Ahoy Mateys! I pray that these devotions bless ye in a big way!
SONday Devotions
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Pearls From The Sea
Promises Dead Ahead! Never Fear!
By MaryLu Tyndall
Did you know God is a god of the I wills? When you find one of His I wills in the Bible, you can bank on it. He never goes back on His Word. He never changes His mind. I ran across these seven I wills in Exodus 6. Moses is complaining to God about his task of freeing the Israelites from Egypt. The first thing God says to Moses is "I am the Lord." Then He goes through a series of seven promises.
I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
I will free you from slavery.
I will rescue you with an outstretched arm.
I will take you to Me for a people.
I will be to you a God.
I will bring you into the land concerning which I lifted up My hand and swore that I would give to Abraham.
I will give it to you for a heritage.
Then He ends this list with another emphatic "I am the Lord."
As I read this, I realized that though none of these things were simple or easy-most actually impossible-God accomplished all of them.
So, I went in search of I will in the Bible. Here are some real gems that I found:
Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him (Psalm 91 NKJV).
Turn at my rebuke; Surely I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you (Proverbs 1:23 NKJV).
I will contend with those who contend with you, and your children I will save (Isaiah 49:25 NIV).
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:29 ESV).
Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men (Mark 1:17 ESV).
And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day (John 6:40 KJV).
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also (John 14:3 NASB).
And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son (John 14:13 ESV).
He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself in him (John 14:21 NKJV).
I challenge you to look up your own I wills in God's Word. Then memorize them and recite them often, especially when your ship heads into turbulent waters and storm clouds settle on the horizon. You can take God at His Word. He is a God of the I wills!
All Aboard!
By Debbie Mitchell
Imagine standing on the deck of a ship. You look out over the clean, blue water and are in awe of all of God's creations. You can see the shoreline in the distance, the trees, animals...such beauty.
The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth-men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air-for I am grieved that I have made them" (Genesis 6:5-7 NIV).
When I read this passage, it saddens me. God created such a beautiful world and filled it with such amazing creatures. And for what? To be destroyed by his own hands. How heartbroken He must have been.
But then there was Noah, the one shining light in this darkness.
But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD (Genesis 6:8 NIV).
Because Noah found favor in God's eyes, all hope was not lost for the world. Sure, eventually the earth was flooded, but I like to think of it as a "washing away" of all the sins.
The LORD then said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation" (Genesis 7:1 NIV).
Once Noah entered the ark, a new chapter began for the earth.
And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood (Genesis 7:7 NIV).
After they were all safely inside, the Lord shut the door and the cleansing began.
I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth (Genesis 9:11 NIV).
Even though God promised never to flood the entire earth again, He can still cleanse us from our sinful lives. We have but two options in this life: one, we can turn from our sins and enter the "ark" with Noah and be saved; two, we can refuse to turn from our sin and "drown" with the world.
I choose to board the ark!
Have a blessed SONday, Mateys!!!!
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