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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | August 28th

📖 If you will seek God diligently and make your supplication to the Almighty, 

Then, if you are pure and upright, surely He will bestir Himself for you and make your righteous dwelling prosperous again. 

And though your beginning was small, your latter end would greatly increase. 
—Job 8: 5-7 AMPC  

God knows all the details of our lives. The Bible tells us that the “steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. (Psalm 37:23) When you are assured of this, you don’t mind starting at the bottom of the “corporate ladder”. You are willing to start off small. Zechariah 4:10 (The Message) asks a very good question: “Does anyone dare despise the day of small beginnings”? You learn a lot at the bottom. Starting at the bottom teaches you how to get to the top. One man said, “The path to the prize is greater than the prize itself”. Oh, how he was right. The lessons learned on the road to success are so valuable. They are lessons that you can pass on to the next generation. They are lessons that will help you next time you face a challenge in your life. God wants to take us from glory to glory, but it’s a process. Don’t run from the process, grow from the process. Embrace the journey, one step at a time. God’s way is always the best way. 

#thejourney #vcccharlotte #roadtosuccess #devotional  

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | August 27th

📖 So be very careful how you live, not being like those with no understanding, but live honorably with true wisdom, for we are living in evil times. Take full advantage of every day as you spend your life for His purposes. 
—Ephesians 5:15-16 The Passion Translation 

Despite living in evil times, we can still live a life in which we fulfill our God given purpose. Evil times are no excuse to fall short in accomplishing all that God desires for us to accomplish. We are to take full advantage of every day that we have. Every day that we are given is a day to get better. It is a day to get wiser. It is a day closer to the fulfillment of the will of God. We must be aware of every distraction and avoid them. We must avoid everything that will draw us away from fulfilling our purpose. Every believer should desire to hear, “Well done, thy good and faithful servant”. Examining how we live our lives and taking advantage of the days that we are given will bring us closer to hearing those wonderful words. 

#WillofGod #vcccharlotte #fulfillment #devotionals  

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | August 26th

📖 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. 

For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. 
—I Corinthians 3:18-19 KJV

The Word of God tells us to come out from among them (the world) and be separate. We are to be separate from the world because Satan is the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4). We do not want to embrace the values or wisdom of this world. That is one reason the Bible tells us to renew our minds. God wants our thinking to be in line with His Word. God’s Word is His Wisdom. The Wisdom of God is foolishness to the world because God’s way of doing things goes against the ideals of the world. The wisdom of this world is “earthly, sensual, and devilish” (James 3:15). We should seek the wisdom that is from above because it is pure, peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy, and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy (James 3:17). God’s ways are higher than our ways, but so is His Wisdom. Let’s stay away from the wisdom of this world, and let's embrace the wisdom that comes from God. We always come out on top when
we do. 

#wisdom #vcccharlotte #kingdomlife #devotional #trustGod

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | August 25th

📖 They spent some time in Jericho. As Jesus was leaving town, trailed by his disciples and a parade of people, a blind beggar by the name of Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus, was sitting alongside the road. When he heard that Jesus the Nazarene was passing by, he began to cry out, “Son of David, Jesus! Mercy, have mercy on me!” Many tried to hush him up, but he yelled all the louder, “Son of David! Mercy, have mercy on me!” 

Jesus stopped in his tracks. “Call him over.” They called him. “It’s your lucky day! Get up! He’s calling you to come!” Throwing off his coat, he was on his feet at once and came to Jesus. Jesus said, “What can I do for you?” The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.” “On your way,” said Jesus. “Your faith has saved and healed you.” In that very instant he recovered his sight and followed Jesus down the road. 
—Mark 10: 46-52 MSG 

What’s stopping you? Blind Bartimaeus would not allow anything to stop him from receiving from Jesus. He would not allow the people to shut him up. When they told him to shut up, he cried even louder. This could have been the only time He would have been in the presence of Jesus. He would not allow anything to stop him. Because of his persistence, Jesus stopped and asked for him. He had gotten Jesus’ attention. Bartimaeus received his sight that day. His faith had made him whole, but his faith also caught the attention of Jesus. Faith will always get the attention of God. Without faith it is impossible to please God. God is always pleased when we stand on His Word. He is pleased when we act on the Word. Bartimaeus believed that Jesus could heal him, and his actions showed that. If we want to receive from God, we must do the same thing. Our actions must demonstrate what we believe. 

