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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | November 12th

📖 “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 Amplified Bible Classic Edition

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. He knew that he was nothing without God. 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 | November 11th

📖 “For the dream comes through much effort, and the voice of a fool through many words." -Ecclesiastes 5: 3 New American Standard Bible

It has been said that a dream, whether big or small, will have the same cost – your life. That simply means that your dreams will require a lot of your time and effort. It will mean getting up early and staying up late. It will mean sacrificing meals at time. It may mean sacrificing time with your friends because you are working towards your goals. It could mean some lonely times because the dream will require you to be away from others so that you can work. Dreams cost. The bigger the dream, the higher the cost. We must be willing to ‘pay in full’ before we can experience the dream. Everything we want in life must be paid for in advance. You must pay the price of admission before you are allowed to experience the show, the movie, or the performance. The same thing goes for our dreams. We must pay the price of admission before we see the realization of the goal.

#dreams #devotional #perseverance #vcccharlotte #goals

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | November 10th

📖 “Afterward, the prophet came to the king of Israel and said, “Strengthen your position and see what must be done, because next spring the king of Aram will attack you again.” -1 Kings 20:22 NKJV

Ahab, with the help of the Lord, defeated the Syrian Army; and the prophet let him know that he must strengthen himself because the enemy was going to come back again. When we win battles against the enemy, we must always remember that he will try to come back again. We see this in the life of Jesus after Satan tempted him. Luke 4:13 talks about how after the temptations, Satan “departed from Him until an opportune time.” We know that the enemy is coming back again, so we must strengthen and fortify ourselves. How do we do that? One of the ways that we can strengthen ourselves is by studying and meditating upon the Word of God. As we continue to do this, the Word of God can get into our spirits and be used as a weapon against the enemy. We saw Jesus use the Word of God as a weapon against the devil for every temptation that Satan threw his way, and we can have that same victory over the devil. As we strengthen ourselves for the upcoming battles, let us not neglect the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

#WordofGod #devotional #victory #verseoftheday

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | November 9th

📖 “Though the fig tree does not blossom and there is no fruit on the vines, [though] the product of the olive fails and the fields yield no food, though the flock is cut off from the fold and there are no cattle in the stalls,Yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will exult in the [victorious] God of my salvation! The Lord God is my Strength, my personal bravery, and my invincible army; He makes my feet like hinds' feet and will make me to walk [not to stand still in terror, but to walk] and make [spiritual] progress upon my high places [of trouble, suffering, or responsibility]!” -Habakkuk 3:17-19 AMPC

The prophet here is taking a significant stance. He is taking a stance of Victory. He is saying that it doesn't matter what it looks like, I'm going to rejoice in the Lord. He was saying that he wasn't going to focus on his circumstances; instead, he was going to rejoice. He knew that God would cause him to prevail. He knew that God would cause him to make progress and excel in life. Let's be like the prophet. Let's keep our eyes on the right thing. Let’s set our gaze on the rock of our salvation. Let's keep our eyes on the One who always causes us to triumph in every situation. We look to the hills from where our help comes from, our help comes from the Lord. 

#devotional # vcccharlotte #iamvictory #Godhelpus #strength 

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | November 8th

📖 “But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you —see that you also excel in this grace of giving." -2 Corinthians 8:7 New International Version

God desires for us to excel in every area of our lives. The church in Corinth was excelling in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness (or diligence), and in love. That is impressive. Despite their excelling in these areas, Paul admonished them to excel in giving. Giving not only bestows blessings to others, but it also causes blessings to come our way. When we give, it is given back to us again, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over (Luke 6:38). Our giving causes others to give thanks to God because we were the channel that God used to be a blessing. God delights in our excelling in everything we do. If we haven’t started to excel in our giving, it's definitely time that we do. It is more blessed to give, than to receive (Acts 20:35). When we start to excel in that area, we will understand why.

#giver #generosity #Goodgod #verseoftheday #devotional

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | November 7th

📖 “When Jesus had finished saying all these things he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the time has come. Reveal the glory of your Son so that he can give the glory back to you. I brought glory to you here on earth by doing everything you told me to." -John 17:1,4 The Living Bible

Jesus did not come to the earth to bring himself glory. Jesus came into the earth to do the will of His Father and to bring Him glory. Jesus wanted His glory revealed, just so that He could give it right back to His Father. We are here to bring God glory. We are not here so that we can be magnified. We are not here to bring attention to ourselves. We are here to honor God with our lives. We bring Him glory by carrying out His will for our lives. We honor Him by obeying His Word. If we humble ourselves, God will exalt us. When that takes place, we give Him the glory because if it weren’t for Him, there would be no exaltation. We are not our own, we have been bought with a price. Let’s bring God glory today. Let’s walk in obedience and follow His plans for our lives. It’s the least we can do. He is our sufficiency; He is our ability. We are who we are by His grace.

