Spirit and Life Devotional: DON'T BE A WASTER

John 6:12 NKJV "So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.”

It's noteworthy that Jesus didn't permit waste, even when the food was a result of a miracle. Understand this: how we manage the things that God has given to us determines if we will continue to receive same from God!

Spirit and Life Devotional: Victory in Jesus

Exodus 15:9-10 NKJV says, "The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; My desire shall be satisfied on them. I will draw my sword, My hand shall destroy them.’

You blew with Your wind, The sea covered them; They sank like lead in the mighty waters."

It's natural for the enemy to plan, strategise, talk, bark, roar and attempt to harm and frustrate you; the Bible says the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy. Apostle Peter said Satan goes to and fro the earth seeking whom he may devour.

Spirit and Life Devotional: DIVINE SUSTENANCE

Nehemiah 9:21 says, "Forty years You sustained them in the wilderness; They lacked nothing; Their clothes did not wear out And their feet did not swell." Wow!

Where you live is certainly not your problem! Who's with you there is what matters. If the Lord is with you, even in the wilderness or in the driest parts of the earth, brother, you will never lack! God does things contrary to scientific and economic laws; He is limitless!

Spirit and Life Devotional: Your Appearance Matters

"Now it came to pass on the third day, that Esther put on her royal apparel, and stood in the inner court of the king's house, over against the king's house: and the king sat upon his royal throne in the royal house, over against the gate of the house. And it was so, when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, that she obtained favour in his sight: and the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre that was in his hand. So Esther drew near, and touched the top of the sceptre." Esther 5:1-2

Spirit and Life Devotional: Our UNCondemning Messiah

Someone sang, "Thank God man no be God, for if man be God I for don die." In other words, he was thankful that God isn't like man because if He were, we would have all been dead by now.

Why are we so quick to condemn and judge ourselves? Why are we so quick to throw stones at each other? Why is it so easy for us to see the tiny specks in the eyes of others ignoring the logs in our own? Why is it convenient and interesting for us to talk about the sins of others as if we have never sinned? Thank God man no be God o!

Spirit and Life Devotional: YOUR HEART, NOT YOUR GARMENTS

"So rend your heart, and not your garments." Joel 2:13

A lot of people place so much emphasis on outward appearances; they base their own judgments of righteousness, sanctification and holiness on physical appearances, forgetting that Jesus accused the Pharisees and Sadducees of making their exteriors sparkling clean while their hearts were very dirty.

Spirit and Life Devotional: O LORD, Command Victories For Me!

"We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, the deeds You did in their days, in days of old: You drove out the nations with Your hand, but them You planted; You afflicted the peoples, and cast them out. For they did not gain possession of the land by their own sword, nor did their own arm save them; but it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your countenance, because You favoured them. You are my King, O God; command victories for Jacob." Psalm 44:1-4

Spirit and Life Devotional: FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS

"And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: 'Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king's palace any more than all the other Jews. For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?'" Esther 4:13-14

Spirit and Life Devotional: Count Them As Rubbish

Following Jesus costs something; sometimes it's very costly, and at other times it's not so costly. And it depends on the stage of your walk with Him; when you are about entering a new level, there's usually a new demand for you to give up something else.

You really can't follow Christ without making a sacrifice. For Peter and the other disciples, it was giving up their jobs and businesses; they abandoned everything and followed Christ. For some others, their most cherished habits are what they'll need to sacrifice; and others their comfort.

Spirit and Life Devotional: Desire of All Nations

Haggai 2:6-7 says, "For thus says the LORD of hosts: 'Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,' says the LORD of hosts." Hallelujah!

The house of God is called the desire of all nations. I love that. Micah 4:1-2 says, "Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it. Many nations shall come and say, 'Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths."

Spirit and Life Devotional: He Will Fill Your Mouth With Laughter!

When Sarah gave birth to Isaac, she said, "God has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me." Genesis 21:6. Hallelujah! What God did for Sarah made her laugh: the blessing of God adds no sorrow! It is always marvellous.

Spirit and Life Devotional: Waiting for Appointed Times

"So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations." Matthew 1:17

Fourteen generations in between those key events: coincidence? Certainly not! That's a beautifully orchestrated plan of Jehovah; a well written story; a carefully executed strategy; a revelation of God's awesome ability to strategize and fulfil His will at the appointed times!

Spirit and Life Devotional: Humbling Ourselves Through Fasting

HUMBLING OURSELVES THROUGH FASTING

"Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him the right way for us and our little ones and all our possessions." Ezra 8:21

Ezra called for a fast so they could humble themselves before God. The word translated humble is anah, and it also means to afflict. According to The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, its primary meaning is "to force or try to force into submission" and to "punish or inflict pain upon." Psalm 35:13 says, "But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting."

Spirit and Life Devotional: Victory Over All Enemies of Progress

It took me some time to really understand what God meant when He said that the heart of man is desperately wicked; I sincerely don't think I've fully understood it! It took me a while to understand that there are people who will hate you and despise you for no other reason other than the fact that you are progressing! Lord have mercy!

Spirit and Life Devotional: THE BLESSING OF A FRESH START

"Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them." Romans 4:8 NIV. Think about it. "Yes, what joy for those whose record the LORD has cleared of sin." (NLT). Meditate on it. Forgiveness gives us a clean slate, a fresh start; through forgiveness, we are justified and made to be as though we never sinned at all. Wow!

God is so perfect and holy that He cannot behold iniquity; and one would expect that it will be difficult for such a holy Person to accommodate sinners. But we see God in the Scriptures, since man first sinned, always offering forgiveness to man. God is love! As He is perfect in holiness, so is He in love. Hallelujah!

Spirit and Life Devotional:A LAMP AND A LIGHT

The importance of light cannot be over-emphasised. When God started to create the world, the first thing He created was light because the earth was dark. And even when He separated the night from the day, He made the moon to govern the night so that there would always be light.

Darkness existed before the light; just as you and I were born into this dark world. Isaiah 60:2 says that darkness as black as night covers all the nations of the earth. So, it doesn't matter how good your country or location is, first world or third world, it is still plagued with darkness.