The Daily Devotional Blog

Daily Devotional Podcast. Follow along with blog post below. You want to know why you're an awesome masterpiece of the Most High? Because God does not make junk. It's impossible. It will never happen that He will make any ole thing. You want to know why?  Because God is perfect and He creates perfection.  Matthew 5:48  says,  "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."  Isn't that great? It's great for many reasons. One reason it's great is that you were not an accident and you were not a mistake. You were perfectly made in the image of God. And guess what else? It doesn't matter under what circumstances you came to be in the natural -- you were and are awesomely and supremely made. God knew exactly what He was doing way before any of our parents did. And He knows what He's doing now. He always will. That's why He's the God of yesterday, today, and tomorrow.  So that means since God is perfect, you are perfect

Daily Devotional Podcast. Follow along with blog post below. Do you know you shall get the desires of your heart... if you're willing to wait for God's best for you? Yes, God wants the best for all of us. His answer may not be yes, but it may not be no either. It simply may be, later. It may be that He wants us to trust Him even more as ruler and guider over our lives and is positioning us nicely for the great things He has for us -- the best. God doesn't want us to just accept the mediocre. He doesn't just want us to accept the crumbs. That's what asking sometimes involves...waiting, but we have to at least ask, then wait on Him. He will answer. Ruth got Boaz because she sacrificed and waited ( Ruth 2 ).  Esther got the king because she sacrificed and waited ( Esther 2 ).  Rahab and her family were spared because she sacrificed and waited ( Joshua 3 ). So, it's quite simple really. Ask and if you're willing to sacrifice and wait for God's

Daily Devotional Podcast. Follow along with blog post below. There is a simple rule of life. You want to know what it is? The people who  do   more, get more. Have you ever noticed that? Think about it. Usually when people do extra, the outcome for success increases dramatically. For instance, the person who studies more, usually has better grades. The person who eats right, is usually healthier. The person who is nicer and more respectful, usually gets more help from people. The person who practices their craft, is usually better positioned to seize opportunities. I can go on and on, but you get my point, right?  So, it's pretty conclusive that whomever does more, does extra, gets more. It's a direct correlation; cause and affect. Even if we don't hit the bullseye, we'll get close enough to it if we give it all we've got. Would you agree?  Proverbs 12 :11 says, "those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies h

Do you know God is present right now and He's moving in the atmosphere? Do you need Him for anything? Psalm 46 :1-3 says, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling."  God comforted me when I was high and He comforted me when I was going through hell. He gave me peace in the middle of a storm. He got me through in ways I could have never imagined. In fact I still scratch my head of in awe and wonder of Him. Yet, that's God. He is great all the time and all the time He is great. So, if you're going through anything, He is with you right now, so never give up -- stay with Him. He is the all-knowing God, He is great, and He is there for those who continually seek Him. You're going to make it. 

Daily Devotional Podcast. Follow along with blog post below. Are you a faithful person? I don't mean, if you ever become afraid, because we can all go there from time to time. We are still human. But generally speaking, are you a faithful person?  When I think about a faithful person I don't think of someone who appears to have it all together. I don't think of the person who can't admit their shortcomings. I think of the person who may become a bit uncomfortable sometimes, nervous from time to time, or just flat out afraid of what may come next, yet, who still goes forward anyway. Who still remains steadfast no matter what. Who continues on without wavering in their stance, position, or posture about who and what they represent, where they're going, and what God told them to do. Those are the people I think of when I think of faithful people.   Hebrews 10 :23 says, "let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is f

Daily Devotional Podcast. Follow along with blog post below. Do you know, if we want to be used by God and we're willing to work at it,  victory awaits us? Yes, if we're willing to go the distance, it's just a matter of time before we get the victory that God promised us.  In  1 Kings 11 :38 , the Lord told Solomon "... and if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, I will be with you and will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you." As long as King Solomon was willing to do what it took, God had his back. Solomon had it made. You can read the rest of 1 Kings to find out how he fared.  Nevertheless, God will use us for great feats if we're willing to be used. It's free will. When He calls us, we make the choice to go. It's a sacrifice. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. You

