***Listen To Audio Version: Abide In Christ Audio 583

The Message For Today (July 5, 2026):

***Listen To Audio Version: Abide In Christ Audio 583

When Jesus spoke these words to His disciples, it was only days before He would be led to the cross. These were some of His parting words to them. Final words of instruction.

If you knew you were about to go away from the people you loved, and you needed to give them final instructions, what would you say?

The important things, right?

This was important, and Jesus needed them to know it. “Abide in me, and I in you…”

This was a big key, something they would need so they could withstand what they were about to walk through, and so they could complete the mission He was leaving them with.

What Does It Mean To Abide?

To abide means to be stable or fixed on something, to continue and remain in something, and to accept without objection.

It means to “live with” Christ consistently. Not just on Sunday, but every day. Think of it as making your home with Him.

It’s not a feeling or an emotion; it’s not mystical. Rather, it’s an intentional state of being, a choice you make every day.

God is asking us today…

Will you choose to remain in me and I in you every single day?

“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith.” Colossians 2:6-7.

What Does Abiding Look Like?

Abiding in Christ, then, looks like a consistent spiritual stability. No matter where you are in your day, and what is going on around you, you can find that place of peace inside. It’s like an invisible anchor keeping you steady and grounded.

Abiding looks like involving Him in every aspect of your life, leaning into His wisdom for major decisions, and following His guidance when He leads you.

It looks like love, relationship, and intimacy. There’s a growing closeness and intimacy with the Lord that comes the more we learn to abide.

And, as a natural by-product of abiding, we see the evidence of more fruit in our lives. More love, more joy, more peace, more kindness, more patience, more goodness, more faithfulness, more gentleness, and more self-control.

The Power Of Abiding

“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” John 15:5 KJV

Outside of abiding, it looks like striving, struggling, moodiness, and impatience. Everything the opposite of good spiritual fruit.

Jesus said, “Without me you can do nothing…”

Nothing.

But with Christ, you can do all things. (Philippians 4:13 KJV)

He’s the source of our faith, the source of our strength, the source of our hope. As we stay rooted and grounded in Him, stabilized in our faith, then what feels impossible suddenly becomes possible.

Have you ever noticed how you can be discouraged about something and doubt starts creeping in, but then you spend a little time reading your Bible, praying, or worshipping God, and suddenly things look different?

Suddenly, things that felt out of reach or impossible yesterday suddenly feel possible today.

That’s the power of abiding. The more you abide in Christ, the more your perspective shifts to hope, confidence, and faith.

If you are struggling today or if things feel all over the place and anything but awesome, then take a moment to breathe.

Breathe in His love, return to the place of abiding, and find that center of peace that your soul is longing for. Decree this over your life:

Closing Devotional Prayer

My prayer for you:

Lord, we thank you for your word today. We make an intentional choice to abide in you today, and we ask you to abide in us. Lord, if we start to drift away and get caught up in the things the world sends to distract us with, we ask that you would gently draw us back to you, draw us back to that place of peace, and teach us to live from a place of abiding so we can produce more fruit for you and your Kingdom. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Written by Dr Krista Abbott, you can connect here

**Sip Saturday is written by our Saturday morning contributor, M.H. Elrich. A beautifully gifted Christian author who seeks to honor the Trinity in her writing. She hopes that her words will encourage women to draw closer to God, whether that is through her fantasy series or her weekly devotionals.

Cornerstone Scripture:

“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

-Hebrews 4:12 KJV

A woman sitting with a cup of tea in the ruins of her house after the heavy bombing of London, 1940.

As a fantasy author, I often have to write battle scenes. Reviewers and readers have told me that they’ve found my books engaging, intense, and adventurous. Some even said they loved my battle scenes. I always thank them, but I also feel embarrassed because of a small secret: I don’t like writing battle scenes.

One of my writing group acquaintances told me that my writing reminded him of Jane Austen: a bunch of characters talking over tea. I took it as a compliment. I’d much rather have drawing room drama than another combat scene.

Yet, I’ve read many fantasy books where I longed for more action. I actually wanted a sword fight to change things up. I laughed at my own preferences and shared with my editor, who knows my struggles, my sudden change of thought. What I came to realize through all of these interactions is that battle and drawing room drama can both be important to a story. It all depends on what the story needs.

During the time in which Hebrews was written, the audience was familiar with swords. They knew all too well the pitfalls and triumphs of war. Some of those reading this may have been veterans. Unlike us, who live in relative comfort (if you’re in the U.S. and other first world countries), they knew the pain of loss and the terror of battle. When the author made this reference, some of the readers knew it all too personally.

For those of us who have never experienced war, this metaphor may be harder to understand. However, we know the experience of a sharp remark that stung so deeply we still carry it with us today. Imagine that, but from the Word of God.

God’s Word is so powerful that it can convict, encourage, direct, teach, motivate, and transcend beyond our understanding. For example, when you sat in a sermon and heard a Bible verse that spoke so directly to your soul, that you wondered if the pastor knew what was in your heart. Or when a friend shares a Bible verse you had been memorizing. You wonder if she was there during your personal study. God’s Word sees and speaks in amazing ways, which is why Satan tries so hard to keep us from reading it and knowing it. There’s a song going around that talks about how we have dust on our Bibles, but brand new iPhones. How true that is!

Today, make time to read and apply God’s Word beyond this devotional. Don’t let God’s Word get dusty on your shelf. Please, my friend, pick it up, dust it off, and read.

See how it will change you.

Dear Lord, please help me to spend time in your Word every day. Make room in my schedule, give me time and space and quiet to read your Bible. Let me take it to heart what you have to say. In Your Son’s Name, Amen.

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***Listen To Audio Version: Free Indeed Audio 582

The Message For Today (July 3, 2026):

***Listen To Audio Version: Free Indeed Audio 582

When life seems to remind you of every mistake you’ve made, every door that you missed, every red flag that you did not heed, and every misstep you made in your journey, it’s easy to get caught up in that and to sit inside of remorse and regret.

When we are walking throughout our day, our lives, looking back at every mistake we’ve made and praying that we could do something different, think something different, speak something different, we are unintentionally holding on to something that God has already released.

When we are walking with God, we are walking in liberty, repenting, turning back and going to the Father, letting go of every old season and everything that hurt you, everyone that undermined you, and every situation that you couldn’t control. Releasing these things is important.

But it’s hard to let go.

It’s hard to be free of things that you know in your heart have had an effect on where you are in your life, how you walk day to day, how you feel about yourself. Life is full of these strings, full of these chains that link us to days gone by, seasons that have passed, and often it’s so hard to let go that we find ourselves repeating the season.

Even in new locations, even with new people, we’re often repeating cycles. And it’s hard. This is why God tells us that there’s not one thing in the earth that is stronger than Him, that there is not one thing that we have encountered that the Lord has not given us a way of escape.

In 1 Corinthians 10: 13 in the King James Version, it states:

¹³ There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. - 1 Corinthians 10: 13 KJV

To carry it and move forward, to release as you’re growing through it, to gain the lessons and leave the broken pieces behind. There are seasons where you hold on to the pieces, and you create a mosaic. And there are seasons when God says to let those things go, because you can’t take them where you’re going.

When you are walking with the Lord, wherever the Spirit is, there is liberty, there is freedom. And if the Son has set you free, then you are free indeed. Why hold on to seasons? Why hold on to old things, old barriers? Why hold on to the weight that you wish you could change?

You can’t go back there.

The Bible tells us in Psalm 46:1 that the Lord is a very present help in trouble. He is our great God in this moment. He is Alpha and Omega in this moment. What has happened is done. It cannot be undone. It cannot be changed. Whatever happened to you cannot be “unhappened.”

But what can happen in this moment is that you can be healed, you can release it, and you can hold fast to the liberty that you find in King Jesus. You can hold fast to the truth of who you are in this moment. Nothing can take you back into something that God has delivered you from. There’s not one temptation, there’s not one tempting situation, there’s nothing that can pull you back when the Lord has set you free.

When He has made you free from sin, from shame, from condemnation, when he’s made you free from the hurt that was done against you, when he’s made you free from unforgiveness, when He’s made you free from holding grudges and holding on to pain, when He has brought liberty upon you, nothing can undo it. When the Lord has set you free from chains, from habits, from people-pleasing, no one can pull you back into old behaviors, old mindsets, and old thinking.

For the Lord our God is with you.

He is more than able to bring about transformation. He’s more than able to show you the power of divine release. But it is only when we say yes. It is only when we submit. It is only when we learn to let go of every old thing that we can begin to see the truth of the Word of the Lord.

We can begin to see the freedom and we can begin to hold fast to that liberty, hold on to that faith and trust that God is more than able. It comes with intention. It comes with letting go. It comes with closing the old door over and over again, as many times as it takes to close it again, to close it again, and to close it again. To trust that the Lord is with you, that He is helping you to overcome every old chain, every shackle, every stronghold. It must let go. It cannot remain. For whom the Son sets free is free indeed.

Closing Devotional Prayer

My prayer for you:

Father, in the name of Jesus. Thank you. Thank you, Lord God, for the mighty woman of God. Thank you, God, that this brand new morning is wide open. God, let every chain come down, loose every shackle.

O God, I thank you that the mighty woman of God is stepping into divine liberty. Lord, I thank you for the truth of your Word. I thank you that every word that you’ve spoken over her life will come to pass. For you are the sovereign God, the Holy One, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And there is nobody like you. There is no one above you.

Thank you, O God. There’s not one temptation that has come upon her, O God, that you have not given her a way to escape. So, Lord, I thank you for the escape. I thank you for the liberty. I thank you, God, that many are the afflictions of the righteous, but you, O God, have delivered us from them all.

I thank you for deliverance. I thank you for the healing over the mighty woman of God. I thank you, O God, for the grace and the glory of God that is coming forth over her now. That as she leaves this prayer this morning, that she’s ready to leap, to go, she’s ready to be set free. Like all of the ones in the Bible who, once they had regained their legs, once they had regained their mobility, once they were healed of the affliction, would leap and dance and celebrate you.

They would glorify you immediately. Lord, I thank you that the mighty woman of God would do the same. That she will glorify you this morning, that she is set free. That there is nothing, O God, that can pull her back into an old situation, old fear, old chains. Because now, God, she has her liberty.

I thank you, Lord, and I pray in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.

UPGRADE TO FACE-TO-FACE FAITH

***Listen To Audio Version: Deeper Roots Audio 581

The Message For Today (July 2, 2026):

***Listen To Audio Version: Deeper Roots Audio 581

There are many promises in the Word of God. Those promises anchor us. They give us hope, peace, and strength, especially in times when hope seems far away and slow in coming.

Through the Spirit of God, John penned this scripture. During a time when life was bleak, this was highlighted to me. I had seen it before, but this day I saw it in a different light.

