Daily Devotion

Favor in the Midst of Persecution

 

"The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man; he was in the house of his Egyptian master.  His master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hands."  Genesis 39:2-3

 

How can you be blessed while you are going through?  To the mere human mind it seems to be an oxymoron, a paradox of some sort.  How can you reap blessings of immeasurable substance when enduring seemingly endless trials?  How can you keep God in the right place--your heart--when you are suffering?  Take a lesson from Joseph. 

 

Joseph was the favorite son of Israel (Jacob); so loved that his dad made him a special coat and preferred him above his other sons.  His jealous older brothers sold him into slavery (after deciding against killing him) where he was bought by an Egyptian Potiphar.  As the scripture above says, God was with Joseph even through all of this, showing him favor in the house of Potiphar.  God's blessings allowed Joseph to become prosperous even while being owned by someone else.  But as we have to learn, sometimes we must go through trials for our own testing, to test our faith.  His master put Joseph in charge of all of his affairs and the master prospered.  But being that Joseph was handsome (v. 6-7), the lustful wife of his master tried to seduce him into sleeping with her.  Because Joseph feared God, he passed his test, but not without the enemy seeking the opportunity to put him back.  Now we should all know that God can use anything thrown at us as a setback as a setup for our elevation.  Anytime someone does something that in normal circumstances would have caused you great strife, because of God's favor and blessings on our lives we can always expect a miracle to manifest for us.

 

By this point, we should all know that life is not a guaranteed cake walk.  There are mountaintops and valleys, periods of happiness and periods of sadness.  Yet the one profound truth is that God has the power to turn any losing battle into a victory.  Yes because the word says that we are already victorious because of Christ! "For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith." 1 John 5:4  There are no limitations in that verse.  We are blessed and can resolve to be victorious even in the face of adversity because we are born of God.

 

"But thanks be to God, which gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:57

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God loves you...He blesses you with another day so make the most of it!


Marquita B. Priester

Daily Devotion #3

Hold Yourself Accountable and Clean Up Your Own Mess!

 

"We know that whatever is in Moses' Teachings applies to everyone under their influence, and no one can say a thing. The whole world is brought under the judgment of God."

Romans 3:19 GWT

 

"Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God." Romans 3:19 NLT

 

We have all at some point or another blamed someone else for something that happened in our lives. For a long time I blamed the experiences of my childhood on my low self-esteem, and lack of love for myself.  But at some point you have to let that go--it happened, its over, but you have the CHOICE whether or not you will continue to allow it to control your future. Because YOU ultimately have the power to dictate what you decide to do!  You can choose to overcome your circumstances or let them guide and make your choices for you. But lets be real here: blame gets you NOWHERE!  Neither does judging someone because you don't deal with the real culprit--yourself. 

 

I have a little girl that I mentor.  Whenever I ask her how she behaved that day, and she happened to have done something wrong, she always starts out with what the other person did.  I always say to her, the moment you reacted, or did something back to them, you became involved.  You became a participant.  So stop making excuses and accept your role in the mess!!!

 

We often like to think that the circumstances of our upbringing or the things that have happened to us along the way should excuse us from any responsibility for our actions.  Ezekiel the prophet was told by God that he would be held accountable if he did not bring God's message to all of the people.  Their deaths would be on his hands. (Eze. 33:8)  His responsibility was to God, to do God's work; he could not dwell on the fact that the Israelites were wicked and evil, often threatening his very life.  He had to trust that God would protect him from anything they tried to do; else, why would God even require him to do so?

 

The central theme here is that God gave us free will to choose. Adam and Eve proved that way back in the Garden of Eden.  Adam knew that the fruit was forbidden because God gave the decree directly to him, but that did not stop him from blaming Eve. Yes there are some things out of our control like what family you are born into, your last name, your complexion, how tall you are, etc. There are even some terrible things out of your control like in my case, my kidneys deciding to fail. I have gone through a lot of things so far in my life. But you have the choice of whether to allow those situations to guide where your life will go.  Before I was a Christian (I gave my life to God when I was 9 years old), I was the oldest child in an alcoholic family.  That affected me greatly, still does, but I cannot blame my distrust of people on that.  I cannot blame my debt on the fact that I had a horrible doctor that misdiagnosed my kidney disease, and another to misdiagnose me with lupus.  But I can accept that I made the choice to spend money on things I did not need to, I can accept that I do not readily trust people because it makes it easy for me.  I can accept that I chose to move to Charleston even though I do not like it there now.  This does not dispute the fact that I am a child of God.  Accepting my part in my mess allows God to put things in proper perspective, and by accepting my role, I can get out of God's way and let Him have control and actually clean it up!