#devotional #allglorytoGod #verseoftheday #vcccharlotte

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | November 6th

📖 “When they arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the half shekel [the temple tax] went up to Peter and said, Does not your Teacher pay the half shekel? He answered, Yes. And when he came home, Jesus spoke to him [about it] first, saying, What do you think, Simon? From whom do earthly rulers collect duties or tribute—from their own sons or from others not of their own family? And when Peter said, From other people not of their own family, Jesus said to him, Then the sons are exempt. However, in order not to give offense and cause them to stumble [that is, to cause them to judge unfavorably and unjustly] go down to the sea and throw in a hook. Take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find there a shekel. Take it and give it to them to pay the temple tax for Me and for yourself.” -Matthew 17:24-27 Amplified Bible Classic Edition

God knows how to meet your need. He knows how to get money to you. He knows how to feed you. He had the ravens feed Elijah. He multiplied fish and bread for the people who listened to Jesus preach for several days. He caused a fish to swallow money so that the money would be in his mouth when Peter went fishing. God will do whatever He needs to do to meet your needs. He caused water to come out of a rock when the Israelites needed water in the desert and caused manna to come from heaven to feed them as well. We can rest assured that God will come through for us when we put our complete dependence on Him. He knows how to make a way where there is no way.

#devotional #JehovahJireh #Provider #Godisgood #vcccharlotte

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | November 5th

📖 “Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the Lord be with thee.” -I Samuel 17:36-37 King James Version

Never run from an opportunity to see the Hand of God. David could have run from the lion and the bear; but if he did, he would have missed an opportunity to see God’s hand of protection. Many times, when we encounter obstacles and challenges, we want to run from them, or we don’t want to deal with it at all. When we run from challenges, we miss out on seeing God come through for us. The more we see God come through, the easier it should be to handle the next test or trial. The trying of our faith is to ‘make us perfect and entire wanting nothing’. It is to make us stronger and our trust in God deeper. When the devil attacks, don’t run from the challenge, run to the answer. God is always our answer. He is a very present help in the time of trouble.

#help #devotional #vcccharlotte #davidandgoliath #motivation

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | November 4th

📖 “For we walk by faith, not by sight [living our lives in a manner consistent with our confident belief in God’s promises]—” -II Corinthians 5:7 Amplified Bible

The Christian walk is a walk of faith. We believe in a God that we cannot see with the physical eye. We believe that we are going to a Heaven we have never seen. We believe our names are written in the Book of Life even though we have not seen the book. We walk by faith and not by sight; it’s a faith life. We also believe and act on the Word of God, independent of what we see. We follow God’s commandments and endeavor to live a life that is pleasing unto Him. We stand on His promises, regardless of what we feel in our physical bodies, regardless of what is going on in our finances, or in any other situation in our lives. We believe God’s Word because His Word has the power to change whatever is going on in our bodies, finances, and any other area of our lives. God’s Word is truth, and He can be depended upon. We walk by faith, and not by sight.  

#faithwalk #dailydevotional #christianity #walkbyfaithnotbysight 

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | November 3rd

📖 “For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death, [in the hope]" -Philippians 3:10 Amplified Bible Classic Edition

It appears that one of Paul’s main goals in life was to know God more intimately. Paul seemed to have a healthy obsession with God. He talked about how he prayed in tongues more than all of those in the church of Corinth. He talked about how he did not want to frustrate the grace of God, and that is why he worked so hard. He was willing to go through whatever he had to go through to fulfill the call of God that was on his life.

Paul wanted to have a deeper, more intimate relationship with God. It meant more to him than anything else, and that should be our attitude. We should love God with all our heart, mind, body and soul. We should love Him with our entire being. There are times in our lives when we have to examine our walk with God. We have to search our hearts and make sure that there is nothing in our lives that is more important than God. It’s in Him that we live, and move, and have our being. So, let’s make Him a priority.