Life, health, and prosperity were in the balance.

John’s words gave me comfort and peace. The plan was here all along. It was a blessing and a strategy for me. My prosperity starts in my soul. When my soul is prospering, everything else will prosper.

It’s the same as being connected to the Vine. When our souls are connected to Jesus, we are fed, we are alive, and that life gives other areas of our lives sustenance, reaching to the end of that branch.

Soul prospering, health prospering, and life prospering are all part of God’s benefit package. We are responsible for drawing near, staying close, and being a part of that prosperity. Being in the Word, through reading or hearing, fellowshipping with God through prayer and praise, and sometimes silence, will foster this prospering and keep our branches healthy and alive.

The Word of the Lord and its promises would not be there if they were not attainable. These proclamations made through the Holy Spirit of God are truth. They are guides for our lives, health, and overall well-being.

Our souls are part of our bodies, the temples the Lord has provided us with as we live and navigate in this life. We would do well to learn how to find comfort in them and provide them with what they need to prosper so that we can have good turnouts.

The Spirit will guide us into all truth with matters of our souls, bodies, and life. The Wonderful Counselor will show us how to live life so that these three things will always be in place in our lives.

Maybe you feel as if you’re lacking in one area while another area is thriving. That happens in life. Just like the Proverbs 31 Woman, all of the things in that chapter happened not just in one day, but throughout her life.

Take the first step, draw close to Him so He can draw close to you. In that closeness, intimacy will come. That intimacy will lead to a leaning ear that hears what the Lord is saying, and those words during those intimate times will carry you through life.

In times of intimate fellowship, we are filled with the Spirit, given new energy, peace, and comfort to continue our journeys in life. Our lives are not a sprint; we are running a marathon. When we train every day, we will walk better, closer, and build endurance.

That endurance will carry us through when times are tough and cause us to misunderstand or question where God is in our pain. Being intimate with Him has caused us to build our faith in who He is, and that faith will carry us through during challenging times.

For many years, devastating things happened. I was drawing close, but not understanding, hearing, but not hearing. The Word was not fully permeating my heart because of a warped perception of God. But one day, when I saw this scripture, a light went on in my heart. I realized that He, God Himself, wished above all things that I would have these things, the very things my life was lacking, and that changed my perspective, and that perspective changed my life.

My trust built up within me and caused me to hunger for more of His truth. This hunger led me to draw closer, dig deeper, and make my heart good ground to receive. Those moments with Him took root within me, and when adversities came, I had something to draw on. I didn’t face cancer the same way I faced paralysis years before. I took it on with faith, with hope, and with the resilience I had built up in the Word.

When the diagnosis came, I didn’t curl up in a ball in despair as in previous years.

I followed the hints of the Spirit.

I watched my first words. I took the next steps, even when everything was happening so fast that my head seemed to be spinning. He was still there in ways that are still a magnificent wonder to me.

From a lady who appeared out of nowhere, wanting to give me a hug days before surgery, to people who I had not seen in years showing up in my life to visit and pray. To me, that was God showing up in the flesh for me. These things caused me to prosper inside. The Word I had built up caused me to prosper.

Although the situation lingered in different ways, I was not alone; I had God, I had His Word, I had my Counselor, and I was equipped to prosper because my soul was prospering. Take time out to prosper today. Draw near to God, fill yourself up with His presence.

Build yourself up in your most holy faith. Let faith water those roots so they go deep down; that way, when the trials of life are pulling at you to uproot what you’ve planted, your roots will be so deep and strong that they cannot be torn away. They may be shaken, but they will not move.

May the peace and blessings of the Lord be with you and shield you as you prosper in your soul, and may this prosperity overflow and permeate all other areas of your life.

Written by our Thursday Morning devotional writer,

Reference…

*John 16:13 - Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

UPGRADE TO FACE-TO-FACE FAITH

***Listen To Audio Version: Born Knowing How to Be Held Audio 580

The Message For Today (June 30, 2026):

***Listen To Audio Version: Born Knowing How to Be Held Audio 580

Watch a baby fall asleep after a hard cry.

Not a little fuss, a real one. The kind where their whole body has been shaking and red and undone for far too long. And then, finally, the storm breaks. They go quiet. And if you stay close enough to listen, you’ll hear it: two quick, stuttering breaths in, and then one long, slow breath out.

“Huh-huh… haaaah. Again. Huh-huh… haaaah.”

It’s the sound of a small body putting itself back together.

I learned recently that this exact rhythm, two breaths in, one long breath out, is the fastest way a grown human can calm a panicking nervous system (more on this to come). Scientists have a clinical name for it: the physiological sigh. When you’re spiraling, when your chest is tight, and your thoughts are running, two sharp inhales and one long exhale will bring you down faster than almost anything else.

Therapists teach it. Researchers study it. People pay good money to learn it in a quiet room with soft lighting.

And a newborn does it on the first day of life. Untaught. Unrehearsed. Nobody sat that baby down and explained the science. The rhythm was already in them; written into the body before they ever drew their first breath alone.

You were born knowing how to be held. You just grew up and forgot.
Because that’s not an accident of biology, that is a fingerprint.

⁷ And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. - Genesis 2:7, KJV

The very first thing that ever happened to a human being was that God breathed into us. We did not earn that breath. We did not strive for it. We were dust on the ground until He leaned down and gave us His own air. And then, as if that weren’t enough, He stitched into our lungs a reflex that says, after the worst crying, “You can calm down now. You can rest. You are still held.”

And isn’t it the same on the other end?

When a body has gone still and the breath has stopped altogether, the first thing a rescuer is trained to do is give two breaths. Mouth to mouth, lungs to lungs, one person’s air becoming another person’s life. We were made by a God who breathed into dust, and to this day, the way we call someone back from the edge is to breathe into them. Two breaths in.

We are, all of us, kept alive on borrowed breath.

⁹ Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. - Ezekiel 37:9 KJV

We just forget. We grow up, and we learn to hold our breath through the hard things. We learn to perform, to grip, to brace, to strive, to manage. We forget that we came into this world already equipped to return to peace, with the way home being installed before we could even speak. And the whole Christian life, I’m starting to believe, is just remembering.

God took this message one step further and confirmed it from the choir loft. This past Sunday, I walked into church carrying this very message, still unreleased, still sitting in my drafts, and set to go out Tuesday. The choir had a song ready. One they sing often, one already in their repertoire, and one they could’ve done in their sleep.

They didn’t sing it. Instead, mid-service, the choir director set the plan down and started something off the cuff: no sheet music, no rehearsal. They began teaching the whole room, choir, and congregation alike, words none of us had ever heard:

”Breatheee… Holy Ghost fire. Breatheee… on us.”

And then: Let Your wind blow through this place.

I came undone in the pew. Because here is what most people don’t know: breath, wind, and Spirit are the same word in scripture. Ruach in Hebrew. Pneuma in Greek. One word doing all three jobs. So when that choir director sang “breathe on us” and “let Your wind blow through this place,” he wasn’t switching topics.

He was saying the same holy thing twice. Breath. Wind. Spirit. The God who breathed life into dust, who sent His breath into the dry bones, who wired our newborn lungs to find their way home after the hardest cry, that same God had a man lay down the rehearsed plan and breathe out, unscripted, the exact words my whole message was built on.

When Jesus commissioned His disciples, scripture says He breathed on them and said, “Receive ye the Holy Ghost” (John 20:22, KJV). And on the day the Church was born, the Spirit came as “a sound like that of a violent rushing wind” (Acts 2:2, KJV), and fire. Breath. Wind. Fire. Breathe, Holy Ghost fire. Let Your wind blow through this place.

Only God could do that.

Days before I ever hit publish. Only God arranges a confirmation you never asked for, in a room you didn’t plan, through a song that didn’t even exist that morning. He wasn’t just teaching the choir new lyrics. He was signing my work: Breathe on us. Blow through this place.

So the next time your whole body is shaking and red and undone, the next time the crying has gone on far too long, remember what you knew before you knew anything else. Two breaths in. One long breath out. Let His wind move through you. Let His Spirit do what your striving never could.
Come down now. “Huh-huh… haaaah.” Again. You are still in good hands. Always.

UPGRADE TO FACE-TO-FACE FAITH

**Sip Saturday is written by our Saturday morning contributor, M.H. Elrich. A beautifully gifted Christian author who seeks to honor the Trinity in her writing. She hopes that her words will encourage women to draw closer to God, whether that is through her fantasy series or her weekly devotionals.

Cornerstone Scripture:

“Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.”

-Hebrews 4:11 KJV

I was sweating from exertion. Who knew that being inside of a mascot costume would be so hard? I not only had to pretend to be overly-cheerful, I had to do so while wearing a massive head with only a screen to see. Depending on the day, I had to twirl a sign outdoors while waving and encouraging honks from nearby cars. Children would threaten to climb on me, and I couldn’t speak, but only gently wave my finger to say no. After my shift, I felt like I had run a marathon, and was all too grateful to take a shower.

This was one of my first jobs. At the time, I was still new to work. I had moments of tiredness, but receiving a paycheck was enough for me to overlook it. However, when I transitioned to working at a vendor hall, where I had to set up and take down for events, I began to understand why people don’t like to work. Then, when I went to work at a retail store, I felt the irritation of dealing with customers and the boredom of waiting until a shift was over. Wandering, aimless, merely working for a living, I wondered what the point of a “job” was. That’s when I stumbled upon a verse that changed my perspective.

“And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.”

-Colossians 3:23-24

I realized that no matter how mind-numbingly terrible a job could be, I was not working for the mascot company, the vendor hall, or the retail store. I was working for God, and that meant that I should work to the best of my ability, no matter if I was cleaning toilets or waving signs. This doesn’t mean that you have to stay at a job you hate, though God may call you to do so until the time he reveals a new occupation. It means that when God reveals the path he wants you to walk, you shouldn’t complain, whine, and stomp your feet. Instead, you should surrender to him, working for the Lord.

This is what the author of Hebrews means when he says we should “labor” to enter God’s rest. He or she is not saying that we can earn our way to heaven through our actions. Rather, we should be working for the Lord, not for men. Our actions should come from our love for God, rather than our own desire to make it to heaven through good works.

Additionally, just because we are saved through Jesus’ blood doesn’t mean that we should live reckless, sinful lives. Paul, in Romans 6, warns against this kind of behavior. The author of Hebrews gives that same warning. Do you truly think that living a life contrary to God’s Word, believing that you are saved by his grace, will give you access to heaven? If we are striving to follow God, I am sure that God honors our desire, even if we fail. But purposelessly disregarding his Word? I would be concerned about hearing, “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:23).

Labor for the Lord, not for men. Even if your work is terrible. Even if your coworker is the worst. Even if you absolutely hate your boss. Maybe God has placed you there for a reason, to minister and pray for that person. Or perhaps He is trying to teach you how to patiently love the unloveable (just like he has loved us). Whatever it may be, honor the Lord with your work.