Daily Devotion #2

Letting Go and Stopping the Pain

So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor." 1 Peter 5:6

As a person that has endured a lot of pain over the course of my life thus far, I have tried to figure out ways to cope. It is not easy trying to go it alone. The only way I have been remotely able to recover more quickly is by falling on my knees and crying out to God for His help, His peace, and His strength. Confronting hurtful experiences like loss of a loved one or unexpected illness forces you to accept that you are not in control. I sometimes think dealing with some things like this would be much easier if it were an innate behavior—like you know how to use the restroom from birth, you know how to cry from birth, but you have to learn that there are certain places for using the restroom or even you have to be taught to read. I have come to learn that we ourselves have to learn how to give our problems and concerns to God. Job 22:21 says ""Submit to God, and you will have peace; then things will go well for you." Because we are born as fleshly beings, yielding first to our flesh, we cannot innately give our concerns to God. But because here it says to submit to God, and another translation says acquaint yourself with Him, we can know that we will have peace about whatever it is we face. I have come to believe two things: 1-Life is like a box of chocolates (thanks Forrest Gump) because you really don't know what you'll get! 2-You have a choice of how you deal with the things that come.

As we all know, trying not to think about something does not work because you'll inevitably think more about it. But I know one thing that works for sure: submitting your thoughts to God. Jesus says in John 15:7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." So if you ask God to guide your thoughts and protect your mind—especially when you are going through something, don't you think He will do it? Whatever you ask God for in prayer, He will give it to you. He will give you the strength to recover from that situation. He will order your steps so that you steer clear of situations that will make you slip—but you have to choose to listen. I like the verse above because of the promise at the end, God will lift us up!  He will exalt us, even in times of sorrow. Because the purpose of that suffering is that we share in the experiences of Christ and learn something, which is always for God's honor! Allow God to rule over you and as in James 4:7, your resistance of the devil will cause him to flee. Don't allow the inclination of your flesh to sin to prompt you to not turn to God.  Fall before Him and let God carry you through your pain.

Daily Devotion

Stop Going Thru The Motions-Go Higher!

The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh." Ecclesiastes 4:5

On first read of this scripture, it may seem very different from this topic. But think about it: if you become complacent with your relationship in Christ, or even as simple as your work environment, you will not progress. You have a few options at this point: you fall into a slump where it seems like there is no run for you to grow. You begin to complain and find wrong with everything there; then you start finding fault in anything someone says to you. Or if you're the bright, inquisitive, adaptive person you look for ways to make it better, i.e., you read your Bible more, you go to church more frequently or get involved, or at work, you sign up for trainings, volunteer for new opportunities that may arise.

I take the above scripture to mean that if you get comfortable—slacking off, being lazy or idle, or simply not wanting to challenge yourself to grow—you cause yourself ruin. Read this translation of this verse: "Fools fold their idle hands, leading them to ruin." (NLT) I say don't simply go thru the motions because you never reach your full potential. You essentially allow yourself to begin to decay—we lose what we don't use folks! We were not created to simply blend in with the crowd, but to aspire to become more like Christ, to become better with each passing day. (Eph 4:15) Fools resist change and allow complacency to take over because of fear. Many people fear the unknown, so rather than take a risk and learn something, they would rather resist the change—here we go, causing themselves ruin.

I extend this mainly to those of us in a relationship with God. You cannot ride on the knowledge someone 'gives' you, because you will not give yourself the opportunity to grow. You must read and study the word for yourself, you must attend church for yourself, and you must experience God for yourself. Do not settle on a mediocre knowledge of God—because that IS NOT a relationship with God.
Laziness leads to a sagging roof; idleness leads to a leaky house." Ecclesiastes 10:18 (NLT)

Daily Devotion

Are You Behind Enemy Lines?

