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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | April 15th

📖 Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life. —Proverbs 4:23 AMPC 

In the world that we live in today, it is imperative that we guard our hearts. Notice that we are to protect it above all that you guard. Faith is of the heart. We believe with our hearts. The Word of God is planted in our hearts. When the Word of God is planted (or sown), we must believe it and speak it from the heart. That is when we experience results. The devil knows that faith is what will overcome him and everything he throws at you. He wants you to be distracted. He wants you to put social media in your heart. He tries to distract you so that you instead of feeding your heart the Word, you are feeding on entertainment. Entertainment has its place, but it won’t cause you to overcome. Social media has its place, but you don’t want that to take precedent over the Word. Guard your heart and be vigilant about what you allow in there. It could be the difference between winning and losing. Overcoming or succumbing. God’s best or mediocrity. 

#Guardyourheart #vcccharlotte #nodistractions #devotional #theWordofGod 

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | April 14th

📖 So Ahab sent to all the Israelites and assembled the prophets at Mount Carmel. 

Elijah came near to all the people and said, How long will you halt and limp between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him! But if Baal, then follow him. And the people did not answer him a word. 

—I Kings 18:20-21 AMPC  

At some point we must make a decision. We must decide whose side we are on. We must determine who we are going to follow. There are many who are still on the fence. These people are what the Bible calls double minded. They haven’t completely sold out on one side. They haven’t completely settled on doing things one way. The Bible calls this type of individual is a person of two minds. James 1:8 AMP, “For being as he is a man of two minds (hesitating dubious, irresolute), [he is] unstable and unreliable and uncertain about everything [he thinks, feels, decide]. We don’t want God to ask us the same question Elijah asked the people. We should know that the Lord God is God. He is the almighty God and the Creator of Heaven and Earth. He is the one true God. We must get to a place where we are single-minded. There is only one way, and that is God’s way. There is only one way to think,and those thoughts should come out of God’s Word. We are not of this world. We have not been given the spirit of the world, so we should not think like the world. The ways of this world are not our way. If you haven’t done so already, make up your mind today.  I will leave you with these words from Joshua 24:15:  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. 

#AlmightyGod #vccharlotte #theCreator #devotional 

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | April 13th

📖 O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever. 
—I Chronicles 16:34 KJV

Do you live a life of gratitude. Are you grateful for the little things in life? Are you grateful to be alive? Are you grateful that your name is written in Heaven? As believers, we understand that everything in our lives that is good came from God. Every good gift and every perfect gift come from Him. We ought not be like the Israelites when they were in the desert. They complained every time they faced an obstacle or experienced a hard time. They would constantly complain and tell Moses that they should have stayed slaves in Egypt. These were the same people that experienced freedom at the Hand of God. They saw His mighty works in Egypt, and yet they still questioned whether He would take care of them. They were ungrateful people. We must make sure that we do not behave like them. We must give thanks unto the Lord, because He is so good. 

#goodGod #gratitude #devotional #verseoftheday #vcccharlotte

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | April 11th

📖 But you [Jeremiah], gird up your loins! Arise and tell them all that I command you. Do not be dismayed and break down at the sight of their faces, lest I confound you before them and permit you to be overcome. 

For I, behold, I have made you this day a fortified city and an iron pillar and bronze walls against the whole land—against the [successive] kings of Judah, against its princes, against its priests, and against the people of the land [giving you divine strength which no hostile power can overcome]. 

And they shall fight against you, but they shall not [finally] prevail against you, for I am with you, says the Lord, to deliver you. 
—Jeremiah 1:17-19 AMPC

Sometimes when we are walking out the will of God, we have to deal with fear. God was telling Jeremiah to say what He was commanding him to say and not to be moved by the people’s faces. God even told Jeremiah that even if they fight against Him, they couldn’t win because God was with Him. God is consistent. All throughout the Word of God, He tells His people not to be afraid of a man because He was with them. There is no one stronger than God. No one has ever defeated God, and no one ever will. God will make you a fortified city. God will give you divine strength. God will cause you to overcome every wile and strategy of the wicked one. We win every time. 

#Jeremiah #devotional #faithoverfear #overcomer #vcccharlotte

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | April 10th

📖 But the centurion replied to Him, Lord, I am not worthy or fit to have You come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant boy will be cured. 

