You Will Come to Life I Daily Walk Devotion

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You Will Come to Life

In most first responders vehicles, there is a machine called a defibrillator. It allows the responder to sent a shock to your heart to bring you back to life. You are probably familiar with what it looks like. Two circular paddles get charged with electricity to send a shock to your heart. The person yells “clear!” and puts the paddles on your chest. The hope is that you will come to life after being unconscious.

‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭37:14‬

“I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken and done it,” declares the LORD.'”

Israel had been spiritually dead before they went into captivity. That is true for most people who fall into the bondage of sinful living. After years of not listening to the prophet’s wirings, it had gotten so bad for Israel that they were taken from their land and put into slavery. Ezekiel encourages them that God will remember them once again, and He will put new life into them through the Holy Spirit and bring them back into their land.

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Firmly Planted I Daily Walk Devotion

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Firmly Planted

We once lived in an area that was wracked by gophers. We couldn’t grow a nice lawn, no matter what we did. One time we bought some raised planter boxes, laid gopher wire underneath, and planted a garden. The plants grew up nice and tall, and then one day they started falling over, one by one. Somehow the gophers were able to get in there and eat the roots. With Jesus Christ, we are firmly planted in fertile soil and watered by His Word.

‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭36:9

“For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you will be cultivated and sown.”

This section of Ezekiel is truly amazing! The prophet foretells how God is going to breathe life again into a dead nation. We see pictures of dry bones being brought back to life, and now we see God telling the people that He is with them and that they will be replanted. This time they will grow because He will cultivate the plant by putting His Spirit in them. What a promise!

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Jesus Walked In Your Shoes I Daily Walk Devotion

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Jesus Walked In Your Shoes

There is a saying that goes, “Don’t criticize a person unless you’ve walked a mile in their shoes.” If you haven’t been where they’ve been, then you have no basis for saying anything. That doesn’t stop people, but it should. Did you know that Jesus walked in your shoes? That’s right. He faced temptation like every other person, and He can relate to our struggles. Not only that, He can come to the aid of anyone who is tempted.

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭2:18

“For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.”

Luke chapter 4 is the time that Jesus was in the wilderness fasting and praying. At the END of those forty days, Satan came and tempted Him. When Jesus was at his weakest physically, Satan offered Him the world. Jesus resisted the temptation and rebuked Satan. There is no temptation that is common to man that Jesus hasn’t faced. He knows the intent behind it and how to overcome it.

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Sent to Proclaim the Gospel I Daily Walk Devotion

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Sent to Proclaim the Gospel

There are over 300 prophecies in the Old Testament about Jesus. He fulfilled all of them. The odds of that happening are staggering. The prophet Isaiah spoke many of those prophecies more than seven hundred years before Jesus came. God wanted His people to know that the Messiah was coming and what they could expect. He was sent to proclaim the Gospel.

‭‭Luke‬ ‭4:18‬

“ THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED,”

Jesus went into the synagogue on the Sabbath and opened the scroll of Isaiah and reads chapter 61. After He finishes reading it, He sits down and tells the congregation that, “Today, this scripture had been fulfilled.” He is going to preach the Gospel, heal the sick and blind, and set the oppressed free. This prophecy by Isaiah, seven hundred years earlier, was fulfilled through the ministry of Jesus Christ.

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Prepared the Way I Daily Walk Devotion

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Prepared the Way

For 400 years, Israel had been spiritually barren. They hadn’t heard a word from the Lord during that time. Then along comes a man dressed in camel hair, eating locust, and preaching repentance. You would think the people would’ve run from him, but the opposite happened. They were so desperate to hear from God that they traveled great distances to hear him. John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus to come.

‭‭Luke‬ ‭3:16

“John answered and said to them all, “As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

John the Baptist tells everyone what to expect from the coming Messiah. John brought repentance back to Israel through his preaching and water baptism. It was a symbol of dying to the old life and being brought into a new one. Jesus was coming with a different baptism that would empower all of us to live for Him. John was the one who prepared the way for God’s plan of redemption.