 

"But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before the tribunal."  Acts 18:12

 

We all face hard times at some point in our lives.  At those times, it feels like the attacks of the devil and his minions are greater than ever before.  It is easy to get weary in your faith and allow doubt to enter your heart.  We feel like all hope is gone; what makes matters worse is that those around us betray us and help in the discouragement.  When you get to this point, all you long for is an ally and a way out of the bad situation.  But a key problem lies in the fact that sometimes its not us keeping ourselves down, but the company we are keeping. 

 

I'm sure everybody has heard of the saying "keep your friends close, and your enemies closer" which is indirectly derived from the scripture Matthew 5:44 "But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which spitefully use you, and persecute you;".  You have also heard be careful of the company you keep.  In the Gospels, you see that Jesus kept those same 12 disciples and others like Mary of Magdalene, Lazarus and his sisters Martha and Mary in his company.  He did not have many people changing in and out.  Yet He knew full and well that the devil was after Peter, and that the devil would take Judas Iscariot.  When you are facing seemingly insurmountable difficulties you must guard your eyes of what you see, guard your ears of what you hear, guard your heart of what you allow to get there.  So obviously you must watch your company because we sometimes buy into the negativity they sometimes bring.  You must stay on the offensive with God protecting you to get through difficulties or else the negativity that swirls around you can cause you to be caught off guard.  Because the very people you believe to be your friends will turn their backs on you, or worse yet, feed you lies and negativity to keep you from getting past it.  So give your situation to God, but while you are recovering be sure to evaluate your company so you will not concede defeat.

 

"God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, "You must remove the evil person from among you." " 1 Corinthians 5:13

Daily Devotion #5

Go Get Your Healing

 

 "He was wounded for our rebellious acts. He was crushed for our sins. He was punished so that we could have peace, and we received healing from his wounds."  Isaiah 53:5

 

Don't laugh, I am not trying to make up for missed days!!  I have been fasting this week and decided that I would take the time to sit here and do the work!  Plus these are all things that have been revealed to me through my readings and just through God's words to my heart.  I am a believer in the works and miracles God has performed through others and directly.  But I have come to know that like everything, you must hold onto your faith in receiving whatever you may be believing God for.  Because the goal of the enemy is to steal your joy and deceive you into not believing in God's promises.

 

I believe there are some key main practices to receiving healing.  You must guard your tongue and mind to the ploys of the devil, being specific and persistent in your requests of God, and having an enduring faith.

 

God speaks several times on the importance of the tongue and words you say in healing. Here in Proverbs 12:18, the Bible says "There is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword, But the tongue of the wise brings healing."  So by speaking recklessly about your situation, or buying into and repeating what the doctors say, you program your mind and heart to buy into death.  You allow the devil's thought insertion and deception tactics to overpower your faith. "Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, Sweet to the soul, and health to the bones."  Proverbs 16:24  Sidebar, the Bible is a great place to learn all of the literary practices you learn about in English lol.  Our words are simply seeds, and if planted in fertile soil, produce a great harvest.  So when people tell you to watch what you say, you really should!!

 

 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."  Philippians 4:6  This entire scripture carries some blatant spiritual pointers.  1) Don't worry or be anxious, because quite frankly, when you worry, you are doubting God.  2) Notice the but. Present your requests to God by prayer and petition.  Not just one thing, but everything.  Give every single thing to God.  For all of your needs, wants, and desires, fall on your knees and present them to God.  And especially your healing because God is the only person that can do it.  

 

This verse is clear and true!  James 2:14 says "What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don't show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone?"  How can you expect healing if you are doing things that go against that belief?  Can faith that professes healing, health, and prosperity save the person that in the next breath is doubting, worrisome, and pessimistic about their fate?  Can someone who does not believe genuinely expect to reap that reward??  Its like school.  With the exception of the rare genius, how can you pass a test if you did not study or pay attention to the professor's lectures?  Are you prepared?  In healing, how can you prepare yourself for the physical manifestation if you continue to doubt or neglect to prepare yourself to handle it?

 

"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves."  James 1:22

Daily Devotion #4

Who are You, anyway?