#walkbyfaith #vcccharlotte #standontheWord #devotional

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | August 23rd

📖 I’m the least important of the apostles. I don’t deserve to be called an apostle, because I harassed God’s church.  I am what I am by God’s grace, and God’s grace hasn’t been for nothing. In fact, I have worked harder than all the others—that is, it wasn’t me but the grace of God that is with me. —I Corinthians 15:9-10 CEB

We are who we are by God’s grace. We are nothing apart from it. Paul had a revelation and a personal acquaintance with the grace of God. He acknowledged that he had severely persecuted the church. He felt that this made him the least of the apostles. He felt that he was not worthy of being called an apostle because of his past mistakes. We can all have a moment like this. If we don’t stay on top of ourselves, we can allow the past to lower our self-worth, but thank God for His grace! His grace makes us worthy. His grace is what allows us to move forward and to move on, free from condemnation. We must be like Paul; we cannot allow His grace to be in vain. We must press toward the mark. We must walk in the divine calling. We must strive to attain all that He has preordained for us to walk in. His grace cannot be for nothing. 

#God’sgrace #devotional #vcccharlotte #worthy #verseoftheday

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | August 22nd

📖 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. —James 1:5-8 NKJV

God wants us to believe in his love for us and his ability to provide our every need. Sometimes in life we ask God for things and then begin to doubt his ability or willingness to help us in our time of need. The Bible recounts a story of a man who was full of leprosy he fell on his face before Jesus and implored Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus then put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed and the leprosy left him. The leper did not understand that Jesus was willing to heal him. The same is true in our situation. God is willing to help in any area we might need it. We can put our trust in him knowing he sacrificed his only begotten Son so that we would have a chance at a new and prosperous life. Whatever we need in life we should ask God in faith knowing that he loves and cares for each one of us. 

#God’slove #faith #vcccharlotte #dailydevotional #willingness

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | August 21st

📖 But all things are from God, Who through Jesus Christ reconciled us to Himself [received us into favor, brought us into harmony with Himself] and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation [that by word and deed we might aim to bring others into harmony with Him]. It was God [personally present] in Christ, reconciling and restoring the world to favor with Himself, not counting up and holding against [men] their trespasses [but cancelling them], and committing to us the message of reconciliation (of the restoration to favor). So we are Christ’s ambassadors, God making His appeal as it were through us. We [as Christ’s personal representatives] beg you for His sake to lay hold of the divine favor [now offered you] and be reconciled to God. 
—2 Corinthians 5:18-20 AMPC  

As believers we are in the “people business”. We are ambassadors of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we are to go out to where the people are. People are hurting. They need deliverance and healing. They need prayer. Those who are hurting are all around us. They are on our jobs. They are in the marketplace. We are the sent ones. We are the ministers of reconciliation. We must show ourselves to be friendly. We must be approachable. Our desire should be to demonstrate the love of God to a hurting and dying world. People should be drawn to us because we are the light of the world and the salt of the earth. We are a city set on a hill that cannot be hidden.  This is not a time for the believer to be ashamed of the Gospel. Because we are righteous, we are to be bold as a lion. Don’t be afraid to let your light shine, someone is looking for it. Somebody needs it. We have what the world needs. 

#boldness #vcccharlotte #righteous #devotional 

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | August 20th

📖 However, I am telling you nothing but the truth when I say it is profitable (good, expedient, advantageous) for you that I go away. Because if I do not go away, the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener, Standby) will not come to you [into close fellowship with you]; but if I go away, I will send Him to you [to be in close fellowship with you]. 

But when He, the Spirit of Truth (the Truth-giving Spirit) comes, He will guide you into all the Truth (the whole, full Truth). For He will not speak His own message [on His own authority]; but He will tell whatever He hears [from the Father; He will give the message that has been given to Him], and He will announce and declare to you the things that are to come [that will happen in the future]. 

