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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | August 8th

📖 Then I said to them, You see the bad situation we are in—how Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates are burned with fire. Come, let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a disgrace. 

Then I told them of the hand of my God which was upon me for good, and also the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, Let us rise up and build! So they strengthened their hands for the good work. 

But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they laughed us to scorn and despised us and said, What is this thing you are doing? Will you rebel against the king? 

I answered them, The God of heaven will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you have no portion or right or memorial in Jerusalem. 
—Nehemiah 2:17-20 AMPC 

No matter how things may look, you can rebuild your life. It doesn’t matter what storms you might face. It doesn’t matter what obstacles you must overcome; God can make it better. Nehemiah had taken up the task of rebuilding the wall. There were people who ridiculed and criticized the project. There was the threat of people coming to destroy their efforts. Nehemiah knew that the Hand of God was with them. He knew that the God of Heaven would prosper and protect them. They would eventually rebuild the wall, and the people would recommit themselves to God and His Word. As impossible as things look, the first step must be to rise and build. You must get started. The lepers asked each other a question in II Kings chapter seven- “Why are we sitting here until we die”? (v3) You don’t have to be great to start, but you cannot be great until you get started. With God involved, it will be better than it was before. 

#rebuild #HandofGod #vcccharlotte #devotional

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | August 7th

📖 And I will make you to this people a fortified bronze wall; they will fight against you, but they will not prevail over you, for Iam with you to save and deliver you, says the Lord. And I will deliver you out of the hands of the wicked, and I will redeem you out of the palms of the terrible and ruthless tyrants. —Jeremiah 15:20-21 AMPC

This was the Word of the Lord to Jeremiah, but it can be a word for us today. God can make us a fortified bronze wall against those who choose to fight against us and attempt to stop us. God can save and deliver us when we put our trust in Him. He will deliver us out of the hands of the wicked and out of the palms of the terrible and ruthless tyrants. It may appear that the people are prevailing over us, but we must remember that we walk by faith and not by sight. God is our protector and our shield. He is our Deliverer and our Fortress. What a mighty God we serve. 

#Deliverer #trust #vcccharlotte #devotional #fortress

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | August 6th

📖 Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to be My disciple, let him deny himself [disregard, lose sight of, and forget himself and his own interests] and take up his cross and follow Me [cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying, also]. 

For whoever is bent on saving his [temporal] life [his comfort and security here] shall lose it [eternal life]; and whoever loses his life [his comfort and security here] for My sake shall find it [life everlasting]. 

For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life [his blessed life in the kingdom of God]? Or what would a man give as an exchange for his [blessed] life [in the kingdom of God]? 
—Matthew 16:24-26 AMPC 

Jesus makes it very plain. If we are going to follow Him, we will have to disregard ourselves and our own interests. We will have to be willing to die to selfish ambition and to our own dreams and desires that are outside of the will of God. Walking this Chrisitan walk will not always be easy. Jesus told us that if they persecuted Him, they would persecute us. The student is not above his teacher. We must not be in love with this world. We are strangers, pilgrims just passing through. It is okay to enjoy yourself, but our comfort and security cannot be in this natural world. The Bible tells us that we are citizens of heaven, and once we have lived our lives out here on this earth, that is where we will live for eternity. We cannot jeopardize our salvation for the things of this world. What would it benefit us to gain the entire world and lose our soul? If we must choose between the world and Jesus, let’s choose Jesus. We don’t have to chase after the things of this world. Jesus told us that if we would seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, all those things will be added unto us. 

#Kingdom #devotional #chooseJesus #vcccharlotte

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | August 5th

📖 Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations. 
—Psalms 100:1-5 NKJV

We serve a good God! He is so good to us that there is only one way to serve Him: with gladness. We should come before His presence with singing because He has redeemed us. He has sent Jesus so that we can have life and have it more abundantly. He is our protector. He is our Healer. He is our Strength. Every good gift and every perfect gift comes from Him. His mercies are new every morning, and when He forgives us of our sins, He forgets them. He is not holding them against us; He has cleansed us from them. There should be joy in our hearts every day because of what God has done for us and for what He is doing in our lives. Even when things aren’t going our way, we know that God will turn it around. He is on our side, and we are the sheep of His pasture. God loves us. We have so much to be grateful for! The Lord is good, and His mercies endure forever. 