Let’s pray.

Dear Lord, please help me to work for your glory, not my own. Help me in my occupation to love others, even if it’s hard. In Your Son’s Name, Amen.

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P.S. I am the author of these books, and they are available in all formats: paperback, ebook, and audiobook! Thank you for your weekly support of Sip Saturday.

***Listen To Audio Version: The Good Fight Audio 579

The Message For Today (June 26, 2026):

***Listen To Audio Version: The Good Fight Audio 579

God never promised that it would be easy. He promised that he would never leave you nor forsake you. Many times, when we’re looking for the easiest path or the path of least resistance, we’re hoping that everything that we have is enough, that all that we need is already inside of our hands, and that if there’s something that we don’t have, then maybe we’re not ready or it’s not the right time. So we tend to let go of the things that we’re often called to work through, that we’re called to speak to, that we’re called to break, that we’re called to shift.

It is impossible to please God without faith.

That is what the scripture admonishes us. That faith is so important to the Lord that it’s impossible to please him without it. It says in Hebrews 11:6:

⁶ But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. - Hebrews 11:6 KJV

The kind of faith that believes that He is God and that He’s a rewarder of those who seek Him is the kind of faith that guides you beyond limitations, beyond temporary circumstances, and beyond delays. Whatever the delay or whatever the denial has been, the Lord our God is greater. He’s mighty to save, mighty to deliver, and mighty to set free. He is our great God. All that we need, He has already provided.

It doesn’t mean that we always have it within ourselves. There are times when we feel like we just don’t have it, that we’re not ready, that we’re not prepared. And this is not being sinful or disobedient. This is simply being human and recognizing when you’ve met your limitation. The Lord tells us in scripture that there is nothing too hard for Him. There is nothing the Lord cannot accomplish.

So, by faith, we are able to see something new. By faith, we’re able to transform our lives. We’re able to open new doors and make spirit-led moves. Meaning, when you’re wrestling against flesh and blood, and you feel as though the battle is between you and a person or you and an organization, you will often redirect your struggle to earthly weapons, carnal weapons, with your pen, your paper, your influence, to attempt to straighten things out in your own strength and power.

But when we’re fighting the good fight of faith, we are wrestling not against flesh and blood, but we are wrestling against principalities, against powers, and against the rulers of the darkness of this world. Very specific is what it says in Ephesians 6:12. This lineup of understanding that the flesh and the Spirit are not one, that the flesh can be disobedient, but the Spirit of the Lord is still the Spirit. Still capable of transforming hearts and renewing minds, and still able to bring about a transformation by his grace.

So when we’re fighting the good fight of faith, we’re not fighting alone. We are not wrestling against flesh or against humanity or against systems. We are fighting against the darkness that perverts systems, against the powers that claim systems and institute massive shifts in liberty, and principalities that operate through people. Principalities which may cause a friend to turn their back at the last moment or may cause a parent to decide to viscerally undermine your self-esteem.

Whatever the case may be, whether it be a family member, whether it be a friend, whether it be your husband, whether it be your church, whatever it may be, whatever the “enemy” is, we are not fighting flesh and blood. We are preparing for war and victory over apathy, over distractions, over overwhelm, anxiety, fear, lack of understanding, lack of transition, and lack of breakthrough. All because we don’t quite know the end of a thing from the beginning.

But when you know from the beginning, you know the truth of a thing. You know that the Lord has been with you from day one. You know that He is fighting for you. You know that there are times when you will simply need to be still and know that He is God, that he will fight the battles for you and turn the tables in your favor. That’s what we know.

But when it feels like it’s not possible to hold on, and it feels as if all of the mechanisms, all the devices of this world are trying to make you give up on life, on yourself, on ever believing God is more than able, this is where the good fight enters in. To fight the good fight of faith is to stand boldly and decree that you will not be moved.

You will not be silenced. You will trust the Lord your God all the days of your life because He is good and His mercy endures forever. So in Revelation, 3:8–11 in the King James Version it states:

⁸ I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.

To keep the word of the Lord and to not deny his name is important. To hold fast to his word is important, as it tells us also in Hebrews:10:23. In verses 9 through 11, it reads:

⁹ Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.

¹⁰ Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

¹¹ Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

That last line in verse 11 shows us that this is not a passive journey. To hold fast to the promises, to hold fast to what you believe in, to take action that is living full of living faith, so that no man can take that crown of faith that you have. That crown that the scripture is discussing is your faith. It is your faith in God and his ability to do what He claimed He could do.

To build, to transform your life and make all things new. Revelation 3:8–11 teaches us how to fight simply by holding fast, not giving up our crown, not getting caught up in the things of this world, but being focused on the words of the Lord, that we may remain patient and good.

Now, as we close the devotional and we go forth in the day looking to your to-do list and looking to the limits and looking to the walls and looking to what the Holy Spirit has given you to walk in, remember that the good fight of faith is always worth it.

It won’t be easy. You won’t always have it within you. But we will have the sovereign Lord. We will have our great God. We will have the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. We will have Him with us at all times.

We will have Him with us as a constant companion. We’ll have Him with us at work within us to go exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we ask or think, according to that power that worketh in us. That is what happens when we’re fighting the good fight of faith: when we realize that we don’t always have what we need, it’s not always in us, but it is always in the hands of the sovereign God.

It is always by His Spirit, it is always by the indwelling, and it’s always by the blessing of the Lord to send people, to send those who will run with you. For we know that one may be able to pray and see things move, but when two come together in His name, there He is in the midst also. And when two come together, agreeing on any one thing, the Lord blesses it, shifts it, transforms it, and makes all things new.

Closing Devotional Prayer

My prayer for you:

Father, in the name of Jesus: thank you, thank you for the grace and the glory of God. Lord, you are Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I thank you, Lord God, for who you are. Lord, I thank you for the release of this word, God, and the message for the mighty woman of God, that she is not alone. I thank you for covering all that concerns her, God, from the beginning to the end.

Lord, you are good and your mercy endure forever. So I thank you, Lord God, for being the sovereign Rock, the Holy One, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Lord, bless the mighty woman of God. Shift everything, transform and make new, O God, the glory of the Lord within this mighty woman of God. I thank you, Lord God, that she is fighting a good fight of faith, that she is pressing, O God, past every limitation and that you are right there with her, O God, to go exceedingly, abundantly, above all that she can ask or possibly think.

For you are the Lord our God. You are mighty to save, mighty to deliver, and mighty to set free. I thank you, Lord, and I bless you in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.

UPGRADE TO FACE-TO-FACE FAITH

***Listen To Audio Version: Closer than a Brother Audio 578

The Message For Today (June 25, 2026):

***Listen To Audio Version: Closer than a Brother Audio 578

We live in a generation that is surrounded by people, but lonely. We go places, we have functions. We are the most connected generation in history, but loneliness is a constant companion for so many. This scripture shows us that a person who has many friends must show himself friendly. So the relationships that we form intentionally, that we reach out for, that we cultivate are our outward responsibility.

The heart to be willing to reach out, to make connections, and to show yourself friendly so that you can begin to connect, and so that we can begin to have relationships that are real, that are true, is the beginning of wisdom. Here in the Book of Wisdom, we see in Proverbs 18:24, a simple guideline to establishing healthy relationships.

Being surrounded by friends but not being friendly is closing the door to the connection that we all need and crave. Having many connections and remaining cold and keeping up a wall for lack of trust or because you’ve been harmed before is what stifles growth. It stifles relationships. It holds us back.

To not be able to let go, to walk through, to heal, and to come out ready to love and to try again, stalls our growth emotionally, spiritually, and physically, and will affect our decisions very deeply. So connection is healing. Friendship is an open door, and we have the choice to walk through it every day.

Now, this does not mean allow people to hurt you. This does not mean repeat cycles of pain and toxicity. This does not mean to allow the person who has shown you who they are to come back in to do more harm. None of that applies here.

Take Hold and Cultivate Connections

What this means is to take hold of the opportunity to create relationships, to cultivate connections, to be the change that we all desire to see in the world. To be connected, to be loving, to be kind. It seems that in the light of what has happened in the last six years, the massive amount of isolation and being alone that we’ve experienced, and that some of us are just beginning to heal from, has caused a lot of pain.

It caused an entire mindset. And it seems like everyone is angrier, frustrated, less patient, less tolerant, and it’s evident everywhere: in the driving, in the communities, and in the grocery store. People are just angry. And being the light is difficult because how do you balance being the light with preserving your peace from the chaos of those who may not be healed, and maybe even the chaos of your own history, your own past mistakes?

This scripture is the guideline: that a man that hath many friends, that is surrounded and connected and has a large network of people that they call friends, is a person who is friendly, who shows himself to be friendly, who makes the overtures, makes the connection, and is real and is open and is available.

But then the scripture goes deeper in the second part, when it says: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. There are many relationships and many friends that we can have in our circle. But there is a friend, there is one, maybe two, that stick closer than a brother that we’ve had and that we’ve known for decades, that we can trust with our very beings. This friend that sticks closer than a brother, this friend is one of many. This is sort of the inner courts of our lives.

When establishing these relationships, knowing who to trust, vetting their hearts, vetting their minds, and ensuring that you’re creating these beautiful relationships is so important. We have the capacity, and we have it by prayer, by the Holy Spirit, by observing and being careful, that we come together and create relationships that are loving, that are supportive, and that are reciprocal.

Supportive and connected.

Simply because support is necessary. It’s very important. Connectivity is important. Our hearts crave connection. We were made for one another. And deep, intimate relationships are what carry us through the hard times, to know that we are not alone. Yes, the Lord is always with us.

He’s always there, a constant companion, dwelling within us, guiding us, loving us, comforting us in times of trials. But the Lord made us for each other. Man, woman, sister, friend, cousin, brother; relationships are a part of our currency. They are a part of how we connect with people. They are a part of our emotional balance and well-being, and the lack of them is often painful.

Being surrounded by people and feeling alone is painful. Feeling different, feeling abnormal, feeling as if you’re the odd person out, it can truly weigh on you. And so I pray that this scripture shows us tonight, this morning, this afternoon, wherever you are, that it’s okay to establish healthy relationships. It’s okay to be the connector, to reach out. And even if the door closes and the door closes, and it closes again, keep going.

It’s worth it to get that one yes, that one open door, that one person who is ready to create real and lasting relationships; to meet, to connect, to be, to love, to empower one another, to be free. It is worth it to press, it’s worth it to put your best foot out, and it’s worth it to trust the Lord in the development of new relationships.

Closing Devotional Prayer

My prayer for you:

Father, I thank you right now that the mighty woman of God is now stepping into a new season. I thank you, O God, that you are God in the midst. I pray, Lord, that every wall between the mighty woman of God and strong relationships, secure relationships, let it break.

