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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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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | December 31st

📖 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 3:13-14 AMPC

God wants us to experience new things in the new year. God wants to do great things for us in the new year, but we must move forward if we are going to walk in all that God has for us in the new year. I am sure that in this past year, there were some great moments, and I am sure there were some not so great moments. Regardless of what we experienced, we must be willing to move on from the past. Some people’s past will always be greater than their present or future, because that is all that they want to focus on. They always talk about their high school years. They talk about their college years, but that is all that they want to talk about. They have no goals for the future. They have no future aspirations. They have not sought the Lord when it comes to His plans for their lives, so they are stuck in the past. God does not want us to be stuck. The past is to be a reference point, not a place to stay. Let’s not get stuck in the past. God has so much more in store. He wants to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we can ask or think, if we would just let Him. 

#moveforward #devotional #trustGod #vcccharlotte 

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | December 30th

📖 “And if your hand puts a stumbling block before you and causes you to sin, cut it off! It is more profitable and wholesome for you to go into life that is really worthwhile] maimed than with two hands to go to hell (Gehenna), into the fire that cannot be put out. And if your foot is a cause of stumbling and sin to you, cut it off! It is more profitable and wholesome for you to enter into life [that is really worthwhile] crippled than, having two feet, to be cast into hell (Gehenna). And if your eye causes you to stumble and sin, pluck it out! It is more profitable and wholesome for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell (Gehenna)” -Mark 9:43,45, 47 Amplified Classic

We should not allow anything in our lives that will cause us to miss heaven. No individual is worth missing heaven over. No sin is worth missing heaven for. No vice, no shortcoming--nothing should cause us to be eternally separated from our Father in heaven. Jesus went as far as to say that it was better to go to heaven maimed than to go to hell whole. Heaven is better than anything we could ever imagine. On the other side of that, hell is worse than anything that we could ever imagine. Let us always examine ourselves. Let’s remove every hindrance and every obstacle. There is nothing in this world worth missing heaven over. Nothing!

#heaven #stumblingblock #Godisgood #verseofthday #vcccharlotte

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | December 29th

📖 “But throughout the history of these kingdoms, the God of heaven will be building a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will this kingdom ever fall under the domination of another. In the end it will crush the other kingdoms and finish them off and come through it all standing strong and eternal. It will be like the stone cut from the mountain by the invisible hand that crushed the iron, the bronze, the ceramic, the silver, and the gold. 
—Daniel 2:44 The Message 

We were once a part of an inferior kingdom. We were once under the dominion and control of Satan, the god(ruler) of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4). Satan’s kingdom is an inferior kingdom. When Jesus was on the earth, He overcame Satan and his demons repeatedly. Jesus represented a much stronger kingdom. We are in that kingdom now. There is authority and power in this kingdom. The Bible tells us that the whole world is under the influence of the wicked one (Ephesians 2:2). Satan has no power over us because we are no longer in his kingdom. He cannot control us, and he has no more influence over us. The Bible tells us that we are to resist him (I Peter 5:9). We are to stand against him and every demonic spirit (Ephesians 6: 13-14). Jesus once said that He “saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” (Luke 10:18). Satan has never been a match for God and He never will. When you get a revelation of the kingdom that you belong to, Satan will never be a match for you either. We have access to everything that Jesus has access to. We ought to overcome the way He does. The Bible tells us that, as He is, so are we in this world (I John 4:17). God expects us to lead an overcoming life. We are to be more than conquerors through Him that loves us (Romans 8:37). 

#devotional #thekingdom #vcccharlotte #overcomers  

 

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | December 27th

📖 Let us look closely at our ways and examine them and then return to the Lord. 
—Lamentations 3:40 GWT 

Every now and then, we have to examine our lives. Sometimes, we can get off track and not realize it. Other times, we can find ourselves in a state of unbelief or in a place where we aren’t trusting God as we once did. We can become so busy that we aren’t praying or reading the Word like we used to. The good thing is that we can always get ourselves back on track. We can always return to the Lord. Returning to the Lord doesn’t always mean we are living a life of sin. It could also mean that we need a personal revival. We need to do things the way we once did. God is always reaching out to us; the key is how we respond. We can always come back if we have drifted away. 

