Saturday, March 19, 2016

"A Time For Seeking"

"... you will seek the Lord your God and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul." Deuteronomy 4:29


Hey everyone. Just wanted to let you know that we will be celebrating our 3rd year anniversary this week! It's hard to believe that it has been 3 years! He is so good and we are so blessed to be able to share The Word with you each and every day.

That being said we are taking a few weeks off from writing to really seek the Lord for direction for the coming year. We will be back on Friday, April 1st.

Thank you so much for all your kind words and support.

God Bless!!!

Staff Snack Time Devotions

Sunday, March 13, 2016

"The Heart Of The Almighty"

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. James 4:7-8

Every time I think about drawing near to the Almighty I think of Genesis 3:8-9
 
   And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and His wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?"

From the very beginning it was the heart of the Almighty that we would spend time in His presence! So much so that He would come every day to walk with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day. The thing is ... it's still His heart. He still shows up, calling out to us to come and spend time Him. He still longs for us to seek His face. The problem is, we, like Adam spend to much time 'hiding in the trees' or in the weeds as it were. We know He is there waiting, calling out to us and instead of drawing near we all to often run away. WHY? The answer is simple and can be found in our first verse. "... we don't submit to the Almighty and or resist the devil. Which to be perfectly honest can be done rather easily if ???  We draw near to God and He draws near to us!!!

Thursday, March 10, 2016

"Price Paid"

   I am poured out like water, and My bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; it has melted within Me.
   My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and My tongue clings to My jaws; You have brought Me to the dust of death.
   For dogs have surrounded Me; The assembly of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet;
   I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me.
   They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.  Psalm 22:14-18

   Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.
   But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.
   All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
   He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. Isaiah 53:4-7

The price He paid when ... "He poured out His soul unto death, was numbered with the trangressors, bore the sin of many, all so that He could make intercession for the trangressors." Isaiah 53:12

Thank you, Lord, for paying the price for me!
 

Sunday, March 6, 2016

"Who Will Ascend?"

Psalm 24:1-6


The earth is the Lord's, and all its fullness,
   The world and those who dwell therein.

For He has founded it upon the seas,
   And established it upon the waters.

Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?
   Or who may stand in His holy place?

He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
   Who has not lifted up His soul to an idol,
        Nor sworn deceitful.

He shall receive blessing from the Lord,
   And righteousness from the God of his salvation.

This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him,
   Who seek Your face.   Selah

I wonder?  Are we that Jacob generation? Are we the generation who will ascend into His presence with and for the sole purpose of seeking His face? Is our face to face time with Him the desire of our hearts and the time of blessing for our souls desire?

I wonder? Are we? Will we be the generation? Will we take the time today to ascend ...And seek His face?

God Bless!!!

Staff of Snack Time Devotions


   

Friday, March 4, 2016

Faking It

An icy chill overcame him, consuming him, burning yet freezing him from the inside out. All the way to his very soul.

He stumbled over his words. "I...adjure you by the name of Jesus...who Paul proclaims." How mighty he sounded! Stuttering like a child facing an army of giants. But that was kind of what he was doing, wasn't it? He looked at his companions, and could tell that they felt the same knee-shaking sensation.

The evil, lilting voice spoke. "Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?"

A shudder moved through his body. His heart was hammering. His mouth was open, but no words came out? Who was he? Who was he to command evil spirits? He just thought he'd try this.... He had seen other people speak the name of Jesus. It had worked for them! So why not him?

And it knew! That evil spirit knew.

He didn't have time to think of anything else. Just then the possessed man lunged forward, colliding with him. Together they fell into a heap on the ground as the deranged man clawed and shrieked at him. He could hear the cries of his comrades. They hadn't fooled him.

Based on Acts 19:13-17

"Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, 'I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.' Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. But the evil spirit answered them, 'Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?' And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled." Acts 19:13-17

This story is kind of rough for me. I have this terrible problem with compassion - I have to much of it. I just feel so bad for those men who, to my innocent way of thinking and hoping, were just trying to help and serve. However, there's another reason this story hits hard. Because it's a hard hitting message.

The enemy knows when we are faking it.

"You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!" James 2:19

The rest of the world may not know when we are faking it. Our friends and family may not know. The church may not be able to stare into our soul. Maybe we don't even know when we are faking it. However, not only does God know ( as if that wasn't bad enough ), the enemy can tell, too. The enemy can tell if we are just repeating mantras and waving our arms. He can tell if we are truly dedicated. The enemy can spot a God-fearing, God-serving, devoted Christian a mile away.

The question is...

What does he see, when he looks at you and me? Does he see someone who's faking it? Or does he see the Lord's secret weapon?

V. Joy Palmer

Thursday, March 3, 2016

"The Final Say"

   Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented."
   And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him."
   The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.
   For I am a man under authority having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, 'Go,' and He goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."
   When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!"
   "And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.
   But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
   Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you." And his servant was healed that same hour. Matthew 8:5-13

As I read through this account of the centurion soldier today I felt led to ask you this question, "Do you, like this centurion, understand that Jesus has the final say? Do you get that He is the ultimate authority and that at His Word every sickness and disease is defeated? If the answer is yes than ...

   At this very hour ... "Go your way; as you have believed, so let it be done for you!"

HIS WORDS not mine and He does get the final say!

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

"Reach Out"

I don't seem to be able to get the words from these two verses out of my thoughts today.

  "The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel." Mark 1:15

   "Son, you are always with me and all that I have is yours?" Luke 15:31

The time for us to know and understand that we are His is now. All that pertains to the kingdom is our inheritance in Him and it is ours to walk in, in the same way that the second son could have had his fatted calf anytime he chose to.

The kingdom of God is at hand! That means it is accessible to us. We are His children, His sons and daughters. And as such, all of heaven, in all its power and might and grace and mercy are at hand, ready and available to us because we belong to Him.

Need a healing? Reach out in faith, believing/knowing it's yours to walk in! Need deliverance? Reach out! How about salvation? Reach out, repent, believe ... it's yours! Nothing is to hard for God! All things are possible and the impossible is yours just because your His and its His kingdom!