#firstthingsfirst #devotional #prayer #paul #honorGod

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | November 2nd

📖 “But by the grace (the unmerited favor and blessing) of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not [found to be] for nothing (fruitless and without effect). In fact, I worked harder than all of them [the apostles], though it was not really I, but the grace (the unmerited favor and blessing) of God which was with me.”- I Corinthians 15:10 AMPC

When there is an appreciation for where God brought you from, it should cause you to go all out for Him. Paul was saying that he did not want God’s grace to be in vain. He did not want what God did for him to be for nothing. God’s grace caused him to work even harder. It caused him to maximize every day. It caused him to press through every challenge and every difficulty. It didn’t really matter what happened in Paul’s life, he refused to frustrate the grace of God. Many of the epistles that are in the Bible were written while Paul was in prison. Prison could not stop Paul. Shipwrecks, stonings, beatings--nothing hindered Paul from finishing his course. If the grace of God could push Paul, how more should it push us? It should push us to finish our course, to stand before God and hear, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”

#faithfulservant #Godsgrace #bible #push #apostlepaul #vcccharlotte

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | November 1st

📖 "It is true that we live in the world, but we do not fight from worldly motives. The weapons we use in our fight are not the world's weapons but God's powerful weapons, which we use to destroy strongholds. We destroy false arguments; we pull down every proud obstacle that is raised against the knowledge of God; we take every thought captive and make it obey Christ." -II Corinthians 10:3-5 Good News Translation

As believers, it is important for us to see things from a spiritual perspective. When we encounter situations and circumstances that are contrary, we must remind ourselves that our weapons are not carnal, but they are spiritual. We have the Name of Jesus, the Blood of Jesus, the Word of God, the Spirit of God, and the whole armor of God. These weapons are sufficient to combat the devil when he comes against us. We must fight the battle in the spiritual realm and in the mental realm. We must cast down imaginations and take every thought captive that goes against the Word of God. We do not want to give the enemy any place in our lives. Many times, he is granted access through our thoughts. Let's commit to KEEP the devil out of our lives. We win in the spirit realm and in the mental realm; and, when we win in those areas, we win in the natural realm too.

#spiritualwarfare #devotional #resistthedevil #motivation #vcccharlotte

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | October 31st

📖 “And Jesus said to him, I will come and restore him. 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. For I also am a man subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my slave, Do this, and he does it." -Matthew 8:7-9 Amplified Bible Classic Edition

The centurion had a revelation that most of the people did not have. He told Jesus that He did not have to come to his house. He simply asked Jesus to speak the Word only, and His servant would be healed’. He then expounded on why he said what he said. The centurion understood authority. Just like his soldiers were subject to him with his position, the sickness that was afflicting his servant was subject to Jesus and would obey Jesus the way his servants obeyed him. We must have the same revelation. Not only will sickness and disease obey Jesus, but it will also obey us. When we understand the authority that has been delegated to us, we will speak a word to sickness and disease, and it will obey us. We will have what we say when we don’t doubt it in our hearts. God sees us as kings, and the Word tells us that where the word of a king is there is power (Ecclesiastes 8:4). Let us not forget about the power that is in our words.

#powerofwords #devotional #JesusChrist #verseoftheday #authority

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | October 30th

📖 “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" -Matthew 7:7-8,11 KJV

Notice how God wants to give good things to His children? All we need to do is ask. Whatever we have need of, God just wants us to simply ask. It's His desire to take care of us and to have the best. He has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness. The Bible even tells us that if God did not spare His Son, will He not freely give us all things? (Romans 8:32).  The book of James tells us that we have not because we ask not; but we also have not because we don’t ask IN FAITH. When we ask, we must ask expectantly, knowing that we will receive whatever we ask from our Heavenly Father. God wants to manifest Himself in our lives, and He can do just that when we invite Him to do so. Let's not lose sight of the fact that we invite Him in through prayer. So, go to Him and share your thoughts, desires and concerns. 
 
#praywithoutceasing #GoodFather #dailydevotional #motivation 

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | October 29th

📖 “However, the Lord, the God of Israel, chose me before all my father’s house to be king over Israel forever. For He chose Judah to be the ruler; and of the house of Judah he chose the house of my father; and among the sons of my father He was pleased to make me king over all Israel; And of all my sons, for the Lord has given me many sons, He has chosen Solomon my son to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel. And He said to me, Solomon your son shall build My house and My courts, for I have chosen him to be My son, and I will be his father.” -I Chronicles 28:4-6 Amplified Bible Classic Edition

God has a destiny for all of us. He wrote the story of our lives while we were being formed in our mother’s womb (Psalm 139:16 AMP). God chose David to be king over Israel. Then He chose Solomon, out of all his sons, to take over the throne from David. It is important that we walk out what God has chosen us to do and not what we have chosen for ourselves. God is smarter than us, and He loves us more than we love ourselves. He has equipped us for what He has chosen us for. The gifts and talents that God has blessed us with are irrevocable. Many times, we want to carve our own paths, but we must travel the path that God has preordained for us to walk. When we do, we know that He will go before us and make the crooked places straight. God’s ways are always higher than ours.

