Debbie Taylor Williams
Who Can You Believe?
Do you ever wonder who you can believe? One person says one thing and another claims the opposite. Yes, it can sometimes be difficult to know who to believe, but not in the case of Jesus’s words. Revelation 1:5 describes Jesus Christ as “the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood-” Jesus is a faithful witness. A witness of what? He witnessed to us about heaven, His Father, about angels, crowns of righteousness awaiting believers, resurrection bodies, thrones, powers, kingdoms, the judgment seat, forgiveness, redemption, His Father’s house, and about Satan. Jesus testified about the fact that Abraham, Noah, Moses, and Jonah were real people and the Old Testament is true. Our confidence in the Bible and its teachings solidly rests on Christ because He is a faithful witness to us that they are true.
Lord Jesus, we praise You, the faithful WITNESS! Thank You for the confidence we have in the Bible and You because of Your word.
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Jesus is Coming!
I love to gaze on the glory of the moon. The moon – IS – something that exists. The moon – WAS – created by God in eternity past. The moon WILL BE in our tomorrows. It appears in different phases but it is still the same moon. So why would we doubt that Jesus is the LORD WHO WAS the creator, WHO IS self-existent in heaven and in our hearts, and WHO IS TO COME? On December 25, we celebrate the LORD who came in the past in the appearance of a baby. But Revelation 1:4 says, CHRIST is not only “HE is WHO IS and WHO WAS,” He is the LORD “WHO IS TO COME…” Think about it. Jesus is coming again!
Lord Jesus, WHO IS, WHO WAS, AND WHO IS TO COME, help us mindfully serve Your purposes until You return again!
Praise to the God of all WISDOM
Are you in the midst of making a decision? Do you wonder what the best course of action is regarding work, parenting, a relationship, or finances?
If ever there was a time to follow the path of wisdom, it’s now.
Wisdom for the road before us. Wisdom for how to proceed.
Proverbs remind us that the Lord is the source and provider of wisdom.
How blessed we are to be able to go to our Heavenly Father, read His ways, pray, and receive His wisdom. When we don’t know which path to follow, we can follow our hearts to His heart.
GOD OF WISDOM, we praise You that we can come to You for heavenly wisdom. Thank You for providing it when we seek You.
“For the Lord gives WISDOM; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.” Proverbs 2:6
Do You Hear Him
Have you ever done a study on the voice of God? It’s fascinating! In Isaiah 30:30, we’re told the following about God’s voice.
And the Lord will cause His VOICE OF AUTHORITY to be heard.
The literal translation is “VOICE OF MAJESTY.” How does God speak to us? He speaks through His majestic creation that He is glorious and that He is a God of order with unlimited imagination. God’s voice speaks to us through the Bible, the wisest, most beautifully written work of all time. God speaks to us through Christ letting us know that He is sacrificial, loving, and forgiving. God’s voice speaks to us in our innermost being warning us of the dangers of sin and calling to us to walk in His ways. Yes, God’s voice goes forth. He calls to us but sometimes the busyness of the day drowns out His voice. How can we make sure we don’t miss hearing God calling to us? We purposefully choose to slip out of our beds in the mornings and quietly meet with Him – just the two of us – so we can hear Him without interruptions. We return throughout the day to think on Him and listen for His promptings. His voice encourages us in our weariness. His voice comforts us that we repent of sin. His voice instructs us, “Take this course of action…” If we take God seriously, write down His instructions, and follow through on what He tells us, we discover He calls to us and instructs even more. Are we listening? Are we obeying? Are we experiencing the blessed life of intimacy with the Almighty?
Voice of Authority, Voice of Majesty, thank You for speaking to us. Tune our hearts and minds to recognize Your voice and obey You.
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Running Low on Cash
“How much money do you make?” In our materialistic society, people often place value on the almighty dollar instead of the Almighty Lord. But Isaiah 33:6 addresses what we should value: “Jesus being a wealth of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge.” Isaiah reminds us that the Lord is the greatest treasure. Jesus echos Isaiah’s understanding of what true wealth is. In Matthew 6:19-21 He says,
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Christ’s command should cause us to stop and ponder. Are we storing up treasures on earth or are we storing up treasures in heaven? To the point – on what is our heart most focused – things of the earth or things of heaven?