Every wall between her and the future that you have for her, the relationships that will cultivate her environment, her network, and her net worth. Her value not just in money or in connections, but in knowing who she has in her life. Knowing that she has someone walking with her in the natural, as well as having you, God, in the Spirit.

I thank you, Lord God, that the enemy is no longer keeping her isolated or alone. And that even if she’s surrounded by people but feels overlooked or feels out of place, feels discordant, I pray, O God, that you will bring the woman of God into the proper environment. One where, O God, you set her to put her feet on solid ground.

There’ll be seasons where you may call the woman of God to go and do unusual things and to stand alone and to stand out there on her own for a season. But rarely is that meant to be for a lifetime. So I thank you for the grace. I thank you for the glory. I thank you for the ease. I thank you for the sudden shift in the name of Jesus.

Have your way over the mighty woman of God in establishing relationships and creating those deep, deep connections over time, with trust, where she has a friend who is closer than a brother. One who is almost like family, chosen family, chosen hearts to walk this walk with the mighty woman of God.

I’m praying for her, and I’m praying for her relationships, each and every one, that she and her friendship circle will be blessed, that she and her close, intimate connections will be blessed. For you are the Lord our God. And so, Lord, I thank you, and I pray in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.

UPGRADE TO FACE-TO-FACE FAITH

***Listen To Audio Version: Rivers of Living Water Audio 577

The Message For Today (June 24, 2026):

***Listen To Audio Version: Rivers of Living Water Audio 577

Often, when we imagine rivers of living water flowing from our bellies, it’s easy to visualize living water being poured out and touching everything that you're around as you believe in the Lord. So all these rivers flowing, this encouragement, this empowerment, this power, it’s easy to visualize that.

But we know that spiritually, rivers of living water flowing out of our belly means that we are healed of affliction. We are beyond fear, we are beyond doubt, and we are beyond confusion. We are walking with God in such faith that when we speak, there’s an empowerment, that when we trust that we’re speaking life, and that when we love, we are loving the way that Jesus loves because we believe on Him.

We are then filled with the Holy Spirit, we’re filled with the grace and the glory. When we are filled with His Spirit, and we love Him, and we believe on Him, then spiritually there is an outpouring that happens upon those around us, upon our homes, upon the work of our hands. Because rivers of living water are just that. It is rivers continuously flowing.

When looking up the amplified version, it says continuously flowing. So these rivers come from this well of faith that we have in King Jesus, and that life is going forth to touch everything. Now, Jesus referenced, “as the scripture hath said.”

When He said this, that gave an indication that there are scriptures that reflect this in other places. When you look into the previous scriptures, we see in Ezekiel 47:8-10, that these waters coming out of the temple of the Lord represent the power of the Lord. The power of healed waters goes into the desert and into the sea.

In that when the water touches things, that everything will live, the things will live, as the multitudes of fish will come forth. There’ll be many fish because of the healed waters, because of the healing. We can see this through the Scripture in Ezekiel 47:8-10, that the indications of healed water, of many fish, and of blessings go forth.

But remember that these waters are coming from the temple in Ezekiel 47. So what Jesus is saying in John 7:38-39 is that we are the temple for the Holy Spirit. And when we believe in Him, and we receive the Holy Spirit, then out of our bellies shall flow rivers of living water. Because we believe and because we are the temple that is holding the Holy Spirit within us, as it states in Ephesians 3:20-21.

And it states:

²⁰ Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

²¹ Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. - Ephesians 3:20-21 KJV

So we see that, according to Ephesians 3:20-21, that the rivers that are flowing from within us, that can go exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think, it’s that power at work. It’s the power of the Holy Spirit that is inside of us.

And so the scripture that Jesus references, or there are many throughout the Old Testament, but Ezekiel 47 gives a clear indication of what it’s like. When reading through Ezekiel 47:1-12, we see more context that the Lord is taking the prophet through a vision. And in the vision, the water starts under the threshold of the house of the Lord, but then it increases.

It reaches the ankles, then it reaches the knees, then the loins, and then it becomes so deep that it can only be swum in. And that is when the Lord begins to say, verse 8 - 10, that these are the rivers that go out and that they are healed and that they’re bringing in many fish.

So when you think of this, from now on, these rivers of living water, consider that the Spirit of the Lord is flowing continuously inside of you when you believe in Jesus, and when you’ve received that He is the Lord, and as you walk with Him full of His Spirit. That you are full of rivers of living water that flow and touch everything in your life and everything that you speak over, everything that you believe.

Out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water, and that things shall live around you. Things that you speak on will carry the life of that faith that you have in King Jesus. When you’re speaking, as you’re pouring, the Lord gives us the ability, the capacity, and according to these scriptures,

His Spirit, so that we can walk out this mandate to be his light in the earth. To be his hands and feet in the earth, to love the way that He loves, and to believe on Him that rivers of living water can come from us. As we are walking things out, as we are going through some of the hardest situations and the storms in our lives, what you speak and what you decree matters.

We see it evidenced through scriptures that the power of life and death is in the tongue. That speaking life is the thing that creates, it curates, and it blesses. That we can guard our hearts because the issues of life flow from it, that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.

So everything that you’re pouring into yourself by faith, the scriptures that you read, the time spent in His presence, it is creating something powerful that can be measured spiritually and impactful in the natural. That rivers of living water would flow from you and touch every part of your life, your family’s life, and your children’s lives.

That there will be a blessing from you when you believe it, and that it will be a continuous flow. Because the Holy Spirit is limitless and He’s at rest within you to go beyond even what your flesh can do. We can trust in Him, we can walk with Him, and we can release living waters into every part of our lives.

Closing Devotional Prayers

My prayer for you:

Father, in the name of Jesus, thank you. Thank you, God, for rivers of living water. Thank you for the mighty woman of God walking in the favor. Thank you, Lord God, that you are Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, and that there is no one like you, there is no one above you, King of glory.

You know what the woman of God is dealing with. You know what her struggles are. And, Lord, you are good, and your mercies endure forever. I pray a blessing upon the mighty woman of God, that she would see the fullness of your will and your way. That she would see the fullness of the Word.

That she would not be distracted nor overwhelmed, and that she would receive in her heart that she has what she needs inside of her, and that she can simply speak and flow and speak life over all that concerns her and all that concerns her family, and that living water will follow.

I thank you, Lord God, for her faith increasing in the name of Jesus and for everything in her life lining up according to your will and to your word, O God, and to the utterance of her faith. I thank you, Lord, and I pray in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.

UPGRADE TO FACE-TO-FACE FAITH

***Listen To Audio Version: The First Step Isn’t the Finish Line Audio 576

The Message For Today (June 23, 2026):

***Listen To Audio Version: The First Step Isn’t the Finish Line Audio 576

I was cleaning up the kitchen the other morning while my boys watched their Transformers cartoon. I wasn’t really paying attention until one of the characters said something that made me put the dish towel down: “Just because you took the first step doesn’t mean you won the race.”

I stood there and felt that one all the way down.

Because if you’re anything like me, you celebrate the first step like it’s the finish line. You finally said yes. You finally prayed the prayer, made the decision, and took the leap of faith you’d been putting off for so long. And it feels like you’ve arrived. But taking the first step isn’t winning the race, it’s just getting in it.

Notice that Scripture doesn’t call this life a sprint. It calls it a race to be run with patience.

Patience, not speed.

The first step is obedience; the rest of the race is endurance.

I’ve been learning this in my own waiting seasons, and honestly, it’s been the theme God keeps pressing on me this week. When the season feels long and uncomfortable, my instinct is to fight it, to rush it, to wonder why I’m not there yet. But God is not punishing you in the in-between. He is preparing you. The middle of the race is exactly where He builds the strength you’ll need to carry the very thing you asked Him for.

So don’t faint at mile two because you thought the starting line was the victory. “Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Due season. Not your season of starting, but your season of staying.

And here’s the grace in it: the same God who gave you courage for the first step has promised to finish what He began. You don’t have to win this race in your own strength. You just have to keep running one faithful, surrendered step at a time, and let Him carry you home.

You started. Congratulations! Now stay in it. The prize was never promised to the one who began. It’s promised to the one who finishes.

Closing Devotional Prayer

My Prayer For You:

Father, thank You for the courage to take the first step. Now give me the patience to run the whole race. When the season feels long, and I’m tempted to quit or to rush ahead of You, remind me that You are not punishing me, You are preparing me. Keep me faithful in the middle, and finish the good work You started in me. In due season, let me reap, because by Your grace I did not faint. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

UPGRADE TO FACE-TO-FACE FAITH

***Listen To Audio Version: This Too Shall Pass Audio 575

The Message For Today (June 22, 2026):

***Listen To Audio Version: This Too Shall Pass Audio 575

Our minds and our emotions have a way of convincing us that the thing that we are in is the biggest thing in the world. The emotions, the depth of the emotions, the thoughts, and the things that we struggle through all show us in no uncertain terms that this is big, it is heavy, it is hard. And in the moment, that is true. In the moment, the feeling, the emotion, it is true in that moment.

But it is not always a testament of what is factual. It is not always a testament of what will last. It is not always perceptually encompassing, as we often deal with things through our perception and our lens: how it makes us feel, the thoughts that we’re thinking, and the feelings that we have.

All of that is the center, and the truth of the matter is all of it is vanity. All of it will pass away. The only thing that is permanent and that is real is the love of God and the words of the Lord. These things which we deal with day to day are heavy. They are real in the moment. We are dealing with reality and the issues of life. However, none of it is permanent.

Every single thing. Now, temporal may mean years, temporal may mean weeks. Whatever the length, it does have an expiration date. The struggle, the doubt, the health issue, it does have an expiration date. And that expiration date is somewhere in the future. We don’t know when. We don’t know if it’ll be next week, we don’t know if it’ll be two years from now.

But we know that the Word of the Lord does not fail, that His word will not return to him void, that the peace of God is with us in every situation because the Lord our God, the Prince of Peace, is with us in every situation. The Bible tells us that He will never leave us and never forsake us, and that nothing can take us out of the hands of the Father, for Jesus and the Father are one.

All of that to say that life is tricky, emotions are heavy, and even our thoughts can betray us. So going before the Lord and praying for God to create in us a clean heart and renew a right spirit in us is important. It’s important to ask God to show us a better way, show us how to see a thing, show us how to stand fully in the grace and glory of God.

Regardless of what is happening in our day-to-day lives, and sometimes because of what is happening in our day-to-day lives, we are dealing with very visceral situations. Whether it be pain, heartbreak, a break in a relationship with our children, issues at work, a pink slip, health issues in our body our hearts, our minds, our bodies not operating fully, and falling prey to sickness and disease.