#destiny #purposedriven #godswaysarehigher #vcccharlotte #giftsandtalents

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | October 28th

📖 “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him; I will set him on high, because he knows and understands My name [has a personal knowledge of My mercy, love, and kindness-trusts and relies on Me, knowing I will never forsake him, no, never]. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him My salvation." -Psalm 91:14-16 AMPC

God promises to come through for us when we call upon His Name. He promises to deliver us, honor us, and bless us with long life. He promises to never forsake us, and God loves us and desires the best for us. Even when we miss it or make bad decisions, if we recognize our errors and come to God with a repentant heart, He is always willing to help us and to deliver us out of every negative situation. When we find ourselves in a tight spot, we need to run to God. He always has the solution. He always has the answer, and He is all that we need.

#solution #devotional #Godspromises #repentantheart

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | October 27th

📖 “Another said, “Yes, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say good-bye to my family.” But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.” -Luke 9:61-62 New Living Translation

God expects us to move forward in life. He does not want us living in what happened yesterday, whether it was good or bad. When it comes to our past, we must be like Paul. We must forget those things that are behind us and move toward in the things that God has preordained for us to walk in. The past can hinder us. It can hold us back. That’s why God does not want us living in the past. He wants to take us from glory to glory. He wants our lives to continue to get better and better. We cannot be like Lot’s wife: she looked back, and it cost her. Looking back can cost us as well. We must remove all hindrances from our lives and remember that looking back can actually be a hindrance in and of itself. So, let's keep moving forward! God will go before us and make the crooked places straight as we do.

#keepmovin #eyesonJesus #dailydevotional #vcccharlotte #bible

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | October 26th

📖 “He who covers his transgressions will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes his sins will obtain mercy.” -Proverbs 28:13 Amplified Bible Classic Edition

We serve a faithful God. He is faithful to forgive us of our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness when we confess our sin (I John 1:9). There are no perfect people. The only perfect person to walk the earth was Jesus Christ Himself. God knows that we will miss the mark at times, and He will forgive us when we do. The mistake that many Christians make is that we try to hide our sin instead of confessing it and turning our back on it. Sin is a destroyer. The Bible tells us that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). God has given us the victory over sin, and sin does not have to have dominion over us. God’s mercy is new every morning, but we should not frustrate the grace of God. We should endeavor to look more and more like Christ. As we do, we will sin less and less. The price of sin is too high of a price to pay. Jesus has already paid it all so that we can be free from sin. Our appreciation for His sacrifice should cause us to forsake sin and embrace His Righteousness.

#faithful #devotional #righteousness #forgiveness #sin #freedominChrist

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | October 25th

📖 “I am the Lord, and I do not change. And so you, the descendants of Jacob, are not yet completely lost." -Malachi 3:6 Good News Translation

Aren't you glad that God doesn’t change? He is still a healer. He is still a deliverer. He is still a restorer. Everything that you read in the Word about God is still true today. He is still merciful. He is still a covenant keeping God, and there is nothing too difficult or too hard for Him. God’s Word is His résumé’. It allows you to see what He can do and what He is capable of. He cannot lie, and therefore, He can be trusted. People can flip flop. Humans can say one thing and mean something else. Human beings can be flaky, but not our God. He is always the same, yesterday, today, and forever.

#faithfulGod #Hebrews13v8 #devotional #verseoftheday #vcccharlotte

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | October 24th

📖 “Be not forward (self-assertive and boastfully ambitious) in the presence of the king, and stand not in the place of great men; For better it is that it should be said to you, Come up here, than that you should be put lower in the presence of the prince, whose eyes have seen you.” -Proverbs 25:6-7 Amplified Bible Classic Edition

Humility is a characteristic that we must all possess in order for us to be promoted. God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. The Bible tells us to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God and that He will exalt us in time. The problem with many believers is that they want to promote themselves. They are always networking or trying to get themselves in front of the right people. Our confidence can never be in man. Our confidence must always remain in God. We are thankful for the talents and the abilities that He has blessed us with, but we must understand that we are who we are by His grace, and we cannot allow ourselves to be full of pride. It is better for us to take the lower place and to be called up, than to take the higher position and then be humiliated when asked to go and take the lower position. God knows how to elevate us; so we must allow Him to do it and not try to intervene ourselves.

#humility #character #dailydevotional #vcccharlotte #message

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