Daily Devotional Podcast. Follow along with blog post below. What do you know about, The Light? Have you ever heard about the witness to that Light? "He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe" ( John 1 :7). Thank God for John, the Baptist. He was the witness to Jesus' baptism, because he was the one who baptized Jesus, sent by God to do just that. I am so thankful that God blessed us with Jesus to cover us with His grace and truth, and that we are no longer under the law. That means we were covered by our Holy Father when we gave our lives to Him and we still are.  "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!",  John exclaimed in verse 29. Jesus doesn't condemn us and He continues to love us in spite of ourselves. Everyday we ought to give Him praise just for that, but we all get busy with our lives -- the lives He blessed us with. He knows we are thankful though. And He pro

Daily Devotional Podcast. Follow along with blog post below. What do you want God to give you success in? Are you up against anything that is much bigger than you? Do you need God's hand in a formidable obstacle that is standing in your way?  Are you aware that God can do anything on your behalf? Oh yes, He will be there for those who diligently seek Him. And He may not be there will you want Him to be, but know this: He will be there right on time. Whatever you're doing to build His kingdom, keep doing it and stay focused on Him. Don't let up, continue no matter what it looks like. If things are a little challenging, stay with it anyway. Carrying on despite challenges are usually reserved for those who eventually win.   "But you, be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded!” That verse came from 2 Chronicles 15 :7 when the Lord told King Asa, through a prophet, that when Asa had opposition, he would win. God didn'

Daily Devotional Podcast. Follow along with blog post below. Do you know God talks to people everyday? The question is, do we hear what He has to tell us? In Joyce Meyer's book, How to Hear from God , she says, "God wants to speak to us about the plan He has for our lives" (p. vii).   I can say that today, more than ever before, I am in tune with what God has to say regarding His plans for my life. I don't know all of them, of course, but He's revealed some of it. How about you? How to Hear from God, is a book I've had for awhile. I pick up from time to time, because the content is that evergreen content that can be used during so many times in ones life. The following was taken from chapter one (p. 3): "The world makes it easy for us to fill our ears with all kinds of things that drown out the voice of God and push Him far, far into the background of our lives. However, the day comes for every person when only God remains. Everything else i

In Sharon's Heart Weekly Podcast. Follow along with blog post below. Have you ever felt deep sadness or sorrow and you needed God's help?   I know I have.   Romans 12 :15 says, "Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn." If we're going to be there when people rejoice, we have to be there   to comfort them when they mourn, because it helps.  We have finally made to the last session or chapter, session 6, of Bill Hybels' book, Living in God's Power, Finding God's Strength in Life's Challenges . It was a book we used for my church's life group and I wanted to take a minute to read it again to share it with you. It really spoke to me and I hope it spoke to you too. This week's topic is on how to overcome sorrow. But before I begin, let's review the last episode, which was on overcoming lust. Hybels says, lust is taking the image God made of someone and reducing the person down to an image or thought God doesn&

Daily Devotional Podcast. Follow along with blog post below Who do you rely on to help guide your life, spiritually? If it's man, does he come through for you 24/7 or does he sometimes falter, because he's human?  I had to learn the hard way that relying too much on people was a huge problem. After the school of hard knocks, I decided to turn things around by relying on God, more than anybody else. Yes, some people are extremely reliable, but I had to be careful that no man was perfect, because we're all human. When it comes to relying on God, I realized He will always be there for us when we call out to Him. He will always be available to accept any of us the way we are, with no judgment. What man can say that 100% of the time? Only God can. His is a graceful God and reliance on Him is what He wants from us. He wants to be the first one we rely on, trust, and have complete confidence in. It's a choice we have to make though, because He gives us free will

Where are your eyes looking?  Proverbs 4 :25 says, “l et your eyes look directly forward and your gaze be straight before you.” That scripture means to stay focused on continuously gaining wisdom and insight from God. It means looking towards The Light and not having anything to do with the darkness. It means to take the road of goodness. It doesn't mean we won't ever have problems. It just means we will walk with more power throughout our challenges when we walk in lightness. We will be able to speak life to any situation.  Proverbs 4:10-12  says the years of our lives will be many when we walk in the way of wisdom; that our steps will not be hampered and when we run we will not stumble.  Walking in the light is about keeping our eyes gazed on the Lord; staying in tune with what He has to say; and relying on Him to help us walk with a straight gaze. Isn’t that awesome? God is great. 

