Face the enemy
by Jeffrey Smith May 2nd, 2018
2 Chronicles 20:17: You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.'"
Sometimes, when things are looking a little rough, it can be hard to even drag ourselves out of bed. Over the years, I have been...
Relationship
by Jeffrey Smith April 19th, 2018
Luke 15:31-32: “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
Isaiah 53:6: "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity...
Deny
by Jeffrey Smith March 20th, 2018
Matthew 26:35: Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” And all the disciples said the same.
Romans 5:7-8: Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Peter has a really bold statement...
Bold as a lion
by Jeffrey Smith March 19th, 2018
Psalm 11:1: In the Lord I take refuge. How then can you say to me: Flee like a bird to your mountain.
Proverbs 28:1: The wicked flee though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.
Truly I tell you that all of us who take refuge in the Lord are secure in righteousness! When we are faced with so many distractions, fears, lies, and...
Give all you have
by Jeffrey Smith March 12th, 2018
Matthew 6:34: Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
2 Timothy 1:7: For God gave us not a spirit of fearfulness; but of power and love and discipline.
Do you ever hold back? I mean really hold back all that you have? I have done it and later thought to myself, " I could have done more. I could have done better."
One...
Boast
by Jeffrey Smith February 13th, 2018
Galatians 6:14: May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
It can be subtle and or it can be blatant, but when it happens, we all know it. Good things happen in our lives and people start to take notice. Success begets success and the Lord is plentiful and abounding in prosperity,...
The promise land
by Jeffrey Smith November 2nd, 2016
Acts 18:6-10: But when the Jews opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, Your blood be on your own heads! I am clear of my responsibility. From now on I will go to the Gentiles. Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titus Justus, a worshiper of God. Crispus, the synagogue ruler, and his entire household believed in the lord, and...
Beautiful
by Jeffrey Smith September 29th, 2016
Acts 3:2-5: Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something...
First forgiven
by Jeffrey Smith September 22nd, 2016
Matthew 18:33-34:Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.
Ephesians 4:31-32:Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, outcry and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and tender-hearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ...
Potter
by Jeffrey Smith September 20th, 2016
Isaiah 45:9- "Woe to those who quarrel with their Maker, those who are nothing but potsherds among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, 'What are you making?' Does your work say, 'The potter has no hands'?
Some days it would seem the world is against us. For those of us who pray every day and look to the Lord for all things, these days can feel long, tough, and...
You are more
by Jeffrey Smith September 2nd, 2016
Numbers 13:33- We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.
Moses sends out 13 members of a group of leaders from the tribes of Israel as an exploration committee. They were charged with identifying whether the land was good, the people who lived there...
Turn to Him
by Jeffrey Smith July 26th, 2016
Psalm 81:13-16 : “If my people would only listen to me, if Israel would only follow my ways, how quickly I would subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes! Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him, and their punishment would last forever. But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
I'm...
Closing ratio
by Jeffrey Smith July 25th, 2016
Luke 18:1-8: Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ “For some time he refused. But finally he...
Take Him in
by Jeffrey Smith July 12th, 2016
Exodus 24:7-8: Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey. Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.
When Moses confirmed the covenant with the people of God, he did it according to...
You are forgiven
by Jeffrey Smith July 11th, 2016
Matthew 9:5: Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'?
Jesus meets us where we are in life. He asks all of us who go to Him what we want to see happen in our situations. We all have a choice to receive healing, provision, and wholeness. Whatever area we lack in, Jesus is there to meet our need.
The key is for us to believe, have faith and receive....
Breathe
by Jeffrey Smith July 8th, 2016
2 Timothy:3:15-17: From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work.
All scripture is God-breathed. The book of Timothy...
Inner man,Inner peace
by Jeffrey Smith July 6th, 2016
Genesis 3:7-8: Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden
There are a lot of unnatural things in this...
Train up
by Jeffrey Smith June 30th, 2016
1 Corinthians 11:1-Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.
I always tell everyone who will listen to me. " If you want to know what you will look like in the future, look at your personal trainer." What I mean by that is if you want to look like a body builder, you wouldn't train with a marathon runner. A marathon runner keeps no extra muscle on their bodies because it will weigh them...
All Relative
by Jeffrey Smith June 29th, 2016
Matthew 23:23-24:23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
Nobody is perfect....
Renewed
by Jeffrey Smith June 27th, 2016
Ecclesiastes 11:10-So then, banish anxiety from your heart and cast off the troubles of your body, for youth and vigor are meaningless.
2 Corinthians 4:16-Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
There is a battle that wages for the mind. We are constantly bombarded with so much on a daily basis. The enemy wants us to...
Cleansed
by Jeffrey Smith June 24th, 2016
Psalm 51:6-7-Surely you desire truth in the inner parts, you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
The Lord knows us so intimately that there truly is nothing we can hide from Him. He truly does desire truth in our inner parts. The secret places, the recesses of our hearts and minds carry that which we hold...
Permanent Vacation
by Jeffrey Smith June 23rd, 2016
2 Corinthians 5:17:Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
Why do we desire vacation so much? There are many reasons I am sure, but one of the largest reasons is that it removes us from the reality of our life in the world. For a week or a weekend, a year or two we get the opportunity to hit a beach, climb a mountain, or escape to the retreat...
Mercy
by Jeffrey Smith June 21st, 2016
Genesis 50:19-21: But Joseph said to them, Don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children. And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.
Joseph was betrayed. He was ridiculed, sold into slavery and left naked on an auction block. He was falsely accused and sent to prison. He was forgotten after he blessed another. This all happened as a result of his jealous brothers. They didn't understand...
Pour it out
by Jeffrey Smith June 17th, 2016
Ecclesiastes 7:1: A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth.
Matthew 26:12-13: When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.
Many people say that the woman who poured out the perfume...
Wedding Season
by Jeffrey Smith June 16th, 2016
1 Corinthians 13:4-7: Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
We are about to go into wedding season, and...
Sift for Gold
by Jeffrey Smith June 14th, 2016
Isaiah 55:8:"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.
We can get bogged down in our thinking sometimes. We are inundated with impressions daily. Don't know what I mean? Look online and you will see thousands of subliminal messages about products, services, and prescription drugs. Turn on a TV and you get the same thing, more brand reinforcement. Not...
Defy
by Jeffrey Smith June 13th, 2016
1 Samuel 17:42-44: He looked David over and saw that he was only a boy, ruddy and handsome, and he despised him. He said to David, Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. Come here, he said, and I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!
The whole battle doesn't happen at all unless Goliath stands up and said:...
My hands are clean
by Jeffrey Smith June 9th, 2016
Psalm 130:3: If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand?
Hebrews 8:12: For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.
Psalm 129:3: Plowmen have plowed my back and made their furrows long. But the Lord is righteous; he has cut me free from the cords of the wicked.
None of us in this world can boast about how good we are. Nobody can walk around...
No sacrifice required
by Jeffrey Smith June 8th, 2016
Psalm 40:6- Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my ears you have pierced *(additional notation), burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. Then I said, Here I am, I have come--it is written about me in the scroll.
Luke 24:44-He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the...
Drink in the Spirit forget the spirits
by Jeffrey Smith June 7th, 2016
Proverbs 31: 4-7: It is not for kings, O Lemuel--not for kings to drink wine, not for rulers to crave beer, lest they drink and forget what the law decrees, and deprive all the oppressed of their rights. Give beer to those who are perishing, wine to those who are in anguish; let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more.
This is not a devotional about the evils of drinking...