But the truth of the matter is, those things, through the modern miracle of medicine and through even our faith and the way that we decide to live our lives, those things can be addressed. Those things can be changed. Whether it’s health issues, whether it’s really forgiveness and reconciling in a tumultuous relationship, or whether it’s going for and finding the love of your life or trying again, finding love again, all of these things will bring change.

All of these things, when we’re in the thick of the joy, in the thick of the peace, in the thick of the love, and just the complete rest in the Lord. It is almost like those situations, the pain, the chaos, the trials, the circumstances, almost like they never happened. Of course, we know that they happened. And we know that even in our peace, we must hold that to that peace, simply because the peace doesn’t even last forever.

We can pray for God to cover us, and we can pray for God to extend the peace, but there will be something that pops up that is unplanned, that will challenge our peace. But based on our walk with God, how much we trust Him, how much we are in His presence, our reaction can quickly circumnavigate every weapon of the enemy, every emotional pitfall, every mine that we unintentionally step on in the realm of the spirit.

Whether it be chaos with friends, whether it be lack or job loss, or an unplanned circumstance in our finances. All of these things are unplanned. These are the issues of life. But God is with us through it all. He is faithful through it all. And He is more than able.

It is our job simply to hold on to his unchanging hand, hold on to the love of God, and know that he is faithful and that he is more than able. Remember, this too shall pass.

Closing Devotional Prayer

My prayer for you:

Father, in the name of Jesus. Thank you. Thank you, God, for your love. Thank you, O God, for the grace and glory of God. Thank you for being the Alpha and Omega God, the beginning and the end. Lord, there is nobody like you. Thank you, God, for the outpouring of your Spirit. Thank you, Lord God, for just breathing on the mighty woman of God this morning.

Lord God, I thank you for a fresh wind over her and over her life. I’m praying for the Spirit of the living God to be evident in her home, to fill every crack and every crevice, to heal every breach in relationship, God, and to restore the joy of the Lord, which is our strength.

I’m praying, God, for a holistic healing, a restored joy, a peace that surpasses all understanding. Lord, I thank you, and I bless you in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen. Amen and amen.

UPGRADE TO FACE-TO-FACE FAITH

**Sip Saturday is written by our Saturday morning contributor, M.H. Elrich. A beautifully gifted Christian author who seeks to honor the Trinity in her writing. She hopes that her words will encourage women to draw closer to God, whether that is through her fantasy series or her weekly devotionals.

Cornerstone Scripture:

“For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.”

-Hebrews 4:10 KJV

I know someone who is ultra vigilant about the Sabbath. She won’t fly. She won’t drive. She won’t even frequent restaurants. To her, the day of rest is meant for exactly that–rest.

Although I don’t take as extreme a view, her teachings about resting at least once a week from my labor hit home. At the time, I was working as a teacher and going to school, so catching up on work Sunday night was a regular occurrence. I “needed” the extra time that I “didn’t” have before. After feeling convicted by her words, I decided to adjust my schedule. It was not easy. I had to do twice as much work the night before, and sometimes I would stay up until 10 PM to finish everything. Yet, I immediately relished the results.

On Sunday, I would attend church and then have the rest of the day off to do whatever I would like. At first, it was downright strange. I wanted to do all the things I couldn’t do on other days, like folding laundry and dishes. It was hard to resist the pile of laundry or dishes so that I could rest. Yet, when I did, it was so much better. The rest of the week I had energy to tackle all my to-do’s, including household chores. Even my physical health would suffer if I didn’t take one day off to really rest.

In this passage, the author of Hebrews is referring to how God rested from his labors after creating the universe. If you consider everything that God did, from making the smallest bug to the largest sun, it makes sense that he would desire rest. Jesus, too, would rest by retreating to the wilderness to pray (Luke 5:15-16). Then, when he died, he declared that it was finished (John 19:30). Jesus then entered God’s eternal rest.

Sabbath rest is Biblical. Not only is it an Old Testament command (Exodus 20:8), it is obvious from this passage and others that resting from our labors once a week is God ordained. Does this mean that keeping the Sabbath is something required? There are various views on this topic, with some arguing that it should be kept, some saying it is Saturday over Sunday, and some saying that the Sabbath doesn’t need to be kept because of freedom from the law.

I am not qualified to choose a side in the debate, but I will say that there has to be a reason for Sabbath rest, as there is for other Old Testament laws. That reason, in my opinion, is that our bodies and minds need a reset. Just as study after study has shown that sleep is good for us, I think resting our whole beings once a week is also similar. If you are not so sure, I would challenge you to try it if you are able. Take some time to draw near to the Lord in worship and quiet. Put aside the pile of to-do’s to commune with God. Use that one day to truly rest in whatever way is restful to you—whether that is reading a book, taking a bubble bath, playing games, knitting etc. I think you’ll find that by engaging in Sabbath rest, you will be more energized to face whatever God has for you the remainder of the week.

Let’s pray.

Dear Lord, please help me to find time to rest at least once a week from my labors. Help me to draw near to you during that time and realize you are the true source of all rest. In Your Son’s Name, Amen

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***Listen To Audio Version: Trust the Process Audio 574

The Message For Today (June 19, 2026):

***Listen To Audio Version: Trust the Process Audio 574

Imagine failing so badly at a task that a friend died in the doing of it. This is what David experienced in 2 Samuel 6, and in experiencing the death of Uzzah, because he touched the ark of the Lord and was struck immediately to death, he decided to leave the Ark of the Covenant inside the house of Obed-edom. (2 Samuel 6:6-7 KJV)

The failure was so heavy and the fear so great that he dared not continue on the journey. He left the glory there for three whole months, and all of the house of Obededom the Gittite and all his family were blessed. This is what happens when we stop doing what we’re called to do, and we leave it to someone else to pick up the mantle, or we leave it undone and unfinished.

There are things that God has for us that sometimes we do not see because we are not able to trust the process. We’re not able to see the end of a thing for one reason or another. Life happens, and then we stop. We stop, we address the issues of life, but we never get back on the journey.

We never get back, or very rarely do we ever get back to the assignment of God: the thing that God has called us to do in the process that he has called us to walk out. Here in the cornerstone scriptures, we see the commandment to hold fast to the confession of your faith.

We see the scripture that says that the Lord will finish the work that he started in us. So we have these scriptures. What we see with David in 2 Samuel 6 is we see someone who stopped and then was guided by the prompting of the people to go and retrieve the glory. So he did. But this time he did it differently.

This time, I believe they all discovered that touching the Ark of the Covenant was a no-no. But more than that, every six paces, every six steps, there was a sacrifice. Every six paces, with great intention. The process of getting the Ark of the Covenant back to the city of David, back into the house of Israel, and back with the Israelites.

It took time. It took a process. It took being intentional. It took worship beyond anything that many had ever seen. It took something different. It was not going to be done the old way. This had to be intentional. So when David went back to retrieve the Ark of the Covenant, the way he carried it, even to stop every six paces to sacrifice the oxen and the fatling. It may seem as if it was too much, but to one who lost Uzzah, and to one who left the glory for three months, this was not a light thing.

This was serious. This was intentional.

This was him dancing and girding his loins and preparing to war. Now, biblically, in scripture, whenever a man of God girded his loins, or was girded up in his robes or his, in this case, in an ephod, this meant that they were ready to war. When you look it up, and you research what to be “girded” is, to be girded was a practice of gathering up long, flowing robes and tying them tightly around the waist with a belt or sash.

So to be girded was to be prepared for movement and mobility. The action was often done to prevent tripping and allow for freedom of movement during work, travel, or battle. We know that David was a worshipper. We see in 1 Samuel chapter 16 that when he played the harp before Saul, that the spirit that was sent from the Lord to Saul in 1 Samuel chapter 16 began to flee when David played the harp. So we knew he was a worshipper.

But the worship that David did was actually warfare. To cause evil spirits to flee took something different. It wasn’t just playing a song. It wasn’t just praising the Lord. It was warring in the Spirit. And so here in this scripture, in 2 Samuel 6, we see that the intentionality that David carried went beyond just taking careful steps. They not only sacrificed the oxen and fatlings, but he was girded up in an ephod.

And being girded with a linen ephod represented the fact that David was warring, he was fighting. So his dance was not merely dance. His dancing before the Lord was worship, and it was warfare. This was a fight. Getting the Ark into the city of David was a fight.

Likewise, for us, walking with the Lord is going to be a fight.

Finishing the journey is going to be a fight. Trusting the process through delays, through denials, through being overwhelmed and feeling like there’s no way out, it’s going to be a process. It’s going to be warfare. And it will require something different.

It will require a different level of faith. It will require worship. It will require that you be intentional. In the same way, trusting the process may seem easy, but it’s not. It is a decision that is made and committed to by faith.

So when you’re walking with God, when you’re praying for the Lord to do a thing, when you’re knocking and praying that he perform miracles, signs, and wonders, when you’re praying for your finances to change, when you’re praying for your marriage to be healed, when you’re praying for your children to come home, when you’re praying for the glory of the Lord to be released in your body so that you may heal and be delivered and set free from physical afflictions, you are warring.

And it will take something different. It won’t always be instant. It may take months. For many of us, it has been years. But here and now, commit to the journey of not distrusting the process passively, but trust the process intentionally, with worship, with thanksgiving, with dancing before the Lord and preparing for you to see the victory.

Closing Devotional Prayer

My prayer for you:

Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank you. I thank you, Lord, for the mighty woman of God. I thank you for the grace and the glory. I thank you for being Alpha and Omega, O God, the beginning and the end. You are our great God. You know what you have planned, God.

So as we hold fast to the confession of our faith, as we come before your throne of mercy, of healing, of grace, I’m praying in the name of Jesus for the mighty woman of God to receive her fresh wind, to receive a refreshing, to receive the outpouring, God, to receive the fire in her heart, to believe again, to rise and walk again in authority and dominion in you.

I pray, O God, that the mighty woman of God would overcome in the name of Jesus, that every battle, every fight, every delay, every denial, O God, that, Lord God, you have the final say over it. That you speak over it, God, that you release it the same way you spoke in Zechariah 4:7 to the mountain.

I pray that you speak to her mountains now, in the name of Jesus. I pray that the mountains would move, for you are God alone. And, Lord, you are more than able to remove every stronghold. So, Lord, I thank you, I bless your holy name. I thank you, Lord, and I pray in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.

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***Listen To Audio Version: Can You See It? Audio 573

The Message For Today (June 17, 2026):

***Listen To Audio Version: Can You See It? Audio 573

Everything in this generation wants your attention. Social media wants your eyeballs. Televisions want your patronage. Cable charges you for commercials. We are living in a generation where your attention is currency. What you perceive, what you see, and what you believe is making someone millions.