When evening came, they brought to Him many who were under the power of demons, and He drove out the spirits with a word and restored to health all who were sick. 
—Matthew 8:8,16 AMPC 

The centurion recognized the authority of Jesus’ words, which drove out demons. Jesus would minister by the laying on of hands, but He would also minister healing through His words. There was power in Jesus’ words, and there is power in our words. Death and life are in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21). Jesus spoke to a tree and the fig tree died. He calmed the storm with His words. He spoke to fevers, and they left. There was power in what He said then and there is power in what He says to us now. We were created in His image and in His likeness. If His words have power, then so do ours.  

#wordshavepower #devotional #vcccharlotte #Jesus

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | April 9th

📖 Now the man Moses was very meek (gentle, kind, and humble) or above all the men on the face of the earth. —Numbers 12:3 AMP

Moses, at one time was considered to be the humblest man in the entire world. Can you imagine that being said about you? Many people struggle with humility. Many are caught up in and think only of themselves. Moses could have walked in some pride. He was God’s mouthpiece. He was the vessel that God used to free His people from slavery. He was the only one that God spoke to face to face (Numbers 12:8). He would spend days at a time talking to God, and yet he remained humble. He didn’t think more of himself because of his interaction with God. Moses understood that he was nothing without God. God was his sufficiency. We must stay little in our own eyes. We must understand that everything that we have, even our status, is because of God. Humility always precedes promotion, so let's stay little in our own eyes. Humility always brings honor. 

#moses #dailydevotional #humility #vcccharlotte #motivation 

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | April 8th

📖 I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me. —Galatians 2:20 AMPC 

Our old selves have been crucified with Christ. The old man that used to live a life of sin was crucified with Christ. We were not only crucified with Him; we were also raised with Him. We have been raised to a new life. Old things have passed away. We have a new life now. We are in right standing with God. We are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, and a dedicated nation (1 Peter 2:9). In that same verse it says that we are God’s own purchased, special people. We are not special in ourselves; we are special because we have been purchased with the Blood of Jesus Christ. He now lives in us, and we can be more like Him. We don’t have to be what we used to be and thank God, many of us aren’t. Let’s allow Christ to reign in our lives and in our bodies. We are to live this life by faith in the Son of God, Who loves us and gave Himself up for us all. 

#newlife #vcccharlotte #faith #devotional #Godlovesus 

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | April 7th

📖 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 | April 7th

📖 Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear. —Isaiah 59:1 NKJV

God is not new to saving His people, and matter of fact, He alone specializes in it. There has not been a situation or problem brought by His people that has given Him any ounce of trouble or difficulty. He is the Almighty and All-powerful God, and we, as His children, must start recognizing that. The Lord’s power has not been diminished, and the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, is still active and available to change whatever is wrong in our lives. As His representatives on earth let us remember that God hears our prayers, and He is still all powerful. 

#representGod #AlmightyGod #vcccharlotte #power #devotional

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | April 6th

📖 So stop evaluating Christians by what the world thinks about them or by what they seem to be like on the outside. Once I mistakenly thought of Christ that way, merely as a human being like myself. How differently I feel now! When someone becomes a Christian, he becomes a brand new person inside. He is not the same anymore. A new life has begun! 
—2 Corinthians 5:16-17 The Living Bible 

As Christians, we are not merely human beings. We became new on the inside when we made Jesus the lord of our lives. We have the Greater One on the inside of us. As believers, we are partakers of God’s Divine Nature (II Peter 1:4). This new nature on the inside of us allows us the privilege of being called the children of God (I John 3:10). God gave us a new nature so that we can have a new life! We must allow the new nature to dominate us. We must renew our minds to the Word of God so that the new life will dominate our thinking and our actions. When we understand who we are and walk it out, it allows us to walk the way Jesus walked when He was here on the earth. Jesus walked in victory while He was here on the earth, and we can to. We have been predestined to be conformed to His image (Romans 8:29). Jesus is a picture of victory. When we walk out what is inside of us, so are we. The Word of God tells us that “as He is, so are we in this world” (I John 4:17). 

#newcreations #vcccharlotte #newlife #devotional #victory 

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | April 4th

📖 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. —Matthew 6:31-33 ESV 

Worry is such a major issue in many people’s lives today. They are worried about their finances, their jobs, providing for their family, etc. We have a God who has promised to take good care of us. There are no benefits to being anxious and worrying about tomorrow. We as Christians must put our trust in God by seeking His kingdom first. As we are pursuing the things of God, He will take care of our every need. We don’t have to fret like the world does. We have the God that owns the cattle on a thousand hills. Let us seek first the Kingdom and his righteousness and watch God show himself to us as Jehovah Jireh (the Lord our Provider). 