He will honor and glorify Me, because He will take of (receive, draw upon) what is Mine and will reveal (declare, disclose, transmit) it to you. 
—John 16:7, 13-14 AMPC 

We are not alone. We have been given a Helper. Jesus stated that He had to go so that He could send a Helper. He sent someone to be in close fellowship with us. That someone is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not an emotion or a feeling. It is a person. Jesus said, “I will send Him to you”. The Holy Spirit will receive of Jesus and will share it with us. He will share things with us about the future. He will share things with us that are necessary. The Holy Spirit is our Helper, Comforter, Advocate, Strengthener and Standby. We are not in this by ourselves. We must utilize and take advantage of the help that God has sent us, and He has sent us the Holy Spirit. 

#HolySpirit #vcccharlotte #OurHelper #devotional 

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | August 19th

📖 I have gained perfect freedom by following your teachings, and I trust them so much that I tell them to kings. —Psalms 119:45 CEV

The Word of God was given to us to set us free from every wile and scheme of the wicked one. It was given to us so that we can know who we are and what belongs to us in Christ. The Word of God will set us free, and it will cause victory to manifest in every area of our lives. God told Joshua that if he meditated on the Word of God both day and night, that he would become prosperous and have good success. The Word of God says something similar in Psalms 1. Our success comes from desiring and obeying the Word of God. In the book of Acts, it tells us that the Word of God grew mightily and prevailed. When the Word grows in our lives, it will do the same thing. It will prevail over everything the devil can throw our way. 

#success #dailydevotional #vcccharlotte #bible #verseoftheday #freedom

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | August 18th

📖 The king said to me, For what do you ask? So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to [him], If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you will send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ sepulchers, that I may rebuild it. 
—Nehemiah 2:4-5 AMPC

Despite the king asking Nehemiah what he wanted, Nehemiah went to God first. Nehemiah was going to the Source of his life. Even though he would later make known to the king what he needed, he was looking to God to make it happen. Nehemiah went to God first. Let this be a lesson to every believer. We are to seek God first when problems or obstacles arise in our lives. If there is an issue in our finances, we go to God first. If our bodies are attacked, we seek God first before we seek anyone else.  Regardless of what comes up in our lives, we go to God first because He is our Source. He is the Source of our wisdom and everything we need. God may use a man, but man is simply the resource. God is the Source. Nehemiah had access to the king, but access to God was more important. Nehemiah kept his eyes on God and God came through. We must do the same. We know we can count on God when we keep our eyes on him, and not on the position of a man. God owns it all and knows how to get it to us. 

#OurSource #vcccharlotte #seekGodfirst #devotional

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | August 16th

📖 Thus says the Lord God: In the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities I will [also] cause [Israel’s] cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be rebuilt. 

And the desolate land shall be tilled, that which had lain desolate in the sight of all who passed by. 

And they shall say, This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited. 

Then the nations that are left round about you shall know that I the Lord have rebuilt the ruined places and replanted that which was desolate. I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it. 
—Ezekiel 36:33-36 AMPC 

God is a God of restoration. He knows how to turn our lives around, regardless of how bad of shape that it may currently be in. God turned the captivity of Job and gave him twice as much. In the text, God was saying that He would rebuild Israel’s cities. He would also make the desolate land look like the Garden of Eden. Your life may be in shambles, but God can turn it around. God can turn your wilderness into the Garden of Eden. God can restore your health, your finances, your family, whatever might need to be restored, God can do it! Let’s not limit God in our believing. He is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think. 

#trustGod #restoration #devotional #encouragement #vcccharlotte 

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | August 15th

📖 Day by day the Lord observes the good deeds done by godly men and gives them eternal rewards.  He cares for them when times are hard; even in famine, they will have enough. —Psalm 37:18-19 The Living Bible 

It doesn’t matter what is going on in the world, God’s got us. He cares for us. When there is chaos in the world, we can have peace because we know that God has our backs. Even in famine, God will see to it that we have enough. When you read the Word of God, you see God doing that repeatedly for His people. God doesn’t depend on the resources of this world, but He uses the resources of the world to bless His people. His coming through for us is not dependent on the state of our economy. God knows where all the money is. He knows where all of the food is. He knows how to get it to us when we need it. David said, “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread”. If God did it for David, He will do it for you. He is no respecter of persons. 