Maybe it’s the show that we love, the reruns of the show we used to watch in the 80s, the publication that we watch and that we love, or the program featuring our favorite pastor. The YouTube videos full of information and knowledge for everyday tasks. Everything attaches value to your sight, to your perception, to what you see.

Is it no wonder that we’re in a generation that can’t always see their way out of hard things? They don’t see open doors and opportunities. Not as easily as we did, perhaps 50 years ago. We are led to watch, view, see, and perceive everything but miracles, signs, and wonders. We are given what to believe by algorithms. And we fight for our children not to take on the beliefs of a society that actually hates Jesus.

Be Still and Know He is God

Day in and day out, our vision is being stolen, our sight is being determined, and what we see is becoming more and more difficult every day. This is why the Bible tells us in Psalm 46:10 to be still and to know that He is God. Amidst all of the chaos, the noise, and the politics, we can go to a higher place, a place where we can listen, we can hear, we can perceive the will of our Father.

We can see the truth of where we are by His Spirit. Not by might nor by power, not by the natural things of this world, but by the Spirit of the living God. We can begin to see through the eyes of our Father, and through the eyes of the Holy Spirit. We can begin to perceive open doors and opportunities.

We can begin to see, believe, and receive by faith the power of miracles, signs, and wonders when we change what we see. Can you see what God is doing in his hour? Can you see the power of the Lord at work in your life? Can you see the miracles, the signs, and the wonders that are assigned for our babies?

Can you see it?

The things that we see determine the measure of our faith. The things that we see can begin to pull back; it can begin to weigh down our faith. It can begin to weigh us down inside of what is possible versus not possible, what has been done versus what can be done, what man sees versus what God sees. For the Bible tells us that His ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9 KJV).

Higher are His ways than heaven is above the earth. There’s so much that we don’t see that God is doing day in and day out. And He is faithful to give us the capacity to understand after a thing is done. He is faithful to show us the measure of a pattern. He’s faithful to show us a way out of no way. He’s able to do it by faith.

By faith do we receive and receive the glory of the Lord. We believe, and we receive the glory of the living God by faith. Not that we can physically touch or physically see it, but we perceive by our hearts, and we perceive by our ears. We perceive, and we believe that he is more than able to change everything, to shift regions, to tear down strongholds, to close and open doors that no man can touch.

He is more than able to turn everything around.

Can you see it? Can you believe it? Can you begin to take hold of the confession of your faith? For He who promised is faithful (Hebrews 10:23 KJV). Can you believe again, dream again? For He is God alone. And with man it may be impossible, but with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26 KJV).

Closing Devotional Prayer

My prayer for you:

Father, in the name of Jesus: thank you. Thank you, Lord, that your mercies are new every morning. I thank you for the grace and glory of God over this mighty woman of God, over her family, over her children. I thank you, Lord God, that ways are being made.

I pray in the name of Jesus that you would begin to move things, that you will begin to show the woman of God what she cannot see, what she has not perceived. I pray in the name of Jesus that you bring it back to her by the power of the Holy Spirit.

That she remembers everything, that she begins to see all things new, that she begins to see the rivers in the desert and the ways in the wilderness. Lord, I thank you right now that her vision is being expanded, that her heart is being opened to receive, that you are the Lord our God, that you are mighty to save and mighty to deliver. I thank you, Lord, and I pray in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.

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***Listen To Audio Version: Weakness Is the Doorway Audio 572

is our Tuesday morning writer. She is a wife and mother of four beautiful children. She believes in answered prayers, messy miracles, and the God who shows up in the middle of it all.

The Message For Today (June 16, 2026):

***Listen To Audio Version: Weakness Is the Doorway Audio 572

On May 30, I posted something small, or so I thought. Just a moment. I prayed over my one-year-old: “Lord, uproot this mucus, whatever’s causing this rattle, pull it up and out”… and thirty seconds later, he threw up all over me. Answered prayer. Just not the way I drew it up. He slept peacefully that night, no rattle, and I stood there covered in the evidence that God heard me.

I almost didn’t think twice about it. But that little note has over 525 likes, and it’s still climbing. And when I saw that, I knew I couldn’t just leave it as a sweet story. Because that many people don’t pause on a post unless something in it touched a nerve they’ve been carrying. So I needed to come back and sit with it a little longer.

Not to explain why God answered as I don’t know the mind of God, and I won’t pretend to. But I can tell you what was true on my end in that moment. What I brought to Him. Because it wasn’t the words. It wasn’t volume. It was that I had nothing left to offer.

My baby is one years old. I cannot tell him to cough up the mucus. I cannot reach into his chest and pull the mucus out with my own two hands. Every human option I had was already gone before I ever opened my mouth. There was no strategy left. No mother’s trick. No remedy I could manufacture. And it was right there, at the end of my own ability, that I finally said the only honest thing I had:

That’s the whole **unspoken** prayer. That’s it.

We have been taught, somewhere along the way, that powerful prayer is long prayer. Eloquent prayer. The kind with the right words stacked in the right order, the kind you’d be unashamed to pray out loud in a room full of saints. So we labor over our prayers like we’re building a case to present before a judge who needs convincing.

But our Father already told us the truth about that in Matthew 6: use not vain repetitions. They think they’ll be heard for their much speaking. He says your Father already knows what you need before you even ask. He was never waiting on your eloquence. He was waiting on your surrender.

Because here is what simple prayer actually is: simple means surrendered. A simple prayer is the prayer you pray when you’ve finally stopped strategizing and admitted you’re empty-handed. You’re not bringing God a plan for Him to approve. You’re not bringing Him your version of how the rescue should go. You’re bringing Him the impossible, and then you’re getting out of the way.

God can do so much more with your empty hands than He can with your full ones. This is the same God who told Paul, My strength is made perfect in weakness. Not in your competence. Not in your capacity. In the place where you run out. The mucus came up because I stopped trying to be the one to get it out. The breakthrough came the second I quit auditioning for a role only God could play.

Surrender is trust, not leverage.

We don’t surrender to get the outcome we drew up; we surrender because He is good, even when the answer isn’t the one we begged for. Some of the most surrendered women I know are carrying losses I cannot imagine. Their prayers were not weaker. Their God is not absent. His will is simply not always our relief. Yet, He’s still good, and His love endures forever.

The next time you find yourself with no words? Good. The next time you’re so overwhelmed that all you can choke out is “God, help me, because only You can”, that may be the most powerful place you have ever prayed from in your life.

You don’t need more words. You need less of you in the way.

Closing Devotional Prayer

My prayer for you:

Father, in the Name of Jesus, thank You. Thank You for this mighty woman of God reading these words right now, neck-deep in something that feels impossible. You already know the thing she’s been trying to fix with her own two hands. You know the strategy she’s been running, the plan she keeps drawing up, the weight she’s been carrying that was never hers to carry alone.

So right now, Lord, I thank You that she can lay it down. I thank You that she doesn’t have to have the right words. I thank You that her weakness is not a disqualification: it’s the very place Your strength is made perfect. Uproot whatever she’s been wrestling, O God.

Pull it up and out. And let her see, even if it comes looking like a mess, that You heard her. That you were never waiting on her eloquence. You were only ever waiting on her surrender, for Your Word says: “Submit yourselves therefore to God... Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” James 4:7, 10.

Lift her up, O God. Let her walk out of this season knowing there is nothing too hard for You. We thank You, Lord. We believe You. We cannot do it. Only You can. In Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.

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***Listen To Audio Version: Field of Flowers Audio 571

The Message For Today (June 15, 2026):

***Listen To Audio Version: Field of Flowers Audio 571

It’s hard to see beauty while you’re in the storm. Tears, fear, and nervousness intwined with a kernel of hope. Yes. But rarely do we encounter great storms and think “Wow, this is such a blessing.”

The weight of what you have had to carry, often in secret, may have taken it’s toll. You may be wondering how things will change and if you’ll ever grow into that wild dream God placed in your heart.

The truth of the matter is, nothing grows without being watered in some way. In this way, the storms are on assignment to bless you. To grow you. To shift you forward by washing away all of the weight and exposing the hidden things. It’s in the storms that you often discover the core of who you are and what you’re made of.

Like eagles, consider flying on the storms. The Business Resource Center notes:

While other birds “run” from the weather, the Eagle actively engages these stronger winds and, instead of seeking shelter, uses the turbulence to push itself higher.

The storm allows the eagle to gain entry into a space that it can not normally reach in good weather. As a reward for this act of boldness, the eagle is given a broader view of its surroundings. And, once above the storm, the eagle is clear of the rough winds and its flight becomes smoother…with less effort.

Additionally, a biblical reference to eagles may be an old favorite to you: Isaiah 40:31 states:

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. - KJV

These words are a reminder to know that God is faithful and that nothing can stop you from making it through and rising in the midst of the storms. If you’re still in the storm, be of good cheer and see the beauty in the rain. You’re coming out stronger, and when you do, look forward to your field of flowers.

Look forward to the field of seeds and dreams watered by that storm. Look forward to them getting exactly what they need in order to grow through the adversity, through the trials, through the circumstances. The rain becomes the oil, it becomes the weight. It becomes exactly what your dreams need in order for them to break free and to grow out in the wild.

This is the beauty of walking with God, that even the adversity has a purpose. The trials come that you may become stronger, that you may be perfected, that you may be grown in your faith and in your relationship with Christ Jesus. All of this is a result of the storms of life.

So while we’re looking and next time seeing the wind, the rains, and the chaos, stopping and saying, “This is so beautiful”, may be the beginning of things changing. The beginning of you seeing the other side of the storm.

Closing Devotional Prayer

My prayer for you:

Father, in the name of Jesus: thank you, thank you for the mighty woman of God. Thank you, God, for her reading through these devotionals and being committed, God, to this walk. I thank you right now, God, for the grace and the glory. You are Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.

And there is nobody like you, God. There is no one quite like you. You know what you have planned for us, O God. You know, O God, the plans that you think towards us, to give us a future and a hope.

So I pray for a blessing this morning for the mighty woman of God, a future and a hope, that through it all, O God, that she begins to assess the fields of her life after the storms and see the beauty that’s rising in Jesus’ mighty name I pray. Amen.

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***You Can Listen To Audio Version: It Will Work Audio 570

The Message For Today (June 14, 2026)

***Listen To Audio Version: It Will Work Audio 570

Scripture after scripture, precept after precept. God’s word is true, He is faithful and more than able. When we are facing obstacles in life and we are looking at impossible situations, the Lord has a tendency to use those moments to bring about an increase in our faith.

If it was up to you and I, many times, the things that God had for us, we would have put down, we would have walked away, we would have let go and we would have went back to the thing that was comfortable.

The nature of our growth is that it is not easy.

The testing in the trial by faith and by fire is never easy. We see it with Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego. We see it with Daniel and the lion’s den. We see it with Esther risking her life to save the nation of Israelites. We see it with Ruth deciding on the road to Bethlehem that she would not turn back, that she would go forth, and that some way somehow, she would trust in the Lord.