#Godcares #donotworry #devotional #vcccharlotte #trustGod

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | April 3rd

📖 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 | April 2nd

📖 When Jesus came down from the mountain, great throngs followed Him. 

And behold, a leper came up to Him and, prostrating himself, worshiped Him, saying, Lord, if You are willing, You are able to cleanse me by curing me. 

And He reached out His hand and touched him, saying, I am willing; be cleansed by being cured. And instantly his leprosy was cured and cleansed. 
—Matthew 8:1-3 AMPC  

God wants you well. He desires for you to be strong and healthy. Unfortunately, many people still aren't sure whether it is the will of God for them to be healed. They think the sickness is supposed to bring them closer to God. Some think the sickness will keep them humble. Nowhere in the Bible does it tell us that sickness will humble you. The Bible tells us that we are to humble ourselves and that God will exalt us in due time (I Peter 5:6). We accurately represent the kingdom when we are healthy and strong. We can pursue the will of God when we are totally strong and healthy. The leper was unsure about the will of God concerning his healing. Jesus made the will of God plain. God wanted the leper healed. God has not changed. He has always desired His people to be well. He demonstrated His desire by sending Jesus to the cross to redeem us from sickness and disease. The issue has been settled: God wants us well. 

#healing #vcccharlotte #willofGod #devotional  

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | April 2nd

📖 Let the thief steal no more, but rather let him be industrious, making an honest living with his own hands, so that he may be able to give to those in need. 
—Ephesians 4:28 AMPC 

Paul is giving insight into the purpose of our paychecks. Our paychecks are not primarily for paying bills (you should pay your bills). Our paychecks are not primarily for purchasing items for ourselves and our families (it's okay if you do). The Word of God tells us that we work so that we can have money to give. This is how the Kingdom of God operates. It functions through the principle of seedtime and harvest. When we give, it shall be given to us again, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, shall men give unto our bosom (Luke 6:38). It is after we give that we can claim that God will meet our needs according to His riches and glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19). It is always better to give than to receive because giving puts us in a place of receiving. As we grow in faith, we should also grow in our giving. As we increase our giving, we can increase our receiving. It’s time for a shift in our thinking in the area of giving! When we change our standard of giving, we change our standard of living.  

#seedtimeandharvest #devotional #giving #vcccharlotte #compassion 

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | April 1st

📖 I don’t mean to say I am perfect. I haven’t learned all I should even yet, but I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ saved me for and wants me to be. —Philippians 3:12 The Living Bible 

One thing that Paul was working towards was that he would eventually become what God had preordained for him to be. He talked about forgetting things from the past and moving towards the things that were before him. Paul had made some pretty big mistakes in his past. He had persecuted the church and had people put in prison for their beliefs. None of that mattered once he became born again. His goal was now to be all that God had called him to be. He worked tirelessly toward that goal, and nothing prevented him from accomplishing it. In fact, several of the epistles that he wrote were written from a prison cell. He experienced shipwrecks, beatings, snake bites, and other things, yet he did not quit. We must do the same thing. Regardless of what the enemy throws our way, we must not stop until we have become all that God wants us to be. 

#dontquit #paul #motivation #destiny #verseoftheday #devotional

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | March 31st

📖 From there he went all over Galilee. He used synagogues for meeting places and taught people the truth of God. God’s kingdom was his theme—that beginning right now they were under God’s government, a good government! He also healed people of their diseases and of the bad effects of their bad lives. Word got around the entire Roman province of Syria. People brought anybody with a sickness, whether mental, emotional, or physical. Jesus healed them, one and all. More and more people came, the momentum gathering. Besides those from Galilee, crowds came from the “Ten Towns” across the lake, others up from Jerusalem and Judea, still others from across the Jordan.
—Matthew 4:23-25 The Message 

God wants you well. God wants you well in every area of life. Jesus came to heal the sick, but not just those who were sick physically. Jesus came to heal the brokenhearted. Jesus came to heal the oppressed. Jesus came to set the captives free. God wants you free from a tormented mind. God does not want His children to have an unsettled, worried mind. We are to keep our mind on the Word of God. Keeping our mind on God will allow us to experience the peace of God. The Word of God is to be the anchor to our souls. That simply means that we can stay emotionally stable when hard times hit us because we are standing on God’s Word. 