 

"Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly."  1 Corinthians 15:49

 

We live in times of severe identity crisis.  More and more each day we are surrounded by people that have given their authority over to the world and the prince of the world.  John 10:34 says 'Jesus replied, "It is written in your own Scriptures that God said to certain leaders of the people, 'I say, you are gods!''  Not knowing who you are prevents you from reaching your true potential and seeing your worth through the eyes of God.  In Psalm 82:6 ' "I said, 'You are "gods"; you are all sons of the Most High.'  But when we give that power away but ignoring God and honoring our fleshly desires above all else, how can we live up to this decree?  How can we embrace our true calling and self-worth when we do not want to know it?  I ask who are you anyway because I want to get to the core.  What makes you, you?  God created us in his likeness--not an animal, not a inanimate object, but in the image of the one true living God.  Here in Genesis 1:27 it says "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."  The first man--being mankind--was created in God's own image.  We all know that "own" is a possessive pronoun, providing ownership to whatever succeeds it.  It is reiterated in the second part--in the image of God created he him.  Again I ask, who are you, anyway, because if you know that as sons and daughters of God, we are entitled to the inheritance given by Christ's sacrifice.  If you know who you are, you will go forth and get what God wants for you.  Know yourself!

Daily Devotion #3

Stop Just Merely Living, We are Redeemed

 

"For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God's wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ."  Romans 5:17

 

We all have those days, shoot even weeks, months, and years for some, that we are simply just going through the motions.  We are not seeking any advancement.  We are simply complacent with everything: where we are, what we are doing, how we are living.  But I now hold a firm belief that in every way, every aspect, and every point I should seek to improve myself.  Because quite frankly I do not think I am the "Best Marquita" I can be until I am taken home to God.  I seek to live everyday in constant improvement, not because I think lowly of myself or that I am dissatisfied, but because I am constantly striving.  Striving to be more and more like God, looking for ways I can live my life to my full potential.  Jesus tells us in John 10:10 that "The thief comes not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."  I take that to mean that through Christ's sacrifice we live--and I think this refers to our eternal home--but while we live on Earth we live because of Him.  And the latter part--that they might have it more abundantly--I believe refers to us having a more abundant life in every sense of the word.  But that doesn't mean that we do nothing.  We must live life to the fullest and seek God to continually improve us.  Because we are to become more like Christ (Eph. 4:15) and I don't know about you, but because I was born into this world, that is going to take work.  I have faults, shortcomings, and even views that do not align with the ways of Christ but the only way to change those things is to take a earnest effort and go for it.  You cannot go through life complaining and grumbling when you have done nothing to change or improve your situation for the better.  You cannot thank anyone for your current lot in life but you-know-who--YOU. Don't blame others for your life, but remember as is stated above that Christ has caused us to triumph over sin and death!

Daily Devotion #2

Are You Resisting God's Will?

 

"...Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."  Matthew 6:10

 

Back before my transplant, I had a lot of different emotions.  The primary one was that I was in total opposition to a kidney transplant.  I was already angry and did not understand why I had to have a transplant in the first place, why I got sick when I had never been sick other than a cold in my life.  Then to add misery to it, the options for me were dialysis and a kidney transplant.  Having remembered what my uncle went through when he was on dialysis and hearing the horror stories of it, and how people don't live as long a life on it, I was against that.  But I initially went to a transplant education class at Emory in 2006 just to go at the instruction of my "good" nephrologist.  I was not too enthused by what I heard, primarily at all of the side effects.  I was not mature enough in my faith to accept it either.  Even up until a few months before, I was still against it.  But one day something changed.  Of course I was appreciative of what my brother was willing to do for me; but who wants to have an elective surgery that is not a permanent fix?  Who wants to endure something physically tasking on their body and run the risk of other infections or illnesses as side effects?  Not to mention I was holding on to so much hurt, anger, and bitterness from everything that had happened in my life.  But when I first got sick, I prayed for God's healing.  Having not seen much change in my kidney function--in fact the change was for the worse--and seeing no other options, I came to accept that this may just be God's will for my life; it was His will that I endure surgery at the age of 23 through a gift from my brother.  I had to accept that God promises us many things, but in order to receive those things, we must be willing to comply with whatever He brings our way.  Whether He takes us through humbling situations to get us to an understanding point, or He brings us to our lowest point, feeling every type of weakness, sickness, or illness to get us to where He wants us, we must accept it and comply.  Resisting God's will is pointless.  In choosing to walk with God, we must sometimes undergo some transformations--physical, emotional, spiritual, and in this case, a transformation of thought.  Until I began to think positively and of the limitless power of God, I was not able to accept that I had to have a transplant.  I was still dwelling on the fact that I did not do anything to cause my illnesses.  Rather, I thought of all the people that had done much worse things, and caused their problems.  But I just could not understand why, so I was unreceptive to every possible solution.  Saying the Lord's Prayer as a child, I did not understand what it meant.  Jesus right before He was betrayed said to God that His will be done.  Sometimes we have to go through extreme difficulty to exalt God.  In this situation, where for no apparent reason my kidneys rapidly declined over a three year period, only God can receive the glory because I am here after a successful transplant.  But in that His will for my life was revealed.  I recited and listened to scriptures, but until my mind was fertile enough after much humbling and "tilling of the soils" I could not receive that it was God's will that I be delivered through that operation.  Now in facing other things, I recognize and know that resisting God's will only makes it harder to deal with.  It makes the journey much longer and perhaps much more difficult than it needs to be.  Taking advice from the wrong sources and listening to too many people only confused it and made my decision-making harder.  The only true way to find peace is to ask for it, and be willing to let God take the reins of your life as He directs you in the way He would have you go.  It is only now that I understand it was all preparation for His way...