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Be Known for Your Love for Others I Daily Walk Devotion

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Be Known for Your Love of Others

What are you known for? Is it your intelligence? Maybe it is a skill you have honed over the years, and people seek you out when they are in need. As a Christian, you should be known for your love for others. Today we see such a person in Philemon. He had a thousand reasons to be known for something else, but Paul commends him on his love for the church.

‭‭Philemon‬ ‭1:5

“because I hear of your love and of the faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints;”

Philemon was a wealthy man who loved Jesus and the people of the church. He was known for his care of God’s people, and his reputation had reached Paul. This meant a lot to Paul because Philemon could be focusing his attention elsewhere and directing his resources for other causes. He provides an excellent example for all believers.

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The Lord Gives and He Takes Away I Daily Walk Devotion

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The Lord Gives and He Takes Away

Fish stories always seem to reach epic proportions. The fisherman tells how he struggled to reel this massive fish, and just as he is about to bring it into the boat, it breaks free from the hook. You can watch videos on YouTube of people showing off their catch only to have a seal pop out of the water and snag it. Whenever I see these, I always think about the verse in Job, which says, “The Lord gives, and He takes away.”

‭‭Job‬ ‭1:21-22

“He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.” Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.”

There were very few people in the Bible as successful in life and as devoted to God as Job. His ranch was big enough for all of his grown children to have their own homes. Satan came to God and made the accusation that Job was only faithful because of his wealth and success. God disagreed but allowed Satan to test Job by destroying everything. Job’s response? “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away.”

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More Than a Good Citizen I Daily Walk Devotion

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More Than a Good Citizen

Most Christians are model citizens wherever they live. They abide by the laws, pay their taxes, and subject themselves to the country’s leadership. That lines up with Scripture. We are to be more than a good citizen. As a disciple of Jesus Christ, we are to show His love to others.

‭‭Titus‬ ‭3:1-2

“Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, to malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men.”

This is quite the list that Paul gives Titus. At first, you would think that he is telling the church to be good citizens, but it is more than that. Paul is telling Titus for the people of the church to be model Christians. When we follow Jesus, these acts should come out of the overflow of what the Holy Spirit is doing in our hearts. If we are following Jesus, then we should desire to subject ourselves to the rulers because that is what Jesus did. Living under Rome’s rule was easy during His time. He just didn’t let it distract Him from His primary purpose.

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God Cares for You I Daily Walk Devotion

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God Cares for You

As I sit and write this devotional, a good portion of California’s forests are on fire. It has turned all of the skies gray from the ashes. It is dark and gloomy, and the air isn’t too great to breathe. It would be easy to get depressed since our summer days have been taken away. God cares for you no matter what the circumstances are, and He is often closer during the most trying times.

‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭34:12‬

“As a shepherd cares for his herd in the day when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will care for My sheep and will deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered on a cloudy and gloomy day.”

Ezekiel, the prophet, brings encouraging words that the people of Israel weren’t getting from the priests. God would care for people wherever they were scattered. By the time Ezekiel is writing this, the people of Israel have been scattered all over the known world. First, the ten tribes were taken away by Assyria, never to return. Then Babylon came and took the people of Judah, and they are scattered all over that kingdom. God wanted the people to know that He knows who they are, and He is caring for them during this challenging period.

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Nothing is Impossible with God I Daily Walk Devotion

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Nothing is Impossible with God

One of the best exercises for our faith is to read the testimonies of the saints from yesteryear. People like D.L. Moody, Charles Spurgeon, Hudson Taylor, and Amy Carmichael have biographies that will move you to tears. To hear how God did the improbable in their lives serves and inspiration for ours today. With God, nothing is impossible.

‭‭Luke‬ ‭1:37

“For nothing will be impossible with God.”

In context, this verse is about the birth of Jesus Christ and of Mary’s cousin Elizabeth being pregnant at a very old age with John the Baptist. The angel is telling Mary that with God, nothing is impossible. She will conceive the Messiah through supernatural means, and a womb long barren has been opened. If God can do this, then He can accomplish anything that needs to happen in your life. Do you believe?

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