#newmercies #devotional #GodisGood #vcccharlotte

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | August 3rd

📖 Cast your burden on the Lord [releasing the weight of it] and He will sustain you; He will never allow the [consistently] righteous to be moved (made to slip, fall, or fail). 
—Psalm 55:22 AMPC

We all have issues in life, and things that may trouble us. However, when we face these situations, we must cast our burdens on the Lord. We were not created to carry burdens and cares. When things seem like they are too much for us, it is not on us to try to figure out a solution. We are to give our problems to God and allow Him to take care of it. God is smarter than us. He is wiser than us. He has the solution to every problem. God wants us to live our lives care-free. It’s His desire to sustain us. When we release the weight of our problems to Him, we can expect Him to sustain us. We can never be moved when we look to God. When we release our issues to God, we know that He will not fail us. He told us that He would never leave us nor forsake us. That means we can expect victory every time. He will not let us fall. 

#iamvictory #dailydevotional #castyourburdens #vcccharlotte

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | August 2nd

📖 The [uncompromisingly] righteous shall flourish like the palm tree [be long-lived, stately, upright, useful, and fruitful]; they shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon [majestic, stable, durable, and incorruptible]. 

Planted in the house of the Lord, they shall flourish in the courts of our God. 

[Growing in grace] they shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be full of sap [of spiritual vitality] and [rich in the] verdure [of trust, love, and contentment]. 

[They are living memorials] to show that the Lord is upright and faithful to His promises; He is my Rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. 
—Psalm 92:12-15 AMPC

As Christians, we are to flourish and prosper. There should be growth in our lives. There should be increase in our lives. If it appears that you aren’t flourishing or that things appear to not be getting better, don’t be moved by what you see. As you continue to walk with God, you can expect Him to transform your life. If you look throughout the Word of God, you will see one example after the next of instances where God never left people the same when they encountered Him. Their lives improved, and they became people of significance. Prosperity comes out of relationship with God. It comes from constant fellowship through the reading of the Bible and prayer. God is our Rock, and He can be depended on. When we build our lives on the Rock (the Word), our house (our lives) will stand regardless of the storm. We will flourish because the Lord is upright and faithful to His promises. 

#faithful #devotional #vcccharlotte #flourish #God’spromises

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | August 1st

📖 I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time [appointed] for every matter and purpose and for every work. —Ecclesiastes 3:17 AMPC

God has a timing for every season of our lives. The key is to stay in tune with him and to not get ahead of God. It is so easy to do sometimes. We can get excited about the prospect of starting a business, buying a home, purchasing a car, going back to school, or even getting married. There is nothing wrong with those things, we just have to make sure that we are in God’s timing. Many times, we can have the right idea at the wrong time or in the wrong season. When pondering a major move in our lives we must check in with God to make sure we are on the same page with Him. He might want you to start the business, but maybe next year. He may want you to go back to school, but in the spring semester instead of the fall semester. When seeking the Lord about His plan, it is important to not only get the “what” of the plan, but the “when” also. You will always be “in the know” as you continue to walk closely with Him. 

#vcccharlotte #God’stiming #devotional #listen #intune

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | July 31st

📖 For You, Lord, will bless the [uncompromisingly] righteous [him who is upright and in right standing with You]; as with a shield You will surround him with goodwill (pleasure and favor). —Psalm 5:12 AMPC 

God doesn’t just want you to receive blessings every now and then, He wants you to be blessed all the time! God wants us to walk in the fullness of the blessings he's given us. He wants us to be surrounded by His goodwill. Job is a good example of this. Satan acknowledged to God that He (God) had put a hedge about Job and his house and all that he had on every side (Job 1:10). Satan also noted that God had “conferred prosperity and happiness upon in the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land”. God desires to surround us with good and put a hedge about us like Job. We must make sure we don’t tear the hedge down with the wrong words or with sin. Both of those things will open the door for the enemy, and we want to keep that door closed. As we walk with God, we can expect the Blessing to come upon us and overtake us. There is nothing the enemy can do to stop it. Don’t give him place! 

#God’sprotection #blessings #vcccharlotte #devotional #hedge

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | July 30th

📖 In a similar way, urge the younger men to be self-restrained and to behave prudently [taking life seriously]. —Titus 2:6 AMPC

Life must be taken seriously. You only get one opportunity to live it, and then you spend eternity somewhere else. We will stand before God and must give an account for what we did with the talents, gifts, and abilities that He blessed us with. We shouldn’t waste the time that we have left, and we cannot be so caught up in the things of this world that we forget to pursue the things that God has placed in our hearts. We must be about our Father’s business. We have a destiny to fulfill and goals that need to be accomplished. Let's be sober about the times we are living in. We must make our Father proud! 