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God loves you...He blesses you with another day so make the most of it!


Marquita B. Priester

Daily Devotion

Living in the Promise

 

"The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life."  Psalm 121:7

 

I have not written a devotion in a while...life has just been so eventful.  I have written down every topic that has come to mind though.  Wednesday was Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the 40-day period prior to Easter.  I decided that I would make an effort to attend Bible Study every week--and I decided to give up doubt and stress.  I will remind myself that God is in control and not to doubt Him in any situation.

 

I read Psalm 121 yesterday--the lyrics to a beautiful song called "My Help" sung by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir.  It says "I will lift up mine eyes to the hills from whence cometh my help.  My help cometh from the Lord, the Lord who made heaven and earth."  Psalm 121:1-2.

 

Reading this gave me peace and calmed my spirit.  Because the Lord promises to keep our lives and keep us from evil, I cannot be afraid.  Because God gives us help--Christ to redeem us from the curse, and the Holy Spirit to guide our foot steps--I have no need to doubt or fret.  Living in the promise means giving it--whatever that "it" may be--fully to God for His work to be done with it.  He tells us He will keep our lives--by keep I think He means everything in our lives, providing our needs, carrying our burdens, being our comfort in times of pain.  The rest of the scriptures tell a little more of what God plans to do in keeping our lives:  He will not allow the sun or moon to strike us, He will keep us from evil (the principle thing He did with the sacrifice of Christ) and He will keep your goings and comings indefinitely--the scripture says from this time on and forevermore.  So you are protected all around in every way possible.

 

To live in that promise simply fulfills my decision to give up doubt for Lent; I am drawing nearer to God and allowing Him to keep my life, thus not doubting His abilities in any circumstance I face.

 

I hope this blesses you!

 

Daily Devotion

In the Face of Unrelenting Circumstances

"At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb,and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised." Job 1:20-21

How do you have faith when everything around you seems to crumble? How do you have and hold on to faith when sickness, illness, disease and death try to unravel the very thing you stand on? I had to wait a while to finish this one. You see, sometimes the devil will go so hard on you that he will use anything and any willing person to break you down. He will try so hard to get you to give up on God that some people do. Some people cease to believe in His very existence because they could not deal with the pressure placed on them. I don't claim to be superwoman--because only through God's favor, guidance, direction, power, and sustainment am I even able to stand in the face of all the troubles in my life sometimes.

I often think about the book of Job and how he faced all of these things. How when all of his children, livestock, and even his own body were destroyed, he maintained his belief in God. He maintained that He had done no wrong. Its hard to stay faithful when those around you do nothing but discourage you. They call you names, lie on you, lie to you, and make the journey of life hard to walk. But the thing about faith is that when you believe, I mean deeply believe and trust in God, it makes it impossible for you to doubt what He can do. Just trust and confess the truth--God's word--over your situation! He delivered Job didn't He? And He is no respecter of persons so you can receive the same thing. Don't settle in defeat, do not live in disaster without hope and faith that God can change things.

