGod #devotional #vcccharlotte #walkwithGod

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | January 8th

📖 And there was a famine in the land, other than the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar, to Abimelech king of the Philistines. 

And the Lord appeared to him and said, Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I will tell you. 

Dwell temporarily in this land, and I will be with you and will favor you with blessings; for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. 

Then Isaac sowed seed in that land and received in the same year a hundred times as much as he had planted, and the Lord favored him with blessings. 
—Genesis 12:1-3, 12 AMPC   

Obedience doesn’t cost; it pays. It is always in our best interest to obey God. We should endeavor to always be where He wants us to be and do what He wants us to do. It was common for people to go to Egypt whenever there was a famine in the land. Going to Egypt probably seemed like a good idea to Isaac but God had a better plan. That is one reason why we should always consult God before making major decisions in our lives. There may be times when God has an alternative to whatever plans that we may have. When that happens, we must humble ourselves and submit to God’s plan. When we obey God, things always work out for our best interest. Isaac could have questioned God about Gerar, but he didn’t. He stayed in Gerar and God blessed him there. There is a place of blessing for all of us if we will stay sensitive to the Spirit of God. He wants to see us prosper. He delights in the prosperity of His servants (Psalms 35:27). If we are to experience His best, we must get into the rhythm of obedience. If we are willing and obedient, we will eat the good of the land (Isaiah 1:19). 

#obediencetoGod #devotional #blessed #vcccharlotte #humility 

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | January 7th

📖 The good life begins in the fear of God-
Do that and you’ll know the blessing of God. 
—Psalms 111:10 The Message  

We all desire the good life (or at least we should). The good life is a life designed by God. The depth of our relationship with God will determine what we walk in. Jesus came so that we can experience the good life. That life is a life of abundance. It is a life of divine health. A life where we experience good in every area of life. The good life starts with the fear of God. We fear God by reverencing both Him and His Word. When we honor God’s Word in our life, we are honoring Him. When we are willing and obedient, we eat the good of the land. Deuteronomy 29: 11 says: Therefore, keep the words of this covenant and do them, that you may deal wisely and prosper in all that you do. 

Did you see the correlation between the Word and Prosperity? God was saying to the people that if you keep the covenant (His Word), then you will prosper in all that you do. When we honor God, God will honor us. If we want to know the blessing, we must know God. Jesus put it this way in John 14:21 (Amplified Classic): The person who has My commands and keeps them is the one who [really] loves Me; and whoever [really] loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I [too] will love him and will show (reveal, manifest) Myself to him. [I will let Myself be clearly seen by him and make Myself real to him.]  

When Jesus and Father God manifest themselves in your life, your life won’t be the same. The results will only be good because God is good. There is only one life in God: the good life. 

#thegoodlife #devotional #honoringGod #vcccharlotte 

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | January 6th

📖 Commit your works to the Lord [submit and trust them to Him], And your plans will succeed [if you respond to His will and guidance]. —Proverbs 16:3 AMP 

Some of the most common questions asked by Christians have been, “What am I supposed to do”? or “Why am I here”? When we submit our lives to God and place our lives in His Hands, we can trust that He will lead and guide us in the way that we should go. God will direct our steps, and He will speak to us. God will tell us everything we need to know in reference to our future. Once we understand the will of God for our lives, we must submit to it. We must submit to His guidance. It is pointless to seek the face of God concerning our future if we are not going to do what He instructs us to do. God’s plan for our lives is beautiful. If we trust and submit our lives to Him, we will experience the good life that He has preordained for us to live. 

#purposedriven #trustGod #vcccharlotte #Godsplan #devotional

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | January 5th

📖 Alas, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! There is nothing too hard or too wonderful for You—
—Jeremiah 32:17 AMPC

Notice that Jeremiah starts off by talking about the handiwork of God. When one considers the universe and the planets, the sun and the moon, they cannot help but think about how awesome God is! When you look at the earth, or the complexity of the human body, it shows the genius of our God. Nothing is too difficult for Him. If God could create the universe, the animals, and the human body in six days, He can handle your situation. Let’s not insult God and think that our problems are insurmountable. We must keep the proper perspective when it comes to our God.  

#nothingisimpossible #iamvictory #devotional #goodGod

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | January 3rd

📖 So the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?" He said, “A rod.” And He said, “Cast it on the ground.” So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail” (and he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand), “that they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” —Exodus 4:2-5 NKJV

When pursuing the will of God, we must understand the importance of trusting in Him. He may ask you to do something that isn’t what you normally do. He may ask you to do something that will cause you to have to overcome fear and anxiety. Moses was obviously afraid of the snake, but God told him to pick it up by its tail. Moses had a decision to make. He was either going to let fear control him, or he was going to obey God. Moses chose to obey God, and the snake turned into a stick. We must be willing to obey and trust God no matter what. God wants us to become totally dependent upon Him. As we obey His orders and commands, we will develop an unshakeable confidence in Him. One that will help us to fulfill the will of God for our lives. 

#trustinGod #pursue #devotional #vcccharlotte #confidence

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | January 2nd

📖 But I will hope continually, and will praise You yet more and more. —Psalm 71:14 AMPC

Hope is important. The Bible tells us that “hope deferred makes the heart sick” (Proverbs 13:2). We should never deprive people of hope. Faith is the substance of things hoped for... (Hebrews 11:1). You could look at it like this: hope is the blueprint, and faith is the materials to make the blueprint a reality. We must not belittle hope. The Bible tells us that Abraham “against hope believed in hope” (Romans 4:18). Abraham had to hope when the circumstances told him that what he was believing for was impossible. He had to find hope in what God had told him. That is how we maintain our hope. We keep our faith in what God has told us, and we believe it because it is impossible for God to lie. Hope is to be the anchor to our soul. We must hope continually and continue to praise Him more. We must praise Him because He is the God of hope. He can turn every negative situation around.

#Hope #trustGod #dailydevotional #vcccharlotte

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | January 1st

📖 Not that I have now attained [this ideal], or have already been made perfect, but I press on to lay hold of (grasp) and make my own, that for which Christ Jesus (the Messiah) has laid hold of me and made me His own. 

I do not consider, brethren, that I have captured and made it my own [yet]; but one thing I do [it is my one aspiration]: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 

I press on toward the goal to win the [supreme and heavenly] prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward. 
—Philippians 3:12-14 AMPC

As we begin this new year, we must forget what has happened in the past, and we must strain forward to what lies ahead. One of the biggest weapons that the enemy uses against us is regret. Because of bad decisions we may have made in the past, we may not have accomplished all that we thought we should have. Maybe we didn’t accomplish the goals that we set for ourselves. Whatever shortcomings may have happened, it is in the past. There is nothing we can do about the past. We can learn from it, but then we must move on. God wants us to move forward. God desires to take us from glory to glory. Our lives are to get better and better as we walk with God. We must press toward the goal to win the prize in which Christ Jesus is calling us upward. Let’s shift our focus. Let’s take our eyes off the missed opportunities of the past and look to the opportunities that are before us. One man said, “The greatest opportunity is the next one”. Notice it wasn’t the last one, it's the next one. We can be optimistic about our future because God has new opportunities on the horizon. Let’s press for all that He has for us. Let’s be all that He has called us to be and do all that He is calling us to do. Let’s move forward in God. 

#vcccharlotte #moveforward #devotional #focus #letthepastgo

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