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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | October 29th

📖 When the other ten heard of this conversation, they lost their tempers with James and John. Jesus got them together to settle things down. “You’ve observed how godless rulers throw their weight around,” he said, “and when people get a little power how quickly it goes to their heads. It’s not going to be that way with you. Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not to be served—and then to give away his life in exchange for many who are held hostage.” —Mark 10:41-45 The Message 

Two of Jesus’ disciples requested to sit on the right and left side of Jesus when He established His kingdom here on the earth. They wanted a position of greatness. Jesus eventually gave them a key to greatness. He told them that if they wanted to be great, they must first be willing to serve. Jesus even gave Himself as an example when He told the disciples that he did not come to be served, He came to serve. God has a purpose and a plan for all our lives. Regardless of how big the plan is, the plan is not self-serving. The plan is not to elevate you. You may be elevated in the eyes of the people, but the plan is ultimately to help people.  

God loved us so much that He gave us Jesus. Jesus was treated like a king (and rightfully so, He is the king of kings) and yet He came to serve the people. God sent His best, and His best came to serve. We should follow His example. We have been sent into this world, equipped with gifts and talents that will be a blessing to humanity. Don’t keep them to yourself. Don’t be selfish. The world is waiting on the manifestation of the sons of God. The world is waiting on you! 

#greatness #vcccharlotte #followHisexample #devotional 

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | October 28th

📖 And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 

“So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord. —Matthew 25:15-21 NKJV

What are you doing with the talents that God has given you? Are you working to unleash your full potential? Are you working to become a valuable member of the Body of Christ? We must be about our Father’s business. Jesus, as a little boy, was in the temple learning and asking questions. He was diligent about His purpose at a young age. We must do the same. We must continue to be diligent and faithful. Once we have proven ourselves in doing this, God will reward us with greater responsibilities, which always come with even greater rewards. Many times, we want more without passing the faithfulness test. We must be like Paul—forgetting the things that are behind, we must press toward the mark. We can be all that God wants us to be if we are willing to pay the price. The faithfulness fee is what will grant us access to greater things. Are you willing to pay the price? 

#vcccharlotte #responsibilities #devotional #diligence #purpose

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | October 27th

📖 Day by day the Lord observes the good deeds done by godly men and gives them eternal rewards.  He cares for them when times are hard; even in famine, they will have enough. —Psalm 37:18-19 The Living Bible 

It doesn’t matter what is going on in the world, God’s got us. He cares for us. When there is chaos in the world, we can have peace because we know that God has our backs. Even in famine, God will see to it that we have enough. When you read the Word of God, you see God doing that repeatedly for His people. God doesn’t depend on the resources of this world, but He uses the resources of the world to bless His people. His coming through for us is not dependent on the state of our economy. God knows where all the money is. He knows where all of the food is. He knows how to get it to us when we need it. David said, “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread”. If God did it for David, He will do it for you. He is no respecter of persons. 

#faithfulGod #provider #psalms #faith #Jesus

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | October 25th

📖 So they said to him, “Who are you? We must take back an answer to those who sent us. What have you to say about yourself?” So John said, “I am, as Isaiah prophesied: a voice that cries in the wilderness: Make a straight way for the Lord.” 
—John 1:22-23 Jerusalem Bible 

Initially the people thought that John the Baptist was the chosen one, the Messiah. He plainly told them that he was not the one. He knew who he was and without having to think about it, he quoted the prophecy from Isaiah. He did not let anyone put a label on him that did not belong to him. When people ask us, “What do you have to say about yourself,” we should automatically know who we are. We should know that we are more than conquerors. We should know that the gates of hell cannot prevail against us. We should know that we are overcomers, and the Greater One lives on the inside of us. John the Baptist knew what the Word said about Him, and it should be no different with us. We must know what the Word says about us if we are going to continue to walk in victory.  

#iamvictory #whoami #Jesus #devotional #verseofthemonth

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | October 24th

📖 Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us, 

Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God. 

Just think of Him Who endured from sinners such grievous opposition and bitter hostility against Himself [reckon up and consider it all in comparison with your trials], so that you may not grow weary or exhausted, losing heart and relaxing and fainting in your minds. 