Lord, You are a WEALTH of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. Stir our hearts to seek the treasures that count for eternity rather than the fleeting things of earth.
“And He will be the stability of your times,
A wealth of salvation, wisdom and knowledge;
The fear of the Lord is his treasure.” Isaiah 33:6
When What You Want is Different from What God Wants
Lord Jesus, thank You for modeling being submissive and trusting in our Heavenly Father’s ultimate will.
“He went a little beyond them and fell on His face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.’” Matthew 26:39
Lost and Found
Have you ever been lost? Perhaps you took a wrong turn in the road and didn’t know how to get to your desired destination. As bad as that is, what’s worse is to be spiritually lost which is how Jesus describes us prior to salvation. As a matter of fact, we were so lost that there was no one who could help except Jesus. In Luke 19:10, Jesus describes Himself as the Son of Man who came to seek and to save the lost – to save us and every person. Jesus left heaven’s glory to come and do what no one else could do. Through the virgin birth of Mary by the Holy Spirit, Jesus was born, the Son of Man, to seek and to save our lost souls so we could be reunited with our Heavenly Father. What good news! Is there someone we need to look for as Jesus did, someone with whom we can share the good news?
All praise to You, Lord Jesus, Son of God, SON of MAN. Thank You for seeking us and saving us. Rouse us to do as You did – to seek the lost in order to share the good news of salvation with them.
“For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:10
Just You Wait and See
Things aren’t always as they appear. Just you wait and see. For instance, Jesus had no earthly possessions, wasn’t married, and when arrested, His friends abandoned Him. He was lied about, mocked, and beaten almost to death. Mark 14:61 records the high priest questioning Him prior to crucifying Him, “‘Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?’” How incongruous. Blessed? Yet Jesus was and is the Son of the Blessed One. So when we think about our lives or circumstances and they don’t appear as us being the “blessed child of God,” remember that is who we are. Things aren’t always as they seem. Just you wait and see.
Heavenly Father, we praise You for Christ, SON of the BLESSED ONE, and for our being Your blessed children.
Have You Ever Wished You Had Someone to…
Have you ever wished you had someone to watch your back? Or better, to watch over your soul – your mind, emotions, and will? The fact is, believers have just that person in Jesus. First Peter 2:25 tells us “…you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.” When doing research for my book, Pray with Purpose, Live with Passion about God being the guardian of our soul, I discovered that the word “guardian” is translated from the Greek word episkopos and means an “overseer, a man charged with the duty of seeing that things done by another are done rightly.” (page 98) What a blessing for us to have God as the Guardian of our souls!
God assumes responsibility for being the Guardian of our soul, but it is our responsibility to tune into Him and follow what He tells us to do both in the Bible and when the Holy Spirit prompts us during the day. Begin each day prayerfully greeting God and lifting up your soul to Him. Invite Him to fill your soul, then pay attention to His prompts throughout the day. You know how I value opening my prayer journal every morning and recording His attribute that I share with you. Being still in God’s presence with pen in hand and journal open is an invitation for God to prompt us how to pray and also to what He wants us to do. If you haven’t yet tried journaling, this time in our lives is the perfect time. Prayers of My Heart Journal
LORD, thank You for being the GUARDIAN of our souls. Help us be ever sensitive to Your Word and will.
Pray with Purpose, Live with Passion
If You’re Devastated by the Separation
Have you ever been separated from someone and you desperately wanted to be with them? Whether the separation is due to death, divorce, disease, or distance, the pain of not being able to be with or even get in touch with a loved one is indescribable. “Indescribable.” That’s the word people often use when attempting to explain their loss, suffering, and sadness. Jesus understands such depth of emotion. He loves us and created us to live in union with Him. Indescribable love drove Him from heaven’s glory to earth to seek and to save us. Jesus, separated from sinners, crossed the chasm between heaven’s glory and earth. He offers His outstretched hand to save us for eternity and to save us daily. How tightly are we holding to Him?
Lord, we praise You. You, who are SEPARATED from SINNERS, who came to earth to save us. May we cling tightly to You every moment of our day and night.
“it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens;” Hebrews 7:26.