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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | December 22nd

📖 Then this Daniel was distinguished above the presidents and the satraps because an excellent spirit was in him, and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. Then the presidents and satraps sought to find occasion [to bring accusation] against Daniel concerning the kingdom, but they could find no occasion or fault, for he was faithful, nor was there any error or fault found in him. -Daniel 6:3-4 Amplified Classic

As believers, our desire should be for our employers to say this about us. There should be a spirit of excellence in all of us because of who is dwelling on the inside of us. We expect excellence out of God. We expect Him to keep His Word. We expect Him to answer our prayers. We expect Him to be faithful to us. We have very high expectations of God. The question is, “Do you meet your supervisor’s expectations?” Do you walk in a spirit of excellence? Are there any errors or faults found in you? Of course, we know that no one is perfect. We are all striving to do better, so this is not to put you under condemnation. We want to always examine ourselves to see if there is room for improvement. If we don’t stay on top of ourselves, we can allow ourselves to get slack on our jobs. We must always remember that we are ambassadors of the Lord Jesus Christ. We must show people what a Christian is. One way we demonstrate this is how we perform on the job. We must walk in a spirit of excellence. 

#excellence #diligence #vcccharlotte #devotional #message #motivation 

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | December 21st

📖 “And a furious storm of wind [of hurricane proportions] arose, and the waves kept beating into the boat, so that it was already becoming filled. But He [Himself] was in the stern [of the boat], asleep on the [leather] cushion; and they awoke Him and said to Him, Master, do You not care that we are perishing? -Mark 4:37-41 Amplified Classic

How do you respond when a storm hits your life? The Bible tells us that “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34). When the disciples encountered the storm, they spoke fear. They believed they were going to die because of the storm. When Jesus was aware of the storm, He spoke faith. He spoke to the storm and the storm obeyed Him. There was a great calm. The disciples could have done the same thing. If they couldn’t, Jesus would not have asked them where was their faith? The storm is a revealer. It reveals what you truly believe. It reveals what is really in your heart. Let’s feed our spirits (heart) the Word of God. We want the Word to come out when the storm hits because the Word will give us victory over the storm. The Word causes us to overcome. The Word is our answer to every problem of life.

#WordofGod #calminthestorm #vcccharlotte #devotional #peacebestill #trustGod

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | December 20th

📖 “And Jehovah God made for Adam and for his wife coats of skins, and clothed them." -Genesis 3:21 American Standard Version

God clothed Adam and Eve after they sinned. He clothed them after they disobeyed him by eating the forbidden fruit. After Adam and Eve sinned, they attempted to clothe themselves with fig leaves. God is so merciful and compassionate. Even after they tried to take care of themselves, God clothed them with better. God still demonstrated His love for them even after they messed up. God has not changed. He wants us to run to Him when we mess up. He wants to clean us up and get us back on the right track. Many times, we are like Adam and Eve. When we mess up, we try to avoid God and try to take care of ourselves, but God’s ways are always higher than our ways. His way of doing things is always better than what we may come up with. God wants to be our Provider. He doesn’t want us to run from Him, He wants us to run to Him. He wants to restore us and cleanse us of all sin. God loves us, and He is always endeavoring to demonstrate His love toward us. Let's allow Him to. After all, He can take care of us better than we could take care of ourselves. 

#goodgoodfather #forgiveness #mercy #devotional #trustgod #restoration 

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | December 19th

📖 “Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created, and thou renewest the face of the earth." -Psalm 104:30 Darby Translation

In Genesis 1:2, the Spirit of God is moving upon waters, yet nothing is happening. He begins to move as God is speaking. As God says, “Let there be...”, the Spirit of God begins moving. ‘The Spirit of God is the muscle of God’, as one minister put it. The Spirit of God brought about the changes that God the Father was speaking of. The Spirit of God wants to change things in our lives as well. He wants to renew and restore. He wants to turn things around. We must give Him free course. We must speak the desired result. We must call those things that be not as though they were. We must speak God’s Word. When we speak God’s Word, we will have God’s results. Things that are dead will be made alive. There will be an end to chaos. There will be a change. The Spirit of God will set your world in order.