We see it over and over again that growth is uncomfortable, that it is hard, that it is not easy. And if we don’t trust God, if we don’t walk with Him, it’s easy to fall back into old thoughts and old beliefs and hold on to the old thing just so we feel anchored. In Zechariah 4:6-7, an angel of the Lord is speaking with the prophet and telling him exactly what the will of God is for a servant of the Lord who has been fighting and fighting a mountain that had felt bigger than anything that he could handle on his own.

Zechariah 4:6-7, reads:

⁶ Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.

⁷ Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it. - Zechariah 4:6-7 KJV

Every mountain that you’re facing, every hard moment, and every obstacle to be defeated is there by the grace of God. And in many times has been allowed for the trying of your faith, for the perfecting of your walk with King Jesus. It will work with Jesus. It will work by faith. It will work not by might nor by power, but by the Spirit of the living God. The Spirit of the Lord of hosts, the Great I Am.

He is here waiting, listening, hearing. The way that we sit before Him and we await instructions and we seek Him, the Lord sits, and He hears us. He is there listening right in the midst of what you’re dealing with. You can call out to God and pray. You can speak those things that are not as though they were. You can speak life in incredibly difficult situations. And the Lord hears, and the Lord speaks.

The scriptures have all given us moment by moment, line by line demonstration of the Lord speaking of his promises of yes and amen. We have those scriptures. We have that truth, that double-edged word that’s sharper and that is sharp enough to cleave soul from spirit. We have the Word as our guiding light, as the truth of what God has said to us and what He does through our lives. It’s in the Word.

So not only do we have this truth, this treasure, this evidence by faith, but we have the Word of the Lord to guide us and show us the way. We have what we need in scripture. We have what we need by faith. We have what we need in our voices, in our speech and our decrees, and in the life that we choose to speak. We have the answers.

We have the victory in Christ Jesus by His Spirit.

Not by might, nor by power, not by nature of our circumstances, our networks, not because of what we know or who we know in the earth. But it is because we know King Jesus that we can trust that if the Lord has started us on a journey, if we’ve started putting our hands to the plow, if we’ve started building in the name of the Lord, then we can finish it. We can finish it because it’s already done in Christ Jesus.

We can finish it knowing that it might look impossible now, but everything looks impossible until it’s done. Everything sounds unrealistic until it’s real, until the Lord reveals not by might nor by power. When we walk with God, things work. Matthew 19:26 shows us that there’s a caveat. There is a requirement to this blanket statement of “It will work”.

Matthew 19:26 tells us:

²⁶ But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible. - Matthew 19:26

“But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.” It will work with God.

Closing Devotional Prayer

My prayer for you:

Father, in the name of Jesus, thank you. Thank you for the grace and glory of God. Thank you for being Alpha and Omega, God, the beginning and the end. I thank you, God, that this devotional will reach the hearts of the woman who is starting to give up. She is believing that she will never get out.

She’s beginning to listen to the lies of the enemy and she’s deciding to trust what the enemy is saying. She’s starting to give up. But God, I thank you that the mighty woman of God would trust you ever the more.

I’m praying that this word will reach her heart, O God, that this prayer will cover her and her family. And that God, in the midst of where she is, that the spirit of the living God will rise in her and that her speech will change, her heart will change, her hands will lift, and she will start to bless your name.

She will start to believe again, to decree again, all of a sudden by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Because, God, we cannot do it without you. You’re the vine and we are the branches, O God, and apart from you we can do nothing.

So I thank you, Lord, for being the one true vine. I thank you, Lord God, for reconciling us back to you through your Son, Jesus Christ. Thank you for being God in the midst. You are God alone. I thank you, Lord, and I pray in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.

UPGRADE TO FACE-TO-FACE FAITH

**Sip Saturday is written by our Saturday morning contributor, M.H. Elrich. A beautifully gifted Christian author who seeks to honor the Trinity in her writing. She hopes that her words will encourage women to draw closer to God, whether that is through her fantasy series or her weekly devotionals.

Cornerstone Scripture:

“There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.”

-Hebrews 4:9 KJV

Most of us, when we see the definition for “rest,” think that it refers to sleeping in bed. This is one definition of rest, but another would be “peace of mind or spirit” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Sleep is important, and numerous studies have shown how sleep restores the mind and body. Insomnia often results in psychiatric disorders and muscle deterioration. Yet, as anyone who has tried to sleep and not been able to know, one’s peace of mind is key to a good night’s rest as well.

As most of you who have been following this study know, I recently struggled with bouts of insomnia. The root of that sleeplessness was my own mental health. Because of my anxiety, I would wake up with my heart pounding or worries running through my mind. I was unable to experience physical rest or emotional rest.

That is why I went to see a counselor. Some may see this act as a sign or weakness, and I would say “yes, it is.” It was admitting that I can’t do this alone and that I needed help to address the deeper issues that make it so that I cannot rest. Going to a counselor is not something to be ashamed of–it is something that should be done when you realize you need more.

Part of what my counselor did was help me to see that “peace of mind and spirit” can only come from God. In establishing my nightly routine, she emphasized reading Scripture, praying, and listening to encouraging songs before bed. She told me that surrendering my worries to God through journaling or even drawing were ways in which to experience that. Emotions, which I always perceived as negative things, are part of the way God made women. We should let them flow through us and surrender them to God.

True rest, Godly rest, can only come from him. Pills, vitamins, and other band-aids can only do so much. Certainly, sleeplessness can be from an imbalance of a certain hormone or vitamin. But our inward rest, the “peace that surpasses all understanding,” can only come from God (Philippians 4:7).

The author of Hebrews wanted to show the audience that the Promised Land and all its blessings was not the end of God’s rest, nor the extent of it. The Israelites thought that retaking Israel and becoming a flourishing physical kingdom was the Messiah’s purpose. In a way, they were only thinking about the physical rest of God’s people. They were not considering the deeper, more long reaching purpose of the Messiah: to establish a spiritual kingdom built on the spiritual rest available to all who follow Jesus. Their savior had not come to conquer the Romans, but to conquer sin and death once and for all. One day, he will return and establish a new, everlasting kingdom.

Until that time, we have a deeper rest through the indwelling Holy Spirit. To access it, we must surrender our worries and anxieties to the Lord through prayer.

Let’s Pray.

Dear Lord, I surrender ______ to you. I believe you will take care of ________ and trust you to do so. I ask you to give me your deeper rest. In Your Son’s Name, Amen.

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***Listen To Audio Version: Worth it, Not Easy Audio 569

The Message For Today (June 12, 2026):

***Listen To Audio Version: Worth it, Not Easy Audio 569

There is a grave misconception in life. When a person is dealing with hard times, they’re dealing with confusion, they’re dealing with hurt, pain, or trauma, it is perceived that they are living out the result of their sins or someone else’s sins. Their mistakes or someone else’s mistakes. So if their life is hard, then they must not be walking with God.

If their life is difficult, then has God really been in it? Likewise, if God blesses it, if he is with you, then it should be easy. The problem with that misconception is that it causes many to stop in the middle of the journey. It causes some to turn back because it’s too hard, it’s too much, it’s beyond human capacity.

So is God really in this?

When is God going to do it?

When is God going to turn things around?

We see in scripture how wrong that misconception is. And we see what happens when someone operates in a way to attempt to make the journey easier, versus accepting the weight of what God is giving them to walk out in their lives. We see the father of our faith, Abram, and Sarai, before they became Abraham and Sarah.

The Lord promised them that they would bear a child in Sarah’s old age and Abraham’s old age. And instead of waiting, seeing how hard things have been, seeing how many years she had to wait, Sarah opted to enroll her servant, her handmaiden Hagar, into having the child. Into laying with Abraham, and deciding that Abram would produce a child, and that that would just be Sarah’s child. And it was wrong. And in the midst of it, Sarah turned on her.

And when Sarah turned on her, her maid servant decided to run. This happened in Genesis 16. And in Genesis 16, when her maidservant decided to run, the Lord saw her out in the wilderness and encouraged her to go back in the midst of it, to go back to Sarai, to remain because her child would be blessed.

Ishmael was the fruit of Sarai’s lack of faith and Abraham’s lack of faith in God, because it took two, well, in this case, three, to make Ishmael. But that did not change God’s mind. Even after Genesis 16, when the Lord called Isaac to be placed, as a burnt offering, on Mount Moriah, there was something that Abraham was told of the Lord that is important to catch.

When Abraham goes into Moriah, finds the mountain, takes Isaac up the mountain with him, and begins to strap him down and lay him on the altar as a burnt offering and raise the weapon that would slay his child, in Genesis 22 the Lord spoke from heaven. And Genesis 22:10, it states:

¹⁰ And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.

¹¹ And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.

¹² And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. - Genesis 22:10-12

At this point in scripture, in Genesis 22, we know that Ishmael has already been born, that Ishmael is also the seed of Abraham. But here the Lord from heaven said: “thine son, thine only son”. The Lord from heaven only recognized the promise, only recognized Isaac.

So even though there was fruit born from lack of faith, fruit born from the heaviness and eventual succumbing to not waiting, the Lord only recognized Isaac, because Isaac is what God promised. Whenever we don’t walk it out, whenever we don’t have the ability to endure longsuffering, long awaited times, long delays, and what seems like impossible situations, there’s always going to be fruit of our lack of faith.

Praise God for grace, to where we have the opportunity to turn around, to repent, and be reconciled back to the purpose and the plan that God has for us. It is here that, despite having Ishmael, the Lord delivered the promise in Genesis 22 to Abraham. He began to utter the promise as was originally given 25 years before it was released, right there on the top of Mount Moriah.

On the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.

(Genesis 22:14 KJV)

God is faithful, and He’s more than able. But endurance is a part of our race. The ability to wait, the ability to press, the ability to believe when you haven’t received any indication that God is with you, and that His promises are still yes and Amen. Even if it’s been a decade, two decades, or 25 years, God is still more than able. Regardless of how many years you’ve waited, God is still there with you.

Even though the journey is hard, it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. They can doubt all day. They can believe that you are just not walking with God. And we can honestly misjudge others in the same way. But God has the final say over each of our lives. It is a personal relationship that we are walking with God, and God is still able.

Even if people stop believing around us, we can go forth in the things of God, believing on His word. Even in the most impossible situations, even in the most improbable circumstances, God is still God. And as it says in the scriptures, Is there anything too hard for the Lord? (Genesis 18:14 KJV) There is nothing too hard for God.

And no, waiting on God isn’t wrong. It’s hard, it’s not easy, but it is always worth it to wait, to trust, to press into His presence, to believe on His word, to hold fast to the confession of your faith. It is always worth it to walk in the kind of faith that shakes others but establishes miracles, signs, and wonders in your life.