"After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before." Job 42:12

"The Lord blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first..." Job 42:12

Daily Devotion #2

Find the Source of Your Anxiety

 

"Anxiety in a man's heart weighs it down, But a good word makes it glad."  Proverbs 12:25

 

I have been a faithful knuckle-cracker since the tender age of 8 years old.  Today I read that knuckle-cracking is a nervous behavior, a sign of anxiety. We all suffer from anxiety at some point or another, but we should not let it cripple us, we should try to do everything we can to remove it. I bet you wonder, what could I have been anxious or nervous about at 8, right?  I think I had just moved to a new school, with new people, and I did not know anyone.  In fact, it was in eighth grade that I met my best friend, Courtney.  I was always a sensitive girl, very sensitive to others thoughts and feelings about me.  I went to that new school because I had tested into the AAP program and it wasn't at the school near my house.  So I figure now that the source of all that knuckle-cracking was the need to be accepted, making friends, being different, going somewhere new—a whole lot of stress for an 8 year old!  Do you realize how much pressure it is to go into a new environment where you don't know anyone!!!  That's almost as bad as public speaking...I'm getting better at that as well!

 

I randomly decided today that I wanted to stop.  Not because of all the unproven literature about arthritis, but because I just decided I want to stop.  Maybe it was my mentee telling me that it was bad, and me telling her that I've been cracking them for that long.  Cracking your knuckles for nearly 20 years for no apparent reason other than it being a bad habit does something to you.  Philippians 4:6 says "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."  Obviously now I recognize the need to get to the source of my problem, and to deal with any and all of my nervous habits; the best way to do this is to bring it to God so that He can reveal the way to get rid of it.  Anxiety causes stress and stress can "make you dead", lol.  I don't want to shorten my life span by being a knuckle-cracker, harboring pinned-up anxiety!  Are you anxious about something?  Do you recognize it?  What are you gonna do to get rid of it?  PRAY!

 

"Therefore I say to you, Take no thought for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor yet for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?"  Matthew 6:25

 

P.S.  I eventually found some rubber bands and put them on my arms to snap back every time I crack my knuckles or think about it...forces me to really think about why I'm doing it...getting to the source thank you God!

Daily Devotion

Return On Investment

 

'He said to his disciples, "The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields."'  Matthew 9:37-38

 

The finance concept ROI, return on investment, or ROR, rate of return, measures the percentage of money gained or lost versus the money invested.  I did not fully learn this until last year when I was preparing for my Security+ certification.  I know you say what relevance does it have?  Well, as a government employee, and any information security professional for that matter, we must determine all sorts of situations and the likelihood of them happening.  That also takes into consideration procurement of systems.  This mainly applies to the maintenance and use of those systems; i.e. how long before it breaks down and will we get past that initial investment based on the use we got out of the system.  But anyway, that made me think about the global area of return on investment, and as a Christian, am I reaping a good return?  Am I investing all the time I can in my relationship with God and am I living up to His standards in this walk?

 

Are there any stocks out there that are mutually beneficial?  Meaning, does it benefit you the investor initially and for the long haul, and the creator of the stock?

 

Being that God is our creator, the stock we invest in is our salvation. God invested Christ to give us that salvation. This is the only thing that is mutually beneficial because both parties are getting something out of it--God redeems us from the curse and we are saved from eternal damnation.  Yes in business there are some stocks where the creator of the stock and the investor both benefit, but there is no direct connection.(And business folks please correct me if I'm wrong)  Most times an investor goes through a stock broker to procure stocks, bonds, mutual funds, etc.  The broker and the stock creator make money off the purchase of new shares; the investor only hopes to do so.  Often, the investor does not see a return immediately, and most times takes a loss if he is not careful.  It is something that has to be cultivated over time, sometimes many years of being watched, adjusted and reallocated at times to provide a nice profit.  Sometimes the stocks go belly-up and everybody loses.

 

Trusting in God, and holding on to His promises even through the most tumultuous of "stock periods" will always give us a good return.  In the darkest hour, when most turn to God, He still reigns supreme.  He still provides, still protects, still conquers, and He is still on the throne.  Just like you invest your money, time, and patience in your financial future, try do the same with God.  Tithe and give offerings (Malachi 3:8-10), spend time praying (James 5:13), reading (1 Timothy 4:13), and sometimes you have to be patient to see what God has in store and until He has brought His will to pass (Romans 12:12).