#faithfulGod #provider #psalms #faith #Jesus

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | August 14th

📖 Dear friends, never avenge yourselves. Leave that to God, for he has said that he will repay those who deserve it. Don’t take the law into your own hands. Instead, feed your enemy if he is hungry. If he is thirsty give him something to drink and you will be “heaping coals of fire on his head.” In other words, he will feel ashamed of himself for what he has done to you.  Don’t let evil get the upper hand, but conquer evil by doing good. 
—Romans 12:19-21 The Living Bible 

We have all been mistreated at some point in our lives. Someone may have lied on you. Someone may have started a rumor about you. Maybe someone was gossiping about you, and they were giving out incorrect information. In times like those, you might want to lash out. You might want to “get them told”. You may want to simply defend yourself against slander. The best thing for us to do is to leave that into God’s hands. The Bible instructs us to never avenge ourselves. Many times, we want to do the opposite. We not only want to avenge ourselves, but we want others to know how we have been mistreated. We cannot allow evil to get the upper hand. We must conquer evil by doing good. We must forgive, and we must walk in love. If our enemy is hungry, we can feed them. If they are thirsty, we can give them something to drink. We don’t have to mistreat others because we have been mistreated. That is not a demonstration of the love of God. We must allow the love of God to be shed abroad in our hearts. We must be like our Father in heaven. We must love the unlovable. We must be kind to the unkind. We must overcome evil with good. 

#loveofGod #devotional #forgiveness #vengenceisminesaystheLord 

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | August 13th

📖 The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd. —Hebrews 11:1-2 The Message 

Our faith in God is the foundation under everything that makes life worth living. God has given us the measure of faith, that when developed, will overcome everything that is negative in this world. Faith in God is simply faith in His Word. Our confidence in God’s Word and His integrity will cause us to be set above the crowd. It will cause us to be the head and not the tail, above only and not beneath. Faith will cause you to experience what others do not. Learning to trust God causes our lives to be worth living. Confidence in God’s Word will cause us to live a life that would not be possible in the natural. It is our faith in God that will always cause us to triumph. It is that type of confidence that allows God to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we could ever ask or think. Now that is a life that is truly worth living. 

#faithinGodv#vccharlotte #foundation #devotional  

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | August 12th

📖 Now look at me: God has kept me alive, as he promised. It is now forty-five years since God spoke this word to Moses, years in which Israel wandered in the wilderness. And here I am today, eighty-five years old! I’m as strong as I was the day Moses sent me out. I’m as strong as ever in battle, whether coming or going. So give me this hill country that God promised me. You yourself heard the report, that the Anakim were there with their great fortress cities. If God goes with me, I will drive them out, just as God said.” 
⎯Joshua 14:10-12 Message

Caleb was one of the original twelve spies that were chosen to spy out the Promised Land. He and Joshua brought back a good report. They believed that the Israelites could take the Promised Land. The other ten spies did not believe that they were able to take the land. God told Joshua and Caleb that they would enter the Promised Land because of what they believed. Forty-five years had passed, and Caleb still believed the same thing. He wasn’t moved by how long it had been. He was still as strong as he was forty-five years earlier. He did not give up on what God had promised him. We must have the same determination. It doesn’t matter what it looks like, we must stand on God’s Word regardless of how long it takes. We know that it’s just a matter of time before God comes through. As one minister put it, “if you’re willing to stand forever, it won’t take that long”. 

#standtall #trustGod #devotional #vcccharlotte  

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | August 11th

📖 Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him: 

With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah. 
—2 Chronicles 32:7-8 KJV

Hezekiah was admonishing the people of Israel. Sennacherib was threatening to attack the nation of Israel, and he had been experiencing victory after victory. Hezekiah was not afraid. He knew that God would fight for them. He told the people not to be afraid because of who was for them. He knew that God would fight for them. The people rested on those promises.  

When we hear from God or when we are standing on a promise that is found in the Word of God, we must rest on what God has said. Faith without rest is unbelief. Fatih and fear cannot stay in the same house. When you're in fear, you can sometimes find yourself immersed in worry. When you're in faith, you rest. You know that God is going to take care of it, so there is no use in worrying about it. Rest and praise are indicators that you are in faith and that you are taking God at His Word. They are statements to the devil and to your circumstances that a change is on the horizon. 

#rest #noworries #vcccharlotte #GodAlmighty

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | August 9th

📖 But at the close of his life, Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, went into partnership with Ahaziah, king of Israel, who was a very wicked man.