#soberlife #followGod #vcccharlotte #devotional

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | July 29th

📖 It was because of his faith that Enoch was promoted to the eternal world without experiencing death. He disappeared from this world because God promoted him, and before that happened his reputation was that “he pleased God”. And without faith it is impossible to please him. The man who approaches God must have faith in two things, first that God exists and secondly that it is worth a man’s while to try to find God. 
—Hebrews 11: 5-6 JB Phillips New Testament

It should be the desire of every believer to please our Heavenly Father. God is pleased when we walk by faith and according to His Word. God is pleased when we believe His Word above any circumstance. He is pleased when we speak what the Word of God says instead of our circumstances. God was displeased with the Israelites in the wilderness because of their constant complaining. They would not trust in God and put their faith in His integrity. This would cause the original generation to lose their lives and the next generation to receive their “promised land”. When we walk by faith, it not only pleases God, but it also brings Him on the scene. When this happens, things change, and circumstances begin to get in line with His Word. When we approach God, we must remember two things: first, that God exists, and secondly, it is always worth our while to seek Him out. He is a rewarder of those who do. 

#trustGod #faith #devotional #vcccharlotte

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | July 27th

📖 Jesus answered him, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, that unless a person is born again (anew, from above), he cannot ever see (know, be acquainted with, and experience) the kingdom of God. —John 3:3 AMPC

If one wants to be a bonafide child of God, that person must be born again. They simply must ask Jesus Christ to come into their heart and confess Him as Lord (Romans 10:9-10). It is quite simple. Works will not get you born-again. You can never work your way to Heaven. You can never earn your salvation; but you can simply receive what has already been done. Jesus has already paid the price for sin. Our works do not produce righteousness. Righteousness produces good works. If you haven’t done so already, receive Jesus Christ today! Don’t you want to spend eternity with God? 

#salvation #devotional #vcccharlotte #childofGod

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | July 26th

📖 Thus says the Lord, “Let not the one who is wise and skillful boast in his insight; let not the one who is mighty and powerful boast in his strength; let not the one who is rich boast in his [temporal satisfactions and earthly] abundance;  but let the one who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me [and acknowledges Me and honors Me as God and recognizes without any doubt], that I am the Lord who practices lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on the earth, for in these things I delight,” says the Lord. 
—Jeremiah 9:23-24 AMP

All that we have that is good, came from God. The Bible tells us that “every good gift and every perfect gift comes from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights (James 1:17)”. Our talents and our abilities come from God. God is our sufficiency, and He is our ability (2 Corinthians 3:5). Because of this, we cannot boast in our wisdom. We cannot boast about our strength. Our wisdom and our strength apart from God is insufficient. We cannot boast in riches because they are temporary, and the Bible teaches that we are not to put our trust in money. We are to put our trust in God. If we are going to boast about anything, we should always boast about the goodness of our God. We should brag about His faithfulness and His integrity. We should boast on our God because He is the only One worthy of boasting. God is to be our everything. God will always honor us when we honor Him (I Samuel 2:30). 

#wisdom #vcccharlotte #goodgift #honorGod 

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | July 25th

📖 We were buried therefore with Him by the baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious [power] of the Father, so we too might [habitually] live and behave in newness of life. —Romans 6:4 AMPC

When we make Jesus the Lord of our lives, we become a new creation. Our past is buried; we have been raised and now have a new life with Christ. We can be like the apostle Paul and act as if we don’t have a past. Paul said that he had “wronged no man”, but he had. Before his encounter with Jesus, he was throwing Christians into prison and mistreating them. After his encounter with Jesus, all of that was buried with Christ. When he was raised in the newness of life, his past remained buried. We have had the same experience. We can now walk as if we have never sinned a day in our lives. 

#devotional #newcreation #liveforGod #vcccharlotte

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | July 24th

📖 Alas, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! There is nothing too hard or too wonderful for You
—Jeremiah 32:17 AMPC

Notice that Jeremiah starts off by talking about the handiwork of God. When one considers the universe and the planets, the sun and the moon, they cannot help but think about how awesome God is! When you look at the earth, or the complexity of the human body, it shows the genius of our God. Nothing is too difficult for Him. If God could create the universe, the animals, and the human body in six days, He can handle your situation. Let’s not insult God and think that our problems are insurmountable. We must keep the proper perspective when it comes to our God.  

#nothingisimpossible #iamvictory #devotional #goodGod

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | July 23rd

📖 Elijah the Tishbite, of the temporary residents of Gilead, said to Ahab, As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before Whom I stand, there shall not be dew or rain these years but according to My word. —I Kings 17:1 AMPC

This was a bold statement. A man telling the king that there won't be any rain until he says so. Only a man who truly knows who He is can make a statement like that. Only an individual who knows his authority and God, can make a statement like that. They would be fully convinced that God will back them up. Of course, we don’t just want to manipulate the weather just to prove a point, but we may be in a position where we must believe for it not to rain. We might have to speak to a storm like Jesus did. Storms, hurricanes, and even tornadoes are subject to our authority as believers. Things like that don’t just happen. We must know who we are and what belongs to us. We must meditate on the Scriptures dealing with authority. Lastly, we must practice our authority. Use it on little things at first, and over time your faith will grow. We can do outstanding things for the kingdom if we pursue and apply what we know. 