Do you need God to act on your behalf? Do you need God to intervene in anything in your life?  I've come to let you know, that God will do it. He will set any record straight that needs to be set straight. He will correct anything that needs to be corrected. All we have to do is stay on our grind, focus on what we're doing, and continue praising, worshiping, honoring, and serving Him. We don't have to take matters into our own hands. In fact, to do that, many times, sets us back. I have tried that at certain times in my life, only to mess things up and to delay what the Lord had for my life. Yet, the thing about God, is that He is a forgiving God and He will help us when we reach out to Him. He will be with us as we establish a relationship with Him. He will cover us when we speak to Him about falling short. He will give us so many chances to get things right and His grace is sufficient for each one of us. Don't ever think God won't hear your petitions -- your

Do you know God wants the very best for you and not the crumbs? Are you the one many call diligent (a hard worker), or can you use a little help in that area?  Proverbs 13 :4 says, "a sluggard’s appetite is never filled, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied." What that verse means is that lazy doesn't cut it, but hard work does. If I can be honest, I have been both. I have been a sluggard (a lazy person) and I have been diligent. And I can say without a doubt that being diligent has paid off in my life. If we're not willing to work hard to get what God has for us, then more than likely, things will go by the wayside and that will be the process that plays out in our lives. God has more for all of us. He knows what lives in our heart, so don't lose hope that you can't get what's yours -- what already has your name on it. Know that God knows what we need and He will help us get there. We just have to play our part in the natural

Do you have goals? Do you have something you've wanted to do for a long time, but haven't done yet? Do you think you've run out of time? Do you think you've missed your opportunity? I've come to tell you that if you're reading this blog post, it's not too late for you to do anything you've always wanted to do, because you're still breathing. And apparently you're still in your right mind, so you can still do what you want to do. Time is still on your side and God is definitely not finished with you yet! Know that. If time is going to pass anyway, why not just do your your thing and be productive? Have you ever said,  'no I can't do that, because it takes too long?'  If so, those words are a no-go. They stopped me for many years and they shouldn't be given another nanosecond of air time. And just in case you didn't know, the founders of McDonald’s and KFC were over 50 years old when they started those businesse

Have you ever heard the story of God raining down food from heaven? I mean literally, food fell from the sky. Let me tell you what happened. It was in Exodus 16 where the Israelites found themselves hungry, uncomfortable, irritable, and actually...ungrateful for all that God had done for them. While in the wilderness, they grumbled and complained to Moses, their leader. And Moses prayed to God on their behalf. They were wandering in the wilderness, the desert, on their way to Canaan. Canaan was the land the Lord had promised them. It was a land that was far better than where they had come from. They had been in bondage in Egypt -- enslaved for many years and the Lord performed countless miracles that allowed them to escape their wretched, miserable, hopeless existence. And now they found themselves in the wilderness and they continued to complain and grumble, yet the Lord was still with them. He provided food from heaven for them (called manna), over and over again, which su

How much do you visualize where you want God to take you? How often do you see yourself going to big places? Doing big things? Talking to the people you never imagined you'd talk to? Sitting next to a person you always admired from afar? What do you imagine for yourself? What do you dream about? What has eluded you, because you didn't think you were worthy of it? If any of those answers are the answers that have stopped your flow, I've come to tell you that it's a new day and your vision is coming to fruition. Oh yes and I don't want anyone else telling themselves what I used to, which was, 'God this is just too big and it's going to take much work' and end up doing nothing like I did. I just sat around and laid around. I thought others had more of that something special that I didn't have. While in essence that had what they had and I had what I had. Our own gifts. What I've come to realize is that God has something for each and eve

The following is the transcript for my weekly In Sharon's Heart Podcast.  Matthew 17:20 says, if we will have faith as small as a mustard seed, we can say to this mountain, move from here to there and it will happen. Do you believe it? Believe it. God has more for your life. Let me first say, we are still talking about Hybels' book,  Living in God's Power, Finding God's Strength for Life's Challenges ,  in which I am doing a 7 week book study. The book discusses the ways in which we can go about getting to the next level in what God has for our lives. Before I delve into our topic today, let me give a brief recap of the previous chapter, which was about overcoming greed, the 4th session or 4th chapter in Bill Hybels' book.  In that chapter we talked about what Hybels says about getting over greed, which was the following: If you are serious about overcoming greed and living free from its claws, the first thing you have to do, is acknowledge its reali

Going higher in what the Lord wants us to do, is a little scary, isn't it? I mean, it's going in uncharted territory and unknown lands, right? That's what Abram (later, Abraham) had to do in Genesis 12 :1 and I can only imagine how that must have felt for him. Yet anything worthwhile won't come easy. It's going to cost each one of us something. Are you willing to give what it takes to go higher? It's a question all of us have to answer at some point.  The Lord told Abram:  “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you" (Genesis 12:2/3). Abram decided to heed the call and it paid off for him. The Lord told him what He would do for him and of course, the Lord came through. He always does. Abraham goes down in history as being a man of faith, the fath