#Godlovesyou #devotional #vcccharlotte #meditate

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | December 26th

📖 And they kept bringing young children to Him that He might touch them, and the disciples were reproving them [for it]. 

But when Jesus saw [it], He was indignant and pained and said to them, Allow the children to come to Me—do not forbid or prevent or hinder them—for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 

Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive and accept and welcome the kingdom of God like a little child [does] positively shall not enter it at all. 

And He took them [the children up one by one] in His arms and [fervently invoked a] blessing, placing His hands upon them. 
—Mark 10: 13-16 AMPC 

God cares about children. Children represent the next generation. God instructed His people to diligently teach the children His laws. God is a generational God. He knows and understands the importance of children. Judges 2:10 tells us, “And also all that generation were gathered to their fathers, and there arose another generation after them who did not know (recognize, understand) the Lord, or even the work which He had done for Israel.” Israel had failed to teach the children the precepts and the laws of God. That generation did not know God. We must not allow that to be said about the next generation in our lifetime. We must love our children the way God does. Let’s do what we can to give God another generation. Taking them to church, teaching them the Bible, taking them to Sunday School and getting them involved in ministry is a great way to expose our children to the anointing. We must do our part. Let’s continue to give God another generation. 

#generations #vcccharlotte #children #devotional 

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | December 25th

📖 And her [promised] husband Joseph, being a just and upright man and not willing to expose her publicly and to shame and disgrace her, decided to repudiate and dismiss (divorce) her quietly and secretly. But as he was thinking this over, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary [as] your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of (from, out of) the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus [the Greek form of the Hebrew Joshua, which means Savior], for He will save His people from their sins [that is, prevent them from failing and missing the true end and scope of life, which is God]. -Matthew 1:19-21 Amplified Bible Classic Edition 

As we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, let’s not forget about the part that Mary and Joseph played. Both individuals said yes to the plan of God. They both understood the magnitude of saying yes to what the angel had said. Mary and Joseph knew that they might be ridiculed and disdained because Mary would give birth to a child before they were married. People wouldn’t have known what God had said to them, but they said yes anyway. Jesus came into this earth to parents who submitted to the will of God. We must follow their example. Regardless of what it may look like to the outside world, we must obey God. We must follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit when it doesn’t make sense in the natural. When we hear from God, and know that we heard from Him, we must follow Him. We must be like Jesus, when He said not my will, but your will be done. God’s path is always the best path. His way is always the best way. 

#christmastime #jesusisthereasonfortheseason #jesuschrist #devotional #Christmas

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | December 25th

📖 And I said, Who are You, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus, Whom you are persecuting. 

But arise and stand upon your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, that I might appoint you to serve as [My] minister and to bear witness both to what you have seen of Me and to that in which I will appear to you, 

Choosing you out [selecting you for Myself] and delivering you from among this [Jewish] people and the Gentiles to whom I am sending you— 

To open their eyes that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may thus receive forgiveness and release from their sins and a place and portion among those who are consecrated and purified by faith in Me. 
—Acts 26:15-18 AMPC

As we walk with God, we don’t have to guess what His plan is for our lives. We don’t have to wonder what His plan is. God will reveal everything that He has preordained for us to walk in. When Paul had his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, Jesus shared with Him His plan and His assignment for Paul’s life. Paul knew whom he was sent to. He knew what he was called to do, and he found out in his initial encounter with Jesus. God is no respecter of persons. We don’t have to be in the dark. We don’t have to be clueless concerning the will of God. If we seek, we shall find. If we ask, it will be given to us. We can be “in the know” concerning the will of God. 

