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You will find more devotions and videos to inspire your walk with the Lord. I hope to see you there. Love and Blessings, Tracy

According to Your Word

Luke 1:26-38, “In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, 'Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.'
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.'

'How will this be,' Mary asked the angel, 'since I am a virgin?'
The angel answered, 'The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.’…‘For nothing will be impossible with God.’ And Mary said, ‘Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.’ And the angel departed from her.”

I'm so grateful that Mary had the faith to go along with God's plan. Following His plan often leads us to places we wouldn’t ordinarily go. Doing the Lord’s will is not always easy and often it requires something extraordinary of us. It demands faith and obedience, devotion and trust. It asks us to view the situation through the eyes of God and invites us to see the Lord’s mighty Hand at work—both in us and through us. Following the Lord’s plan unlocks untold blessings for us and very often everyone around. Following His plan encourages us to step out of our comfort zone and into the wide unknown, where spectacular things are bound to happen. Knowing and believing God enables us to confidently say, “let it be to me according to Your Word.”

This is a picture of the church in Nazareth that is built over the spot where this miraculous event occurred.

#Devotions #HolySpirit #Savior #SonofGod #Christmas

Thankful

Thanksgiving is a mindset that's meant for every day of the year. It never goes out of season. God showers us with blessings and provisions not just one day out of the year, but each and every day that passes. Our thanksgiving to Him should pour out in grateful response as we praise His holy Name. Let's see how many blessings we can thank Him for today.

Psalm 9:1, "I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds."

#devotions #thanksgiving #gratitude #blessings #seaofgalilee

Persist

God is so good to us! Just as He did for the folks of long-ago Bible times, He shares with us the secret to strength and courage; He gives us instruction for successful and prosperous living:

Be careful to obey all of His Word and live according to His ways. Keep His Word in your heart and on the tip of your tongue; meditate on it night and day. Let it sink deep into your soul, directing the course of your life. And remember that the LORD your God is always with you, wherever you go! Whatever battles you face, you never face them alone. God is with you every step of the way. Sometimes He'll tell you to simply be still and watch as He takes care of your battle all on His own; often times though, He'll require that you get some skin in the game, and put in effort too—building your character, endurance, and persistence in the process. Keep your eyes on Jesus and on the heavenly prize! Persist with Jesus in mind. We have a powerful weapon that the people of the Old Testament didn't have—the Holy Spirit inside! 

Joshua 1:7-9, “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

New Year’s Prayer

Life is filled with ups and downs; we daily encounter the predictable and the completely unexpected; things both joyous and painful that have the potential to temporarily take our breath away. This year, much like all others that have come and gone before, has been a mixed bag of both good things and bad. There have been celebration of births and mourning of deaths as well; there have been weddings and divorces; we’ve endured mass shootings harboring destruction, and experienced massive outpourings of love resulting in communities healing together; we’ve seen the violent force that fire can become as it ravaged everything in its path, but we’re also witnessing the bright and hopeful sprouts of green popping up on all the surrounding hills after just the littlest bit of rain. God is with us through it all, nothing escapes His care. His heart is on this roller coaster ride along with us; He rejoices with us in our times of joy, and He mourns with us in our times of sorrow. And despite the curves that loom ahead of us, He is never taken by surprise. He is our steadfast Rock of Salvation and our firm Foundation of Peace, no matter what we face. He is our hope eternal and in Him our confidence is secure, not because things in our lives are perfect, but because He is perfectly good to us through it all.

God’s love is lavish; His comfort is palpable; His power is endless; His grace is sufficient.  Let’s pray for His blessing and an awareness of His Almighty Presence in our lives for the year we have ahead. Let’s also praise Him and give thanks for every day He gives us.

A Prayer for the New Year:

"May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us—so that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you." Psalm 67:1-3 NIV

Unabashedly

Psalm 63:4, "I will praise You as long as I live, and in Your Name I will lift up my hands."

No other Name on earth is worthy of our praise. God alone reigns in glory, ruling from His throne. The heavens high above us declare His power and His fame. With our hearts bowed down and arms held high let's unabashedly worship the King.

Breath

                                                                 
Psalm 33:6-9, “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere him. For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.”

          The breath of God brings life to everything. God spoke and breathed the world into existence. Before creation, air didn’t even exist, only God’s Word and breath filled the otherwise vacant atmosphere. God breathed His very own breath into Adam and gave Him life. God’s Spirit breathes life into the Scriptures making them more than mere words on a page; His Word breathes life into our weary, hurting, searching, lonely, hungry souls. His Word is living and active—encouraging, teaching, equipping, and changing us from the inside out.