Daily Devotion #2

In The Context of the Times

 

"For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee."  Proverbs 23:7 KJV

 

'They are always thinking about how much it costs. "Eat and drink," they say, but they don't mean it.'  NLT

 

Now I am not telling you how to interpret a particular scripture, passage or idea in the Bible.  No one can tell you how YOU are to interpret God's word but God.  I was going to use the scripture above in my previous devotion.  But I just looked at all the different translations and the entire scripture before I copied it.  I even went back to the beginning of the chapter.  It was in no way talking about or in relation to what I was talking about.  I would have only been able to use the first part, and even then depending on the translation it would have been irrelevant!

 

I guess that's the point of reading the bible, and getting your own personal understanding.  People misquote scripture all day long; I know I have especially after reading this one!  What we have to realize is that there are a thousand different ways to understand a particular concept or here, scripture.  This is a good reason for Bible Study.  Some people based their understanding off of what their pastor or spiritual leader teaches, some take a literal understanding, while others just nod and agree with whatever someone says.  That is how cults get started!  Learning for me involves questioning sometimes.  Have a mind of your own, a mind wise enough to call out to God for understanding!  James 1:5 says "If any of you needs wisdom to know what you should do, you should ask God, and he will give it to you. God is generous to everyone and doesn't find fault with them." 

 

You have to understand who wrote it, why they wrote it, what they were trying to say when they wrote it, what was going on at that particular time period, what that person was dealing with and the overall lesson to be taken away.  I'm sure there is probably more that can be gotten from a particular passage, but you have to read it all together.  After my near mistake this morning, I definitely plan to read the surrounding scriptures to get the context.  The author in the scripture above was talking about being around stingy people!  A stingy person thinks about how much something costs all the while falsely offering things to you, most times not at all.  But you can see how you could think otherwise from the KJV translation of that scripture.  I said all of that to say that you must go to the source for understanding; yes I believe it's okay to consult others about the word, but be sure that you go to God first before anyone else and even read it for yourself.  He might direct you to the proper person to explain it to you, or reveal it to you Himself. Your mind is fertile ground, so be careful who you allow to plant seeds there!

Devotion

It's All In Your Mind

 

Morning. (Sorry for just sending this...I began this early morning :D)  I have been thinking about writing this devotion for a few days now, well longer than a few days.  I decided that I find as much as I could and let it marinate, per say on healing.  You see we all need healing from something at some time or another.  At the first sign of disaster, whether it be physical or mental, we react sometimes with anger, fear, hurt and disbelief.  Disbelief that something could happen to us without our doing; sometimes it is our doing and we still act in confusion.  We think things like "my life is over" or "I can't live with this problem" or anything negative.  I just thought about one of my favorite scriptures, Romans 8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."  Notice that it is not in singular form; so our problems, pains, life lessons are not just for us. Your bad situation—loss of a family member, unexpected diagnosis—will work together for the good of those that love God—including you, because God has a plan or purpose for it all.  Meaning, if you have experienced something traumatic, that gives you compassion and understanding for the next person; I go forward and say it will bless you also.

 

Right words produce right thinking; right thinking produces right emotions; right emotions produce right decisions; right decisions produce right actions; right actions produce right habits; right habits produce right character; right character leads you to the right destination.

 

I searched for this today because I have it pasted on the wall in my room. It's true though.  You can think the wrong word about your situation which proceeds in the direction of negative outcomes.  Every negative thing about your situation will come true if you meditate on it, if you continue to condition your mind to believe so.  See all it takes is a word or phrase.  If you think about eating, then something else pops in your mind, you probably won't go get something to eat immediately.  Most people would like to believe nothing in life is their fault, involved their personal contributions. But that's a flat out lie. The Israelites took 40 years to get to the Promised Land and the trip was only supposed to take a little over a month! They had to wander 40 years because of their disobedience and doubt of God. I started writing this at about 8:30 and now its 5 minutes to 12, so obviously I had a lot of "interruptions" to distract me.  Thoughts are the foundation of our actions.  So if we think things will get better, that we can be delivered, that we can be healed, it can happen.  That's called faith.

 

You cannot think as if you are of the world, because let's be honest here, the way the world views things is horribly skewed.  Pain and problems are only temporary. The key to change and success here is putting the right words in our mind.  Try refusing to accept that things will not get better, that your health will be restored, that your finances will improve, because there is nothing too small for God. It will last as long as we allow it to. I refuse to accept defeat because Jesus' sacrifice already deemed me a victor.  Look for the good, speak life (right words and thoughts) to your situation.

 

"God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."  1 Corinthians 1:9