They made ships in Ezion-geber to sail to Tarshish.

Then Eliezer, son of Dodavahu from Mareshah, prophesied against Jehoshaphat, telling him, “Because you have allied yourself with King Ahaziah, the Lord has destroyed your work.” So the ships met disaster and never arrived at Tarshish. 
—II Chronicles 20:35-37 The Living Bible

Our associations are important. The latter part of Proverbs 13:20 tells us, “A companion of fools shall be destroyed”. This is what took place in Jehoshaphat’s life. He got into a partnership with Ahaziah, a wicked king. God destroyed their work because he allied himself with this king. We must be aware of our associations. The Word of God tells us that evil communications corrupt good manners (I Corinthians 15:33). Paul tells us in II Corinthians 6:14, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers”. We are to be the light of the world⎯we are not to be the world. We are to stand out! There is supposed to be a difference between the believer and the unbeliever. Let's take our place as ambassadors of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have to interact with the world, but we don’t have to become the world. Be careful of your associations, they can bring blessings, or they can bring disaster. The choice is yours. 

#blessings #associations #devotional #verseoftheday #wednesdaywisdom #trustGod

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | August 8th

📖 And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. —Joshua 24:15 AMPC 

Joshua is letting the people know that it doesn’t really matter who they choose to serve. He had already made up his mind that he and his household would serve the Lord. As believers, we must make that same commitment. God desires for our families to serve Him. The angel told Cornelius to ask for a man named Peter, who would explain how he and his household could be saved (Acts 11:13-15). We must have the same attitude. Not only will we serve God, but our children and their children should too. God is a generational God. He desires to walk with each generation. He was called the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God put marriage in place so that He would have godly seed. God is always concerned about having a generation that will serve Him; we should be the same. Whatever concerns God should concern us. 

#Jehovah #Bible #devotional #family #vcccharlotte #familyfirst #Godfirst

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | August 7th

📖 And Moses answered, But behold, they will not believe me or listen to and obey my voice; for they will say, The Lord has not appeared to you. 

And the Lord said to him, What is that in your hand? And he said, A rod. 

And He said, Cast it on the ground. And he did so and it became a serpent [the symbol of royal and divine power worn on the crown of the Pharaohs]; and Moses fled from before it. 

And the Lord said to Moses, Put forth your hand and take it by the tail. And he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand, 

[This you shall do, said the Lord] that the elders may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has indeed appeared to you. 
—Exodus 4:1-5 AMPC 

We must learn to trust God in secret before He uses us publicly. Moses had to learn how to trust God in private before he could represent Him publicly. Before Moses could declare the next plague that would hit Egypt, he had to demonstrate obedience when no one was around. He had to trust that his rod would turn into a snake and then back into a rod again. He had to trust that the leprosy would leave his hand once he placed his hand back into his pocket. Moses had to learn obedience when no one was looking so that he would do what God told him to do when the whole world was watching. We cannot despise the day of small beginnings. We must learn to trust God in the smaller things before we are able to move on to bigger things. Faith is walking with God. The longer we walk with God, the bigger our faith should become. We go from faith to faith, glory to glory. 

#trustinGod #vcccharlotte #obedience #devotional #faith 

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | August 6th

📖 Now in the synagogue there was a man who was possessed by the foul spirit of a demon; and he cried out with a loud (deep, terrible) cry, 

Ah, let us alone! What have You to do with us [What have we in common], Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know Who You are—the Holy One of God! 

But Jesus rebuked him, saying, Be silent (muzzled, gagged), and come out of him! And when the demon had thrown the man down in their midst, he came out of him without injuring him in any possible way.

And they were all amazed and said to one another, What kind of talk is this? For with authority and power He commands the foul spirits and they come out! 
—Luke 4:33-36 AMPC

Jesus is our example. He never feared the devil. He never feared any demon. Jesus knew who He was and what belonged to Him. He walked in authority and spoke with authority. He knew that the devil was subject to Him. We have been delegated the same authority, and God expects us to walk in it. He does not expect us to run from the devil; the devil is supposed to run from us. He expects us to experience the same results that Jesus did when He was on the earth. We are in the same family as Jesus. We have the same Father. We have the same authority. We should expect the same victory, every time.  

#iamvictory #JesusChrist #devotional #familyofGod

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