#trustGod #devotional #iamvictory #speaktothestorm

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | July 22nd

📖 I have seen slaves on horses, and princes walking like slaves on the earth. 
—Ecclesiastes 10:7 AMPC

As kings, we are to take our rightful place on the earth. Many believers are living below the standards that God has established for them. God expects us to be the head and not the tail. We are to be above only and not beneath. God sees us as His ambassadors and as kings and priests. Many are walking like slaves when they should be riding on the high places of the earth. We are no longer in the kingdom of darkness. We have been delivered into the Kingdom of God’s dear Son. We are to walk like it and to talk like it. The Bible even tells us that the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just (Proverbs 13:22). We are seated together with Christ in heavenly places. We have been given authority. So, let's not allow ourselves to be out of place. Let us seize what belongs to us. No matter how long it takes, we must be like Caleb and demand what has been promised to us. All things are ours! (I Corinthians 3:22). 

#kings #devotional #wisdom #iamvictory

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | July 20th

📖 God is not a human being, and he will not lie. He is not a human, and he does not change his mind. What he says he will do, he does [will he not do it?]. What he promises, he makes come true [ will he not fulfill it/make it come true?]. —Numbers 23:19 Expanded Bible

We cannot look at God the way that we look at other human beings. God is not a man, and He does not lie. God will not change His mind concerning His children. He promises to meet every need in our lives (Philippians 4:19). If He promised to do it, then we can definitely count on Him to do it. The Word of God says that we are redeemed, so that means we are. It tells us that we are healed, so that means that we are. Whatever the Word says we are, that is what we are. When we believe in His Word and stand on His promises, we experience the reality of those promises. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but God’s Word will never pass away (Matthew 24:35). God always comes through. He can be depended upon. 

#GodsWord #devotional #trustGod #vcccharlotte

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | July 19th

📖 Unless Your law had been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction. I will never forget Your precepts, [how can I?] for it is by them You have quickened me (granted me life). —Psalm 119:92-93 AMPC

We must never neglect the Word of God. When we feed on the Word, it strengthens, nourishes, and empowers us. It keeps our spirit strong so that we can overcome every weapon the enemy throws our way. The Word will bring life to a seemingly dead situation. Jesus said, “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life (John 6:63)”. Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly, and He was the Word Incarnate. Embrace the Word. Study the Word. Meditate the Word. An encounter with the Word is an encounter with life. His life will change yours.  

#strength #dailydevotional #vcccharlotte #theWord #life

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | July 18th

📖 And so it was that he [Abraham], having waited long and endured patiently, realized and obtained [in the birth of Isaac as a pledge of what was to come] what God had promised him. —Hebrews 6:15 AMPC

God made a promise to Abraham when he was seventy-five years old. The “promised child” was born when Abraham was a hundred years old. Abraham waited twenty-five years until the promised child was born. Abraham could have been moved by time, but he wasn’t. Abraham believed God. Abraham believed that God was faithful to bring everything to pass. Abraham had experienced the Blessing of the Lord, and He knew that God would not lie to Him. Abraham reached the point where He believed that God would do what He said He would do. Many times, we are unwilling to wait on God. We may not know why things have taken a long time to manifest, but we know that God is faithful. We must endure patiently, knowing that God will come through. We must rest in the integrity of God. It is a divine truth that He cannot lie (John 3:33 Amplified Classic).   

#Godcannotlie #covenantGod #vcccharlotte #devotional

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL | July 17th

📖 Grace and spiritual blessing be to you and [soul] peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah), Who gave (yielded) Himself up [to atone] for our sins [and to save and sanctify us], in order to rescue and deliver us from this present wicked age and world order, in accordance with the will and purpose and plan of our God and Father —Galatians 1:3-4 AMPC

Jesus came to deliver and set us free from this wicked present age. Satan is the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4) and the whole world is under his influence (Eph.2: 3-4). The world is subject to the effects of the curse that is in the earth. The curse is the direct cause of sickness, disease, poverty, and death. The curse is the direct result of all the calamities that mankind faces. Jesus came into the earth and went to the cross so that we can be delivered from the curse. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13). God expects us to walk in victory. He expects us to take His Word and overcome the effects of the curse. We can overcome all the obstacles and challenges in our lives because Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world. What a mighty God we serve! 

#vcccharlotte #devotional #MightyGod #freefromthecurse

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