#spiritofGod #creation #vccharlotte #devotional #motivation #jesuschrist

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | December 18th

📖 “So we have many people of faith around us. Their lives tell us what faith means. So let us run the race that is before us and never give up. We should remove from our lives anything that would get in the way. And we should remove the sin that so easily catches us." - International Children’s Bible

We all have a race that is set before us. God expects us to not only run the race, but He expects us to finish the race. It takes faith to complete our race. We have the Word of God that builds our faith. The Bible tells us that, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. We also have examples of people who have accomplished remarkable things by faith for the glory of God. Some have authored books, and others have audio messages, giving their testimonies of what God has done in their lives. We can learn from those who have achieved, and we can imitate them as well. We can also remove the things from our lives that will hinder us from running our race. We can go to God, and He will show us the things that are possibly hindering us, and when we deal with those things, refusing to give up, we can run our race with patience and expectancy, knowing that we will eventually hear these words: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant”. 
 
#welldonethygoodandfaithfulservant #devotional #vcccharlotte #faithwalk #mondaymotivation 

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | December 17th

📖 “I have gained perfect freedom by following your teachings, and I trust them so much that I tell them to kings." -Psalms 119:45 Contemporary English Version

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 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 | December 16th

📖 “Be strong and courageous. Be not afraid or dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with him, for there is Another with us greater than [all those] 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 relied on the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.” -II Chronicles 32:7-8 Amplified Classic

As believers we always have an advantage. The world always leans to the ‘arm of flesh’. They make decisions based on what they can see and based on their own understanding. We are not limited to what we can see. We are not limited to our own reasonings and deductions. We can tap into the Wisdom of God! We can hear the Voice of God. God can and will lead us and guide us in the way that we should go. God will fight for us AND help us. We don’t have to figure things out on our own. We don’t have to fight our own battles.  We don’t have to be afraid of a man. He who is with us is greater than he who is against us. At the end of the day, we must rely on His words if we are going to see Him fight our battles.  

#leannotonyourownunderstanding #trustGod #vcccharlotte #devotional #verseoftheday 

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | December 15th

📖 “And behold, some men were bringing on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed, and they tried to carry him in and lay him before [Jesus]. But finding no way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him with his stretcher through the tiles into the midst, in front of Jesus." -Luke 5:18-19 Amplified Classic

The paralyzed man had some good friends. They refused to allow him to stay in that condition. They carried him to the house where Jesus was preaching, but they could not get in because of the crowd. They could have just given up. They could have walked away with a moral victory, but that wasn’t enough. They persisted. They got creative. They took their friend up on the roof and lowered him down where Jesus was. This took great faith. They had to cut a hole in the roof to let their friend down. Then there was no guarantee that Jesus would heal the man. They acted anyway and Jesus honored their friend. The paralyzed man was healed that day and walked home with his four friends. We all need friends like that. Friends that won’t let you stay the same. Friends that will make you better.

#friendshipgoals #bible #jesuschrist #healer #devotional #vccharlotte #message

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | December 14th

📖 “O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever" -I Chronicles 16:34 King James Version

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 #thankfulthursday #devotional #verseoftheday #vcccharlotte

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | December 13th

📖 “A fool’s mouth is his devastation, and his lips are a trap for his life.” -Proverbs 18:7 Holman Christian Standard Bible

Many of us have not received a revelation of the power of our words. The writer of Proverbs is telling us that a fool’s mouth is his destruction. The fool doesn’t understand the power of his words. He just says what he feels and thinks, regardless of whether it is good or bad, positive or negative. When we are careless with our words, we are allowing ourselves to be trapped by the wicked one. He can use our words to hold us in bondage to bad habits. He can use our words to keep us sick, broke, and oppressed. We must be disciplined with our words, saying what God says. We must speak about the desired, end result. Don’t ‘shoot yourself in the foot’, as they say. Don’t allow yourself to be your worst enemy. Use your words wisely. A fool’s mouth is his destruction, don’t let it be yours.