—Hebrews 12:1-3 AMPC 

The devil would love for us to get off track and not finish our race. We cannot allow that to happen. We must put off the things that will hinder us from giving our best. We must get sin out of our lives, and we must run our race with patience. Not only must we run with patience, but we must be willing to endure some things. We must endure every attack of the wicked one, knowing that he is defeated, and we have the victory. Lastly, we have to guard our minds. We cannot allow trials and tribulations to wear us down until we faint in our minds. Having done all to stand, we must continue to stand. We can finish our course. We can run the race that God has set before us. If we do not allow ourselves to get distracted, we can be all that God wants us to be and accomplish all that God wants us to accomplish.  

#accomplishyourgoals #vcccharlotte #runyourrace #devotional

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | October 23rd

Be strong, courageous, and firm; fear not nor be in terror before them, for it is the Lord your God Who goes with you; He will not fail you or forsake you. 

And Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong, courageous, and firm, for you shall go with this people into the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to possess it. 

It is the Lord Who goes before you; He will [march] with you; He will not fail you or let you go or forsake you; [let there be no cowardice or flinching, but] fear not, neither become broken [in spirit—depressed, dismayed, and unnerved with alarm]. 
—Deuteronomy 31:6-8 AMPC 

We must always remember who is with us. There are times when fear will try to attack us. It will try to invade our thoughts. It will cause us to doubt the ability of God and even forget how God has come through for us time after time. We must always keep in mind that the Almighty God is for us and with us. He is on our side, and He will cause us to triumph every time. When we are convinced that God will not fail us or forsake us, we will always be in control of our emotions. We will not allow fear to have the upper hand in our lives because we know that God is coming through for us. Faith in God will keep us from getting to a place where we are depressed, dismayed, and unnerved with alarm. We must be firm, strong, and courageous. If we are going to continue to walk in victory, we must not forget these things. We must lift our eyes unto the hills where our help comes from; our help comes from the Lord that made heaven and earth. 

#AlmightyGod #vcccharlotte #OurHelper #devotional 

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | October 22nd

Nor [was this gift of theirs merely the contribution] that we expected, but first they gave themselves to the Lord and to us [as His agents] by the will of God [entirely disregarding their personal interests, they gave as much as they possibly could, having put themselves at our disposal to be directed by the will of God] —2 Corinthians 8:5 AMPC 

Do you have the same attitude that these believers had? They gave themselves to the Lord, totally disregarding their personal interests. You know that can be difficult for a lot of believers. Many find it hard to disregard their personal interests. These believers were totally sold out to the Lord and His plan for their lives. The people gave of themselves and their resources. When you are totally sold out to the Lord, it becomes easy to give Him what you have. It is easy because you understand that everything belongs to Him anyway, and you are just a steward over what you have. It all belongs to Him. Even our bodies belong to God. The Bible tells us that we have been bought with a price (I Corinthians 6:20). Let’s examine our hearts today. Can you give it all away? Can you give more than what you have been giving? Can you do more for the Church? Are you willing to do more? The answer should be yes to all those questions. If you aren’t there yet, don’t worry. As you walk with God, you will eventually be able to say yes. God has been too good to us not to give it all. Didn’t He give it all for us? 

#Godisgood #vcccharlotte #soldout #devotional 

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | October 21st

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

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

#newcreations #vcccharlotte #newlife #devotional #victory 

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | October 20th

📖 And when He heard of Jesus..... —Luke 7:3 KJV 

Have you heard of Jesus? Are you aware of Who He is? The Word of God is his resume. It lets you know His qualifications and His characteristics. The Word of God tells us all about Him. He is our Healer. He is our Redeemer. He is the Messiah. He is the king of kings and the lord of lords. When people heard who Jesus was, it caused them to act. When the woman with the issue of blood heard of Jesus, she sought Him out. She knew that He could do what the doctors could not do. She knew He could make her well. We must hear about Jesus accurately. We must know that He has not changed. He is still a Healer. He is still performing miracles. He is still delivering and setting people free. Jesus will do for you what He did for people in the Gospels. He wants to turn your life around. Have you heard of Jesus? 

#ourhealer #reedemed #vcccharlotte #devotional #deliverer

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | October 18th

📖 When the Woman saw that the tree looked like good eating and realized what she would get out of it—she’d know everything!—she took and ate the fruit and then gave some to her husband, and he ate.

Immediately the two of them did “see what’s really going on”—saw themselves naked! They sewed fig leaves together as makeshift clothes for themselves. 

When they heard the sound of God strolling in the garden in the evening breeze, the Man and his Wife hid in the trees of the garden, hid from God. 