We know that God wants us well physically. Jesus took the stripes on His back so that we could be made whole (Isaiah 53:5). III John 2 tells us that God desires for us to prosper and be in health even as our soul prospers. God wants us to prosper in our health, our soul, and in our finances. It is easier to help make someone whole, when we are walking in wholeness in our own lives. God wants us to be examples. We are His evidence that we can experience the blessed life that Jesus shed His blood for. That life is possible for us if we can believe in what the Bible tells us — that all things are possible to him who believes. 

#believers #vcccharlotte #allthingsarepossible #devotional #WordofGod 

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | March 30th

📖 A [self-confident] fool’s mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to himself. 
—Proverbs 18:7 AMPC  

A fool will destroy his own life with his own words. Think about that for a second. We can choose our words, but we must choose our words carefully. Proverbs 13:2, tells us that, “A good man eats good from the fruit of his mouth”. We determine how we eat based on our words. We determine the quality of life we live by the words we speak. If you don’t like the life you’re living, change the words that you are speaking. Death and life are in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21). It is in our best interest to speak words of life. Speak life over your children. Speak life over your health. Speak life over your finances. Don’t allow your lips to be a snare to yourself. Your words can bring ruin, or they can bring success; the choice is yours. 

#wordsoflife #vcccharlotte #speaklife #devotional 

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | March 28th

📖 Let the thief steal no more, but rather let him be industrious, making an honest living with his own hands, so that he may be able to give to those in need. 
—Ephesians 4:28 AMPC 

Paul is giving insight into the purpose of our paychecks. Our paychecks are not primarily for paying bills (you should pay your bills). Our paychecks are not primarily for purchasing items for ourselves and our families (it's okay if you do). The Word of God tells us that we work so that we can have money to give. This is how the Kingdom of God operates. It functions through the principle of seedtime and harvest. When we give, it shall be given to us again, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, shall men give unto our bosom (Luke 6:38). It is after we give that we can claim that God will meet our needs according to His riches and glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19). It is always better to give than to receive because giving puts us in a place of receiving. As we grow in faith, we should also grow in our giving. As we increase our giving, we can increase our receiving. It’s time for a shift in our thinking in the area of giving! When we change our standard of giving, we change our standard of living.  

#seedtimeandharvest #devotional #giving #vcccharlotte #compassion 

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | March 27th

📖 Do everything readily and cheerfully—no bickering, no second-guessing allowed! Go out into the world uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted society. Provide people with a glimpse of good living and of the living God. Carry the light-giving Message into the night so I’ll have good cause to be proud of you on the day that Christ returns. You’ll be living proof that I didn’t go to all this work for nothing. 
—Philippians 2:14-16 The Message 

As believers, we should stand out. There should be a difference between the way we act and the way the world acts. Our responses to trials and tribulations should be different. Christians should be a breath of fresh air. We don’t complain like the world. We walk with a different spirit. As believers, there is a difference in our countenance. Our job is to provide people with a glimpse of good living and of the living God. As Christians, we are God’s ambassadors. We carry the light giving Message wherever we go. Not only do we carry the Message, but we must also live the Message. We are living proof that Jesus is alive and His Word is true.  

#standout #vcccharlotte #different #devotional  

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | March 26th

📖 Then he said, “There was once a man who had two sons. The younger said to his father, ‘Father, I want right now what’s coming to me.’ 

“So the father divided the property between them. It wasn’t long before the younger son packed his bags and left for a distant country. There, undisciplined and dissipated, he wasted everything he had. After he had gone through all his money, there was a bad famine all through that country and he began to feel it. He signed on with a citizen there who assigned him to his fields to slop the pigs. He was so hungry he would have eaten the corn-cobs in the pig slop, but no one would give him any. 

—Luke 15: 11-16 The Message   

Are you a short-term thinker or a long-term thinker? This young man was only concerned about the present moment. He was ready to go and spend his money and have a good time. He did not consider his future. He did not think about the possibility of famine. He did not think about investing his money. He was only thinking about himself. He had the mindset of eating, drinking, and being merry. We cannot have that type of mindset. We must consider our ways. We must examine our spending habits. Are you a healthy eater? Do you exercise regularly? The things you do today will affect your tomorrow. Don’t be like this young man. Let’s be long-term thinkers, and not just short-term. Your future depends on it.  

#thinker #vcccharlotte #future #devotional 

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