#powerofwords #devotional #wednesdaywisdom #message #verseoftheday

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | December 12th

📖 “For whoever is ashamed [here and now] of Me and My words in this adulterous (unfaithful) and [preeminently] sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when He comes in the glory (splendor and majesty) of His Father with the holy angels." -Mark 8:38 Amplified Bible

Have you ever spoken to someone in public and they acted like they did not know who you were? They acted like they were ashamed to speak to you or acknowledge you. How did that make you feel? I am sure that did not make you feel good. Imagine how our Father feels when we are ashamed to acknowledge Him in public. We don’t openly thank Him when something good happens. We may not want to pray over our food in the workplace. No one knows that you are a Christian except your family and maybe the people who attend church with you. God does not want us to be ashamed of Him. We are the light of the world. We are the salt of the earth. We are a city set on a hill that cannot be hidden. God wants our light to shine. We are to be His representatives. We are to be His ambassadors. He paid a great price for us, so we should show our gratitude. We should show our appreciation. If Jesus wasn’t afraid to die for us openly, then we should live for Him openly. After all, our life is not our own, we belong to Him.

#unashamed #116 #verseoftheday #message #vcccharlotte #christian #crucifixtion

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | December 11th

📖 “Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he ruled as king in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord but not with a completely committed heart.” -II Chronicles 25:1-2 Evangelical Heritage Version

God wants us to be obedient to His Word, but He also wants a committed heart. Many have a form of godliness but deny the power thereof. As believers, we must serve God with all our hearts. Isaiah 1:19 tells us that if we are “willing and obedient we will eat the good of the land.” God is fully committed to us. He demonstrated that commitment when He sent Jesus to the earth to die for humanity. God demonstrated His commitment to us then, and He continually demonstrates His faithfulness to us by staying committed to His Word. Amaziah obeyed God but was not committed to God in his heart. Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). When God looks at our heart, let’s make sure He sees a committed heart, not just an outward demonstration of obedience. Obedience is great, but obedience with an obedient heart is even better.

#faithfulness #devotional #obedience #trustGod #vcccharlotte

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | December 10th

📖 “And when they knew (perceived, recognized, understood, and acknowledged) the grace (God’s unmerited favor and spiritual blessing) that had been bestowed upon me, James and Cephas (Peter) and John, who were reputed to be pillars of the Jerusalem church, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, with the understanding that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised (Jews)." -Galatians 2:9 Amplified Bible Classic Edition

God knows how to confirm the gifts and the callings that are on our lives. Here it was confirmed and recognized that Paul had been called to the Gentiles and that Peter and John were sent to the Jewish people. The Bible tells us that “in the multitude of counselors there is safety”. Paul knew that he was called to the Gentiles, but it was later confirmed by these “pillars” of the church. There are times when we know what we are called to do and where we are called to do it. There are also times when God will confirm these details through a man or woman of God. John the Baptist knew who he was, and he knew his purpose. When they asked him if he was the Messiah, he would reply, “No”. He would then follow up by letting them know that he was the voice of one crying in the wilderness, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord”. God will confirm the calling, and He will put His stamp on what He has called us to do.

#gifts #devotional #vcccharlotte #trustGod #discernment #verseoftheday

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | December 9th

📖 “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 8th

📖 “Your words have been strong and hard against Me, says the Lord. Yet you say, What have we spoken against You? You have said, It is useless to serve God, and what profit is it if we keep His ordinances and walk gloomily and as if in mourning apparel before the Lord of hosts? Then those who feared the Lord talked often one to another; and the Lord listened and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him of those who reverenced and worshipfully feared the Lord and who thought on His name.” -Malachi 3:14-15 &17 Amplified Classic

What have you been saying? Would the Lord be pleased with what He has been hearing from your house? In the passage, He not only heard the words that were spoken against Him, but He also kept a record of those who said and believed the right thing. God once told His people through Moses that He was going to do to them what they had spoken in His ears. They had constantly said they were going to die in the wilderness. That is what eventually took place: they died in the wilderness. We must watch our words. We must always keep in mind that Heaven is listening, but Heaven will act on God’s Word. If we speak His words, then He (God) will act. If we don’t, He won’t. Our words can bring life, or our words can bring death. Which one would you desire for your life?