—Genesis 3:6-8 The Message  

If you sin, don’t run from God, run to God. If you miss the mark, don’t hide from God, talk to God. God doesn’t want to beat you over the head because you messed up. He wants to restore you. He wants to re-establish you and place you in right standing with Him. The Bible tells us that when we sin, we should confess our sin. When we do, God is faithful and just to forgive us of our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (I John 1:9). Satan is the accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10). He is the condemner. He wants to remind you of your sin. He wants you to develop a sin consciousness. That’s not God. God is a God of mercy and grace. He wants to cleanse you of that sin. He doesn’t even remember it once you have confessed it. Sin doesn’t have to separate you from God. Don’t make sin a lifestyle. Confess it and get rid of it. You are the righteousness of God. Don’t allow sin to have dominion over you. You overcome it. You overcome it by the Blood of the Lamb and the Word of your testimony.   

#runtoGod #vcccharlotte #talktoHim #devotional #overcomer 

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | October 17th

📖 Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, obeying the voice of his word! —Psalm 103:20 ESV

Are you putting your angels to work? Are you giving them something to do? The angels of God act on the Word of God. When they hear a person speaking or confessing the Word of God, they go to work. They stand at attention, ready to defend and protect. When a person confesses that “God will supply their needs” (Philippians 4:19), they work to make that a reality in the person's life. The angels work to cause the manifestation of the Word of God in the life of the individual who will confess it. In Daniel 10:12, the angel said to Daniel, “Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.” Notice the angel came because of Daniel’s words. The angels will do the same for us when we speak in line with God’s Word. 

#angels #speaktheWord #devotional #GodsWord #vcccharlotte

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | October 16th

📖 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 | October 15th

📖 The world is unprincipled. It’s dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn’t fight fair. But we don’t live or fight our battles that way—never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren’t for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity. 
—II Corinthians 10:3-6 The Message  

Notice that the world is unprincipled. It has very few morals and values. The world is under the power and influence of the evil one. He is our enemy, and he is the one that we use these weapons on. We are in a spiritual battle that requires spiritual weapons. Our weapons include the Word of God. The Blood of Jesus. The Name of Jesus. The Holy Spirit. The whole armor of God. I could go on and on. God did not have armor made for us. He gave us His armor. He gave us His Word. He gave us the same items that He uses; the only difference is that He knows how to use all His arsenal. We are getting there. As we continue to be doers of the Word, we will become more skillful in the things of God. We will experience more victories. We will walk out this life as more than conquerors the way God always intended for us to be. 

#vcccharlotte #morethanconquerors #devotional  

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | October 14th

📖 Oh, thank God—he’s so good! His love never runs out. All of you set free by God, tell the world! Tell how he freed you from oppression, then rounded you up from all over the place, from the four winds, from the seven seas. —Psalm 107:1-3 The Message Bible 

God is so good. The Bible tells us that His mercies are new every morning and that He is faithful (Lamentations 3:22-23). When God sets us free, He expects us to stay free. He also expects us to share about our deliverance with others. Remember, we have overcome by the Blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony (Revelation 12:11). God is so good to us that we should always be testifying about His goodness. Our testimony is advertisement for the Kingdom of God. It reveals to the world how good God is, and it causes them to want to know more about the God we serve. Spread the good Word! 

#greatGod #devotional #deliverance #faithfulGod

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | October 13th

📖 And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment. —1 John 3:23 NKJV

How is your love walk today? Are you loving that co-worker that gets on your nerves? Do you love that family member that doesn’t think the best about you? It is easy to love the people who love us. The difficult part is loving your enemies, or the people who don’t think very highly of you. God has commanded us to love everyone. We are to demonstrate the love of God to everyone we encounter. We are to love the person who cuts us off on the highway. We are to love the person who is still in park when the streetlight turns green because they are distracted by their phone. Our love walk is what distinguishes us. It is what sets us apart. It is something that we must continue to grow in so that we can look more and more like Jesus. No one said it would be easy, but it can be done. God would never ask you to do something you could not do. His love is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. 

#lovewalk #vcccharlotte #God’slove #deovtional

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | October 11th

📖 My desire is to have you free from all anxiety and distressing care. 
—I Corinthians 7:32 AMPC

Paul, speaking to the Corinthian church, expressed that his desire was for them to be free from all anxiety and distressing care. His desire is what God desires. God desires to handle every worry and every care. He doesn’t want you distracted with the issues of life. Jesus said in Luke 12:29, not to have a mind that is, “anxious, troubled, unsettled, excited, worried, and in suspense”. God knows what's up the road. He tells us not to worry about tomorrow. God can handle every situation when we give it over to Him. The key is we must hand it over to Him. Cast your cares on the Lord and don’t allow the enemy to overwhelm you. God can handle anything, including your problems. 

