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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | December 31st

📖 "The eyes of the Lord are toward the [uncompromisingly] righteous and His ears are open to their cry. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their distress and troubles." -Psalm 34:15-17 Amplified Bible Classic Edition

It pays to be a child of God. Being a member of the Body of Christ has its privileges. As we walk with God and serve Him, we know that if we find ourselves in trouble, we can get God’s attention when we cry out to Him. It's not a cry of despair, it’s a cry of faith. When we act in faith, we can expect God to move on our behalf. When we act in faith, we are simply acting on the Word of God. God tells us that when we ask, we can expect to receive. If we ask God for help, we can expect to receive it. He hears us when we call, and He delivers us from all troubles. It does not matter what type of trouble you find yourself in; God is always able to deliver. God will always honor His Word in our lives. He is watching over His Word to perform it. 
 
#OurDeliverer #faithfulGod #vcccharlotte #devotional 

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | December 30th

📖 "Now, dear children, live in Christ. Then, when he appears we will have confidence, and when he comes we won’t turn from him in shame." -I John 2:28 God’s Word Translation    

Jesus is coming soon. We must all be prepared for Him when He returns. We don’t want to be like the bridesmaids in Matthew 25. When the bridegroom showed up, five of the bridesmaids were prepared and went into the wedding hall, but the other five had to go and purchase oil for their lamps. When they were finally ready, the door had been shut, and they were not allowed in. We want to be ready. We don’t want to be in the middle of sinning when the trump of God sounds. We don’t want to be involved in any questionable activity when Jesus returns. We want to stay vigilant and watchful. We don’t want to be ashamed when He comes. We must be ready.  No man knows the day or the hour. Jesus is coming soon! 

#Jesusiscomingsoon #devotional #message #Jesuschrist #vcccharlotte #getready 

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | December 29th

📖 "Joshua asked the Israelites, How long will you be slack to go in and possess the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you?" -Joshua 18:3 Amplified Classic Bible    

We have all been slack in certain areas of our lives. One thing we can continue to get stronger in, is possessing all that God has for us. We don’t want to be like the Israelites, we don’t want to be slack concerning the promises of God. We don’t want to leave anything on the table. We should want everything that God has for us. It will take effort on our part. It will take diligence. We have to take it. God had given them (the Israelites) the promised land, but there were giants that had to be defeated. They had to ‘take’ the Promised Land even though it had been promised to them. We also must take the land (promises). We must slay every giant. We cannot be satisfied until we experience all that God has for us. That is truly the abundant life. 

#vcccharlotte #Joshua #verseoftheday #godlovesyou #prosperity #promisedland #righteous 

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | December 28th

📖 "David inquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand? And the Lord said to David, Go up, for I will surely deliver [them] into your hand." -II Samuel 5:10 Amplified Classic    

How many mistakes could we have avoided if we inquired of the Lord more? How many hardships could we have avoided if we simply sought the Lord about what to do next? God knows the future. God knows every detail of every situation we face, and yet we still try to figure things out on our own. At times, we still lean to our own understanding concerning life-changing matters. God wants to lead us and guide us by His Spirit. He wants to tell us what to do, so that we can avoid any pitfalls and struggles. God wants to instruct us. He wants us to experience His goodness and His faithfulness in every area of our lives, but He will not force it on us. He is a gentleman. Let’s cut down on the mistakes. Let’s remove the self-inflicted hardships. Let’s seek the Lord. Good things always happen when we do.

#trustGod #devotional #bible #verseoftheday #hardships #peace

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | December 27th

📖 "The righteous will inherit the land and live in it forever. The mouth of the righteous proclaims wisdom, And his tongue speaks justice and truth. The law of his God is in his heart; Not one of his steps will slip.” -Psalm 37:29-31 Amplified Bible   

The Word of God is our guidebook in life. It will instruct us and lead us in the way that we should go. When the Word is in your heart in abundance, you will not only know what to say, you will know when to say it. Ecclesiastes 3:7 tells us that there is a time to speak and a time to be silent. When the trials of life come our way, we speak what is in our hearts, and as believers, the Word of God should come out. God’s Word will guard your steps. The Spirit of God will bring to your remembrance what the Word of God says about the situation you are facing and what to do to overcome it. God’s Word is our answer. As we keep His laws in our hearts we can expect to walk in our inheritance. We can expect to proclaim the right things. We can expect our steps to be ordered by Him, keeping our steps from slipping. 

#WordofGod #bible #devotional #righteous #spiritofGod #verseoftheday #vcccharlotte

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | December 26th

📖 "Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks. “But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me! “So He said to him, “What is your name? “He said, “Jacob. “And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.” -Genesis 32:25-28 NKJV  

In this scripture, we see that because of Jacob’s persistence, he was able to get a blessing from God. As believers, we cannot be people who give up early and so easily. We must be people who persist through every obstacle and every circumstance that comes our way so we can win the prize that we want in God. The Bible says in Hebrews 11:6 NKJV “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” We see here that God rewards those who are persistent in seeking him. Jacob is a great example of not letting go until you get what you want from God. Another good example would be the two blind men who followed after Jesus with such persistence that Jesus was forced to stop and see what the two men wanted. Shortly after that, the two men received their sight, but we must recognize that their persistence allowed them to receive from God. We want to encourage you to be persistent in your endeavors when it comes to things of God.

#persistance #determination #devotional #vcccharlotte #motivation

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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 24th

📖 Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. -1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NKJV

As we can see from this scripture, God wants us to pray without ceasing. Prayer is a way of staying connected to God. There are so many different things that we could need answers to or help with at any given moment. God is our help, and as we continue to pray fervently to Him, He will meet our every need. Praying with other tongues is especially helpful. The Bible says in Romans 8:26 NKJV, “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” When we don’t know exactly what to say to God, praying in the spirit can help us pray as we should. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 14:18 NKJV, “I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all.” This tells us that Paul understood that to fulfill the calling on his life he had to stay connected to God. Praying in tongues helped him to do that. Prayer is staying connected to the vine (Jesus) and without being connected to the vine, we cannot bear fruit. When we look at the life of Jesus, he was constantly getting away to pray to His Father. As believers, we must understand that if we are to be successful in life, we must stay connected to God through prayer. 

#prayerworks #devotional #verseoftheday #bible #encouragement #JesusChrist 

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | December 23rd

📖 But now bring me a minstrel. And while the minstrel played, the hand and power of the Lord came upon [Elisha]. And he said, Thus says the Lord: Make this [dry] brook bed full of trenches. For thus says the Lord: You shall not see wind or rain, yet that ravine shall be filled with water, so you, your cattle, and your beasts [of burden] may drink. This is but a light thing in the sight of the Lord. He will deliver the Moabites also into your hands.” -II Kings 3:15-18 Amplified Classic

It doesn’t matter what you are facing in your life right now, it is a light thing for God. Your getting out of debt is a light thing for God. Getting your children out of the world is a light thing for God. Whatever it is in your life that is negative, it is a light thing for God to turn it around. Many times, we look at God through the wrong lenses. We think that if it is difficult for us, it will be difficult for God. Life is so much easier when we give our challenges to God. Life is easier when we give Him our burdens and our cares. God is smarter than all of us put together, and He knows how to handle the challenges and the difficulties of our lives. Let’s have the right perspective. Let’s have GOD’S perspective: regardless of what you are facing, it is a light thing for God.  

#trustGod #lifeisgood #devotional #vcccharlotte #inspiration #giveGodyourburdens 

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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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