#watchyourmouth #devotional #moses #verseoftheday #tgif

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | December 7th

📖 “At last the wall was completed to half its original height around the entire city—for the workers worked hard.” -Nehemiah 4:6 The Living Bible

There is no substitute for hard work. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 5:3, “For a dream comes with much business and painful effort, and a fool’s voice with many words.” It takes diligence to accomplish a goal. It takes diligence to see the fulfillment of a dream. There is a time to pray, but then there is a time to work. It's been said that we should pray like it’s on God, but we should work like it's on us. Prayer has its place, but so does work. It may take late nights and early mornings, but it is all worth it in the end. The path to the prize is greater than the prize itself. The substance of the diligent is precious because the diligent knows what it took to get it. Laziness will get you nowhere. Diligence is the vehicle that will take you to success. Selah.

#diligence #hardwork #verseoftheday #vcccharlotte #dream

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | December 6th

📖 “The Lord will fight for you, and you won’t need to lift a finger!" -Exodus 14:14 Living Bible

Many of us are still learning to allow God to fight for us. When we are mistreated or misunderstood, we want to defend ourselves. We want to defend our reputation. We want people to know what really happened and to know our side of the story. We don’t want to be painted in a negative light. We don’t have to defend ourselves. God will fight for us. We won’t have to lift a finger. We won’t have to say a word. The angels will fight for us. Heaven will fight for us. Our job is to love our enemies. Our job is to keep our hearts clean: clean of animosity, clean of bitterness. We must act like ‘love children’ of a ‘love God’. We are to imitate God as dear children. We are to allow His love to flow from us to the world. We are to be His ambassadors. We are to be His representatives.

#letgodwork #motivation #verseoftheday #wednesdaywisdom #forgiveness

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | December 5th

📖 “Jesus was about thirty years old when he began his public ministry.” -Luke 3:23 The Living Bible

Jesus began His ministry at the age of thirty. He began His preparation at the age of twelve and that would mean He had eighteen years of preparation. Jesus' ministry lasted three and a half years, but it was three and a half years of maximum impact. We must be willing to prepare for whatever God has preordained for us, and we must be willing to prepare for as long as it takes. God knows how to prepare us for what He has called us to do. As a teenager, David was anointed king but did not become king until he was thirty years old. We are not born qualified; we must become qualified. We must be willing to allow God to qualify us through His training and preparation. God knows what it takes for us to succeed, and we must trust Him. He knows what He is doing.

#trustGod #verseotheday #jesuschrist #preparation #ministry #vcccharlotte

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | December 4th

📖 “It is because of the Lord’s mercy and loving-kindness that we are not consumed, because His [tender] compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great and abundant is Your stability and faithfulness.” -Lamentations 3:22-23 Amplified Bible Classic Edition

Thank God for His mercy. Thank God for His compassion. If it weren’t for His mercy, we would all be consumed. God’s mercies are new every morning. That is not a license to sin, it is another reminder of His goodness and love towards us. Later, the verse tells us that God’s faithfulness is great! God is faithful to His Word. He is watching over His Word to perform it. The Word of God tells us that He keeps covenant to a thousand generations. Because God is bound by His Word, He must continue to be merciful and faithful. We may be inconsistent at times in our walk with God, but God is always the same. There is no variable or shadow of turning in God (James 1:17). He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). You can always count on God, and you can always count on His Word.

#faithfulGod #mercy #vcccharlotte #dailydevotional #motivation

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | December 3rd

📖 “O my God, I trust, lean on, rely on, and am confident in You. Let me not be put to shame or [my hope in You] be disappointed; let not my enemies triumph over me. Yes, let none who trust and wait hopefully and look for You be put to shame or be disappointed; let them be ashamed who forsake the right or deal treacherously without cause.” -Psalm 25:2-3 Amplified Bible Classic Edition

We don’t ever have to worry about being put to shame when we put our trust in God. He will never fail or forsake us. He is a very present help in the time of trouble. We can lean on Him, and we can trust in Him. Furthermore, we can count on Him to do exactly what He said He would do. It is impossible for God to lie! If He said it, He will do it. If He spoke it, He will bring it to pass. It is a divine truth that God cannot lie. Therefore, we can trust Him. Therefore, we can put our hope in Him. God is faithful, and He keeps covenant to a thousand generations. We can never be disappointed when we truly put our trust and confidence in God.

#noworry #devotional #covenant #vcccharlotte #Godcannotlie #trust

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