#castyourcaresonHim #trustGod #noworries #dailydevotional

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | October 10th

📖 But Noah was a pleasure to the Lord. Here is the story of Noah:  He was the only truly righteous man living on the earth at that time. He tried always to conduct his affairs according to God’s will. And he had three sons—Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 
—Genesis 6:8-10 The Living Bible

This is what every believer should desire, to be a pleasure to the Lord. We know that God takes pleasure in our prosperity (Psalm 35:27), but we should also desire that He takes pleasure in our lives. Our desire should be that we live a life that is well-pleasing to God. We should not only be people of righteous living, but we should always conduct our affairs according to God’s will. One way that we do that is by doing what the Word of God tells us because God’s Word IS His will towards us. The Bible tells us that Noah walked with God. When we walk with God, eventually we get to a place where all we desire is to be a pleasure to the Lord. Our lives should always bring glory to Him. 

#devotional #glorytoGod #righteousness #vcccharlotte

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | October 9th

📖 Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?” He said: “I am ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Make straight the way of the Lord,”’ —John 1:22-23 NKJV

What do you say about yourself? How do you see yourself? Do you see yourself as a winner? Do you see yourself overcoming every situation of life? As believers we must see ourselves the way God sees us. We must know who we are in Christ. We must know what belongs to us. We must also understand that how we see ourselves is in correlation with how we think. The Bible tells us that “as a man thinks in his heart, so is he”. (Proverbs 23:7) God gave us His Word so that we can think like Him. When we think the way He thinks, we will talk the way He talks. When we think and talk like God, we will live like Him and He lives in victory. His Word tells us that He always causes us to triumph. (2 Corinthians 2:14) If God says we are royalty, then that is what we are. If we are the light of the world and the salt of the earth, then that is what we are. If we are going to succeed in this life, it starts with how we see ourselves. We are who God says we are, and we can do what He says we can do. 

#success #vcccharlotte #wecan #devotional

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | October 8th

📖 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also [utensils] of wood and earthenware, and some for honorable and noble [use] and some for menial and ignoble [use]. 

So whoever cleanses himself [from what is ignoble and unclean, who separates himself from contact with contaminating and corrupting influences] will [then himself] be a vessel set apart and useful for honorable and noble purposes, consecrated and profitable to the Master, fit and ready for any good work. 

—2 Timothy 2:20-21 AMPC 

What type of vessel would you like to be? A vessel of gold? What about silver? The good news is that it is not up to God to determine what type of vessels we will become. That responsibility is on us. We must cleanse ourselves from contaminating and corrupting influences. We must examine our lives and see what we need to remove to live a life that is pleasing unto God.  As we walk with God and fellowship with Him, He will show us the things that we need to get rid of. Sometimes being in His presence will burn up the things that need to be removed from our lives. God’s Word is another tool God uses to shape and mold us. His Word reveals what is displeasing to Him and shows us how we are supposed to live. God’s Word is like fire (Jeremiah 5:14). It will burn things out of us and purge us. If we hearken to His Word and spend time in His presence, we can become consecrated and profitable to the Master, fit and ready for any good work. 

#Godlyinfluences #vcccharlotte #cleanse #devotional #fellowshipwithGod

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | October 7th

📖 I have seen slaves on horses, and princes walking like slaves on the earth. 
—Ecclesiastes 10:7 AMPC

As kings, we are to take our rightful place on the earth. Many believers are living below the standards that God has established for them. God expects us to be the head and not the tail. We are to be above only and not beneath. God sees us as His ambassadors and as kings and priests. Many are walking like slaves when they should be riding on the high places of the earth. We are no longer in the kingdom of darkness. We have been delivered into the Kingdom of God’s dear Son. We are to walk like it and to talk like it. The Bible even tells us that the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just (Proverbs 13:22). We are seated together with Christ in heavenly places. We have been given authority. So, let's not allow ourselves to be out of place. Let us seize what belongs to us. No matter how long it takes, we must be like Caleb and demand what has been promised to us. All things are ours! (I Corinthians 3:22). 

#kings #devotional #wisdom #iamvictory

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