Do you know that when we move, God moves? Yes sometimes He's simply waiting for us to make a move of faith on that thing we've been wanting to get done. We have to move and operate in faith. Hebrews 11 :6 says,  "and without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." And  James 2:14-16  says,  faith without works is dead. What do you want God to do in your life? How do you want Him to intervene in the desires of your heart? He will definitely act on your behalf. Yet we have to keep in mind that we have to do our part. We have to put some elbow grease behind our words and behind those scriptures we quote, right? Yes, speaking life over our circumstances is awesome, but there must be more that comes with it.  In other words if we "see" it and believe it, then the proof will be in the actions we put behind our words. It's also about writing the vi

Do you know the bible, the word of God, is sharper than two any edged sword? Yes, Hebrews 4:12 says that. And Luke 11 :28 says "blessed rather are those who hear [read] the word of God and keep it!” It goes without saying that the more we read the word of God, the more blessed we will be, right? There's no denying that faith comes by hearing and reading the word of God. If we want to hear from God and what He has for our lives, we have to become familiar with His word -- the bible. He doesn't speak as powerful through any other book. We have to read it and continue to go where we can hear it. The bottom line is, we are what we hear, read, and see.  Proverbs 23:7  says we are what we think about. I don't know about you, but I rather think and act more on the Lord than anyone or anything else. I figure I can't wrong that way. What about you?   

Do you know, Jesus will give us the keys to the kingdom of heaven? If we let Him, that is. Do you want to be used by Jesus to do great works? Do you want to tap into all He has for you? It’s the choice we all have to make. In  Matthew 16 :19 Jesus said,  "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven."  That is what Jesus told Peter disciples   regarding the power Jesus had given him and how he could continue Christ’s work on earth in preaching the gospel and declaring God's will to men, and how he was armed with the same authority as Jesus. That didn't mean take the place of Jesus. There's only one Jesus. It meant walk in authority, leadership, confidence, and power to draw all men (people) to the Lord.  Today nothing has changed. We have that same authority. We can use our life to help others see Christ. We don'

You ever just sat and watched the ocean? A bird? An ant? A butterfly? There's beauty in all of God's creations, isn't there? All we have to do is take the time to experience it. Zechariah 4 :10 says, don't despise small beginnings. Sometimes it's the little things that mean the most and we have to take the time to enjoy them. Sometimes the blessing is in the small things. We should take the time to consider that, because it's sometimes the little things that can be the really big things, right? Sometimes it's simply about making the time to enjoy whatever those things are -- to enjoy what we are blessed to have around us and in our lives. It may differ from person to person, which is great, because God has us here for a reason and He wants us to enjoy what we have. I believe when we do that, then we make room for many more blessings. It's about appreciating the beauty around us and realizing it comes in many different forms. Luke 16 :10 says, &q

Is there anything you need God's help with? Is there anything that's so big in your life right now, that you need God to do exceedingly and abundantly? Do you know that when we’re confronted with any kid of battle, the Lord God will give us everything we need to win? Oh yes. He did it for David in 1 Samuel 30 and He will do it for us, as well. God will equip us to go head on into battle and win. It’s true. So whatever’s in front of you, fight in Jesus name as you seek Him and He will put you in a strong position to direct you to victory. Your faith will make you well. Just seek the Lord and have Him direct you in how to go about overcoming anything in front of you.  In  1 Samuel 30   the Lord told David to fight when David asked Him if he should pursue the  Amalekites, who raided his camp, set fire to it, and kidnapped everyone's families. David started with God, because the battle in front of him was huge and actually too big for him (and his army) to han

Jesus said,  “everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again,   but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.   The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” ( John 4 :13/14). That's what Jesus told the woman from Samaria, who went to the well to draw water. That was her first encounter with Jesus and of course her life was changed forever. She went to the well to draw natural water from the earth and she left with heavenly/eternal water -- an endless life with Jesus. Eternal means never ending. Before her encounter with Him she had led a wretched life. She was an outcast and a reject by many in society because of her bad decisions and mistakes. People may have rejected her, but she wasn't rejected by Jesus. He never overlooked her. In fact, just the opposite, He loved and embraced her. Even His disciples didn't approve of her, but guess what? Don't you know Jes