This is a measure of your faith.

And there will be seasons when you will need to rely on the faith of others. But ultimately, walking with God is a personal relationship. It’s a personal journey. It is one that is strengthened with your yes over and over again: to accepting the hard things, to accepting the hard journeys, to knowing that it won’t always look clean because creation is messy, but it’ll always be worth it when you’re walking with God.

Closing Devotional Prayer

My prayer for you:

Father, in the name of Jesus: thank you. Thank you for the mighty woman of God. Thank you for the grace and the glory. Thank you for the Alpha and Omega God. You are the beginning and the end.

And you know what this mighty woman of God is enduring. You know what her family is walking through. You know how good it’s been. You know how hard it’s been. You know the fullness of what she’s dealing with. You are her great God. You are her Father.

You’re a friend who sits closer than a brother. O God, I thank you, God, for you are mighty to save. You are lifting up the mighty woman of God. Whatever, whatever may be missing, whatever may be under duress in her life, I thank you, O God, that you are her strong tower and that she will see the finish.

She will see it end. She will see the other side of it, in the name of Jesus. And we do this with you, O God. We do this walking with you, day after day. We do this, O God, knowing that you are the one that’s expanding our territory, enlarging our tents.

You are the one that’s blessing our family, our husbands, our friends. You are the one, O God. And so we pray in the name of Jesus. We come before your throne of grace and mercy, believing and thanking you for the walk. Because even though it’s not easy, it’s worth it. I thank you, Lord, and I pray in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.

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***Listen To Audio Version: Never Too Much Audio 568

The Message For Today (June 11, 2026):

***Listen To Audio Version: Never Too Much Audio 568

So often, we’re given a prescription about how to praise. We’re given a play-by-play on how to worship God. But what if worship is meant to be childlike and exuberant and full of joy? What if worship is meant to be a personal, not private, personal engagement? What if your praise is meant to be as raw and as open and as uncomfortable for people as possible?

Not uncomfortable because you are intentionally trying to discomfort others, but uncomfortable because of the sincerity and the vulnerability and the openness of your praise.

Too often, we limit our praise.

We censor our worship. We make it where it is acceptable before others. We make it where it is not too uncomfortable, too distinctly weird, giving a feeling of weirdness to others. And we do that so that we don’t go too deep. We control ourselves before others. We give a cursory praise, we give the Lord glory, and then we go on about it.

But there are times when, regardless of who’s watching and regardless of what your flesh may feel, that your praise reaches a place that nobody can deny is authentic, it is real, and it is holy. It is reverent.

In both these instances in scripture, in Luke 7:36 -38, and 50 in the King James Version, and then John 12:1-3 in the King James Version, we see examples of anointing that make others uncomfortable. So uncomfortable that those around them either outwardly chastised or inwardly chastised. In the Book of John, it was outwardly chastised.

When the spikenard was poured on the feet of Jesus, it was a disciple of Jesus who decided to make note of it. Judas Iscariot decided in that moment to remark on how the money could have been used for the poor. But Jesus knew that Judas Iscariot was a thief and that he didn’t care about the poor as much as he cared about access to what that represented.

That oil that was poured on the feet of Jesus by Mary cost a year’s salary.

A year of a life represented on the feet of Jesus.

A year of working, a year’s wages.

Not used for food, not used for clothing, but used for oil to cover the feet of Jesus. That is the essential juxtaposition we have: her worship was real. It was open, it was expensive, and it was remarked on by those who were not her, those outside of her, that she could have used that oil, that anointing, those resources, for something else.

In the second instance in scripture, we see that the chastisement is not external. When you read further in the scripture, in Luke 7, and you start at verse 39 in the King James Version, you see that even though there was no word spoken, but the moment that she began to wipe the feet of Jesus with the oil, in verse 39, it states:

³⁹ Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.

So in the mind of the Pharisee, within his heart, within himself, he didn’t say it out loud, but within himself said,

There’s no way he must be a prophet. He must not know, he must not be a legitimate man of God, because why would he allow a sinner to touch his feet? Why would he allow a woman who is a sinner to touch him?

The thought that because of her sin that she was unworthy to actually worship at the feet of Jesus, to use her hair to anoint, to wipe the tears and the oil from his feet, and the thought that she was doing too much in her worship is so unusual to you and to me. But to people who judge the believer for our worship, judge the believer for our standards, judge the believer because of our love and the way that we honor our God, it does seem like too much.

It doesn’t make sense.

Why go through all the trouble? Why even operate that way? It’s not like you’re perfect. We are often, yes, just that the worship that we’re doing may be too much because we’re human. We make mistakes. Why are we worshiping so prolifically as if we’re perfect or if we’re above board? And the natural man cannot understand that worship is not predicated on our goodness. Worship is in spite of our goodness and the lack thereof.

Worship to God is never too much. Whether we are outwardly pouring on the Lord all that we have or whether we are weeping from a moment of healing and desiring to be healed like the woman in the book of Luke, we all have that place where worship does not become a religious thing. It goes beyond just a saying.

It goes beyond just appearances.

It goes to the depths of our soul, and it is poured out in a way that it reaches heaven. It goes before the throne of God. And we are then, as we worship, as we pour out, as we cry out to God, we are tapping in, in a way where Jeremiah 33:3 shows us that when we worship the Lord and we call on him, calling out on him, that he will answer. It says in Jeremiah 33:3 in the King James Version:

³ Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. - Jeremiah 33:3 KJV

So not only will He answer us, He will show us great and mighty things that we have not considered. This is what God says to Jeremiah in chapter 33.

We all have an assignment to give God what He gave us. In worship and in praise. In obedience to God and the work of our hands. For some of us, sacrificing our bodies for our babies, nourishing our children, this is what God gave us. But He gave it to us for the working of the kingdom, for miracle signs and wonders, for pouring out on the next generation, for blessing the woman who needs our testimony.

He didn’t just give us our deliverance for us; He gave it to us that we could give to someone else the testimony that will help them overcome. By the blood of the Lamb and the words of our testimony, we have this assignment to bless God.

And He’s placed this treasure in us that we may edify Him with our very lives, that we are not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That we lift Him up above the appearance of success, above the appearance of us having it all together. Above appearances, above concerns with those around us, we are lifting up the Lord.

And we see it finally with King David after he brings the glory into the City of David in 2 Samuel 5 and chapter 6. After he wins and he’s victorious over the Philistines in chapter 5, in chapter 6, he immediately gathers the men of war and he goes to retrieve the glory. And the first time he fails to do it, and Uzzah passes away because he touched the glory, the Ark of the Covenant, because it shook. And the Lord was incensed and immediately struck Uzzah right there. Struck him dead.

So 90 days later, when David went back to get the glory out of the house of Obed Edom in chapter 6, this was a long journey. This was the entire battle after being crowned king in 2 Samuel 5, and then in 2 Samuel 6, it was essentially the restoration of the Ark of the Covenant to the city of David. There was much to be joyous about.

But specifically in 2 Samuel 6, we see that the journey of bringing the Ark into the city of David was not easy. It wasn’t easy. It took sacrifices every six paces. In 2 Samuel 6:12, it states:

¹² And it was told king David, saying, The Lord hath blessed the house of Obededom, and all that pertaineth unto him, because of the ark of God. So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obededom into the city of David with gladness.

¹³ And it was so, that when they that bare the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed oxen and fatlings.

¹⁴ And David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod.

¹⁵ So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet. - 2 Samuel 6:12 KJV

In this time of celebration, David was not concerned about his kingly robes. He was not concerned about the crown that God had just blessed him with in 2 Samuel 5. No. He was, in this instance, more concerned with the fact that the glory had returned to the house of David, to the city of David, which then, in 2 Samuel 7, was blessed to become the house of David according to the Ark of the Covenant and the Davidic covenant given in 2 Samuel 7.

So these three chapters, 2 Samuel 5, 6, and 7, show the entire arc of being crowned king, fighting to keep that crown against the Philistines, gathering the men of war to bring the Ark of the Covenant back into the city of David, and then upon having the Ark of the Covenant in the city of David, being granted the Davidic covenant by God through the prophet Nathan.

All of this happened in three chapters of scripture. So of course, the glory of the Lord, once it came into the city of David, caused much celebration in trumpets and singing and shouting and joy. But David’s wife, Michal, Saul’s daughter, decided at that point to criticize how debased he was in front of the servants.

She was more concerned with the crown. She was more concerned with the kingly robes and the appearance of being demure than she was with the fact that the Ark of the Covenant was back. It was back in the possession of Israel. It was back in the city of David. The glory had returned to the people of God. And her concern was about his worship being too much.

And this is what it looks like in our day-to-day lives when we are giving God the glory and many around us tell us it’s too much, when we’re worshiping and we’re surrendering all, and people say you’re doing too much, they’re essentially trying to block you from honoring the fact that that worship is opening doors. That that worship is recognizing what the Lord has done. And with the woman in the book of Luke, that worship may be the key to you stepping into your liberty, as it states in Luke 7:50:

⁵⁰ And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace. - Luke 7:50 KJV

So her tears being cried out wasn’t even a celebration. It was supplication, it was prayer that she was doing in verse 38. She was worshiping Him in hopes that she would be healed and that she would be forgiven for her sins. This is the glory of the Lord. This is the weight of God, that when we worship God and when we honor him, everything else lines up, our lives begin to turn around.

And anyone who criticizes that, anyone who judges that, and any concern about that is not your concern. Give it to God and release all notion of the appearance of being put together. Sometimes becoming undone before the Lord is the only way that you can come through a situation. It is to praise Him fully, to worship him without repentance, without fear, unapologetically praising the Lord.

For He is worthy of our praise. He’s worthy of our worship. If anything is worth too much, Jesus is worth too much.

Closing Devotional Prayer

My prayer for you:

Father, in the name of Jesus: thank you, thank you that the mighty woman of God is here this morning. Thank you, God, that we are up again. I thank you, God, for her love for the Word, because the devotionals, God, are not read as frequently or downloaded as frequently as the prayers. But this mighty woman of God who downloads this Word, who listens day in and day out, I thank you, God, for this mighty woman of God.

I thank you for her commitment to the Word, which bears the glory, the Word which carries your will, the Word which is sharper than any two-edged sword. I thank you for this word over her life, over her family, over her children, Lord, for you are mighty to save, mighty to deliver, and mighty to set free.

Nothing can stand against your word, O God, all the days of our lives. So, Lord, we speak, and we decree, O God, the Word in this hour, the word of the Lord, O God, which makes all things new, the word of the Lord, O God, which is the promise of God, yes and amen in you. The word of the Lord, O God, I thank you for it.

And I thank you, God, that our worship is not too much. Our praise is not too much. The way that we come before your throne in worship and in supplication and thanksgiving is not too much. I thank you, Lord, and I pray in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.

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