Rob's Daily Devotions for October 19 - 25

Monday

Come Into the Light

Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life” (John 8:12 NLT).

Why are you continuing to stumble and fall in the darkness when the Light of the World is available to you?

Dear Lord, this world is lost and spinning out of control. Lord, please open the eyes of the lost so they might see your light. We pray for the lost be saved, in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

Tuesday

Mining for God's Gold

Listen to me, all who hope for deliverance — all who seek the Lord!
Consider the rock from which you were cut, the quarry from which you were mined.
Yes, think about Abraham, your ancestor, and Sarah, who gave birth to your nation.
Abraham was only one man when I called him. But when I blessed him, he became a great nation (Isaiah 51:1-2 NLT).

We are all formed in the image of our God. Our Creator designed and formed us and knows more about us than we know about ourselves. We are His creation

We all have the "gold" of God deep inside our hearts. Sin covers this up in our lives. We keep digging deeper and placing more dirt over God's gold. To get to that gold, we must be mined. In the gold mining industry, two tons of dirt must be moved to harvest one ounce of gold.

There was a lot of dirt in my own life which had to be moved and discarded. I thank God for excavating, exploring, and revealing His gold that was in my heart. It was a painful and trying time during the excavation process. But no matter the discomfort, every scoop of dirt that was removed, the closer that I got to godly gold.

Have you let God remove the sin in your life? Are you letting Him excavate the dirt from your heart? Are you coming to Him for the deliverance from your sinful lives? Isn't it time to turn to God and accept His Son as your Savior? Is it not time to repent and let God take the dirt from your heart and reveal His precious gold?

Thank you, Lord, for loving us so much that you are willing to drag out the heavy equipment, get the excavator, and dig deep into our lives, changing us one scoop at a time. I pray and give thanks in the mighty and matchless name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Wednesday

Are You In or Out?

This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:5-7 NLT).

I love John's illustration of light and dark in this passage. We must remember evil hates the Light and chooses to hide in the realms of darkness.

Are you living in the Light? Have you chosen Christ as your Savior? If so, let His light shine through you.

We also must be warned if we are straddling the fence on God's truth, we might as well give ourselves over to darkness. Each of us must make a decision. Is it God's direction for your life? Or have you given yourself over to the devil?

In old school talk, “Are you in or out?” Is it His way or the path to destruction? It's your choice. Choose wisely. Is it time to get off the fence and come to Jesus? You can't have it both ways.

Father God, open the hearts and minds of those that are straddling the fence. We ask and pray in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

Thursday

Pray for All

I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity (1 Timothy 2:1-2 NLT).

It's easy to pray for those who love you. It's not so easy to pray for your enemies. You know, those who hate you and/or disagree with you. Pray for those who you dislike or disagree with, as they need God's blessings as much as you do. But God calls us to especially pray for them. Do this and be blessed beyond all your expectations.

Dear Lord, help us to have your heart for others. I ask this in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

Friday

A Place of Self-Exile

(Jesus speaking)

Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends (Revelation 3:20 NLT).

C.S. Lewis wrote "the door to hell is locked on the inside." Lewis suggested the inhabitants of hell are there by their own consent. It is not the angry, wrathful, and vengeful Father getting back at them and giving them what they deserve. This is not what hell is about. No, hell is a place of self-exile — let me repeat, it's a place of self-exile.

It is our choice whether we ask Jesus into our hearts or not. Are you going to open the "door" Jesus is knocking on? Christ is relentlessly chasing us. He wants us to open that door and let Him in, but it boils down to our choice. We have the free-will to choose from heaven or hell.

It's our decision.

Father God, open the hearts and minds of the lost. Lord, let there be a tremendous outpouring of men and women, running into Your arms of grace. We pray, today, that many will open the door. We pray in the mighty name of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Saturday

Real Love

God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love – not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other (1 John 4:9-11 NLT).

If you are looking for real love, look no further than God.

Dear Father, thank you for your Son. We praise you Father and pray in the mighty and matchless name of Jesus. Amen.

Sunday

How to Fix America

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37, 39 NLT).

America needs a great awakening. America needs to return to God. Yet how do we change the continually drifting culture? How do we stop the anti-God movement? How do we return to God when we have a culture that ignores Him?

First, we pray. We can't do anything until we pray first. Many in the media and leadership are saying "prayers are good, but they aren't enough." I beg to differ, we can do nothing of surmountable good without prayer first.

Christians, we must stand strong with love and show the lost world we have a God who loves us so much that He will come to us in our time of need. We must come to Him and ask for His help, He will answer. We must bring our lost friends to the understanding they need a relationship with God. Through our efforts to show them His truth and love, these lost souls might begin to "love the Lord our God with all their hearts and with all their souls and with all their minds" and by doing this, learn to "love their neighbors as ourselves."

We desperately need revival in our nation. Where does this begin? It begins with prayer. Prayer is and should be our first and most important response to a tragedy. After all, prayer should precede our every function in life.

John Wesley is quoted, "God does nothing but by prayer and everything with it."

Father, we ask to give our nation peace. We ask for help in healing the division in our country. We ask that you will come to our aide and drive out the evil that has seemingly taken over the hearts and minds of our people. Father, you said through your Son that we must love you with all our hearts, souls, and minds.  Father, help us do that. Help us, Lord, to bring revival and a great awakening to our nation and our people. Lead us today, Lord, so we might love our neighbor as ourselves. I pray and give your praise through your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.