#WillofGod #trustGod #God’splan #walkwithHim #revelation

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | December 24th

📖 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 | December 23rd

📖 And it is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life—this is indeed a gift from God. 
—Ecclesiastes 5:19 The New Living Translation   

Did you notice in this Scripture what a gift from God looks like? It doesn’t say that poverty and lack is a gift from God. It doesn’t say that sickness is a gift from God. Wealth and health are the examples given of what a gift from God looks like. This Scripture sounds like James 1:17, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights”. God is a good God. All throughout the Word of God we see the Word of God portray God as a good Father who wants to bless His children with good things. He takes pleasure in the prosperity of His servants (Psalms 35:27). He gives us the power to get wealth (Deuteronomy 8:18). Jesus even told us that it was His Father’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom (Luke 12:32). Jesus also told us to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things (clothes, food, provision, etc.) will be added to us (Matthew 6:33). Let us never lose sight of this fact: God is a good God, and the devil is a bad devil.  

#giftfromGod #vcccharlotte #prosperity #devotional  

 

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | December 22nd

📖 Jesus answered him, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, that unless a person is born again (anew, from above), he cannot ever see (know, be acquainted with, and experience) the kingdom of God. —John 3:3 AMPC

If one wants to be a bonafide child of God, that person must be born again. They simply must ask Jesus Christ to come into their heart and confess Him as Lord (Romans 10:9-10). It is quite simple. Works will not get you born-again. You can never work your way to Heaven. You can never earn your salvation; but you can simply receive what has already been done. Jesus has already paid the price for sin. Our works do not produce righteousness. Righteousness produces good works. If you haven’t done so already, receive Jesus Christ today! Don’t you want to spend eternity with God? 

#salvation #devotional #vcccharlotte #childofGod

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | December 20th

📖 So, convinced by him, they took his advice; and summoning the apostles, they flogged them and sternly forbade them to speak in or about the name of Jesus, and allowed them to go. 

So they went out from the presence of the council (Sanhedrin), rejoicing that they were being counted worthy [dignified by the indignity] to suffer shame and be exposed to disgrace for [the sake of] His name. 

Yet [in spite of the threats] they never ceased for a single day, both in the temple area and at home, to teach and to proclaim the good news (Gospel) of Jesus [as] the Christ (the Messiah). 
—Acts 5:40-42 AMPC 

What would you do in this situation? Would you have cried the blues? Would you have complained? The apostles were doing the Lord’s work. They were healing the people and setting them free from demonic oppression. These men were beaten and told not to preach anymore in the Name of Jesus. The apostles were not a bunch of cowards. They were not pushovers. They were not moved by what happened to them. These men rejoiced even after they were flogged. They continued to teach and preach the Word of God after they were told not to. The apostles were committed to carrying out the Great Commission. They were committed to the cause of Christ. God should expect nothing less from us. We rejoice when we are persecuted. We live the life of a Christian, regardless of the cost. We are not moved by the threats of men. If God be for us, who can be against us? 

#committed #vcccharlotte #wearenotmoved #devotionals 

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | December 19th

📖 John replied, “God in heaven appoints each man’s work.” —John 3:27 The Living Bible 

What type of business are you in? Isn’t this a common question? Upon meeting a stranger, one of the first things we want to know is what they do for a living. Instead of asking what they do for a living, maybe the question should be asked, “Are you doing the work that God has appointed you?” A person may be successful in their field of endeavor, but are they in the field that God has selected for them? Are they doing the work appointed by God or are they doing the work they appointed for themselves? People select their occupation for many different reasons. Some are in their field because of the income it pays. Some are in their field because of the benefits. We want to be where God wants us to be because God knows what is best for lives. True success is in being in the will of God. We should constantly examine our lives and make sure we are in line with God. We want to be doing the work appointed by the God in heaven. 

#truesuccess #vcccharlotte #theLord’swork #devotional #God’sbest

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